São Paulo – The New York Metropolitan Museum of Art is going to return to Egypt 19 objects that were found in the tomb of pharaoh Tutankhamun in the early 20th century and that, up to July, were included in the collection of the North American institution. According to Egyptian news agency Mena, the items should arrive at the Egyptian Museum of Cairo on Tuesday (2). The return is the result of an agreement signed in November 2010 between the Metropolitan and the secretary general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities of Egypt.
The products were found in the Valley of the Kings, in Luxor, Egypt, in 1922, by British archaeologist Howard Carter. He sought the “treasure” for over 40 years. In November 1922, in an exhibition financed by a British millionaire, he found the tomb of the pharaoh.
According to information disclosed by the Metropolitan, at the time, it was common for the government of Egypt to allow archaeologists to keep part of what they found in expeditions they promoted and financed.
In the tomb of the pharaoh, the archaeologist found the preserved sarcophagus and an enormous wealth of objects, many golden, apart from the items that are now being returned to Egypt.
On deciding to return the objects to Egypt, in late 2010, the Metropolitan said that they never should have left the Arab country. In Cairo, the items will be included in an exhibition on pharaoh Tutankhamun. In 2012, the objects should be sent to the Grand Egyptian Museum, in Giza.
Of the 19 items, 15 are fragments or samples. The other four have greater historic and artistic value. One of them is a 2cm tall sculpture of a dog, in bronze. The other is part of a bracelet in the shape of a sphinx that belonged to a niece of Carter’s. There is also a necklace and part of a handle, according to the Metropolitan, found in Carter’s house in Luxor and left to the institution by the archaeologist.
The artefacts remained at the Metropolitan’s expedition house in Egypt until 1948. When it was closed, they were shipped to Nova York, where they became part of the Egyptian collection of the Metropolitan.
The “boy king”, as he became known, ruled Egypt from 1336 to 1327 b.C., from age 10 to age 19. Up to early 2010, it was believed that the pharaoh had been murdered. New studies on Tutankhamun’s mummy, early last year, however, show that he died of malaria.
*Translated by Mark Ament
