A 4,000-year-old limestone relief depicting the three seasons of the ancient Egyptian calendar has been stolen from the Saqqara necropolis near Cairo. The relief, measuring 16 by 24 inches, was cut from the wall of the Fifth Dynasty tomb of Khenti Ka using an electric saw. The theft was reported by Egypt’s Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities, which has formed an archaeological committee to inventory the tomb's contents and referred the case to the Public Prosecution for investigation. The tomb, initially discovered in the 1950s, had been sealed and used as storage until it reopened in 2019.
The theft matters because the relief is not merely decorative but carries profound symbolic meaning related to the cycle of life, agriculture, and fertility in ancient Egyptian belief, indicating the thief understood its scholarly value. The incident follows another recent theft at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo, where a 3,000-year-old gold bracelet was stolen and melted down for a paltry sum, highlighting ongoing security vulnerabilities at Egypt's archaeological sites and museums. The loss threatens both cultural heritage and the integrity of ongoing research at one of Egypt's most important necropolises.