We are pleased to announce that a gift given by the Mansoor Family to H.H.
Pope John Paul II on October 24,1979 was recovered from the Vatican Museum
by the donors on December 10,1998.

The gift, two Tell El Amarna artifacts of Queen Nefertiti and King
Akhenaten, ca 1350.B.C., was presented to, and accepted by, His Holiness
after the recommendation of the then Inspector General of the Gregorian
Egyptian Museum, Msgr. Gianfranco Nolli.

In 1997, the Mansoor Family discovered that the artifacts were withdrawn
from public view. An extensive correspondence between the donors and the
Vatican Museum, revealed that the Vatican authorities did not review  the
factual evidence at all but relied on the offhand and undetailed advice of a
former consultant to the Musem, who offered no claims to be an expert on
Amarna art ( Prof. Jean-Claude Grenier, Montpellier, France ) and on the
equally superficial report of their nominally scientific expert Dr.
Nazzareno Gabrielli.

In view of the fact that the artifacts were deemed to have been in an unsafe
and hostile environment, the donors requested that the artifacts be returned
to them. They were recovered December 10,1998

A detailed account of this episode is found at < http://www.amarna.com >
together with a copy of the entire correspondence and comments on its contents.

For further information contact Alfred Mansoor , Secretary
Mansoor Amarna Corporation
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