A 3,000-year-old gold bracelet was stolen from Cairo's Egyptian Museum September 9, sparking outrage throughout the country.
The bracelet, which contained a lapiz lazuli bead, had belonged to the ancient pharaoh Amenemope, according to the Associated Press, and was stolen while museum staff were preparing artifacts for an exhibit in Italy.
Tourism and antiquities minister Sherif Fathy announced the theft on television late Saturday, blaming "laxity" in museum procedures.
According to authorities, the bracelet was taken from a restoration lab and passed down through a chain of dealers until it was finally melted down.
The bracelet was part of the Tanis royal necropolis exhibition at the Egyptian Museum, which boasts about 2,500 artifacts from Egypt's 21st Dynasty.
The collection was restored in 2021 in collaboration with Paris' Louvre Museum.
Fathy said the lab didn't have any security cameras, although security camera footage released by the ministry showed a shop owner receiving the bracelet, weighing it, and paying one of the suspects, reported AP.
Suspects were detained
Among the four arrested suspects was the museum's restoration specialist, who confessed to giving the bracelet to an acquaintance who owns a silver shop in Cairo. According to AP, the bracelet was allegedly sold to the owner of a gold workshop for $3,800, eventually being sold for around $4,000 to another gold shop before being melted down.
In a statement Thursday, the ministry explained that the suspects confessed to their crimes and the money was seized.
The judge ordered the restoration specialist and her acquaintance to remain in detention for upwards of 15 days until investigations advance, local media reported. He ordered the release of the other two suspects if they each posted a $207 bail.
Monica Hanna, Egyptian archaeologist and dean at the Arab Academy for Science, Technology, and Maritime Transport, urged the suspension of overseas exhibitions "until better control" is implemented for transporting artifacts.
Egyptian human rights lawyer Malek Adly called the theft "an alarm bell" and stressed the importance of increased security in exhibition halls and storage.