[MSN] Egyptian Culture Minister Farouq Hosni said a stolen 4, 500-year-old Egyptian relic that was to be included in a New York Christie's auction last year has come back home.

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Stolen ancient Egyptian artifact back home

CAIRO, August 20 -- Egyptian Culture Minister Farouq Hosni said a stolen
4,500-year-old Egyptian relic that was to be included in a New York
Christie's auction last year had come back home on Saturday, the official
MENA news agency reported Sunday.

In 1979, a German team of archeologists excavated the duck-shaped vessel
from a royal burial chamber at the pyramid of Amenemhat III, the sixth ruler
of Egypt's 12th dynasty, which locates in the Egyptian city of Dahshur, some
30 km south of the capital of Cairo, said the report.

When the Interpol found the ancient Egyptian artifact in the Christie's
auction list in 2006, it informed the Immigration and Customs Enforcement of
the United States.

In coordination with the Egyptian Consulate in New York, all legal measures
required to restore the artifact duck which had been smuggled into the
United States in 1982 were taken, Secretary General of Egypt's Supreme
Council of Antiquities Zahi Hawass was quoted as saying.

Egypt has succeeded in the past few years to restore about 5,000 stolen
ancient relics. - xinhuanet

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