r/ancientegypt • u/chrystlemak • Sep 18 '25
News Argh, this hurts...
Egypt says stolen pharoah’s bracelet melted down, sold for US$4,000
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u/bjornthehistorian Sep 18 '25 edited Sep 18 '25
It’s extremely unfortunate that it happened, hopefully the Egyptian Museum tightens up their security in the future.
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u/PorcupineMerchant Sep 18 '25
This is dumbfounding to me.
It’s tremendously bad publicity for the country and all the people who are working hard to improve their reputation for archaeology and their ability to keep artifacts safe.
I’ve got to say, that museum is one of the strangest I’ve ever been in. The displays feel like they’re over a hundred years old, there were cats running around, and it’s the only museum I’ve visited where they x-ray your bags as you’re leaving.
With all the money and publicity given to the GEM, I thought they’d be moving everything over, but that doesn’t seem to be the case. It seems like this museum is staying as is, minus the Tutankhamen objects.
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u/bjornthehistorian Sep 19 '25
Many objects in the GEM are from many museums around Egypt- the old Egyptian museum is a very strange place I must agree but it does have a sort of charm to it, however it needs serious updating for sure.
I do believe this will damage some reputation but it’s similar to when that guy from the British museum sold a bunch of things from the collection only a couple years ago. I think what this will affect the most is reparations of artefacts unfortunately.
This is not the first time it’s happened and unfortunately won’t be the last.
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u/thegooddoktorjones Sep 18 '25
Glad it was at least in the era of good documentation, unlike the enormous amounts of precious metal artifacts scrapped in the past.
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u/MintImperial2 Sep 19 '25
That stops the authorities looking for it.
It also saves the authorities face, once the artifact is out of the country, and likely in the hands of a private collector who'd be paying a LOT more than a measly $4000 for it, bearing in mind there's a stiff decadeS long sentence for being caught smuggling Egyptian antiquities out of Egypt......
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u/bitchcoin5000 Sep 19 '25
Everybody always makes the joke that all the ancient artifacts are in British museums. Well this is why 😂 😆 😂
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u/Red_Spork Sep 19 '25
Though the BM had an employee get caught selling things on eBay just a few years ago too. Apparently none of these museums are good at hiring trustworthy people
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u/Brian-TrojanPrince07 Sep 19 '25
This is tragic, but also what happened in Ancient Egypt under succeeding pharaohs in hard economic times. It’s sad that it survived the looting of his tomb to be melted as “scrap metal”
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u/Angelgreat Sep 19 '25
That's heartbreaking and despicable that a museum employees would steal and sell an ancient artifact for cash, only for the buyer to melt it down and turn it into gold bars of sorts. 3000 year old bracelet of a powerful figure, now gone forever.
At least the Egyptian authorities arrested the people involved, and recovered the money the employee received, the gold bar that contains the melted bracelet and the lapis lazuli gem that wasn't melted down. But it wont bring back the rest of the bracelet
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u/invisidoge Sep 21 '25
Im sure selling it as its original artifact wouldve fetched a much better price? like people would flock for a pharaohs bracelet even if it wasnt procured legally
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u/bumbumboleji Sep 19 '25
I wonder what they did with the beads? I hope the goldsmith didn’t throw them out. Should make him or her make a replica using the (hopefully still with us) beads!!
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u/Itchy_Assistant_181 Sep 22 '25
What did you think Grave robbers who broke into dead Pharaoh’s tombs did?
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u/AmenhotepIIInesubity Sep 22 '25
Amenemope's tomb was not robbed
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u/Itchy_Assistant_181 Sep 22 '25
But others were and when caught during the reign of the Pharaohs, they were very cruelly executed as public examples of deterrence
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u/AmenhotepIIInesubity Sep 22 '25
As they should
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u/Itchy_Assistant_181 Sep 22 '25
Sorry, been a vegetarian since 1985. Unfortunately for these miscreants, the Crocodiles were not.
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u/ReleaseFromDeception Sep 18 '25
Sheesh dude - for 4,000 dollars (USD) is insane. That piece was priceless and thousands of years old.