Posted: March-10-2010 at 2:50pm | IP Logged

The U.S. will return to Egypt a 3,000 year old wooden sarcophagus confiscated at the Miami airport after being shipped from Barcelona, the Culture Ministry announced Monday.
    The brightly painted sarcophagus dates back to the 21st Dynasty (1070-945 B.C.) and belonged to a private individual called Imesy, said the statement, though last year antiquities head Zahi Hawass linked it to a pharaoh called Ames.
    Customs officials at Miami International Airport seized the coffin in October 2008 from a shipment coming from Spain after the importer could not present the proper documentation to prove ownership.
    In the ensuing investigation, U.S. authorities determined the sarcophagus had left Egypt some time after 1970 and was later exhibited in Madrid in 2007.
    Egypt sued to have the coffin returned in November 2009 and the importer dropped its claim.
    The sarcophagus was moved to Washington, D.C. from Miami in March 2010 by Carney McNicholas van operator Ken Bruns as an exclusive use climate controlled shipment.