Tutankhamen lost another battle | Auction in …

A 3000-year-old bust of young Egyptian pharaoh Tutankhamun was auctioned in London for $ 6 million on Thursday, despite protests in Cairo. The auction house Christie's sold the quartz relic, measuring 28.5 centimeters tall, for nearly 6 million US dollars in one of its most controversial sales for many years . No information has been provided on the buyer.

But the Egyptian archaeologist and former Minister of Antiquities, Zahi Hawbad, believes that the work "left Egypt in the 1970s because at that time, other ancient objects of the same nature were stolen from the Karnak Temple "in Luxor. "Christie's can not tell us when he was stolen" and "the owners have provided false information," he said after Cairo management asked Christie in June for to cancel the auction of this coin and other artifacts from ancient Egypt.

This controversy is part of a long-standing debate about the return of works of art in their home country, as the epitome of the Parthenon friezes kept at the British Museum in London illustrates. and claimed by Athens for decades. Chile, for its part, has been negotiating for months with this London museum to recover, perhaps in the form of a long-term loan, the Hoa Hakananai Moai, who has the greatest spiritual value for the Easter Island, located in the South Pacific.

A dozen protesters waved flags and Egyptian banners to say "stop the stolen antique trade" in front of the British auction house. "It should not be in a house, but in a museum," said Egyptian Magda Sakr. "It's history, it's one of our most famous kings," added the 50-year-old woman.

The bankruptcy lawsuit is part of the Resandro collection, one of the most renowned private collections in the world, and has been on display many times over the last few years, Christie points out.

It was purchased in 1985 from Heinz Herzer, a seller based in Munich, Germany. Previously, it was in the hands of Joseph Messina, an Austrian seller, who had bought it around 1973-1974 to Prince Wilhelm von Thurn und Taxis, who would have it since the 1960s, a- he explained.

The Egyptian Foreign and Antiquities Ministries lamented in a statement that Christie's Wednesday had organized a first sale of Egyptian artifacts despite "the legitimate Egyptian claims of the last few weeks", particularly regarding the sale of Egyptian goods. obtaining certificates of acquisition works.

Prior to the subatas, the Egyptian Embbady in the UK regretted "that the auction house is planning to hold a new Egyptian craft auction, including the bust of Tutankhamun, without guarantee obtaining "necessary for sale", adds the ministry "It is extremely important to establish the recent ownership (of the work) and the legality of the sale, which we made very clearly "said a spokeswoman for the auction house in London, where the sale took place.

The bust represents the god Amon with characteristics that can be recognized as those of the pharaoh Tutankhamun: the lower lip slightly fallen, almond eyes and a deep gap between the eyes and eyebrows.