Were 33,000 ancient artifacts really looted from Egypt? Reports had emerged in the foreign press and social media citing statements from the Antiquities Ministry that around 33,000 ancient artifacts had been looted from Egypt in the past half century. However, the ministry came out yesterday to deny that it had issued any such statement, according to Egypt Independent. The Head of the Central Museums’ Stores Authority, Saied Shebal told the state-run newspaper Al Ahram that the unverified statement was inaccurate and that there will be an official response from the Central Museums’ Stores Authority.