Prominent Egyptian archaeologist and Egyptologist Zahi Hawass, has announced that barely a third of the ancient Egyptian antiquities have been discovered so far.
Delivering this reveal at an event at Mansoura University, he claimed archaeologists have unearthed “only 30 percent” of the antiquities to be found, while the rest still remain buried underground along with whatever secrets they may hold.
Hawass also noted that until 1983, foreign archaeological missions could legally take half of the antiquities they discovered with them, and how Egyptian authorities today strive to combat the smuggling of antiquities.
Earlier this year, Egyptian officials slammed the sale of a bust of Pharaoh Tutankhamun at Christie’s auction house in London, insisting that the artefact is a cultural treasure looted by tomb raiders.
Hawass, who previously held the office of Egypt’s minister of antiquities, alleged that the bust might have been removed from the temple at Karnak during the 1970s, though Christie’s management claimed that the bust was “reputedly” owned by German prince Wilhelm von Thurn as far back as the 1960s, and was subsequently sold to a gallery in Vienna, Austria.