BIA

AVRIL 2015
said, “The investigation started with a small
piece — a tiny figurine. In this case it was the
investigation of a suspect’s shipment that came
into New York City. And when that piece was
pulled, it unravelled an investigation that took
several years.”
CURRIE went on to say that investigators,
most of whom work at ICE’s Homeland Security
Investigations (HSI) unit, conducted a top-secret
mission called “Operation Mummy’s Curse”
targeting an international criminal network that
illegally smuggled and imported over 7,000
cultural items from around the world.
“Preserving mankind’s cultural heritage is an
increasingly difficult challenge in today’s
society,” said US Immigration and Customs
Enforcement (ICE) Director Sarah R Saldaña in
an ICE press release published by Fox News.
“To think that some of these treasured
artefacts were recovered from garages is
unimaginable. It is an honour for ICE to
investigate these kinds of cases and to assist
other countries in preserving their heritage.”
Two days later, another batch of stolen and
illegally smuggled antiquities was returned to
Egypt from France. The collection includes 240
ancient Egyptian artefacts from various eras,
including 49 heart-shaped onyx amulets,
limestone stelae depicting an offering scene to
the deities Isis and Osiris and wooden painted
statuettes of sailors as well as gold rings and
necklaces. A collection of wooden ushabti
figurines and clay vessels of different sizes are
also included, together with a number of
Graeco-Roman metal coins.
For his part al-Damâtî says these objects
were illegally smuggled out of the country after
illicit excavations at sites around Egypt, but the
Ministry of Antiquities had managed to prove
Egypt’s ownership of them. He asserted that
over the last two days Egypt has repatriated
380 objects from the United States and France,
“highlighting the ministry’s efforts to preserve
Egypt’s heritage and return stolen objects to
their homeland.”
All retrieved objects, al-Damâtî said, are to
be restored and put on temporary display at
the Egyptian Museum in Tahrîr Square. (Nevine
El-Aref, “Homeward pharaohs”, Al-Ahram Weekly,
April 30, 2015. Voir également Nevine El-Aref,
“123 stolen artefacts to return to Egypt”,
Ahram Online, April 19 ; Muna Yâsîn,
« Washington restitue 123 pièces antiques
volées », al-Masrî al-Yawm, 20 avril ; Dînâ ‘Abd
al-‘Alîm, « Retour des États-Unis de 123 pièces
antiques volées », al-Yawm al-Sâbi‘, 19 avril ;
« Retour de 123 pièces archéologiques de
Washington », al-Ahrâm, 20 avril ; “Egypt
retrieves 135 ancient artifacts from the United
States”, Egypt Independent, April 20 ; “235
historical artifacts retrieved from France”, Egypt
Independent, April 24).
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Le secrétaire général du Conseil Suprême
des Antiquités (CSA), Dr Mustafa Amîn, a révélé
que dans le cadre de la nouvelle
restructuration du ministère de l’Archéologie, le
CSA va disparaître, et son secrétaire général
deviendra un vice-ministre. De son côté, Dr
Muhammad ‘Abd al-Maqsûd a approuvé ce
nouveau plan. (Ahmad Mansûr, « Disparition du
CSA dans la nouvelle restructuration du
ministère de l’Archéologie », al-Yawm al-Sâbi‘,
30 avril 2015).
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Although a heat wave hit Cairo on Monday,
hundreds of foreign and Egyptian journalists,
photographers, TV presenters and government
officials flocked to the Gîza Plateau to witness
the official reopening of two Old Kingdom
tombs belonging to the high priest Imery and
his eldest son Nefer Bau Ptah, a superintendent
of the royal palace during the Fifth Dynasty
reign of the Pharaoh Khufu.
The tombs are located in the south-western
corner of the Gîza western cemetery to the
west of Khufu’s Great Pyramid. Imery’s tomb is
one of the most exquisitely decorated in the
cemetery. Built of limestone and divided into
three sections consisting of an entrance hall, a
corridor and an offering hall, it is decorated
BIA LI — Janvier/Juin 2015 104