Dispute the yellow mask of the 3,200-year mummy

A gilded mask from Egyptian mummies dating to about 3,200 years old is at the center of a dispute between the country and a museum in the United States.

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The information was published by a US federal judge. This person also affirmed that the mask was an ancient relic of Egypt and was stolen by crooks.

Determined to have been owned by Ka-Nefer-Nefer , a powerful woman from 1295-1186 BC, the mask disappeared from the Cairo museum 40 years ago. The Egyptian side said that the US government should let it go back to its homeland.

However, St. St. museum. Louis insisted that they had studied the origin of the mask and bought it legally, without any proof that the mask they had owned was stolen.

The mask is controversial

The 20-inch long, gold-plated, linen-covered Ka-Nefer-Nefer mask in a wooden glass box was excavated in 1952 at one of the pyramids in Saqquara, far from the capital Cairo about 16km south. This pyramid complex is one of the most famous tourist sites in Egypt, containing many temples, tombs, graveyards .

US government investigators suspect the mask was stolen at a time in mid-1966, during transport to an exhibition in Cairo. By 1973, the Egyptian Museum discovered it was missing.

The mask was later acquired by the American museum in 1998 for $ 499,000 from a New York art dealer. This artifact is then displayed at Forest Park Museum.

The Egyptian Supreme Archeology Council issued a message suggesting the return of antiquities, but did not receive a reply.

Representative of the St. Museum Louis, David Linenbroker, a lawyer, affirmed: "We are not interested in owning a stolen item. This is not the first time we have to face such a blinding rumor."

Anyone who proves the origin of the mask will receive ownership of the item. However, so far no one has done that.

Linenbroker lawyer emphasized: "No one has a legal right to possess this artifact more than our museum".