The British Museum should return the cultural artefacts it stole, to their lands of their origins immediately. Theft is a big disgrace.
As an archaeologist, yes i think it bad that back in the boom days of archaeological discovery the British Museum did und a lot of what basically amount to theft. But a lot of what they hold now in ttheir collections would have subsequently been destroyed by conficts (they hold huge collections from early civilisations from the Middle East like Iraq) or destroyed for religios reasons (many important archaeological discoveries in egypt have been damaged by islamic fundamntalists trying to eradicate signs of the early religion of egypt, inluding heiroglyphics on tomb walls that may have proven invaluable to our understand of egyptian life and beliefs). so please, try to understand both sides of the coin. its not clear cut black and white.
They should at least now be given back. They've not only unmounted the pictures and the statues but have also unmounted the marbles. One of them is the friz of the Parthenon. Although back in the attica times those marbles were colorful, the so called "archaeologists" in Britain (Lord Elgin being the head thief) painted them white thinking everything in ancient greece was white. Even the world wonder Mausoleum's (originally sited in Bodrum, Turkey) is stolen by the British. When Cevat Sakir Kabaagacli (a renowned turkish writer) writes a letter to the Queen claiming that the Mausoleum was meant to be rising in front of a blue sea and sky (where it originally belongs), not to the dark hallways of the British Museum, the dumbass queen replies that the background of the Mausoleum would be painted blue. She doesnt have even the slightest crumbs of neither dignity nor pride. Shameless to commit thievery; she even replies with sarcasm!! If those so called archaeologists where so concerned with the statues, they wouldnt have choped off the statues' arms and heads just because they can only carry those parts to the ships (one of them actually sank) They should also give the Rozetta Stone of the Egyptians back. It just gets under my skin that they earn money proudly out of the things they've stolen from other civilizations. Same goes for the Louvre Museum where the bastards dont put any info plates in English, as if they present their own cultural heritage! Imperial thieves they all are. By the way, I'm an archaeologist too.
the friz of the Parthenon were taken just as the place was blown up between fighting by the Greeks themselves.. at the time they obviously couldn’t take care of it, the roseta stone would have been useless in Egypt as they did not have the knowledge to understand it, anyway it was taken from the French who took it from Egypt It was not the British museum in most cases who took artifacts, it was lone rich people who were interested in archeology who thought of themselves as archeologists, you cant blame things on the actual ones, even saying at the time even real archeologists were not half as careful as they are now. If things are to be given back as in some cases they should, they should get at least the same conditions and security in their new homes or there is no point in giving them back. In allot of cases the people who want the artifacts don’t actually have the proper means of keeping them, they just dont want the British museum to have them outa some weird sense of national pride. People should think what is best for the artifacts before they think about national pride. Ps. The British museum is free, therefore your argument about them getting money from them is utter bullshit, they infact spend millions of our countries tax moneys in preserving them.
You are an archaeologist, yet you seem to have missed several key points here. The "theives" werent the British Museum themselves, the were rich "explorers" like Heinrich Schliemann wanting the glory of discovering fantastic ancient cultures and rich treasures which they then SOLD to the British Museum. And Graham makes a valid point - the museum is free, and spends millions on consrevation and raising public awareness of the heritage of their collections. And the museum doesnt make any ones about being theives, just sak any of the numerous guides and they'll tell you all about it, they're not trying to hide the fact. As for the Rosetta Stone - it was the british and french who decoded it and provided a way to translate heiroglyphs - which i doubt would have happened if the French who rescued it from inside a WALL they were removing to build new structures and simply left in Egypt. I dont agree with the "theivery" of the British museum, but i cant help but think you are being overly bitter about it. I cant speak for the louvre having never visited and not being french, but it *is* a french museum, many museums in england have no other languages in their displays also.
When I went to Cairo I was told about how many ancient buildings had been ruined by builders/planners stealing the stonework to decorate homes and provide materials for new buildings. So although stuff should be returned by anyone should they request it I agree that it still needs to be protected. Never been able to work out why it's called the British Museum though, not very much in it that is British ... apart from the remnants of imperialism.
I definitely agree, that as long as the countries of origin can ensure their protection and preservation, that the British museum should return the cultural artifacts that it has taken. I remember going to Egypt several years ago, and visiting the Tomb of Ramases II in the Valley of the Kings, only to find out that his body was no longer there, it was in fact back home in England! Yes, return the artifacts....
I bet visiting England is free too and I bet tourism too is utterly bullshit. Spending millions to protect them? Well, dont bother, just hand them over. Da hell, of course I'm bitter about it. Reserving stolen goods knowing that they were stolen, isnt very different from thievery. Louvre may be a french museum but just as the name. Half of the museum is stolen artifacts. About language plates: Forcing visitors to understand only one language is nothing but arrogance. Nothing said here, so far justifies the "hostage" artifacts in both Louvre and the British Museum. Ps. if you show your archaeology student ID at the louvre, you enter free
I think that each culture should own its own artifacts if they can keep them safe for future generations. If not then they should allow others to keep them safe for them. Or we should help them get the kind of security they would need to keep them safe. I also think that if people make money for showing artifacts of other cultures they should either a) give the profits to the other cultures or b) donate a portion of the funds to a charity for the other culture or c) donate all profits to charities which help the ohter culture.
If the British Museum didnt preserve these artifacts they would have been lost forever. We have cared for them where countries of origin would have failed, as such we have earnt the right to look after them in perpetuity. If anything more countries should allow us to guard their artifacts, if the British museum had held the relics from the Iraqi national museum when the looters came a calling then we would not have lost several priceless artifacts.
The British Imperial theft code: we steal, we keep them and that's why we have the right to keep them to eternity. By the way, we also invade the countries where we have already robbed. If because of our invasion, the war worn, public starts a riot, it's double good: so that we can steal some more.
I am not dissagreeing... but it is safe to say that that is the code of many a dominant country in history...
P.s. Maes... Why are you just discussing this here? If this means so much to you why not start a movement to do something about it rather than just talking about it? Thats what I'd do.... Start a campaign? All power to ya
good idea, maybe I should write a letter to the British ministry of culture. But I also need the support of the british peoples i guess.
Well, another lie refuted by museum's Online booking service: http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/ebooking/index.html#
Are you tripping? By all means, criticise the British Museum for things it's actually guilty of. But let's stick to the facts, eh?
Adult £8, Concession £5 A classic BM tour. Pre-book your 90 minutes Highlights tour in English, led by trained British Museum guides. Tours in other languages can be arranged, please contact us: groups@thebritishmuseum.ac.uk Adult £19 Make the most of your visit with a Highlights Guided Tour and take away one of the Museum's best sellers The British Museum A-Z Companion (normally priced at £14.99). Though, I might have overlooked the distinction between entering the museum and buying a ticket for a guided tour.
