Egyptian treasures are known throughout the world
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The 4,000-year-old limestone statue of an official called Sekhemka is about 75 cm tall. It shows him sitting, reading a scroll with his much smaller wife kneeling beside him.
It's been sold to help fund an extension to the town's museum.
Those protesting at the sale included the Egyptian government. Egypt's ambassador to Britain told the BBC a museum should not act like a shop that sells items for profit. Others argue that the sale might jeopardise Northampton's status as an accredited museum and the grants which it gets as a result. But the council's leader, David Mackintosh, said the statue hadn't been on display for four years and no one had asked to see it in that time.
Museums generally fight shy of selling artifacts from their collections partly because sales might discourage people from donating items in future. But in recent years a number of cash-strapped council museums have sold things or tried to.
In this case, the Marquis of Northampton, whose family gave the statue to the town in 1890, argued that the sale would breach the terms of the gift. He's now reached a deal and will get just under half of the proceeds.
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roll of paper, especially one with ancient writing on it
extra part added to a building
to risk damaging something important
officially authorised or recognised
sums of money given to an organisation for a particular purpose
arranged for people to see in a place like a shop or museum
try to avoid
lacking money
break a law or rule
money made by selling an item
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