Monday, October 30, 2017

Coptic metal icon seized in Egyptian airport

APPREHENDED: Hurghada airport officials foil attempt to smuggle 18th-century Coptic icon. The antique religious object was seized at Hurghada International airport as a passenger attempted to smuggle it to Germany (Nevine El-Aref, ahramonline).

This story caught my eye because this triptych icon has images and (Coptic) writing on it and is made of metal — copper, but it looks like gold in the photos.

Someone tried to smuggle it out of Egypt. I wonder if the recent recovery of smuggled metal codices in Turkey has any connection. There is certainly an antiquities market for metal books.

This object has no direct connection with the metal codices and the similarities are superficial. But I thought the incident worth flagging anyway.

Cross-file under Coptic Watch.

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