Ancient statue sold for nearly £16m

A 4,000-year-old Egyptian statue expected to raise about £6m has sold for £15.76m at Christie's of London. Northampton Borough Council auctioned the Sekhemka limestone statue to help fund a £14m extension to Northampton Museum and Art Gallery. However, Arts Council England had warned the council its museum could lose its accreditation status.
The Egyptian ambassador to Britain said the council should have handed the statue back if it did not want it. Before the auction, Ahsraf Elkholy condemned the sale as an “an abuse to the Egyptian archaeology and the cultural property.”
The limestone statue is 30 inches high and it was 'gifted' to Northampton in 1880.

Source: BBC