CAIRO: The United States is returning a painted 3,000-year-old sarcophagus to Egypt, the North African nation’s Culture Minister Farouk Hosni said on Monday. The move comes as Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities continues its push to have all Egyptian artifacts abroad returned to the country.

The coffin of Imesy, a beautifully ornate piece with colorful religious scenes painted on it, had been a piece the council had been demanding be returned.

Zahi Hawass, the SCA Secretary-General said last year that the coffin likely belongs to pharaoh Ames from the 21st Dynasty, which ruled Egypt from 1070-945 BC.

The piece is nearly five feet long and had been confiscated by American customs officials at Miami International Airport in 2008 from a Spanish citizen.

According to the airport, the man did not have the appropriate documentation citing ownership of the artifact. The piece was then confiscated.

“They determined that the coffin had left Egypt after 1970 as the earliest public record of the piece dated to 2007 when it was exhibited in Madrid,” Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities said in a statement.

According to the SCA, the sarcophagus is to be handed over to Hawass on March 10 in Washington, DC, as he plans to attend an official gala ceremony.

Hawass publicly claims to have secured the return of around 5,000 artifacts since his SCA tenure began.

BM

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