Pubblicato su ArtNet – consultare la fonte per l’intera documentazione fotografica
The long-awaited opening of the Grand Egyptian Museum (GEM) in Giza has led to renewed calls for the British Museum to return the Rosetta Stone, the artifact that was taken out of Egypt by British forces in 1801 and proved key to deciphering hieroglyphs.
Speaking to the BBC, the former minister of tourism and antiquities Zaha Hawass, said it was time for Western European museums to make amends regarding their holdings of ancient Egyptian artifacts. “I want two things: number one, museums to stop buying stolen artifacts and number two, I need three objects to come back: the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum, the Zodiac from the Louvre and the Bust of Nefertiti from Berlin,” Hawass said.
Other prominent Egyptologists, including Monica Hanna, have echoed Hawass’s message, noting that such artifacts were taken during colonial times. “The [opening of] GEM gives this message that Egypt has done its homework very well to officially ask for the objects,” Hanna, who in 2022 co-founded a restitution campaign for the Rosetta Stone, said. “Egypt should start asking officially for the restitution and repatriation of the different objects that were looted.”
An exhibition hall of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Giza, Egypt. Photo: Wang Dongzhen / Xinhua via Getty Images.
In response, the British Museum said that there have been no official approaches regarding the Rosetta Stone and that the current minister of tourism and antiquities, Sherif Fathy, has not publicly called for its return.
“We have received no formal request from the Egyptian Government to repatriate the Rosetta Stone,” a museum spokesperson said over email. “The British Museum works with partners all over the world including with colleagues throughout Egypt on projects, exhibitions, and research and we enjoy a long-standing and collaborative relationship with the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities.”
Adding to its defense, the British Museum noted that the Rosetta Stone is one of 29 known official decrees from the Ptolemaic period (332 B.C.E. to 30 B.C.E.), engraved with Egyptian hieroglyphs, Egyptian Demotic, and Ancient Greek that helped scholars understand hieroglyphic text. Twenty-two of these remain in Egypt, including the famed Decree of Canopus, a centerpiece of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo’s collection.
The British Museum also said it is unable to return objects permanently from its collection outside of exceptional circumstances as it is bound by the British Museum Act of 1963, which places strict limitations on returning objects, and has often been cited in discussions surrounding the Parthenon Marbles, which were taken from the Acropolis in the early years of the 19th century and are wanted back by Greece.
The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799 during the Napoleonic Wars in Egypt when French troops were knocking down a wall in the town of Rosetta. Following the French surrender to British forces in 1801, it was handed over in the Treaty of Alexandria and has been a part of the British Museum’s collection ever since.
The inauguration of GEM at the beginning of November marks the end of 20-year-long construction effort that was hindered by domestic political turmoil, the pandemic, and regional conflict. It cost more than $1 billion and covers an area of 120 acres, roughly that of Vatican City. It’s the centerpiece of Egypt’s bid to revive international tourism and covers 5,000 years of the country’s history through more than 50,000 artifacts, including the entire contents from the tomb of Tutankhamun and a replica of the Rosetta Stone.
