Egypt’s Tourism & Antiquities Police in Minya seize 374 artifacts

CAIRO - 2 June 2020: Egypt’s Tourism and Antiquities Police in Minya seized 374 artifacts inside the house of a young man residing in the village of Abu Basht in Maghagha.

The seized items included necklaces, statues, scarabs, copper coins, as well as amulets of ancient Egyptian deities and sacred animals dating back to numerous eras.

Assistant Minister of Interior for the Tourism and Antiquities Police Reda el-Omda received intelligence from Assistant Director of the Tourism and Antiquities Police Mohamed Abdel Zahir that information has been received about a person in Abu Basht who possesses various antiques belonging to different ages.

A police force was formed under the supervision of Director of the Tourism and Antiquities Investigation Department Medhat Montaser. Investigations found the information to be correct. Permission was then obtained from the Public Prosecution, to search the defendant's house, Ahmed-F-H, 26, who has a bachelor’s degree in law.

A black granite scarab was seized with the title of King Tutankhamun, in addition to 25 amulets for ancient Egyptian deities and some sacred animals from the Middle Kingdom of the 17th region.

A 3-cm- tall limestone statue of a child from the Greek era was also seized, in addition to a 25-cm-tall wooden statue for the god Horus, dating back to the Pharaonic times.

Furthermore, a necklace made in the form of a lion was seized, as well as a pendant with a bunch of beads and 3 medium-sized lamp potteries dating back to the Greco-Roman period.

Also, seizures included 304 copper coins of various shapes and sizes dating back to the Greco-Roman era and an Ushabti statue of 10 cm in length, dating back to the Late Kingdom.

The man was taken into custody for further investigations as to how he had access to such rare and precious artifacts.