Egypt

Egypt asserts ownership of its past

Marketplace (Amy Scott)
(Slideshow - 2 images)

All the audio links appear to have moved on to other stories now, but here's an extract from the text page:

Thousands of ancient treasures have left Egypt over the centuries. Many were carted away by archeologists with official blessings. Others were smuggled out and sold on the black market.

To stem the trade, Zahi Hawass has proposed stiffer penalties for smugglers. He's also floated the idea of copyrighting Egyptian artifacts. The royalties would help pay for more than a dozen new museums under construction in Egypt.

HAWASS: I'm making big changes here, and I need money. And this money that I make of the replica, it's not for Egypt to be rich, no. It's to use in restoring these monuments that I believe . . . it does not belong to Egypt only, but belongs to everyone all over the world.

That's just the point, says James Cuno, who directs the Art Institute of Chicago. He's written a book: "Who Owns Antiquity?" Aside from sheer geography, Cuno says modern Egypt's link to the Pharaonic civilization is tenuous.

JAMES CUNO: You know, it's not in the religious practice, it's not in the language, it's not in the artistic practice, it's not in any political relationships.

And he says claiming otherwise is dangerous.

CUNO: Culture is something that always is a very fluid and mongrel thing that is made by people and not by nations. And to put political borders around culture is to falsify the history of culture as we know it.

Yet the past is one of Egypt's biggest money makers. Tourists who flocked to the pyramids and the Valley of the Kings brought in some $8 billion last season.

Hani El-Masri is an Egyptian artist. He'd like to see the Rosetta Stone stay right where it is.

- Book Review: Who Owns Antiquity?
Expedition, Volume 51 (Review by Praveena Gullapalli) Thanks to Richard Vijay for sending this link. The book review dates back to summer 2009 but I managed to miss it! In the light of all the recent conversations re repatriation the book is still very...

- New Book: Whose Culture?
Princeton University Press The international controversy over who "owns" antiquities has pitted museums against archaeologists and source countries where ancient artifacts are found. In his book Who Owns Antiquity?, James Cuno argued that antiquities...

- More Reviews Of Cuno's Who Own's Antiquity?
Here's a round-up of some of some of the reviews of James Cuno's book Who Owns Antiquity? It is a completely random selection. Archaeology Magazine (Roger Atwood) Wall Street Journal (Eric Ormsby) New York Times (Edward Rothstein) If you are...

- Antiquities, The World Is Your Homeland
New York Times (Edward Rothstein) James Cuno's new book has generated a lot of interest in the media and on individual blogs. He has published this book at a good time, when issues of repatriation and the ownership of heritage are very much in the...

- Book Interview: Who Owns Antiquity? James Cuno
The Canadian Press "That belongs in a museum!" Indiana Jones was scolding one of his many enemies, the last we heard from the hunky archaeologist, 19 years ago. He has returned to the screen in the much-awaited sequel "Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of...

Egypt