Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Neil McGregor is the director of a British museum. This museum is one of the
oldest and largest in the world. It has a well-earned reputation as an
encyclopedic museum with a global history told through eight million objects.
Inside we can see everything from prehistoric pottery to precious handmade
jewelry from India and vases from China. From it we understand how the
events that took place at different times and in different places were
connected and how they influenced each other. Hans Sloan tried to make
cultural comparisons in his original collection in 1753.
People are interested in how the museum acquired many of the exhibits and
whether they should stay there. Some have a well-documented history, but
others were added during the British colonial period, so they may have been
stolen from famous archeological sites or acquired as military trophies. Many
countries continue to seek back their treasures. However, where it should be
stored is an issue that is still much debated.
The rosette stone is an exhibit that illustrates this problem well. The stone
shows a pharaoh's command, small hieroglyphs, demotic writing and classical
Greek and is the key to unlocking the language of the ancient Egyptians. It was
first discovered in 1799 near the city of El-Rashit by soldiers in Napoleon's
army, but after Napoleon's defeat in 1801 it became British property. Many of
the museum's treasures have been acquired in this way, but it is not surprising
that the British Museum is reluctant to release the Rosetta Stone. It claims that
more people see the stone in London than in Cairo and the location is safer and
the exhibition is part of its global collection. The Egyptian government has
other ideas and is trying to persuade the museum to return it. They say it is
important to the history and identity of their nation and that many Egyptians
cannot afford to go to London to see it. The British Museum will not release the
Rosetta Stone even as a loan, as they fear it will not be returned.
Elgin Marbles is another famous and controversial exhibit. In 1802 it was taken
from the Temple of the Parthenon by Lord Elgin. The sculptures are considered
a crucial part of Greek history - so much so that the Greek government, backed
by UNESCO, has repeatedly wanted them returned. According to the Greeks,
Lord Elgin robbed the sculptures and severely damaged the monument, but the
British claim that Elgin had permission from the Ottoman authorities to remove
them. It was not until 1822, during the Greek War of Independence, that the
Acropolis was handed over to the Greeks, but until then the English Parliament
approved the acquisition of Elgin. No one can force the museum to return the
marbles, but the Greek government will continue to campaign for their return
to Athens.