CAIRO, May 19 (NNN-MENA) – Egypt has recovered 21 illegally smuggled ancient artefacts from Australia, the Egyptian Foreign Ministry announced, yesterday.
Working with Australian authorities, Egypt’s diplomatic missions in Canberra and Sydney, managed to retrieve the 21 items displayed at an auction house, the ministry said in a statement.
The return of the artefacts coincided with the 75th anniversary of Egyptian-Australian diplomatic relations, highlighting the two sides’ cooperation in protecting cultural heritage and combating antiquities trafficking, according to the statement.
The ministry noted that, Egypt has exerted great efforts in preserving its heritage, with the Foreign Ministry playing a key role in retrieving smuggled artefacts, in partnership with the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities and the Supreme Council of Antiquities.
Egypt has intensified its global campaign in recent years, to recover stolen and smuggled antiquities. Last Monday, it announced the recovery of 25 historically and artistically significant artefacts, spanning multiple periods of ancient Egyptian civilisation, from the U.S.– NNN-MENA
