Repatriation of Egyptian Artifacts: Ethics, Law, and History

Egypt's Campaign to Recover Cultural Artifacts

Countries fighting for the return of artifacts have few options, legally speaking. They can attempt to sue in the courts of the country holding the items, but that means a costly, lengthy, and uncertain legal battle. While most countries in question have laws requiring the return of stolen artifacts, many of the disputed items were acquired long before these laws were enacted (Durham, 2007).

Egypt's antiquities chief teamed up with 25 countries to press their campaigns to retrieve antiquities that were stolen — and even those given as gifts — warning museums that he would "make their lives miserable" if they refused his demands. Chief among the items Egypt wants back is the bust of Nefertiti, held at Berlin's Egyptian Museum. Egypt asserts that it was shipped out of the country in 1913 on the basis of fraudulent papers (Al-Shalchi, 2010).

Egypt has also been seeking the Rosetta Stone, the slab of basalt bearing an inscription that was the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics. It was taken out of Egypt in 1799 during French colonial rule and is now held at the British Museum in London (Al-Shalchi, 2010). Hawass also named a statue of Ramses from the Turin Museum in Italy on his "wish list," though he did not outline a specific strategy for retrieving the items. He indicated, however, that he was not threatening to cut ties with museums refusing to return artifacts — as he had done in his dispute with the Louvre (Al-Shalchi, 2010).

Egypt is seeking both items it asserts were stolen and items that were once given as gifts. Since becoming antiquities head in 2002, Hawass claimed to have recovered 5,000 artifacts. In one particularly contentious dispute, he repeatedly requested the return of a 3,200-year-old golden mask of a noblewoman from the St. Louis Art Museum, eventually cutting ties with the institution and calling for a public boycott of its collection. In October 2009, Hawass also cut ties with the Louvre, accusing the museum of refusing to return fragments illegally chipped from a tomb. Egypt suspended the Louvre's excavation rights in the vast necropolis of Saqqara, near Cairo. French officials quickly agreed to return the fragments and ties were restored (Al-Shalchi, 2010).

In one encouraging development, a 3,000-year-old wooden sarcophagus confiscated at Miami's airport was returned to Egypt. Other items — including wooden coffins, pottery, and ancient art pieces — remain held in New York.

The process of repatriating cultural heritage is complicated by inadequate local and international laws, and many museums maintain that they acquire their artifacts legally and transparently. Determining whether an artifact has been stolen requires delicate cooperation between governments, law enforcement agencies, museums, and antiquities dealers. Frequently, there are also significant gaps in the historical record (Al-Shalchi, 2010).

Arguments in Favor of Returning Artifacts

Artifacts belong to their country of origin; repatriation is simply the right course of action. These objects have a unique association with the place where they were produced and are an essential part of the cultural history of that region. That link should be honored by returning artifacts to the place where they were originally made and used (Merryman, 2006).

A historical artifact can only be truly appreciated in its historical context — that is, the place where it was found. The Elgin Marbles, currently housed in the British Museum in London, offer a clear illustration. The marbles originally formed part of the Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens, and it is only when seen in that setting that a visitor can fully appreciate the intended impact of the sculptures. In the British Museum, they appear as mere disconnected fragments, stripped of meaning by the loss of their geographical and historical context (Merryman, 2006).

Many people from an artifact's country of origin never get to see these objects because they cannot afford to travel to a foreign museum. These artifacts are part of their cultural history and national identity, and it is important that local people are given the opportunity to see them in person (Merryman, 2006).

Many artifacts were either stolen outright or acquired from their rightful homes under dubious circumstances. Elgin, for instance, appropriated the Parthenon Marbles from the Ottoman authorities who had invaded Greece and were arguably not the rightful owners of the site; he exploited political turmoil to pillage these ancient sculptures. The Aksum obelisk was seized from Ethiopia by Mussolini as a trophy of war; the injustice of this act was eventually recognized and the obelisk was restored to its rightful place in 2005 (Merryman, 2006).

Thousands of artifacts were carried out of Egypt during the period of colonial rule and afterward by archaeologists, adventurers, and thieves. Ancient Egyptian artifacts are now scattered across former colonial nations. The statue of Hemiunu, architect of the Great Pyramid at Giza, is in Germany; the bust of Anchhaf, builder of the Chephren Pyramid, is at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston; a painted Zodiac from the Dendera temple is held in the Louvre in France; and the 3,500-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti, wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten, is on display at the Neues Museum in Berlin, Germany (Obaji Ori, 2009).

According to a 1972 United Nations agreement, artifacts are the property of their country of origin, and pieces smuggled out must be returned. Egyptian archaeologists are particularly interested in the original basalt slab of the Rosetta Stone, dating to 196 BC — a key to the modern decipherment of hieroglyphics — as well as an ancient fresco fragment stolen from a tomb in the Valley of the Kings in the 1980s, which is currently held in Britain. Since 2002, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities has secured the return of 5,000 stolen artifacts (Obaji Ori, 2009).

Cultural and historical tourism is an important source of income for many countries. When their artifacts have been appropriated by foreign museums in wealthy nations, source countries are deprived of the economic opportunity to build a successful tourist trade (Merryman, 2006).

The Egyptian tourism industry is one of the most important sectors of the national economy, in terms of employment and incoming foreign currency. Egypt is among the best-known tourist destinations in the world, attracting visitors primarily through its historical sites in Cairo, Luxor, and Aswan, as well as coastal and sea activities. The government actively promotes foreign tourism as a major source of currency and investment, and has developed plans to attract more visitors through improvements to tourist infrastructure and international advertising (Merryman, 2006).

The fact that many of their most significant cultural artifacts remain in the hands of former Western colonial powers is a constant reminder to many developing nations of their past oppression. The British Museum, for example, refuses to return 700 of the Benin Bronzes to Nigeria despite repeated requests from the Nigerian government. The Rosetta Stone has been the subject of persistent demands by the Egyptian government yet remains in London. These artifacts have become souvenirs of imperialism — a means of retaining symbolic cultural ownership long after political power has faded (Merryman, 2006).

Returning artifacts to their places of origin would once have been a difficult undertaking simply due to the challenges of transport. Today, however, transportation is far quicker and easier, and improved technology — such as temperature-controlled containers — makes transit less damaging to fragile objects (Merryman, 2006).

Conclusion

The ethical responsibility for safeguarding history must be shared by all: indigenous cultures whose heritage should be protected from ransacking, as well as scholars, collectors, dealers, museums, and institutions. Ultimately, trafficking in antiquities is bound up with deep political and economic problems. When demand disappears, supply drops accordingly — but as long as there is prestige attached to collecting antiquities, illegal supply will continue to disregard international laws. Perhaps most troublingly, there is growing concern that antiquities smuggling frequently serves as a money-laundering operation for other criminal enterprises, including narcotics, arms, and human trafficking. As David Gill noted in his 2009 review of James Cuno's controversial book Who Owns Antiquity?, "collecting archaeological artifacts encourages looting, the destruction of sites and the irreversible loss of knowledge." Increasingly, dealers, collectors, and museums are asking the right questions about the history of objects before acquiring them. The Latin principle caveat emptor — "buyer beware" — has never been more applicable (Hunt, 2010).