April, 2009
Give back our treasures, say ancient nations
This stunning statue of Queen Nefertiti from Egypt was bought by a German collector in 1913 and is now in a German museum.
For centuries, treasure hunters have been digging up amazing finds from ancient civilizations and taking them to museums and private collectors in faraway cities.
The treasures include fabulous jewelry, statues and carvings created centuries or millenia ago. Now that's souvenir hunting.
There's just one problem. The tomb hunters and relic raiders have been too successful at removing artefacts from Egypt, Greece and other homes of great ancient civilizations. Many of these countries' treasures are now thousands of miles away in Britain, the United States and other advanced nations.
So, if you were an Egyptian student and wanted to see with your own eyes the gorgeous 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti (above) that's part of your country's history, you would have to travel to the the Egyptian Museum - in Berlin, Germany!
Unfair? The descendants of these ancient civilizations think so. Their governments want the treasures back.
A couple of years back, an important victory was won. A beautiful wreath of gold leaves from around the time of Alexander the Great was brought back to Greece from a museum in the United States.
It had been looted from Greece more than a decade earlier. An American museum official got into trouble with the law in Greece and Italy for buying artefacts illegally.
But, there are thousands more artefacts that are far from their homes. The big museums that have them often say that they have facilities and experts to look after these fragile treasures. They add that they are preserving these pieces of history for the whole world to appreciate. They also claim that moving the artefacts now may damage them, or that their home countries aren't equipped to care for them.
Even today, bits of people's heritage are being stolen from under their noses. In Asia, Cambodia, Thailand, India, China and other countries are all being raided by treasure hunters.
This article first appeared in the May-June 2007 issue of What's Up.
Re-published here in April, 2009
The treasures include fabulous jewelry, statues and carvings created centuries or millenia ago. Now that's souvenir hunting.
There's just one problem. The tomb hunters and relic raiders have been too successful at removing artefacts from Egypt, Greece and other homes of great ancient civilizations. Many of these countries' treasures are now thousands of miles away in Britain, the United States and other advanced nations.
So, if you were an Egyptian student and wanted to see with your own eyes the gorgeous 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti (above) that's part of your country's history, you would have to travel to the the Egyptian Museum - in Berlin, Germany!
Unfair? The descendants of these ancient civilizations think so. Their governments want the treasures back.
A couple of years back, an important victory was won. A beautiful wreath of gold leaves from around the time of Alexander the Great was brought back to Greece from a museum in the United States.
It had been looted from Greece more than a decade earlier. An American museum official got into trouble with the law in Greece and Italy for buying artefacts illegally.
But, there are thousands more artefacts that are far from their homes. The big museums that have them often say that they have facilities and experts to look after these fragile treasures. They add that they are preserving these pieces of history for the whole world to appreciate. They also claim that moving the artefacts now may damage them, or that their home countries aren't equipped to care for them.
The Elgin Marbles was part of the Parthenon in Athens. They were taken by the British 200 years ago and are now in the British Museum. The Greek people are trying to get them back.
Most of these were taken when places like Greece and Egypt were more helpless. They were poor and under colonial rule. Usually, the treasure hunters wanted to collect pretty and pricey things. They didn't care that these items were part of someone else's heritage.
Even today, bits of people's heritage are being stolen from under their noses. In Asia, Cambodia, Thailand, India, China and other countries are all being raided by treasure hunters.
This article first appeared in the May-June 2007 issue of What's Up.
Re-published here in April, 2009