MIAMI: The US has taken legal steps to have a stolen, 3,000-year-old sarcophagus returned to Egypt. Federal prosecutors filed court papers Thursday seeking forfeiture of the artifact. It wound up in Miami last year following a series of transactions that began at an antique dealership in Barcelona, Spain. Egyptian authorities say the sarcophagus was probably illegally excavated years ago. It s made out of wood and is yellow in color, covered by elaborate hieroglyphics and symbols. Prosecutors say it was constructed between 1070 and 946 B.C. for the mummified remains of an unknown person. The court case would allow for the sarcophagus to be returned to Egypt. Thousands of antiquities were spirited out of the country during Egypt s colonial period and afterward by archaeologists, adventurers and thieves. Egypt s chief archaeologist, Zahi Hawass, has been campaigning to recover the nation s lost treasures. On Friday, France s culture minister agreed to return painted wall fragments from a 3,200-year tomb near the ancient temple city of Luxor after a row over their ownership prompted Egypt to cut ties with the famed Louvre Museum. -AP
