Authorities in Egypt are alert due to the loss of a golden bracelet which was kept in the Egyptian Museum, Cairo. The bracelet was attributed to a Pharaoh called Amenemope, and dates c. 1000 BCE.

According to the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities’ press release on Sept. 16, the Ministry had taken immediate legal and administrative measures regarding the disappearance of “a bracelet from the restoration laboratory at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir”. As it is reported, the case has been referred to the Public Prosecution and relevant law enforcement authorities, with all concerned entities officially notified to take the necessary actions.

A specialized committee has been formed to inventory and review all artifacts kept in the restoration laboratory. In addition, an image of the missing bracelet has been circulated to antiquities units across all Egyptian airports, seaports, and land border crossings nationwide as a precautionary step to prevent smuggling attempts.

The Director-General of the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir, clarified that the images circulated on social media platforms do not depict the missing artifact. The bracelets shown in those images are already on display in the museum’s second-floor galleries. The missing bracelet, currently under investigation, is a different piece. It is a golden bracelet adorned with spherical lapis lazuli beads, belonging to King Amenemope from the Third Intermediate Period.

The Ministry emphasized that the announcement of the incident was deliberately delayed to ensure an appropriate environment for the progress of investigations.

A recent press release from the Ministry of Interior, accompanied with a video in its social media pages, reports that the Ministry managed to trace the theft to a museum restoration specialist. In particular, the circumstances were uncovered following a report filed to the Ministry of Interior on the 13th of September by both the Deputy Director of the Egyptian Museum and a museum restoration specialist.

Investigations revealed that the perpetrator was a restoration specialist at the Egyptian Museum, who managed to steal the bracelet on the 9th of September during her working hours at the museum by means of distraction. She then contacted an acquaintance of hers, a silver shop owner in Sayyida Zeinab, Cairo, who sold the bracelet to a gold workshop owner in the historic jewellery district (al-Sagha) for 180,000 Egyptian pounds. The latter resold it to a gold foundry worker for 194,000 Egyptian pounds, where it was melted down along with other pieces of jewellery to be recast.

After the necessary legal procedures were taken, the suspects were apprehended. Confronted with the evidence, they confessed to the crime, and the money obtained from selling the bracelet was seized in their possession. Legal measures have been initiated.

For the record, the bracelet was associated to the burial of the Pharaoh Amenemope, which was found next to that of the slightly later Pharaoh Psusennes I, in that latter’s tomb in the ancient city of Tanis. The discovery of Tanis’ royal funerary complex, that also included the burials of other kings, further royalty and officials, took place in 1939 and was a sensation as many tombs were found remarkably intact and full of spectacular burial goods which could only be compared with the treasures of Tutankhamun. Unlike Tutankhamun’s objects, which will be displayed at the Grand Egyptian Museum, the treasures of Tanis will remain in the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.

The lost bracelet was among a group of Tanis artifacts which were under restoration prior to their transfer to Rome for the upcoming exhibition “Treasures of the Pharaohs”.