The Gold Coffin of Nedjemankh is displayed during a news conference to announce its return from the U.S. to the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, Egypt October 1, 2019. /VCG Photo

It was smuggled from Egypt's Minya region during the country's 2011 revolution, and transported through the United Arab Emirates to Germany and then France. In July 2017, New York's Metropolitan Museum of Art acquired the artifact from an art dealer. /VCG Photo

The coffin is worth $4 million and once held the remains of influential priest Nedjemankh. /VCG Photo

"It's not the protection of our heritage, but it's the protection of mankind's heritage. This is not only for Egyptians, but this for our common human heritage and our sense that we all share in the values and we all are one of the same international family," said Egyptian minister of foreign affairs Sameh Shoukry. /VCG Photo