A priceless bracelet belonging to Pharoah Amenemope vanished from the restoration labs of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo last month. The bracelet, which was made of gold and featured a lapis lazuli bead, vanished while it was off display and stored in the museum’s labs. It was reported by Egyptian authorities on September 18 that the bracelet had been stolen by one of the museum’s restoration workers who sold the treasure to a jeweler for 180,000 Egyptian pounds ($3,700 USD). The bracelet was then sold again to a smelter to be melted down for 194,000 Egyptian pounds ($4,000 USD). The bracelet was found to be missing by other museum employees who, at the time, were making lists of items to be shipped overseas for display. By the time the authorities had tracked down the whereabouts of the bracelet, it was too late; the bracelet had already been melted down and lost forever.  

Pharoah Amenemope was a 21 Dynasty, Third Intermediate Period Egyptian ruler who was the likely son of Pharoah Psusennes I and queen Mutnedjmet. Amenemope succeeded his father after a period of coregency and claimed the title of high priest of Amun as his own father had before him. During his reign he constructed an addition to a temple in Memphis and continued the construction and decoration of an existing chapel to the goddess Isis at Giza pyramids. Archaeological research suggests that he suffered a skull injury which became infected and caused him to develop meningitis, which likely led to his death. He was buried in a small tomb at the royal necropolis of Tanis, then his body was removed to the tomb of his mother, Mutnedjmet, during the reign of Pharoah Siamun. His original tomb was discovered in 1940 by the French archaeologists Pierre Montet and Georges Goyon.  

Four suspects were arrested in connection with the theft and destruction of the artifact. The funds garnered by the sale of the bracelet and its melting down were subsequently seized by the Egyptian Government.