Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh
Object or Group Name
Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh
Case Summary
The gilded coffin of Nedjemankh was looted from the al-Minya region in Herakleopolis, Egypt in 2011 during the 18-day long revolution in Egypt.
A group of looters led by Muhammed Jaradat held onto the sarcophagus for two years in order to find a buyer, according to the investigation conducted in 2018 by the Manhattan DA's Antiquities Trafficking Unit.
Eventually Jaradat was put in touch with Roben Dib, the Gallery Manager of the gallery Dionysos in Hamburg, who helped organize the export of the object from Egypt.
Jaradat arranged for the coffin to be smuggled to a warehouse in the UAE city of Sharjah, belonging to the Persian antiquities dealer Hassan Fazeli. Fazeli negotiated the sale of the coffin to Parisian antiquities dealer Richard Semper and his partner Christopher Kunicki.
On May 17 of 2016, the French dealers emailed Met Museum curator Diana Patch to offer the coffin for sale. On April 10 of 2017, Kunicki shipped the coffin from Paris to New York on a commercial American Airlines flight. Exactly one month later, Patch presented the coffin to the Board of Directors of the Met for acquisition. On the fourth of July, Kunicki issued an invoice to the Met for the coffin, approximating US $4,000,000.
In 2018, the Met hosted the annual Met Gala, with the theme 'Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination'. Media personality Kim Kardashian was photographed standing next to the golden coffin, whose shimmering gold color matched her dress.
The photo went viral and was eventually seen by Jaradat, the Egyptian looter, who had not been paid by the traffickers. Jaradat sent the photo to the Director of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan DA's Office, Matthew Bogdanos, who opened a grand-jury investigation.
On April 4 of 2019, the Met announced that it would repatriate the coffin later that year.
A group of looters led by Muhammed Jaradat held onto the sarcophagus for two years in order to find a buyer, according to the investigation conducted in 2018 by the Manhattan DA's Antiquities Trafficking Unit.
Eventually Jaradat was put in touch with Roben Dib, the Gallery Manager of the gallery Dionysos in Hamburg, who helped organize the export of the object from Egypt.
Jaradat arranged for the coffin to be smuggled to a warehouse in the UAE city of Sharjah, belonging to the Persian antiquities dealer Hassan Fazeli. Fazeli negotiated the sale of the coffin to Parisian antiquities dealer Richard Semper and his partner Christopher Kunicki.
On May 17 of 2016, the French dealers emailed Met Museum curator Diana Patch to offer the coffin for sale. On April 10 of 2017, Kunicki shipped the coffin from Paris to New York on a commercial American Airlines flight. Exactly one month later, Patch presented the coffin to the Board of Directors of the Met for acquisition. On the fourth of July, Kunicki issued an invoice to the Met for the coffin, approximating US $4,000,000.
In 2018, the Met hosted the annual Met Gala, with the theme 'Heavenly Bodies: Fashion and the Catholic Imagination'. Media personality Kim Kardashian was photographed standing next to the golden coffin, whose shimmering gold color matched her dress.
The photo went viral and was eventually seen by Jaradat, the Egyptian looter, who had not been paid by the traffickers. Jaradat sent the photo to the Director of the Antiquities Trafficking Unit at the Manhattan DA's Office, Matthew Bogdanos, who opened a grand-jury investigation.
On April 4 of 2019, the Met announced that it would repatriate the coffin later that year.
Number of Objects
2
Object Type
Funerary Object
Culture
Egyptian
Museum Name
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Museum Accession Number
2017.255a
2017.255b
2017.255b
Receiving Country
Egypt
Sources
Stolen Gold Coffin Displayed at the Met Returned to Egypt
https://www.cnn.com/style/article/egypt-gold-coffin-of-nedjemankh-trnd/index.html
Kim Kardashian West Helped Get a Stolen Coffin Back to Egypt?
https://www.thecut.com/2021/10/kim-kardashian-helped-get-a-stolen-coffin-back-to-egypt.html
Ancient Gold Coffin Repatriated to Egypt in New York Ceremony
https://www.ice.gov/news/releases/ancient-gold-coffin-repatriated-egypt-new-york-ceremony
MOLA Contributor(s)
Liv Siefert
Peer Reviewed By
Jason Felch
Citation
“Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh,” Museum of Looted Antiquities, accessed September 15, 2024, https://mola.omeka.net/items/show/2235.