Egypt says a 3000-year-old bracelet was stolen and melted

A 3,000 -year gold bracelet, which disappeared from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, was stolen and melted, says the Egyptian Interior Ministry.

A restoration specialist took the artifact – who dates from the reign of King Amenemop, Pharaoh, who ruled Egypt about 1000bc – from a safe at the museum nine days ago, according to the ministry.

The woman contacted a silver jeweler she knew, who sold the $ 3,735 gold jeweler bracelet ($ 2,750), the announcement said. He then sold it for $ 4.025 to a gold foundry worker who had melted him with other jewelry, she added.

The ministry said the four persons had acknowledged their crimes after being arrested and that the money had been seized.

On Tuesday, the Ministry of Tourism and Antiques of Egypt announced that it had taken immediate action after the bracelet disappeared from the laboratory to restore the Egyptian Museum and that the case was taken to the police.

An image of the golden group, decorated with spherical azure beads, were distributed to all Egyptian airports, marine ports and land border crossings as a precaution to prevent smuggling outside the country, the statement said.

Local media have announced that the disappearance has been discovered in recent days, as the museum staff are preparing to send dozens of artifacts to Rome for an exhibition.

The Egyptian Museum in Cairo is the oldest archeological museum in the Middle East. It houses more than 170,000 artifacts, including Amenemope’s gilded wooden funeral mask.

The theft of the bracelet came weeks before the opening of the great Egyptian museum in the nearby Giza, where the famous treasures of the tomb of King Tutankhamun were transferred.