by Editor on January 1, 2010
The following is a recent letter to the editor (The Independent) by Jonathan Downs, the author of Discovery at Rosetta. Jonathan has granted permission to post this piece and is willing to respond to any questions raised in the comments section below:
RETURN OF THE ROSETTA STONE
The British Museum was originally the storehouse of a vast collection of small curiosities, and the hoard from Alexandria in 1802 which included the Rosetta Stone, was the first of its kind in its halls, providing large, dramatic pieces as never before.
The stone, unlike the Elgin Marbles, is in the BM by dint of an aged treaty, signed by occupying military forces at a time when both Greece and Egypt were not yet modern nation-states as they are today – to claim that ‘Greece’ or ‘Egypt’ in any way agreed to the removal of these treasures is ludicrous as well the BM or any historian knows.
The objects were obtained with the permission of the Ottoman Empire – in the case of the Rosetta Stone, the treaty concerned [Articles of the Capitulation of Alexandria 1801] was signed by a Mameluke warlord, having just witnessed not only the utter destruction of the French by the British army, but also the intimidation of the mighty Ottomans by their apparent British allies, who threatened to march back down to Cairo to rescue surviving Mameluke figures from execution at the hands of Ottoman commanders.
That this Mameluke successor, Osman Bey, would have dared defy such a military machine arrayed before him is most unlikely.
Any competent barrister in The Hague could easily argue that he signed under duress, grateful to be rid of both the French and the Ottomans all at once.
It is time this treaty were put aside, and measures considered for the international ownership of the stone, by the French, Egyptians and British: for the French who deciphered it, for the British who have preserved it, and for the Egyptians who created it.
Such a step would not bring the BM crashing down but indeed raise it to the dizzying heights of approbation, a pleasant change from its current role as target for vilification.
- by Jonathan Downs, author of ‘Discovery at Rosetta’ [London, 2008]
by Editor on December 28, 2009
The British Museum’s Egyptian Sculpture Gallery was packed last night, as hundreds of dignitaries flocked to see The World’s Most Famous Archaeologist (copyright all bloggers) Dr. Zahi Hawass, speaking ahead of the release of his latest book A Secret Voyage. Cameras in hand, Heritage Key was there to witness Dr Hawass’ appearance, heralded more like the second coming than a book signing.
Stood in front of the museum’s colossal head of Ramesses the Great, Dr. Zahi Hawass boomed out at his fans like an emissary from the pharaoh himself. But as he spoke, you could sense he was looking longingly above all our heads at the Rosetta Stone — the repatriation of which he continues to crusade.
Yet as Dr. Hawass steps up his quest for the Stone, he tried to placate things with BM director Neil MacGregor in his introduction: “When I first came here, everyone thought I came to take back the Rosetta Stone! But I’m not here to talk about the Rosetta Stone…” followed by a couple of minutes talking about the Rosetta Stone.
Dr Hawass speaking in the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery.
Image by Ann Wuyts
The granodiorite slab, famous for unlocking the secrets of the Egyptian language, promised to be the evening’s unsettling white elephant. But once Dr Hawass had launched into his famous acerbic rhetoric half an hour later (after an amusingly Hollywood-esque introductory video) the issue of repatriation had been left behind tales of the SCA’s latest discoveries.
Secret tunnels, lost queens, mixed-up mummies and ancient dams were just a few of Dr Hawass’ topics, pock-marked with his dry humour. “I had no idea archaeology would be my life. In fact, I hated archaeology.”; “At the tomb of Tutankhamun, when Lord Carnarvon asked Howard Carter, ‘What do you see?’ he said, ‘Wonderful things’. In my excavation, when my assistant asked me, ‘What do you see?’ I smelt the sewage, I said, ‘S**t.’”
We were then treated to around five minutes listing the celebrities Dr Hawass has met recently, including of course President Barak Obama.
Yet I couldn’t help but think that seeing Dr Hawass in a suit addressing a room full of dignitaries isn’t the right place to be seeing him in action. Take a look at some videos of Dr Hawass on Youtube.com in full swing, attired in denim shirt, hat and chinos. After all, he is called the ‘real Indiana Jones’.
What Dr Hawass’d give to get his hands on this. Image by Ann Wuyts
– Sean Williams is an English Literature graduate, who currently works as a writer and journalist in London. He enjoys ancient history, theatre and sport. Check out his blog here
