CAIRO — A 16-year-old protester found a priceless statue of Pharaoh Akhenaten next to a garbage bin after it was stolen from the Egyptian Museum during the nearby street demonstrations, officials said.
The 7-inch-long limestone statue of the father of King Tut was swiped along with several other artifacts on Jan. 28.
A teenager found it and took it home, where it was recognized by his uncle, Sabri Abdelrahman, a professor at the American University in Cairo.
The family returned the statue, said Zahi Hawass, head of the Ministry of State for Antiquities.
The statue depicts the standing pharaoh with a blue crown, holding an offering table in his hands. The table was found separately inside the museum.
Dr. Robert Littman, a member of the governing board of the Archaeological Institute of America, said the statue was “extremely important” because it is one of the few surviving depictions of Akhenaten.
The king built the city of Amarna and introduced an early form of monotheism, doing away with the worship of the chief god, Amun.
After his death, Egyptians destroyed images and statues of Akhenaten.