Museums across Europe and America have drawn dazzling crowds with artifacts from other nations. Many of these pieces were the spoils of war and remnants of colonization.
A debate has raged for years as to who truly owns historical artifacts like the Rosetta Stone. Now, Egyptians are calling on the British Museum to return this part of their cultural heritage.
“We want the Egyptians to learn of what has been stolen from them,” Dr. Monica Hanna, an Egyptologist and dean of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, said in an interview.
Museums across Europe and America have drawn dazzling crowds with artifacts from other nations. Many of these pieces were the spoils of war and remnants of colonization.
Dr. Monica Hanna is petitioning the British Museum to return treasures to Egypt, including the Rosetta Stone.
"Today, the Rosetta Stone for me, is a symbol of Western colonialism over my culture. It represents a spoil of war, it represents cultural violence,” Dr. Hanna said. “And I’m not only asking for its restitutional repatriation, I’m also training generations of students who will become researchers to continue the fight until the Rosetta Stone is back in Egypt."
The Rosetta Stone was carved in the 2nd century BC. It has helped modern scholars translate ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, unlocking a language that was almost lost.
The piece on display at the British Museum was uncovered by French scientists in 1799 after Napoleon’s military occupation of Egypt. When the British military defeated the French in Egypt, the Rosetta Stone and other artifacts were granted to England in an 1801 surrender treaty. French generals gave British generals things that belonged to the Egyptians.
“Today, we are in the 21st century and we have to correct the mistakes of the past and correct the mistakes of the history because we can’t change it,” according to Dr. Hanna.
Dr. Hanna and her supporters are calling on the British Museum to return the Rosetta Stone to allow Egyptians access to their own history.
“The British Museum is still locked up as a cabinet of curiosity in the 19th century,” Dr. Hanna said. “They need to find a new vision and a new philosophy for their role as a museum, and restitution and repatriation is at the heart of this new philosophy."
The British Museum said in a statement that the 1801 treaty that gave the Rosetta Stone to the British bore the signature of an Egyptian official. It also says despite the public petition, Egypt’s government has not asked for the Rosetta Stone back.
