The strong words come at the same time as the country has announced a fundraising campaign to re-buy the 4,500 year-old Egyptian statue, which was sold at auction last year for £15.76 million.
Egypt’s Antiquities Minister Mamdouh Al Damaty held a press conference last Saturday to officially halt all dealings with Northampton Museum over its ‘unethical role’ in the sale of the historic statue.
He said: “The sale of the statue is an indelible stain on the museum’s reputation and is a moral crime against world heritage in general and the Egyptian heritage in particular.”
The minister then called on Egyptian businessmen and Egyptian expats in the UK to initiate a serious fundraising campaign to re-buy the statue, otherwise ‘the irreplaceable masterpiece will never to be seen on public display again.’
In July 2014 the Northampton Borough Council sold the statue of the Egyptian royal scribe Sekhemka, by auction at Christie’s in London to help fund an extension to the town’s museum.
The statue was sold to an anonymous, overseas buyer for £15.76 million
A temporary export ban was then placed on the statue by the UK Government to stop it leaving the country. This expired on July 29.
However, the Government later announced the export ban deadline has been extended to midday this Friday (August 28).
