Ancient skeletal parts confiscated in Cairo International Airport

CAIRO - 25 February 2019: Head of the Central Administration of Ports and Archaeological Units in Egyptian ports Hamdi Hammam affirmed that the customs authorities assumed the presence of a suspicious object placed in one of the speakers in a parcel set to be shipped to Belgium.

All parcels were seized by the authorities for examination and to present them to the specialized archaeological committee.

Hammam added that a specialized committee from the Ministry of Antiquities was formed immediately under the chairmanship of Georges Mounir, director general of the archaeological units, which in turn tested the headphones using X-rays, revealing the presence of skeletal parts hidden inside the body of the speaker.



FILE - The sound system used in the smuggling process

Director of archaeological units in the cargo villages Ali Ramadan stated that after extracting the skeletal parts hidden inside a large speaker and examining them, it was confirmed that they were antiquities; hence, they were confiscated for the benefit of the Ministry of Antiquities in accordance with the law of antiquities protection No. 117 of 1983 and its amendments.

Iman Abdel Raouf, director general of the Archaeological Ports, added that the seized pieces are six parts of two mummies with the remains of the muffling and resin coils.

Abdel Raouf further pointed out that the committee decided to expedite the antiquities' delivery to the Egyptian Museum to complete their inspection and restoration.