Between 2020 and 2021, the US government seized 13 ancient Egyptian artifacts at JFK airport, including a 5,200-year-old vase, according to a legal documents filed earlier this month.
A declaration submitted by Homeland Security Investigations agent Aaron Klein stated the 14 items were seized under the federal crime of smuggling goods into the US.
Those items include a faience amulet of the goddess Hatmehyt from Egypt’s Late Period (664B BCE–332 BCE); a Egyptian wooden canopic jar cover from the New Kingdom Period, dating to the 19th Dynasty or later (1300 BCE); a Cypriot vessel, two painted limestone Shabtis, and a painted limestone bed figurine from ancient Egypt’s New Kingdom period (1549 BCE–1075 BCE); two phallic figurines from 664–30 BCE; a pre-Dynastic vase from 3500 BCE–3200 BCE; and a limestone lug-handled jar from 3000 BCE–2600 BCE.
Read the rest of the story at ARTnews.