Thieves got away with 145 Islamic artefacts from the American University in Cairo over a two-day period in March, Egypt’s minister for antiquities said on Tuesday.
The relics, along with 50 replicas, were stolen from a storage house belonging to the university, Zahi Hawass said.
“The thefts occurred between March 15 and March 17. Along with 50 replicas, 145 relics were found to be missing,” he said.
A university spokesperson, Rehab Saed, put the number of stolen relics at “140, out of around 1 000”.
“There are two investigations: one by the university itself and one by the authorities,” she said, explaining the different figures quoted.
A university expedition had discovered the relics in Fustat, a Cairo district which served as an early Muslim capital of Egypt, in the mid-20th century.
Hawass said the university’s collection had been targeted by thieves before, in 1989.
Robbers have stolen hundreds of relics since protests against the government broke out in late January. Thirty-seven relics stolen from the Egyptian Museum in Cairo are still missing, and authorities have succeeded in restoring about 300 out of 800 relics stolen from a warehouse east of the capital. – Sapa-AFP