Egypt is set to retrieve five of its
artefacts from the United States, which marks a milestone in cultural heritage
preservation between the two countries.
The Egyptian embassy in Washington DC.
held a ceremony to celebrate the return of the artefacts, which Egypt received
from the Internal Security Division (ISD) of the U.S. Department of Interior.
The five artefacts consist of a bronze
statue of the Egyptian god Seth. They also include a carved basalt scarab
beetle and a fragment of an Egyptian statue dating from 1500 to 600 BCE.
Furthermore, the returned artefacts
include an enamelled fish and a falcon's head that date back to the Ptolemaic
era.
In 2021, Egypt and the United States,
parties to the 1970 UNESCO convention, signed a 5-year Memorandum of
Understanding (MoU) to impose restrictions on importing certain categories of
Egyptian cultural property from the United States.
During the ceremony, the Egyptian
Ambassador to Washington, Moataz Zahran, expressed his gratitude to the
American authorities for their efforts to return these artefacts and praised
the effective cooperation between Egypt and the U.S. in protecting
cultural heritage.
Zahran also stressed the importance of
returning these artefacts to their homeland, Egypt, as they represent a
valuable and rich heritage for the country and hold great historical and
cultural significance for Egyptians.
For his part, Deputy Assistant
Secretary of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, Jeffery Darren, praised
the robust Egyptian laws prohibiting the export of culturally significant
items.
"These laws have streamlined and
facilitated the retrieval processes and ensured that these pieces do not leave
the country illegally, contributing to the protection of Egypt's cultural
heritage," Darren explained.
He also highlighted the efforts of the
Homeland Security Department in recovering the 5 artefacts through three
investigations carried out by special agents from the National Security
Investigations in Chicago, Memphis, and Cleveland.
"We are diligently investigating
crimes related to illegal import, export, and distribution of cultural
properties, antiquities, and art. These efforts are closely coordinated with
the U.S. Customs and Border Protection across all ports in the United
States," Darren stated.
Source: State
Information Service
