My first stop was in Toronto, to give a speech at the University of Toronto. The auditorium was filled to capacity with about 1,500 people, who were very eager to learn about current work in Egypt and the projects I am working on. This was my first time to give a talk in Toronto and it was in association with the Tutankhamun exhibit that was on display at the Art Gallery of Toronto. The next day, I flew to San Francisco and gave a talk at the Opera House to a sold-out crowd of 2,700. I was very glad to be there and I enjoyed giving the lectures and visiting these two beautiful cities.

 

After my lectures, I flew to Washington DC, and on the 10^th of March, I attended a press conference and repatriation ceremony at the headquarters of the National Geographic Society about the return of the coffin of Imesy to Egypt. The press conference was attended by representatives of the US Department of Homeland Security, the International Customs Enforcement, the National Geographic Society, and the Egyptian Embassy. The purpose of the press conference was to announce to the world the return of the coffin and how the US Department of Homeland Security assisted us in this case.

 

The story of this coffin began about two years ago, when a man from Barcelona brought this coffin to Miami with agricultural products. When the agricultural inspector began to look closely at the shipment, he saw an ancient Egyptian coffin. He informed the Department of Homeland Security, and they began to investigate the issue. The man was unable to provide documentation that the coffin had left Egypt legally, the earliest public record of it was when it was exhibited in Madrid in 2007. The SCA began legal proceedings with the assistance of a lawyer from Miami who took the case pro-bono. I would very much like to thank him for his helping prepare a court case to return this treasure to its home. However, when the Spanish man found out that the SCA intended to go to court, he withdrew his case. The US Department of Homeland Security decided that the coffin should be repatriated to Egypt.

 

The press conference and repatriation ceremony was very good, I was very glad to be able to thank the US Department of Homeland Security and International Customs Enforcement for their cooperation and assistance in this and many other cases. The USA has helped Egypt to return many artefacts, including a large collection from New York that will be repatriated in June.

 

The Imesy coffin was packed by the National Geographic Society and moved on a truck to the airport, and it flew on the same EgyptAir plane as me back to Cairo. Sitting in the seat next to me was an American woman who asked me about why I was in the States. I told her the story of returning the coffin, and that it was underneath us in the airplane, and she was scared the whole flight, afraid of the curse of the pharaohs.

 

This coffin is going to be the masterpiece of an exhibit we are arranging at the Egyptian Museum on Repatriated Artifacts, which will open in May. This exhibit will show what we have done since 2002 to return more than 5000 pieces to Egypt.