Egypt

Repatriation issues raised in response to the chaos

Business Week (Vernon Silver)

The day before Egypt's revolution began, the nation's then-antiquities chief, Zahi Hawass, demanded that Berlin's Neues Museum hand over its bust of Queen Nefertiti. Three weeks earlier, Hawass warned New York that he'd try to take back an obelisk in Central Park unless the city took better care of it.

Then came the revolution, when riots raged in front of Cairo's Egyptian Museum. On the night of Jan. 28 thieves broke in, with at least one descending into the Victorian-era building through a skylight. The looters made off with 18 objects, including statues of ancient-world celebrities King Tutankhamun and Nefertiti.

Some in the art world have seized on the chaos to oppose Egypt's demand for the return of its antiquities and to question the idea that ancient artworks and artifacts should be concentrated in their countries of origin (Italy and Greece are also seeking the return of national artworks). "The incidents during the Egyptian revolution could be taken as basis for a change of discussion," the Cologne (Germany)-based International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art said through its spokeswoman, Ursula Kampmann.

Discovery News (Benjamin Redford)

When visitors to museums see artifacts from cultures all around the world, an uncomfortable question sometimes arises: Why are they here?

Why should museums in Paris, London, Washington, D.C., and elsewhere contain objects that are important to the history of other (usually poorer) plundered lands? Many see the practice as an extension of Western imperialism. Though some items were purchased from the countries in which they were found, many were simply taken by European archaeologists and researchers. The repatriation of antiquities has been a sensitive issue for decades, and raises difficult questions.

Those who defend the practice point out that the treasures in Western museums are very accessible to the public, and allow people to see things they would never be able to examine otherwise. Furthermore, they point out, the historical artifacts are well preserved and protected for future generations of all cultures, and that (as condescending as it may seem) Western governments and countries are simply better equipped to properly care for the world’s historical treasures.

- Egyptian Antiquities - A "smokescreen"?
Looting Matters (David Gill) Vernon Silver has published a reflective piece on the recent looting of antiquities and the debate about cultural property ("Looting in Egypt Arms Critics of Sending Antiquities Back Home", Bloomberg.com March 9, 2011). Has...

- Ongoing Saga Of Nefertiti Bust
All Voices (Christopher Szabo) Demands by Egypt for the return of Queen Nefertiti’s bust to Cairo have been turned down by Germany. State Minister for Culture Bernd Neumann argued the statue rightfully belonged to Germany. Neumann rejected Egyptian...

- Repatriation: It's Not Just Egypt
Sydney Morning Herald (Jason Koutsoukis) Egypt will host an international conference next March for countries seeking the return of ancient indigenous treasures being kept in foreign museums. The secretary-general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities,...

- Repatriation: Nefertiti And The Legacy Of Artifacts
Student Life (Kemi Aladesuyi) This is another of those articles that I find really frustrating. It's the same old rehashed summary of both the general issues and of the situation regarding Nefertiti, and it asks the same old questions. In this case...

- Repatriating Disputed Antiquities
http://www.archaeology.org/0611/etc/president.htmlAn article by Jane C. Waldbaum, President of the Archaeological Institute of America on the Archaeology Magazine website: "By repatriating disputed antiquities, museums will be able to bring even more...

Egypt