Akhenaten's sarcophagus finally back home
Egypt, History, 2/4/2002

To the delight of the country's archaeological experts, a precious Pharaonic artifact came home to Egypt last week after an absence of nearly a century. The sarcophagus of the Pharaoh Akhenaten was handed back by the Munich Museum for Arts, along with five other pieces belonging to the famous 18th Dynasty king, under an agreement between the governments of the two countries.

The Akhenaten collection includes the sarcophagus base and lid and a four-metre-tall statue of the king, as well as pottery and a tablet with 'magical' inscriptions. The German museum had painstakingly restored these items, some of which had been sent last year by Egypt to the museum to be displayed in an exhibition as part of the deal for the return of the sarcophagus. The sarcophagus, found in a tomb in Upper Egypt in 1907, arrived back at the Egyptian Museum on January 28 after a 95-year absence.

The sarcophagus is of especial importance because King Akhenaten was the first ruler in history to practise monotheism. Around 1350 BC, Akhenaten discarded the state god Amun and moved his capital north from Thebes to el-Amarna. Whatever the politics behind the move, it was a joyful liberation for his subjects and the period produced some of Egypt's most radical art and most enlightened thinking.

Akhenaten then raised Aten, previously a minor deity, to become the sole god of Egypt, contributing to the fact that "more ink has been spilt on this period of history than on the rest of Egypt's rich history put together." With Akhenaten's revolution, Egypt saw a new lease of spiritual and intellectual life. This renewal was all the more poignant because it was so short-lived and because the reactionaries who succeeded to the throne - Tutankhamun among them - were determined to revert to worshipping the old gods.

Some experts consider that Akhenaten's rejection of all the old gods in favour of Aten was the first known instance of monotheism. As such, one can detect the beginnings of Judaism, Christianity and Islam in Akhenaten's revolution.



The story of the King's sarcophagus, which weighs 1.5 tons, is in itself quite fascinating. It was found in 1907 in a tomb in the Valley of the Kings in Luxor, more specifically in the tomb opposite that of the most famous Egyptian Pharaoh of them all - Tutankhamun. Following its discovery, the sarcophagus was sent to the Egyptian Museum before it mysteriously disappeared.

History shows that the sarcophagus must have been smuggled out of the country before it eventually ended up in the hands of a Swiss antiquities dealer called Ralf, one of the most notorious early 20th Century smugglers of Egyptian antiquities. About 50 years after the original theft, the sarcophagus finally turned up at the museum in Munich.

Because it was stolen before 1972 - the year in which world countries signed an agreement for the return of stolen antiquities under the auspices of UNESCO - Egypt only had two courses at its disposal for retrieving the priceless artifact: either by filing a lawsuit in the German courts or via gentlemanly negotiations with the German authorities.

The Supreme Council for Antiquities sensibly chose the latter course. The negotiations, which lasted from 1996 to 2001, ended with Germany agreeing to return the sarcophagus, providing Egypt lend it five artifacts to be displayed for three months in the Munich Museum. More than 65,000 people came to the 90-day exhibition, equal to the number of visitors the museum normally gets in a whole year. Although the restoration of the sarcophagus cost 200,000 Deutsche Marks (some LE800,000), Germany refused any financial compensation.

"Germany's return of the sarcophagus to Egypt is a message to all countries of the world to hand back Egypt's antiquities, particularly unique items," Gaballah Ali Gaballah, SCA secretary-general, said, urging world countries to follow the German example and return the Egyptian artifacts in their possession.

Ali Gaballah said that Akhenaten's sarcophagus will be given pride of place in the Akhenaten Hall in the Grand Egyptian Museum, which is to be built near the Pyramids in Giza. The new museum will be much larger than the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir Square, giving visitors access to far more of Egypt's fabulous archaeological wealth.

Previous Stories:
  Pharaonic tombs unearthed in southern Egypt   (1/31/2002)
  Excavations at Borg Al Arab lead to discovery of important find   (1/31/2002)
  Important archeological find in Al- Gharbeyya governorate: First Therapeutic Resort from Roman Age in Qotour   (1/30/2002)

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