National Museum in Scotland: Stone of Khufu Pyramid not stolen

CAIRO – 7 February 2019: The National Museum in Scotland announced that the ancient Egyptian stone form the Great Pyramid of Khufu was not illegally transferred from Egypt.

“We’re perfectly satisfied that there’s no issue of it being traded somehow illicitly. This is something which has been here since 1872,” National Museum in Scotland director Gordon Rintoul told the Guardian on Thursday.

On January 28, 2019, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities requested the Scottish government to provide proof that the Ancient Egyptian artifacts set to be displayed at the National Museum in Scotland in February were not illegally transferred from the country.

An ancient stone that is said to be 4500 years old and has been obtained from the Pyramid of Khufu is scheduled to be displayed at the Scottish Museum with other Egyptian Artifacts in February.

The stone was transferred to Scotland in 1872 by Charles Smith, a religious who was convinced that the pyramid was the masterpiece of Noah.

This stone forms the foundation of a permanent exhibition entitled "Rediscovering Ancient Egypt" which will also feature a gold coffin of an unknown Egyptian queen and a 16th Dynasty Sphinx statue.

The Scottish museum insisted that the Khufu stone was legitimately obtained, but the Egyptian authorities requested it to be verified that all artifacts were legally transferred to Scotland over the years.

Additional reporting by Mustafa Marie