Étienne Drioton

An antiquities law was quickly modified to include the artifacts, which made both the Tano and Dattari collections the legal property of the Egyptian government.

The publishing in 1949 of the inventory (Codices I to XII) of the "Tano collection" did not include Codex III, since it was already in the possession of the Coptic Museum at that time.

[4] As with many other prominent Egyptologists in the field, a solid friendship developed between Drioton and M. A. Mansoor, who had a legal license to buy and sell antiquities.

Afterward, the Faculty of Arts of the University of Cairo purchased, from Mansoor, a bas-relief that was presented to Farouk on the occasion of his accession to the throne of Egypt.

The relief, measuring roughly eleven by eight inches, depicts Akhenaten enthroned, his feet resting on a stool, wearing a curly wig with hanging flaps, and a rather large uraeus.

Two Cairo antique dealers, Maurice Nahman and Phocion J. Tano, fearful perhaps of losing business, quickly spread rumors that the Mansoor Amarna objects were spurious.