Middle East News

Egypt investigates theft of ancient statue in Sinai

Sep 30, 2010, 14:52 GMT

Al-Arish, Egypt - Egyptian officials on Thursday were investigating the theft of a statue of the ancient goddess Hathor from a museum in South Sinai, after the piece was found in the desert a day earlier.

Prosecutors are interrogating security guards at the Serabit el- Khadim temple, where the statue of Hathor stood, security sources said.

The 120-centimetre-high statue was found Wednesday in the desert, five days after it was discovered to be missing, the Ministry of Culture said.

Six statues, including that of Hathor, will be displayed at a museum in the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh, where a whole department will focus on the history of mining in ancient Egypt and the extraction of turquoise and copper in South Sinai, the ministry added.

Serabit al-Khadim is an ancient quarry dating back to the Old Kingdom where ancient Egyptians mined turquoise.