On Sunday, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities announced that port security and customs administration in Nuweiba seaport on the Red Sea had seized 1,752 artifacts, including a statue of Aphrodite, before they were smuggled out of the country.
The Secretary-General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, Mostafa Waziri, stated that this seizure came after the archaeological unit in the port received a report from the security that it suspected archaeological artifacts that were seized inside a large cargo vehicle designated for transporting fruit.
After the formation of a specialized archaeological committee to inspect and examine the seizures, the archaeological committee confirmed all the artifacts, and accordingly the necessary legal measures were taken and the seizures were confiscated for the benefit of the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.
A ministry statement quoted Muhammad Atman, Director General of Maritime Archaeological Ports, as saying that the seized items included a bronze statue of the goddess Aphrodite from the Roman era, and 1,752 artifacts, including 1,722 coins of silver, pylon and bronze from the Ptolemaic era and the era of the emperors Nero, Hadrian and Antonius Pius. The Alexandria Mint.
It also included 20 bronze coins of different sizes and weights, six gold dinars and silver dirhams on which the message of monotheism and part of Surat al-Tawbah were written, coins from different Islamic eras written in deep calligraphy, and others from the Roman era engraved with phrases in the Greek language.
It also included a yellow metal coin bearing the image of Empress Julia Domna, wife of Emperor Septimius Severus, whose rule extended from the end of the second century to the beginning of the third century AD, and a bronze coin of the Byzantine era with the head of an emperor not clearly defined.
Egypt has intensified its efforts during the past few years to recover many of the artifacts that were illegally over the decades or that were offered for sale in international auctions with forged property papers.
Egypt is currently rushing to complete the work of the Grand Egyptian Museum next to the Pyramids of Giza, which will contain tens of thousands of artifacts, most notably the rare King Tutankhamun collection.
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