Some of them were straight up stolen, but (my understanding) is that most artifacts are just sold by locals who don't really understand or appreciate the value.

Some of them were straight up stolen, but (my understanding) is that most artifacts are just sold by locals who don't really understand or appreciate the value. So a lot of what the Egyptian government is trying to do is educate their own people on the importance and value of artifacts and to not just sell them to tourists for a song and dance.