WATANI International
21 November 2010
Back from the Met
According to the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art has agreed to send back treasures taken from the tomb of the famed pharaoh Tutankhamun. The museum agreed to recognise Egypt’s right to 19 relics in its possession since early last century, the SCA said in a statement. The artefacts, which include a bronze figurine of a dog with a golden collar, a sphinx, and part of a bracelet made of semi-precious lapis lazuli, will be returned next year and go on display in 2012, secretary-general of the SCA Zahi Hawass said. He said the artefacts will remain on display in the United States until mid-2011.
Met director Thomas Campbell said in a statement on the museum’s website that its Egyptian art department “produced detailed evidence leading us to conclude without doubt that 19 objects, which entered the Met’s collection over the period from the 1920s to the 1940s, originated in Tutankhamun’s tomb.” Unlike other archaeological discoveries at the time, some of which the Egyptian government allowed excavators to keep, the treasures found in Tutankhamun’s tomb were meant to stay in the country. Fifteen of the 19 relics are “bits and samples,” the Met statement said. The remaining four, including the dog figurine and the sphinx, are “of more significant art-historical interest.”
Tutankhamun is believed to have died more than 3,000 years ago when he was about 18 years. His tomb, which included a gold coffin and mask, was discovered in 1922 by English archaeologist Howard Carter. The dog figurine, which stands less than an inch high, and the blue sphinx bracelet piece were inherited by Carter##s niece as part of his estate. Two other items, part of a handle and a beaded collar, were found in Carter’s Luxor house, the entire contents of which were bequeathed to the Met.
The agreement with the museum is the latest victory for Hawass, who has doggedly campaigned for the return of some of the country’s best known artefacts from abroad.
Twelve sphinxes
Culture Minister Farouk Hosny last week announced that twelve new sphinxes have been unearthed during the excavation work carried out by the Supreme Council of Antiquities on the Avenue of the Sphinxes in Luxor.
The newly found sphinxes date back to the reign of Nectanebo I (380-362BC), SCA secretary general Zahi Hawass said. He said the find was surprising in that the sphinxes are not located along the known path of Avenue of the Sphinxes which runs between Karnak and Luxor temples, but lie at the tip of the newly discovered road of Nectanebo I.
The 20-metre stretch of the road so far excavated is built of sandstone from the quarries at Gebel Silsila, north of Aswan. The total length of this road to the Nile runs some 600 metres. Dr Hawass said it was along this way that the sacred barge of the god Amun travelled on his annual trip from Karnak to visit his wife, Mut, at Luxor temple. The king used it as well for religious processions.
The discovery marks the first time part of this ancient route, mentioned in many ancient texts, is unearthed. Besides the sphinx statues, which are inscribed with the name of Nectanebo I, the excavation team also recovered Roman period objects, including an oil press and pottery. Excavation is ongoing.