MEXICO CITY.- An invaluable archaeological piece from Aswan, Egypt, from the Medium Kingdom period (2055-1650 BC), was returned by the Government of Mexico to the Arab nation in a ceremony at the National Museum of Anthropology, where it was safeguarded and examined: after 4 years of research, authenticity and its illegal extraction from the country were confirmed. The piece was detected in 2006 during an inspection of authorities from the Central Administration of Mexican Customs; when checking packages from abroad, they found an Egyptian effigy which authenticity was confirmed later by specialized experts from the National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) and from the Egyptian Government. According to analyses that the piece underwent, the bas-relief of the profile of a human head was carved on sandstone from the Aswan region. It is 15.6 centimeters tall and 15 wide; a fragment that corresponds to the hair was al