Egypt demands return of Rosetta Stone!

Egypt demands return of the Rosetta Stone By Charlotte Edwardes and Catherine Milner (Filed: 20/07/2003)

Egypt is demanding that the Rosetta Stone, a 2,000-year-old relic and one of the British Museum's most important exhibits, should be returned to Cairo.

The stone, which became the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, was found by Napoleon's army in 1799 in the Nile delta, but has been in Britain for the past 200 years. It forms the centrepiece of the British Museum's Egyptology collection and is seen by millions of visitors each year.

Now, in an echo of the campaign by Athens for the return of the Elgin Marbles, the Egyptian government is calling for the stone to be returned and threatening to pursue its claim "aggressively" if the British Museum does not agree to give it back voluntarily.

Zahi Hawass, the director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo, confirmed to The Telegraph that he had begun negotiations with academics and curators at the museum. He said he hoped that they would agree to "voluntarily return the stone", but gave a warning that, if the request was rejected, he would intensify his campaign to bring it back to Egypt.

"If the British want to be remembered, if they want to restore their reputation, they should volunteer to return the Rosetta Stone because it is the icon of our Egyptian identity," said Dr Hawass.

"Otherwise I will have to approach them using a different strategy. There are various stages to our negotiations. I don't want to fight anyone now, but if the British Museum doesn't act, we will have to employ a more aggressive approach with the Government. I don't care if people know my strategy, the artefacts stolen from Egypt must come back."

Dr Hawass said that he had been discussing a possible three-month loan of the stone with the museum. "More immediately, we are prepared to accept it peacefully on a temporary loan and we are in discussions about that right now. That is a short-term solution, however. Ideally, we would like the stone to come back for good."

Dr Hawass said that the Cairo Museum, where the Rosetta Stone would be kept, had a replica of the relic which it would be willing to give to the British Museum in return for the original.

The Rosetta Stone, which dates from 196 BC, was discovered by French troops in 1799 in the village of Rosette (Raschid) in the western delta of the Nile. The stone's importance was that it provided a key to understanding hieroglyphic text because it was accompanied by a Greek translation.

Although the stone was Napoleon's most coveted war acquisition, the French ceded it to Britain under the Treaty of Alexandria in 1801 and it has been exhibited in the British Museum since 1802.

Vivian Davies, the keeper of the Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan at the museum, expressed sympathy with Dr Hawass's claim, but suggested that legislation on the repatriation of artefacts would prevent the relic's permanent return.

"Will the Rosetta Stone be returned? I would say that our priorities are elsewhere at the moment. We are working with our Egyptian colleagues to preserve the heritage of today rather than concentrate on problems - or issues, perhaps I should say - that are very old," he said.

"We would like to co-operate with the Egyptians insofar as we can under the law. It is the same law that guides us on the issue of the Elgin Marbles - the British Museum Act of 1963." This rules that no artefact can be repatriated without the permission of the museum's trustees.

Mr Davies added: "Perhaps, if I were in Dr Hawass's position, I would feel the same way. We are having constructive negotiations over the loan for three months. It's a new idea he has produced and we appreciate very much that Dr Hawass is being constructive on these matters. We enjoy working with him and his staff."

Dr Hawass, one of the world's leading Egyptologists, has pioneered a major new museum development programme and encouraged the Egyptian government to pour considerable funds into archaeological research.

The Egyptian government has asked for the stone as part of a wide-reaching programme to return "stolen" antiquities from all over the world. Among the items it wants to retrieve are the bust of Queen Nefertiti from the Berlin Museum, the statues of Hatshepsut in the Metropolitan Museum of New York and, perhaps most controversially, the obelisk in the Place de la Concorde, one of the most famous landmarks in Paris.

Dr Hawass added: "The obelisk in France is needed because the Luxor temple from which it came is left with only one. The second one should be there with it."

Last night Neil MacGregor, the director of the British Museum, was unavailable for comment, but in the past he has described the personal significance of the stone. "I remember the first visit I made to the museum was with my father at the age of eight," he said. "I was fascinated by the Rosetta Stone. I was thrilled to be able to touch it - it was uncovered at the time - and physically connect with history."

