An ancient Egyptian sarcophagus known as the "Green Coffin" was returned to Egypt. The 2.9 m (9.5 ft) long "Green Coffin" was on display at the Houston Museum of Natural Sciences, US. The wooden sarcophagus dates back to the Late Dynastic Period, which spanned 664BC to 332BC, and belonged to a priest called Ankhenmaat, BBC reported.
The repatriation is part of Egypt's government's efforts to stop the trafficking of its stolen antiquities, Independent reported. In 2021, authorities in Cairo succeeded in getting 5,300 stolen artefacts returned to Egypt from across the world.
The precious sarcophagus was lotted from the Abu Sir necropolis in north Egypt by a global art trafficking network. It was smuggled through Germany into the US in 2008.
The sarcophagus features a brightly painted top surface.
It was handed over at a ceremony following a news conference on Monday in Cairo by Daniel Rubinstein, the US charge d'affaires in Egypt.
The handover came more than three months after the Manhattan District Attorney's Office determined the sarcophagus was looted from Abu Sir Necropolis, north of Cairo. It was smuggled through Germany into the United States in 2008, according to Manhattan District Attorney Alvin L. Bragg, the Independent report said.
"This stunning coffin was trafficked by a well-organized network that has looted countless antiquities from the region," Mr Bragg said at the time. "We are pleased that this object will be returned to Egypt, where it rightfully belongs."
Mr Bragg said the same network had smuggled a gilded coffin out of Egypt that was featured at New York's Metropolitan Museum. Met bought the piece from a Paris art dealer in 2017 for about $4 million. It was returned to Egypt in 2019.
