14.02.2011, 11:51 5526

King Tut statue stolen from Egypt's museum

A statue of King Tutankhamun and other artifacts have been stolen from the Egypt's museum, Kazakhstan Today reports.

Almaty. February 14. Kazakhstan Today - A statue of King Tutankhamun and other artifacts have been stolen from the Egypt's museum, Kazakhstan Today reports.

At least 17 artifacts from the Egyptian Museum of Cairo are missing following a break-in, the country's minister of antiquities said Sunday, CNN reported.

The missing objects include a gilded wood statue of King Tutankhamun being carried by a goddess; parts of a gilded wood statue of Tutankhamun harpooning; a limestone statue of Akhenaten; a statue of Nefertiti making offerings; a sandstone head of an Amarna princess; a stone statuette of a scribe from Amarna; 11 wooden shabti statuettes of Yuya; and a heart scarab of Yuya.

The discovery that the ancient treasures are missing came after museum staff took an inventory, Zahi Hawass said in a statement.

The police and army plan to question people who are already in custody, Hawass said.

Hawass earlier told CNN that "criminals" had broken into the museum on the night of January 28, not long after protests against President Hosni Mubarak began in Cairo and other major Egyptian cities.

Hawass said January 31 the intruders had vandalized statues and display cases and stolen jewelry from the museum gift shop.

A number of suspects were apprehended shortly after the break-in, some of them with antiquities in their possession, Hawass said.

Another expert said that given the widespread poverty in a country home to so many priceless treasures, it was little surprise that there was some looting.

Founded in 1858 by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette, the museum contains more than 100,000 artefacts, including the world renowned -- and reputedly cursed - treasures from Tutankhamun's tomb, The AFP reported.

The best-known artefact is Tutankhamun's gold funerary mask, which stares out from a case on the first floor of the museum. The 18th dynasty monarch, better known as King Tut, ruled Egypt in the 13th century BC.

The museum standing on the main protest square was protected by tanks and briefly by a cordon of citizen volunteers during the 18 days of anti-government rallies that ousted president Mubarak and cost at least 300 lives.

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