'A Spoil of War': Egyptologists Demand Return of Rosetta Stone

British Museum, which refused its return in the past, says there's no official request now
By Arden Dier,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 12, 2022 10:40 AM CDT
'A Spoil of War': Egyptologists Demand Return of Rosetta Stone
Visitors view the Rosetta Stone on display at the British Museum in London on Aug. 7, 2014.   (Wikimedia Commons/ProtoplasmaKid)

Egyptian archaeologists and thousands of supporters are demanding the return of one of the British Museum's most prized artifacts, along with other Egyptian treasures, saying their continued presence in the heart of the British Empire "supports past colonial endeavors of cultural violence." An online petition launched last month by a group of archaeologists calling for the return to Egypt of 17 artifacts surrendered to the British by the French in 1801, including the famed Rosetta Stone, has attracted at least 13,000 signatures, according to a blog post shared by an Egyptologist leading the campaign. The petition urges Egyptian Prime Minister Mostafa Madbouly to work to retrieve the treasures, which British officials might be open to returning, per NPR.

Egyptologist Monica Hanna tells CBS News that the Rosetta Stone, whose 1799 discovery during Napoleon's campaign in Egypt led to the decoding of hieroglyphs, is "a symbol of cultural violence." It "was undeniably a spoil of war and an act of plunder that was outlawed in the 17th and 19th centuries," adds the petition. Dr. Zahi Hawass, Egypt's top antiquities official more than a decade ago, led an effort then to have the Rosetta Stone returned to Egypt, but he was rebuffed by the museum, which offered up a replica instead. But organizers say attitudes on archaeological ethics have evolved. "I am sure all these objects eventually are going to be restituted because the ethical code of museums is changing," Hanna tells Reuters. "It's just a matter of when."

Hanna says the petition has added power in that "this is the people demanding their own culture back," per CBS. But she hopes "everyone who believes in the right of cultural identity ... and the inalienable right of each sovereign state to enjoy their own heritage and reclaiming that heritage if it has been taken from them" will sign on. Indeed, she's confident the British public "will not accept to have such cultural violence represented in their own museums." Responding to the petition, a museum rep notes there's no formal repatriation request from Egypt, per Reuters. This comes as the museum is set to open a new exhibition on ancient Egypt, which highlights the Rosetta Stone in particular, on Thursday. (The museum is also under pressure to return a moai from Easter Island.)

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