Pubblicato su Artnet il 10 novembre 2025
Egypt has announced the return of 36 relics from the United States, decades after they were illegally taken out of the country, according to its Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
Eleven of the artifacts were located by the Manhattan District Attorney’s Antiquities Trafficking Unit and the New York State Attorney General; 24 were returned by New York City’s Metropolitan Museum of Art returned another 24; and another one was recovered solely by the New York State Attorney General. These Egyptian-led operations were carried out under an ongoing Memorandum of Understanding between Egypt and the United States regarding illegal antiquities. The current, expanded MOU, signed in 2021, remains valid through 2026.
A sculpture from the 36-piece cache. Courtesy of Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
The Antiquities Traffic Unit overseen by Manhattan District Attorney Alvin Bragg led the discovery of the first group of 11 antiquities, which turned up amid an undisclosed number of criminal investigations. One of these investigations related to the late, disgraced, London-based antiquities dealer Robin Symes. The Manhattan DA has recovered 135 antiquities valued at more than $58 million which Symes allegedly moved through the borough.
According to a May 2025 press release, standout objects from the Manhattan District Attorney’s 11-piece cache include a vessel depicting the protective god Bes dated to 650–550 B.C.E., and a Mummy Mask of a Youth from 100–300 C.E.. Symes sold the vessel to a U.S. museum in the early 1990s; and NYC-based dealer Mathias Komor sold the mask in the late 1970s to a private collector, who later donated the mask to a museum. The D.A.’s office declined to disclose which museums were holding these two relics when the ATU located them—or how many criminal investigations the trove of 11 antiquities hailed from.
One of the Coptic manuscripts the Met handed over. Courtesy of Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
Meanwhile, the Metropolitan Museum of Art returned “24 rare manuscripts with writings in Coptic and Syriac,” according to the Egyptian Ministry’s statement. Although the Met has not responded to a request for comment confirming whether these manuscripts were part of their collection or how they may have ended up there, several sources have reported that the museum gave the artifacts to the Egyptian Consulate of New York “as a gesture of goodwill.”
Finally, the New York State Attorney General confiscated and returned an approximately 3,000-year-old painted plaster panel from the 18th Dynasty “after it was found out that it had left Egypt illegally,” according to the Ministry. The Attorney General’s office also declined to provide further details on the find—although they did note that the Manhattan D.A. handled the item’s return.
The repatriated Mummy Mask. Courtesy of Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities
Now that an archaeological committee has received these 36 artifacts, they’re headed for the 123-year old Egyptian Museum on Cairo’s Tahrir Square, where they will be restored before going on display.
“The restoration of this group represents a new step in a series of achievements made thanks to the systematic scientific and legal work of the Egyptian state,” Sharif Fathi, Egypt’s Minister of Tourism and Antiquities, remarked in a statement. “These pieces are not just historical holdings, but living evidence of a civilization made by Egyptians over thousands of years, and its return to the homeland is the culmination of tireless efforts and effective international cooperation.”
