Egypt retrieves two 4,200-year-old murals smuggled in 2001

Two murals dating back to the sixth dynasty of ancient Egypt (2,345-2,181BC) were retrieved in Paris by an Egyptian delegation after being stolen from an excavation site in Cairo in 2001, a statement from Egypt's general prosecutor Hamada El Sawy said.

El Sawy headed the Egyptian delegation that retrieved the two murals.

The two newly retrieved murals were discovered in 2001 by a French archaeological mission excavating in the Saqqara necropolis.

The two Egyptian murals are cream-coloured and decorated with hieroglyphics and date back about 4,200 years.