Kuwait returns smuggled ancient artefacts to Egypt

Kuwait returns smuggled ancient artefacts to Egypt
Kuwait returned five ancient Egyptian artefacts that were smuggled and caught by Kuwait customs in 2019.
1 min read
17 June, 2022
Egypt's ambassador to Kuwait Osama Shaltout thanked the Kuwaiti authorities for returning the artefacts [Getty]

Kuwait on Thursday returned to Cairo five ancient Egyptian artefacts that were smuggled from Egypt prior to the coronavirus pandemic.

In 2019, the five priceless items were illegally taken out of Egypt, only to be confiscated by the customs department at Kuwait Airport, said Sultan Al-Duwaish, the head of the Artifacts and Museums Department at Kuwait's National Council for Culture Arts and Literature (NCCAL).

The items included statues of Pharaohs Amenhotep III and Amun-Ra and the ancient Egyptian god Horus, as well as a stone mural.

On Thursday, they were handed over to the Egyptian ambassador to Kuwait at the Kuwait National Museum.

The return of the items was jointly organised by Kuwait's foreign ministry, the customs department and NCCAL in accordance with international treaties.

Egypt's ambassador to Kuwait, Osama Shaltout, thanked Kuwaiti authorities for returning the items.

"These artefacts will be returned to Egypt and will be subject to further examinations to determine their importance," he said.