U.S. Repatriates Artifacts to Egypt

News January 7, 2026

Ptolemaic artifacts repatriated to Egypt
Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Emigration and Egyptian Expatriates
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CAIRO, EGYPT—According to an Ahram Online report, the U.S. has repatriated seven artifacts to Egypt. Shaaban Abdel Gawad of Egypt’s Repatriation of Antiquities Department said that the objects include two mummified fish and a falcon head dated to the Ptolemaic period (304–30 b.c.). These artifacts were seized by U.S. customs in 2017. In 2018, investigating U.S. officials recovered a bronze amulet of Set, a basalt heart-shaped scarab, and a carving of a human face, which had all been illegally smuggled into the country. A painted ushabti figurine and a stone head turned into the Egyptian embassy in Washington by an American citizen were also returned. To read about a recent Ptolemaic-era discovery in Egypt's Eastern Desert, go to "Miners' Misfortune."

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