If the stone were to be moved, it would be seen by far fewer people than is the case today: the Cairo Museum has about 2.5 million visitors a year, compared to the 5.5 million who visit the British Museum annually.

I really have already addressed the issues brought up by the cultural superiorists on this thread. But to recap, here’s the argument in a nutshell:

The British THEMSELVES admitted in the 1816 report that the Elgin marbles were acquired through theft.
The British THEMSELVES promised to return the marbles to Greece.
Nothing has happened.
There was a lot of discussion on how the marbles were DESTROYED under British "care".

Now, there are many who have the point of view:

The Greeks are a bunch of (insert insult here) – so who cares?
The British have the superior civilization, so who cares?
Finders keepers, so who cares?
The marbles are really more British than Greek, (even though there was no Britain in 500 BC), so who cares?
If the British did destroy the marbles, who cares? At least they're bveing preserved for all of humanity.

Then the insults – because I mention fact (like the report of 1816, etc), therefore I am (insert insult here).

NOT ONE PERSON has had the courage to answer the hypothetical I raised in item #132 on 07/22/2003 at 5:45:21 AM EDT. Since it is now 12/30/2004 3:57 PM EST, that makes it 527 Days 9 Hours 12 Mins (and counting) since raising that point.

I guess its too much to wish for an honest discussion and an civilized answer.

thank you for the insult of being a "cultural superiorists" i am just sick of this garbage. my family (clan) once had a castle in scotland, due to some misfortune we no longer have it, however, since it is in the british trust i can go visit its ruins. i suppose i should kick and scream and say that i was wronged and demand restitution but this was over a hundred years ago. ok so the museum in the past received something through dubious methods, it was a norm at the time. ive been to many museums in europe and have seen aztec and maya artifacts, there is a hotel in japan that has a partial viking longboat. i suppose all of these were purchased through official government means and not private dealers or adventurers. actually, i suggest that we give the rosetta stone to Greece since it was written in greek that it must have been misplaced by some athenian traveller.

Why doesn't everyone on the planet just make up their list of grievances all at once and get it over with? Give the UN something to do - sort them all out in neat piles, do nothing, and say "we're working on it".

For a preview of the action, we can watch how the UN handles the SE Asian tsunami relief.

You are either a intellectually dishonest person or a dingbat.

My post to you dealt with the subject of the thread, namely Egypt's demand that England return the Rosetta stone to them. I didn't mention the Elgin marbles, you brought them into the discussion.

You failed to address my argument that a Greek king ruled Egypt at the time the Rosetta stone was carved and that the inscriptions on the stone are a tribute to him.

This being the case doesn't logic dictate that the Greek people have as much of a claim to the stone as the Egyptians?

I also asked you what would be the repercussion's if every museum in the world were forced to return every artifact to its country of origin? You failed to address this as well.

I said that I found the argument of returning the Rosetta stone to Egypt rather naive because

1.A Greece ruled Egypt at the time of the stone's inception and the Greek's could also lay claim to ownership.

2.It is naive to believe that every museum in the world should return all their artifacts to their country of origin, which is what your position leads to.

I also commented on your choice of a screen name "Mrs Emma Peel" being curious because your posts exhibit a disdain for England and Emma Peel was a British agent on the show "The Avengers".

You said....

I guess its too much to wish for an honest discussion and an civilized answer.

BS...... You recieved a reply to your post on the same day you posted it, 7/22/03. You just did'nt like the reply you recieved so you ignored it...

Try listening instead of just running your yap.

To: MrsEmmaPeel The Declaration of Independence is part of US history.

Something indians made isn't.

Even the current day Egyptologist seem to think the ancient egyptians were ASIANS. They all say that TODAYS Egyptians are a mix of arab, medditerranian, ROMAN, etc blood.

Your DoI example doesn't work. To compare it to the Rosetta Stone, you need to make your example the british (or whoever) taking a bunch of arroheads, baskets and pottery.

149 posted on 07/22/2003 11:50:21 AM PDT by KneelBeforeZod (If God hadn't meant for them to be sheared, he wouldn't have made them sheep.) [ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 132 | View Replies | Report Abuse ]

OK. The documents you mention would belong to Britain as spoils of war.

Now will you address the points in my #205, in particular the hypothetical concerning Stonehenge?

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