On Friday, a delegation from the Supreme Council of Antiquities traveled to Australia to retrieve 122 artifacts, dating back to Pharaonic times and the Greco-Roman era, illegally smuggled out of Egypt. The delegation is headed by Director of the Department of recovered Antiquities, Ahmed Mustafa, and Director General of the Coptic Museum, Hani Sadek. Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mustafa Amin, said the most important of these pieces include a rare granite stone bust; a glass statue of the Ancient Egyptian goddess Maat, which dates back to the New Kingdom; a bronze statue of Osiris; a group of Ushabati, funerary figurines, dating back to the new kingdom; a bronze statue of Aphrodite from the Greco-Roman period among other important pieces. Amin said the restoration of artifacts from Australia was made through joint efforts between Egypt's ruling military council and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They are represented by the Egyptian embassy in Canberra, led by Ambassador Amr Metwally and the City Police of Melbourne, who discovered the artifacts during the raiding of Mossgreen Auction house. He explained the delegation will return on November 5 when the artifacts go to the Egyptian Museum for renovations. The best and most important pieces will be chosen to be displayed to visitors.
