CAIRO: Egyptian police said on Thursday they arrested a museum employee and three alleged accomplices after a priceless ancient gold bracelet was stolen from Cairo’s Egyptian Museum, sold for about $4,000 and then melted down.
The 3,000-year-old bracelet, a gold band adorned with lapis lazuli beads, dated back to the reign of Amenemope, a pharaoh of Egypt’s 21st Dynasty (1070-945 BC).
The priceless artefact had been kept under lock and key when it disappeared, a few weeks before it was meant to be exhibited in Italy.
Museum staff reported it missing from a metal safe in the museum’s conservation lab on Saturday, a statement from Egypt’s interior ministry said.
Investigations showed a restoration specialist working at the museum stole the bracelet on September 9 while on duty.
