A global search is on for a 3,000-year-old bracelet belonging to a pharaoh that went missing from a top museum in Cairo, Egypt.
The precious gold band, featuring spherical lapis lazuli beads, dates back to the reign of King Amenemope, an ancient Egyptian pharaoh who ruled from 993 to 984 BC, according to the Egyptian Antiquities Ministry.
The case has been referred to the police, the ministry said in a statement posted on Facebook.
The ministry said the bracelet went missing from the restoration laboratory at the Egyptian Museum in Tahrir.
An image of the missing bracelet has also been circulated to antiquities units across all Egyptian airports, seaports and land border crossings to reduce the risk of smuggling attempts, the statement said.
The bead on the bracelet is known for its deep blue colour and gold speckling.
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Lapis lazuli is one of the most prized semi-precious stones and was highly sought after in ancient Egypt primarily because of its association with the gods.
According to Rocks and Gems Canada, some believe that Cleopatra used crushed lapis as eye shadow.
The museum told NBC News in a statement that the bracelet was part of a collection of artifacts ready to be sent to Italy for an exhibit titled “Treasures of the Pharaohs” at a museum in Rome in October.
The ministry said it had deliberately postponed announcing the bracelet’s disappearance so as not to undermine the integrity of the investigation, and that a specialized committee has been formed to inventory and review all artifacts kept in the restoration laboratory.
Amenemope’s burial is one of only three wholly intact royal burials from ancient Egypt. He was laid to rest with several items of value, including a golden funeral mask handcrafted to immortalize his features.
His tomb was discovered in 1940 by French Egyptologists Pierre Montet and Georges Goyon, but its excavation was delayed due to the outbreak of the Second World War. Excavations resumed in 1946, and Montet published his monumental findings in 1958, according to the museum.
Egypt is yet to resolve the disappearance of a Vincent van Gogh painting worth about US$55 million.
It was stolen from the Mohamed Mahmoud Khalil Museum in Cairo in 1977. The artwork was recovered two years later, only to be stolen again in 2010. It has not yet been found.
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