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Egypt exhibits artefacts that survived uprising

Nearly 30 ancient Egyptian artefacts that narrowly survived the Arab Spring uprising in Cairo in 2011 have gone on display in the city.

The exhibition, entitled Destruction and Restoration, includes 11 items that had been stolen from the Egyptian Museum near Tahrir Square.

Eighteen other artefacts have also been restored after being damaged or destroyed by looters.

They include three priceless statues from the era of Pharaoh Tutankhamun.

One gold statue depicts him spear-fishing from a boat on the Nile, while other treasures are from the era of Pharaoh Akhenaton.

Fifty-four artefacts went missing from the museum when looters broke in during the first days of the January 2011 uprising that toppled president Hosni Mubarak.

A mummy that had its head torn off during the looting has now been fixed, with experts using methods from the time to reattach it.

Twenty-five of the pieces have since been recovered, though several are still unaccounted for.

Mohammed Ibrahim, State Minister for Antiquities, has insisted that none of the missing artefacts have been taken out of Egypt and that authorities were still searching for them.

BBC News

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