CAIRO (AP) — Egypt will soon file an official request with U.S. authorities to return a 3,000-year-old wooden coffin illegally smuggled out of the country more than a century ago, the country’s top archaeologist said Sunday. In a statement, Zahi Hawass said the nearly 5-foot-long coffin was taken from Egypt in 1884 after it was stolen from a tomb in Luxor, an ancient pharaonic capital in southern Egypt. Hawass says the ornamented coffin belonged to Pharaoh Ames of the 21st Dynasty, which ruled over Egypt from 1081-931 B.C.——Contact The Daily Reveille’s news staff at [email protected]
Egypt wants 3,000-year-old coffin back from United States
By The Associated Press
March 21, 2009