Arab News | Lebanon returns 37 artefacts smuggled out of Egypt

BEIRUT: Lebanon on Wednesday returned to Egypt dozens of pharaonic artefacts that had been seized from the Beirut port years earlier.

“Thirty-seven antiquities… were seized from Beirut port in 2020, having arrived from an Arab port,” Lebanese Culture Minister Ghassan Salameh said during a handover ceremony at the Beirut national museum.

“After investigating the identity and ownership of these items, it was determined that they belonged to Egypt,” he added.

Five of the items were on display at the ceremony, including masks made of fabric, wood and clay.

“Cooperation between states… contributes to preserving humanity’s heritage,” Egyptian ambassador Alaa Moussa said at the ceremony.

Laura Salloum, an official with Lebanon’s directorate of antiquities, told AFP that at the time of their seizure, the items were stored in a single container.

They “had been purchased by a Lebanese national without any official documentation regarding their source — namely, Egypt,” she said.

Antiquities smuggling is common in Egypt. Over the past decade, Cairo has recovered nearly 30,000 archaeological artefacts, according to officials.