On Friday October 9, 2009 France made the decision to return 5 Egyptian relics that had been stolen and sold to them in the 1980's. This had been decided two days after Cairo from Egypt severed ties with the Paris museum in protest. On Wednesday October 7, 2009 Egypt severed all ties with Louvre demanding that their special artifacts be returned. There was a disagreement though between the French government and the Egyptian antiquities. The French government feels as though when their museum purchased these Egyptian relics that they were acting in good faith and did not know of this problem until November after they had been discovered as missing from the Valley of Kings. Yet, the Egyptian antiquities told AFP that they believed the Paris museum had been aware the whole time that these ancient artifacts were indeed stolen. In storage right now are the 5 small relics that had been chipped off of a painting on the wall of an Egyptian tomb all the way back from the 18th dynasty. Right when Cairo announced he had stopped the cooperation between France and Egypt, Culture Minister Frederic Mitterrand stated that these artifacts were ready to be returned to their rightful place if they were indeed stolen.
-Danielle B., period 7
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