Within a decade, Cairo managed to get back more than 29,000 antiquities that were stolen and sold outside the country

One of the largest pharaonic wooden sarcophagi ever found, illegally exported from Egypt and until recently in the collection of a US museum, was returned to Cairo 4 days ago, Foreign Minister Sameh Hassan Shoukry announced.

"There are two types of sarcophagi: those of royal houses and those of high-ranking officials, this one belonged to an official," said Mostafa Waziri, the director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities.

The announcement was made at a press conference given by Shoukry and Waziri at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which was broadcast on television.

The sarcophagus, 2.94 meters long and 90 centimeters wide, dates from the Late Period, about 2,700 years ago, and was found in central Egypt.

Within a decade, Cairo managed to get back more than 29,000 antiquities that were stolen and sold outside the country. In addition to these returns, several important discoveries have been announced in recent months, most notably at the necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo. In 2021 and 2022 more than 300 sarcophagi and 150 bronze statues were found, many more than 3,000 years old.

Egypt is relying on these new discoveries to boost its tourism which has been hit hard by the Covid-19 pandemic. This sector, which employs 2 million people and accounts for more than 10% of GDP, has been in decline since the Arab Spring in 2011.

Egyptian authorities have been promising for months that they will soon open the "Great Egyptian Museum" near Giza, but until now they have not announced the exact date of the opening. Many expected this to happen in 2022, on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the decipherment of the Rosetta Column by the Frenchman Jean-Francois Champollion and the 100th anniversary of the discovery of the pharaoh Tutankhamun's tomb.