CAIRO: Prized artefacts are missing from the Egyptian museum after looters broke in during unrest last month, including a statue of King Tutankhamun and objects from the time of the rebel Pharaoh Akhenaten, the country's top Egyptologist said Sunday. The thieves apparently knew exactly which pieces they wanted, because they descended to the museum's lower floor and grabbed the objects from glass cases while ignoring others nearby, a second Egyptologist said. Among missing pieces was a gilded wood statue of the 18th Dynasty Pharaoh Tut being carried by a deity, according to Zahi Hawass, an Egyptologist. Also taken were pieces from the Amarnah period, including a sandstone head of a princess and a limestone statue of Akhenaten holding an offering table, Hawass said in an emailed statement. “An investigation has begun, to search for the people who have taken these objects,” a statement said.
