Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi held on Saturday a meeting with Prime Minister Sherif Esmail and Antiquities Minister Khaled Anani to discuss recent Egyptian archaeological discoveries and artefacts recently restored from foreign countries.
According to a statement released from the presidential spokesperson Alaa Youssef, the Antiquities Minister stated that Egypt managed recently to restore 484 artefacts from different countries.
The Egyptian Antiques Ministry has recently established a database for Egyptian antiques, in addition to finalizing a draft law that will impose strict punitive measures against individuals involved in looting antiques or harassing tourists.
In foreign media coverage regarding the recent archaeological discoveries in Egypt, Anani said that there is a great interest from foreign media in shedding light on these discoveries, adding that there are 237 foreign archaeological missions from over 20 countries in Egypt.
Regarding updates on the site of the Egyptian Grand Museum, the statement stated that workers are currently transferring invaluable artefacts and statues to the premises, which will pave the way for the museum’s inauguration in April 2018.
Meanwhile, the Antiques Minister highlighted during the meeting recent archaeological discoveries that were unveiled, such as a royal statue in Cairo’s district of Mataryia and a Pharaonic tomb in Luxor.
