This undated photo shows the 3,000-year-old wooden coffin, stolen 126 years ago from Egypt. (Supreme Council of Antiquities/Associated Press)

A 3,000-year-old wooden coffin stolen from Egypt 126 years ago has finally returned home.

The vividly painted coffin, dating back to the period between 1070 to 945 BC, was confiscated at Miami International Airport in October 2008 from a shipment that came from Spain.

Customs officials seized the shipment because the importer didn't have the papers proving ownership.

After American authorities discovered the coffin was authentic, Egypt's antiquities head, Zahi Hawass, led a legal battle in 2009 to have it returned.

"People can think that the best moment in the life of an archeologist is actually to discover something, but for me the best thing is to return something to Egypt," Hawass, a famed archeologist in his own right, told the Voice of America radio.

On Wednesday, he travelled to Washington to officially receive the coffin and accompanied it back to Egypt on Saturday.

It will be the centrepiece of an exhibition at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo from April 7. Its final home will be a museum under construction at the Red Sea resort town of Sharm el-Sheikh.

For hundreds of years, thousands of artifacts were whisked out of Egypt. Hawass has made it his mission to recover them and, since 2002, he has spearheaded the return of more than 30,000 objects to Egypt.

On Saturday, the antiquities chief also announced he will be retrieving many other items, now being held in New York City, back to his country. The ancient objects include pottery, art pieces and more wooden coffins.

He lauded the U.S. authorities for helping Egypt investigate and identify many stolen antiquities.

With files from The Associated Press