Repatriation of the Rosetta Stone
The
Rosetta Stone is one of the most important artifacts ever discovered pertaining
to ancient Egypt. Without the Rosetta Stone, understanding and translating
hieroglyphics would have been nearly impossible for many years. The Rosetta
Stone is currently held in the British Museum and has been under British care
since 1801. The past of the Rosetta Stone is filled with battles, takeovers and
controversy. Through all of this controversy the stone has still not been returned no any progress has been made to qualm this issue. Being that it is one of the most important artifacts from ancient Egypt it has many supporters including myself advocating for its return.
Back in the late 1700s, Napoleon Bonaparte had conquered Egypt in the
name of France. While France was excavating and researching the area, they came
across the stone in 1799. The stone was found in the Egyptian town of Rashid,
which was named Rosetta at the time by the French. Shortly after this the
armies of Britain came along and fought France for the territory. After
defeating Bonaparte, the British accepted a deal of surrender through the Treaty of Alexandria, which included
the French handing over specific artifacts to the British army. Egypt was left
out of these surrender negotiations, as they were nominally controlled by the Ottomans at this time, so the British took the stone back to their
main land and began studying it. In 1822, they learned to use the stone to
decode and translate three types of hieroglyphics.
Over 200 years later Egypt is calling on the British Museum to return to
stone based on the fact it was a 'spoil of war' and that no Egyptian person
signed off on the exchange between the armies. The British Museums refutes this
citing a signature from an Ottoman man, who was the ruler over Egypt at the time. This Ottoman admiral also fought alongside the British. Still the repatriation efforts
remain.
There have been multiple petitions which over 100,000 combined
signatures from mainly Egyptians in support of returning the stone as well as many of the other
thousands Egyptian artifacts within the British Museum. Most of those artifacts
came to Britain during their official ruling of Egypt which lasted from 1882 all the way into the
1950s, but Britain's presence in Egypt preceded this by decades. Many other museums around the world have been returning objects to their
place of origin, either by court order, or because of past wrong doings.
Recently New York's Metropolitan Museum and the Horniman museum have returned
artifacts to Egypt, with many calling on the British Museum to do the same.
Egypt wants the stone back for obvious reasons, being that it was made
in Egypt, it transformed research on their culture and it was taken during a
battle which Egypt had little to do with. Egypt would also like to increase
their largest industry of tourism by getting artifacts like the Rosetta stone
back to their home country. Any special artifacts like the Rosetta Stone can
help them earn more traffic to their country, with many calling it an Icon of
Egypt. The British Museum however is unwilling to give it back at this stage,
citing the negotiation contract with the signature of the Ottoman ruler of
Egypt during the time. The British also cite the fact that there are many other
stones similar to the Rosetta Stone still in Egypt which are now on display.
While this is true, the importance of the one the British have control of
cannot be understated and the repatriation efforts remain. Egypt has not specifically asked for any reparations other than these lasting artifacts to be back in their control, yet Britain holds firm.
With the large support behind the repatriation of such an important artifact, many people clearly think that the right thing to do is to give the stone back to its place of origin. The British Museum has its arguments for why it should stay, and because of this it has stayed for in Britain's care for over 200 years. Because of the circumstances as well as the surrender contract, getting the Rosetta Stone back to where it came from will continue to be a challenge going forward. The only way it is getting back is if the British Museum has a change of heart and decides for itself to give it back to Egypt. Personally, I think this should be done. When I think of Egypt I think of 3 things, the pyramids, the Sphinx and the Rosetta Stone. I believe if the roles were flipped and Egypt had a sculpture of Britain which meant a lot to Britain's history, the British would not stop until it was back in their possession. If the British Museum can realize how important it is to the people of Egypt, they should do the right thing and peacefully hand it over. It would be a land mark case for repatriation and could set the example going forward for other museums to follow.
Press, Associated. “Egyptians Call on British Museum to Return the Rosetta Stone.” PBS, Public Broadcasting Service, 30 Nov. 2022, www.pbs.org/newshour/world/egyptians-call-on-british-museum-to-return-the-rosetta-stone.
Rizk, Mariam. “Egypt Calls for Return of Rosetta Stone 200 Years after It Was Deciphered | Reuters.” Rueters, 5 Oct. 2022, www.reuters.com/world/middle-east/egypt-calls-return-rosetta-stone-200-years-after-it-was-deciphered-2022-10-05/.
“‘Act of Plunder’: Egyptians Want the Rosetta Stone Back.” Al Jazeera, Al Jazeera, 30 Nov. 2022, www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/11/30/after-220-years-egypt-demands-the-return-of-the-rosetta-stone.
Comments
Post a Comment