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Ancient manuscript returned from UK to Egypt

August 7, 2018 at 1:22 pm

Ancient Egyptian manuscript [Twitter]

Egypt said yesterday that it has retrieved from the United Kingdom a “rare” Egyptian archaeological manuscript that dates back over 500 years ago.

The announcement was made by the Egyptian Minister of Culture, Inas Abdel-Dayem, during a press conference held at Cairo’s National Archives.

Abdel-Dayem said the manuscript is by Mohiuddin Al Kafiji, a historian who was born in the eighth century according to the Islamic calendar.

READ: Egypt loses 33,600 historical artefacts over 50 years

She explained that the manuscript was to be sold in an auction in London however this was stopped after Egypt contested and proved its ownership.

The minister thanked auctioneer Bonhams for agreeing to negotiate with the manuscript’s owner in order to return it to Egypt.

The restored manuscript is one of the holdings of the Egyptian National Library and Archives. It was lost in the 1970s.