Egypt was able to recover parts of three ancient mummies from the United states, the Egyptian Ministry of Antiques announced on Wednesday, according to Middle East Monitor (MEM).

The mummies’ parts were reportedly stolen and smuggled out of Egypt more 90 years ago.

Several diplomatic negotiations took place between the two states to recover the pieces.

The supervisor-general of the ministry’s repatriation department, Shaaban Abdel Gawad said that “the ministry had succeeded” in the negotiations.”

The recovered pieces consisted of two hands and a head from three mummies, Abdel Gawad said.

They were in a “very good conservation condition,” he added.

The mummies were seized in Manhattan, US, when their owner tried selling them.

The fragments will be handed over to the Egyptian Consulate on 8 January at a ceremony in New York, according Abdel Gawad.

Back in 1927, an American citizen bought the fragments which were stolen by an antiquities worker in Luxor, according to the ministry.

The Egyptian ministry announced the loss of around 33,000 antiquities over the period of 50 years.