Cairo - A piece of a valuable alabaster block stolen from a tomb in the Valley of Kings in Luxor in 1958 was posted back to officials almost 50 years after its disappearance, Egyptian antiquities authorities said on Tuesday.

The item, which is inscribed with hieroglyphics on one face and decorated with raised carvings on the other two faces, was returned to the Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) on Monday following a letter from an American explaining the story behind its disappearance.

Jack A. Graves, a professor emeritus at California State University, sent a letter to head of the SCA Zahi Hawass in June saying that the item had been in the possession of a friend of his who had died a few months earlier.

Before the man died, he gave Graves the piece. The man, the professor said, had felt guilty about having taking it during a visit to Egypt.

Hawass said the inscription refers to King Seti I (died circa 1290 BC) and that the item was now at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo where it was being studied.

The return of the alabaster block was preceded by that of four fragments from the tomb of Seti I by the Michael C. Carlos Museum in Atlanta, Georgia two years ago. The items had been in the museum's possession since 1875. - Sapa-dpa