Egypt has recovered 21 ancient artefacts that were illegally smuggled to Australia, the country’s antiquities ministry announced on Sunday.
The retrieved items include a funerary figurine, an amulet shaped like the Eye of Horus, and a fragment of a wooden sarcophagus.
Most of the pieces were on public display at a prominent Australian auction house until it was discovered they lacked proper ownership documents.
The artefacts were officially handed over to Egypt’s embassy in Canberra, though authorities did not disclose when or how they left the country.
Theft of antiquities remains a persistent challenge, particularly since the 2011 uprising that toppled President Hosni Mubarak.
That period of political chaos saw widespread looting of museums and archaeological sites, with many relics vanishing into the black market.
In the years since, Egypt has intensified efforts to reclaim its heritage, retrieving nearly 30,000 smuggled artefacts in the past decade.
This latest return follows a similar recovery six years ago, when the final piece of a fourth-century BC stela resurfaced in Australia.
The stela, known as the Sheshn Nerfertem stela, had vanished from Luxor in 1995 and was traced to Switzerland before being returned in parts.
Now whole again, the stela and the newly repatriated artefacts are undergoing restoration at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square.
Officials plan to showcase the pieces in a temporary exhibition, marking another symbolic victory in Egypt’s long struggle to reclaim its stolen past.
The ministry’s announcement underscores the enduring importance of international cooperation in protecting and preserving cultural heritage.