The Egyptian authorities have probed the disappearance of rare relief of the 4000 -year limestone from SAQQARA

Cairo – A rare limestone relief of 4000 years has disappeared from a grave in the famous Egyptian Necropolitic saqqaraSay that the officials say, in the second large apparent flight of an antiquity in a few weeks.

The disappearance of the work of ancient art was reported during the weekend, just over three weeks after the officials confirmed that a gold bracelet stolen from the Egyptian museum by a catering worker had been sold and then melted.

The rare relief of limestone has disappeared from a fifth tomb of the dynasty, dating from 2,500 and 2350 BC, in the Necropolis of Saqqara, south of Cairo, the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities said in a statement published online on Sunday.

The tomb belonged to a senior official by the name of Khenti Ka, who organized titles including “Priest of the Goddess Maat” and “Operseer of the Royal Palace,” archaeologist Ali Abu Deshish told CBS News.

“The tomb is distinguished by its remarkable reliefs depicting scenes from daily life in ancient Egypt,” said Abu Deshish.

Calling the theft “a disaster by all standards”, he said that the antiques of Egypt “are not for sale. They belong to the inheritance of all humanity”.

The relief of around 16 x 24 inches which is now lacking represents the three ancient Egyptian seasons: Akhet (flood), Peret (growth) and Shemu (harvest).

The local media reported that the artifact seemed to have been cut off from the tomb wall with an electric saw.

The ministry said that the tomb had been completely sealed and had been used as storage space for antiques since its discovery in the 1950s, and that it had not been opened since 2019.

After discovering the missing relief, an archaeological committee was formed for inventory all the content of the tomb. After confirming media reports on disappearance, the ministry said that “all the necessary legal measures have been taken and that the question was referred to the pursuit for investigation”.

The incident occurs a few weeks before the planned opening ceremony of the new Grand Egypt museum, a sprawling installation of 5.2 million square feet near the old Pyramids of Giza which has taken years and more than a billion dollars to conclude. It is intended to be a new cornerstone of the tourism industry focused on the antiquities of Egypt.

This also occurs only a few weeks after the officials have confirmed that the golden bracelet of around 3000 years which would have been carried by a pharaoh had disappeared from the Egyptian Museum of Cairo.

The authorities discovered that it had been stolen by a museum catering worker, sold less than $ 4,000, then melted and lost forever.

Unlike the case of the bracelet, experts think that the one who stole limestone relief may have experienced the real value of the artifact.

“It is not only a decorative artifact but which carries a deep symbolic meaning linked to the cycle of life, agriculture and fertility in ancient Egyptian belief, which suggests that anyone who has stolen its true value and its learned meaning,” told CBS News.