Egypt says pharaoh's missing bracelet melted down for gold by thieves

CAIRO — A 3,000-year-old gold bracelet that disappeared from an Egyptian museum earlier this month was stolen and melted down, the country's Interior Ministry said on Thursday. The Antiquities and Tourism Ministry had earlier reported the loss of the bracelet, which belonged to King Amenemope of the Third Intermediate Period, who ruled Egypt around 1,000 BC. The piece, decorated with spherical lapis lazuli beads, vanished from a safe in a conservation laboratory on Sept. 9. Following the theft, a special committee was set up to review artefacts in the laboratory, and images of the missing bracelet were circulated to antiquities units at Egypt's airports, seaports and land border crossings, fearing it would be smuggled abroad. Yet, the Interior Ministry tracked down the theft to a museum restoration specialist who took the artefact and sold it to a silver trader, who passed it on to a workshop owner in Cairo's historic jewellery district. The workshop owner then sold it to a gold smelter, who recast the metal with other items. The ministry said suspects were arrested and proceeds from thWeiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times Weiter zum vollständigen Artikel bei Korea Times