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Egypt’s interior ministry says a 3,000-year-old gold bracelet that vanished from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo has been stolen and destroyed.
The artefact, which dates back to the reign of Pharaoh Amenemope around 1,000 BC, was taken nine days ago from a museum safe by a restoration specialist, according to the ministry.
Investigators say the woman sold the bracelet through a chain of jewellers, eventually reaching a gold foundry worker who melted it down with other pieces. The items changed hands for just over $4,000 (£3,200).
All four suspects — the restoration worker, two jewellers and the foundry employee — were arrested, confessed to the crime and had their earnings seized, authorities said. Legal proceedings are under way.
Security scramble
The tourism and antiquities ministry said it had launched an internal investigation as soon as the bracelet was reported missing from the museum’s restoration lab. Officials circulated an image of the piece to Egypt’s airports, seaports and land borders in case smugglers attempted to move it abroad.
Local media reported the disappearance was discovered while staff were preparing artefacts for shipment to an exhibition in Rome.
A major loss
The Egyptian Museum, the oldest archaeological museum in the Middle East, houses more than 170,000 artefacts, including Amenemope’s gilded funerary mask. The theft comes just weeks before the long-awaited opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, which will display the full treasures of Tutankhamun’s tomb.
The loss of the Amenemope bracelet has drawn sharp criticism of museum security and raised fresh concerns about the protection of Egypt’s priceless heritage.
