Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Sherif Fathy said over the weekend that the bracelet that belonged to an ancient Egyptian pharaoh was stolen on September 9 while officials at the museum prepared artifacts for an exhibition in Italy.
Lax procedures at the Egyptian Museum led to the theft, according to Minister Fathy.
The gold bracelet, with a cup of pearls, belongs to Pharaoh Amenemope, who ruled ancient Egypt about 3,000 years ago.
The gold bracelet was stolen in the museum's restoration lab and was then transferred to a chain of traders before being melted, officials said. There were no security cameras in the lab.
Four suspects have been arrested, including a reformed medicine specialist at the museum. The restoration expert confessed that he gave the bracelet to an acquaintance who was the owner of a silver shop in Sayyeda Zainab district, Cairo.
The 3,000-year-old bracelet was then sold to a gold shop owner for about $3,800. Finally, the antique was sold for about $4,000 to another gold shop worker who had melted the bracelet to make jewelry.
The defendants have pleaded guilty and the money collected from the crime has been confiscated.
The Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities also released a video from a security camera showing a shop owner receiving a bracelet, weighing it and then paying one of the two suspects.
The judge ordered the detention of the rehabilitation specialist and the woman's acquaintance for another 15 days while waiting for further investigation. The judge also ordered the release of the remaining two suspects if they paid a deposit of 10,000 Egyptian pounds ($207) each.
The loss of the treasure that has existed for 3 millennia has angered the Egyptian people. Many people questioned security measures at museums and called for tightening these measures on the country's antiques.
The renowned Egyptian archaeologist Monica Hanna called for the suspension of exhibitions abroad "until there is better control" to protect the artifacts.
Lawyer Malek Adly called the theft of the gold bracelet a bell to warn authorities about the need to increase security for antiques in exhibition rooms and those in storage.
Pharaoh Amenemope ruled Egypt during the 21st Dynasty of Egypt. According to the Egyptian Museum, the Tanis Royal Cemetery in the Nile Delta, the center of the dynasty at that time, was discovered by French archaeologist Pierre Montet in 1940.
The cemetery's collection includes about 2,500 artifacts, including gold funeral masks, silver coffins and gold jewelry.
