Looted statue of king Akhenaten returned to Egyptian Museum

Feb 17, 2011, 12:21 GMT

Cairo - A statue of King Akhenaten, father of the famous boy king Tutankhamun, was recovered after being stolen from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, the minister for antiquities affairs said Thursday.

The statue was found by a teenage anti-government protester near a rubbish bin close to the museum, Minister Zahi Hawass said in a press statement.

The limestone statue, around seven centimetres long and mounted on alabaster, depicts Akhenaten holding an offering table.

It was stolen along with other artefacts during the recent unrest that toppled president Hosny Mubarak.

Several artefacts were recovered this week, but reports of looting in different areas continued to emerge.

In Sakkara, just south of Cairo, looters broke into several pharoanic graves and stole artefacts including a hidden door, Hawass said in a separate press statement on Thursday.

It was unclear when the looting at Sakkara had taken place.

Artefacts that remain missing include - two small gilded wood statues of king Tutankhamun, a statue of queen Nefertiti making offerings and a sandstone head of an Amarna princess.

During the political unrest, hundreds of Cairo residents had rushed to form a human chain around the museum to protect it from vandals. But looters broke into the building and damaged several antiquities, including two mummies and some statuettes.

The military is now guarding the museum, which is in Tahrir Square, the focal point of the 18 days of protests that led to Mubarak's ouster.

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