The blue and gold braided beard on the burial mask of pharaoh Tutankhamun has been hastily glued back on after it was damaged, museum employees say.
But conservators at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo gave differing accounts of the exact circumstances.
It is not clear whether the mask was damaged during cleaning or if the beard was removed because it was loose.
The 3,000-year-old artefact, with other relics from the boy king’s tomb, is among Cairo’s biggest attractions.
An inquiry is under way into what happened to one of the country’s greatest treasures.
Instead of being taken to a conservation lab, the repair was performed quickly to put the mask back on display, conservators say.
