Sekhemka to go to US Museum After All?

The new owner, whoever he or she is, can take
possession of one of the world’s most important
Egyptian antiquities and do with it what they will. 

The statue of Sekhemka is rumoured to have been bought by an American collector who has declared that he wants to put it on permanent public display in a privately-owned museum. As has been widely commented recently in the press, the buyer, Salt Lake City real estate broker Carl Smith IV has for the past four years been collecting manuscripts and artefacts relating to the Book of Mormon and devoted to the scholarship of Joseph Smith, a distant relative. The collection is believed to be the largest privately-owned assemblage of relics illustrating the Judeo-Christian history of the ancient American civilization described in the Mormon Scriptures. Highlights are believed to be the signet-ring of Nephti, early 1820s transcripts of the original text in 'reformed Egyptian', and, most astonishing of all, a few fragments of a manuscript believed to be the missing portion of the Book of Lehi.  There is also a rare copy of the first edition of the Book of Mormon published in Palmyra (the one in NY state, not Syria) in 1830 by local publisher E. B. Grandin.

As several articles in the New York Times have highlighted, the purpose of the new "Museum of the Divine Truth About America's Past" is primarily the mission of defending the Book of Mormon as a literal history, countering arguments critical of its historical authenticity, and using objects in the collection to illustrate how it is possible to reconcile historical and scientific evidence with the text. Billionaire Smith has recently begun to support important LDS-related initiatives such as the Foundation for Ancient Research and Mormon Studies (FARMS), and the Foundation for Apologetic Information and  Research (FAIR).

Mr Smith reveals that the purpose of his museum, due to open in New York (widely expected to take place at the end of this year) is to “bring to life the living word of God ... to inspire confidence in the absolute authority” of the words of the Mormon Scriptures. Smith is worried about the “danger of an America that gets too far from the God of Scripture", and he wants to remind Americans of the "Divine favours which have made our nation great and will make America great again".

Sekem is the name of one of the minor characters in the Book of Abraham, one of the lesser-known components of the LDS scriptures, and although the Egyptian statue is not believed to be the character mentioned in that Book, the inscription in unreformed Egyptian on the statue will be used as proof that this was a real name in the past.  As such the New York Times reports that in the project's design, the statue of Sekhemket will have a prominent place in the new museum, it will be sited at eye-level and lit with multicoloured strobe lighting to make it "seem more alive". Hidden speakers which will be mounted in the figure's chest will reportedly emit a recorded message by Mr Smith welcome visitors to the display of his collection.

Mr Smith released a statement today expressing his satisfaction that the British export restriction on the statue has been lifted and the sculpture will at last be coming to take its place in the new museum, "God has in this way made manifest His approval of our activities. I take this as a sign that the Lord has chosen me to help spread His word".

UPDATE 3rd April 2016:

For those who could not work it out for themselves, this, the only blog post I made on the 1st April (April Fool's Day) so as not to confuse it with the other content, was a spoof. It however is one which makes a perfectly valid point about the use of heritage. It seems some could not see it as such (see comments underneath and here).

Here's one for the sense of humour-deficient Sekhemket campaigners, David Gill: http://lootingmatters.blogspot.com/2016/04/rigorous-due-diligence-introduced-by.html. I expect they'll be calling him names next.