New York museum says ancient coffin was looted, will go back to Egypt
(Artdaily.org)

The Metropolitan Museum of Art will return an ancient gilded coffin to Egypt after New York prosecutors determined that it had been looted from that country, the museum said. The museum had purchased the prized coffin, dating from the first century BCE, in July 2017 from a Paris art dealer for a price of nearly four million dollars. But the Manhattan district attorney`s office determined that the mummy-shaped golden coffin had been sold with fake documentation, including a forged 1971 Egyptian export license. It was not clear what had sparked the district attorney`s investigation. The statement Friday quoted Met CEO Daniel Weiss as apologizing to the Egyptian people and specifically to Antiquities Minister Khaled El-Enany. `After we learned that the Museum was a victim of fraud and unwittingly participated in the illegal trade of antiquities, we worked with the DA`s office for its return to Egypt,` Weiss said.