Tests show 'fake' vase is genuine

The decoration shows a figure on a boat

An Egyptian vase that was dismissed as a fake has been found to be genuine, thanks to tests at York University.

It was one of hundreds of Egyptian artefacts collected by Benjamin Hunt who lived at Beckwithshaw near Harrogate until his death in 1968.

Experts used to think the vase, which is 5,000 years old, was a fake as it was "too good to be true".

The vase will be on display at the Royal Pump Room Museum in Harrogate from Friday.

Ceryl Evans, head of museums and arts at Harrogate Borough Council, said: "This is an exciting new discovery and highlights just how much modern science can teach us about the past.

"We had the vase analysed and York University's archaeologists said it was 5,000 years old.

"After that we had the paint tested and discovered it was also genuine and had not been improved by the Victorians as some experts believed."

The vase dates back to the Predynastic era around 3,200BC, making it older than the Pyramids.