US returns 48 smuggled artifacts from 3 different eras to Egypt

The FBI returned dozens of looted artifacts to representatives of the Egyptian government during a ceremony held Friday in Los Angeles, RT reported on Friday. Among the items returned to Egypt were jewelry, statues, sculptures, amulets, funerary objects, and ancient inscriptions, along with other pieces dating back to the Pharaonic, Roman, and Coptic periods, according to the FBI. The assistant director in charge of the FBI’s Los Angeles office, Patrick Grandy, said that with the assistance of the US State Department, archaeological experts, and the FBI’s legal attaché in Cairo, it was confirmed that all 48 items belonged to Egypt. Grandy added that the suspected smuggler of these artifacts has since passed away, noting that the case remains open as authorities work to identify potential accomplices and locate other artifacts that may have been illegally obtained. The Egyptian Consul General in Los Angeles, Hossam Ali, said “These artifacts that have been returned represent an essential part of Egypt’s history, cultural heritage, and people, and we are extremely happy and proud to bring them home.” He added, “Egypt looks forward to further constructive and robust bilateral cooperation in the cultural field and beyond.” According to the FBI, the illicit trafficking of cultural property is a source of funding for transnational criminal and terrorist organizations and undermines the integrity of the US art and antiquities market. In 2016, the US and Egypt signed an agreement on cultural property, allowing the US to impose restrictions on the import of certain categories of archaeological and ethnological materials from Egypt. Officials said the agreement establishes a framework for identifying, seizing, and returning illicitly trafficked cultural property, while also encouraging the legal exchange of artifacts for cultural, educational, and scientific purposes. According to the FBI, US law enforcement agencies have returned more than 5,000 archaeological and cultural artifacts to Egypt over the past decade.