5:15 pm - October 17, 2025
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Egyptian authorities are desperately looking for an ancient limestone painting drawn from an ancient burial place– the current in a series of prominent artifact thefts.
Mohamed Ismail, secretary-general of the Supreme Council of Antiquities, revealed the presumed theft on Sunday. The painting was taken from the Saqqara necropolis, per The Associated Press.
The al fresco museum is “among the most crucial cemeteries” in Memphis, some 15 miles south of Cairo, the council’s site stated.
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The limestone relief remained in the burial place of Khentika, a high-ranking figure throughout the 6th dynasty of the Old Kingdom duration.
The painting goes back to around 2,300 B.C., making it a minimum of 4,200 years of ages.
The missing relief, dating to Egypt’s Sixth Dynasty, was apparently drawn from the Saqqara necropolis near Cairo. ( Sui Xiankai/Xinhua through Getty Images)
The burial place, discovered in the 1950s, was sealed by authorities in 2019.
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Mentioning Egyptian media, the AP reported that the painting was found missing out on in Might, however its disappearance was not revealed up until today.
Saqqara, part of Egypt’s ancient capital of Memphis, is among the nation’s wealthiest historical zones. ( Sui Xiankai/Xinhua through Getty Images)
Information about the painting are restricted.
Egyptian media showed the painting revealed the ancient Egyptians’ 3 seasons: the flooding season Akhet, the planting season Peret and the harvest season, Shomu.
Khentika’s burial place is a mastaba, among the couple of in Egypt to have a curse engraved on its exterior. Mastabas were rectangle-shaped, flat-roofed structures with sloping sides constructed over underground burial chambers.
The engraving alerted burglars they might deal with the rage of the gods if they trespassed, the AP reported.
Found about 15 miles south of Cairo, Saqqara is a large burial ground extending throughout the desert plateau. ( Ahmed Gomaa/Xinhua through Getty Images)
The statement comes weeks after authorities revealed that a pharaoh’s invaluable bracelet was taken the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
The bracelet, which came from Pharaoh Usermaatre Amenemope, was melted down.
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Egypt isn’t the only nation struck by current artifact thefts. In Wales, burglars just recently took Bronze Age gold fashion jewelry from St. Fagans National Museum in Cardiff.
Speaking With Fox News Digital in September, hazard management specialist Spencer Coursen stated that hardship in Egypt develops “an environment in which opportunistic criminal activity prospers.”
The al fresco museum at Saqqara draws travelers, scientists and conservators from worldwide. ( Sui Xiankai/Xinhua through Getty Images)
” Pickpocketing in congested markets, taxi overcharging and aggressive sales methods are a lot more typical than heist or attack,” kept in mind Coursen.
” Egypt likewise has actually special threats connected to local instability and terrorism, especially in the Sinai Peninsula and periodically in significant cities.”
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The Associated Press contributed reporting.
Source: Fox News.
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