Al Jazzera reported that the symbolic handover ceremony took place on January 2 in Cairo with the participation of US Interim Ambassador to Egypt Daniel Rubinstein; Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry and Egyptian Minister of Tourism and Antiquities Ahmed Issa.
Speaking at the ceremony, Foreign Minister Shoukry said: A valuable part of Egypts history has been restored after a process of cooperation with our friends in the US and after years of efforts.
The return of ancient coffins is part of the Egyptian government's efforts to prevent the trade of stolen antiques. In 2021, authorities in Cairo brought 5,300 stolen antiques from around the world back to Egypt.
Mr. Mostafa Waziri - a senior official of the Supreme Council for Archaeology in Egypt - said that the coffin dates back to the late Egyptian period - an era that lasted from 664 BC to 332 BC.
The ancient coffin is nearly 3 meters high, the surface is painted brightly. The coffin may have belonged to an ancient prior named Ankhenmaat, although some of the inscription on it has been deleted, Waziri said.
The return ceremony took place more than three months after the Manhattan District Police Department determined the coffin had been stolen from Abu Sir cemetery, north of Cairo. According to Manhattan District Police Alvin L Bragg, the coffin was smuggled through Germany to the US in 2008.
Bragg said at the time: A sophisticated network of looting countless antiques in the area was trading this beautiful coffin. We are very happy that the ancient coffin will be returned to Egypt, where it belongs legally.
Bragg added that the network had also smuggled a gilded coffin out of Egypt - displayed at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. The museum bought the work from an art dealer in Paris in 2017 for around $4 million. It was returned to Egypt in 2019.
In September, the Metropolitan Museum returned 16 artifacts to Egypt after an investigation in the US concluded that they had been illegally traded.
The handover of ancient coffins comes as many countries are demanding the repatriation of creations representing their heritages from museums in Europe and North America.
Egypt has also demanded the return of the Rosetta Stone - one of the most important artifacts in the British Museum - 200 years after the stone da was decoded, the secrets of the symbolic text were revealed and marked the birth of the modern Egyptian studies.
Egypt said the return of artifacts helps boost tourism, an important source of income for the country's struggling economy.
Egypt is expected to soon open a new museum near the Giza pyramids to display its most famous ancient Egyptian collections.
