A 3,000-Year-Old Bracelet Belonging to an Ancient Egyptian Pharaoh Has Been Stolen, Sold and Melted Down for Gold

After the artifact went missing from Cairo’s Egyptian Museum in early September, authorities began carefully tracking down its whereabouts

Sonja Anderson | Daily Correspondent

September 19, 2025

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Earlier this month, an ancient Egyptian bracelet was stolen from a restoration lab in Cairo’s Egyptian Museum. Dating back 3,000 years, the gold artifact had belonged to Amenemope, a pharaoh who ruled during Egypt’s Third Intermediate Period.

Now, investigators have discovered the artifact’s whereabouts: They say a museum employee stole the bracelet and sold it for less than $4,000. The buyer melted it down. 

Museum staffers discovered the bracelet was missing when they were itemizing artifacts for shipment abroad last week, reports the London Times’ Magdy Samaan. Egyptian officials launched into action, circulating a photo of the bracelet among law enforcement and archaeological authorities, according to a statement from the Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. A special committee was also tasked with taking inventory of the conservation lab.

After the bracelet was stolen, forensic archaeologist Christos Tsirogiannis spoke with CNN’s Lianne Kolirin about what could happen to it. He explained that it could be smuggled out of the country and end up at an auction house with “forged provenance.” It could also be sold to a private collector or melted down for gold. While melting down the artifact would be less profitable, it would also make the crime more difficult to trace, Tsirogiannis said.

On September 18, Egypt’s Interior Ministry announced the investigation’s results, reports Reuters’ Mohamed Ezz. The ministry found that the artifact had passed from a museum restoration specialist to a silver trader to the owner of a jewelry workshop. The workshop owner sold it to a gold smelter, who melted it down. Four suspects have been arrested.

The bracelet was a simple gold band decorated by one spherical lapis lazuli bead. It had been part of the collection of the pharaoh Amenemope, who ruled from Tanis in the Nile Delta during Egypt’s 21st Dynasty.

Tanis’ royal necropolis was discovered in 1940 by French Egyptologist Pierre Montet, according to the Egyptian Museum. It held the tombs of many pharaohs, including Amenemope. The museum’s Tanis collection features some 2,500 ancient objects, including gold funerary masks, silver coffins, alabaster jars and jewels.

In Egypt, stealing an artifact with the intent to smuggle it is punishable by life in prison and fines of up to $100,000, reports Agence France-Presse (AFP). Charges against the parties involved have not yet been announced.

Egyptologist Jean Guillaume Olette-Pelletier tells AFP that the simple bracelet was made of culturally significant materials. The ancient Egyptians thought gold represented the “flesh of the gods” and saw lapis lazuli as a representation of the gods’ hair.

The stolen bracelet was “not the most beautiful,” Olette-Pelletier tells AFP. “But scientifically, it’s one of the most interesting.”

Sonja Anderson | Read More

Sonja Anderson is a daily correspondent for Smithsonian magazine who covers art, archaeology and culture, from newly discovered artifacts to the latest art heists.