Repatriation: The Rosetta Stone

This week's melodrama is the question of whether or not the British Museum should/will loan the Rosetta Stone to Egypt and whether or not Egypt will try to claim it on a permanent basis. There are some interesting opinions being floated. Unlike Nefertiti the question of the repatriation of the Rosetta Stone seems, at least in some cases, to generate serious consideration of the issues, not merely emotional responses. I am sure that all readers are familiar with the Rosetta Stone but if not, you can find a description, here, on the British Museum's website.

The Telegraph, UK (Roy Clare)

The three languages displayed on it, translations of the same text, enabled us to make the first interpretations of Egyptian hieroglyphs. It is no surprise, then, that each year, millions of visitors to London seek out this exceptional artefact (and the thousands of others) in the galleries that present the world's cultures in the British Museum.

And it is equally unsurprising that a distinguished academic should come to London from Cairo on a mission to retrieve what he sees as rightfully Egyptian. Dr Zahi Hawass argues that the stone is an icon of the Egyptian past, and the Egyptian identity, and belongs in the country of its creation. As secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities, he points to the historical material he has recovered from other countries – why should Britain be different?

When dealing with any artefact acquired in the imperial past, there are bound to be sensitivities, and demands for repatriation – witness the controversy over the Elgin Marbles, another gem of the British Museum's collection. But in this case, the law is not on Dr Hawass's side. The Rosetta Stone was properly acquired and its provenance within Britain's national collections is beyond dispute. The trustees of the British Museum could decide to loan it out – although to date, no such request has been received – but their deliberations would take account of the conditions in which the item would be displayed, the risks to its safety and security, and the likelihood of its return. Dr Hawass's recent public statements would also be considered – which could present an unusual backdrop to any judgment the trustees might reach.

But the decision as to whether to return the stone is not just about the technicalities of ownership.

Glasgow Herald

To Enlightenment scholars searching for the key to the magic door into Ancient Egyptian culture, it had a double significance. It records a decree issued by the priests in Memphis in 196BC ordering the teenage Ptolemy V to be worshipped in recognition of his “establishing Egypt and making it perfect”. The outcome of a power struggle in the dying years of his dynasty (originally Greek), it was to be displayed in temples. So it was an early form of mass communication, asserting the ruler’s authority.

To emphasise this, the decree is written in three languages, including ancient hieroglyphs, written only by the priestly class, and Greek, the language of administrators. It was this that enabled European scholars – primarily the Frenchman Jean-Francois Champollion and Englishman Thomas Young – to crack the secret of hieroglyphics that had been lost for 2000 years and spark a love of and fascination with Egyptology that continues to this day, and which accounts for millions visiting the ancient sites every year.

The 4ft-high stone, with its jagged top, is not spectacular but when my family first saw it a few years ago, we all felt the power of its history. It was the sense that such artefacts have important stories to tell.

The claims of Dr Hawass rest on the assumption that artefacts should remain in whatever country they were found. (Other culturally protectionist nations include Turkey, Greece and, in the case of the Lewis Chessmen, Scotland.) . . .

However, there is a much bigger point that needs to be made.

Dr Hawass justifies both his extensive shopping list and the ever-stricter controls and restrictions placed on foreign archaeologists in Egypt like this: “We are the descendants of the pharaohs. If you look at the faces of the people of Upper Egypt, the relationship between modern and ancient Egypt is very clear.” Frankly, this is nonsense.

BBC News

Egypt's head of antiquities will drop a demand for the permanent return of the Rosetta Stone if the British Museum agrees to loan it out, he says.

The Stone - a basalt slab dating back to 196BC which was key to the modern deciphering of hieroglyphics - has been at the museum since 1802.

Dr Zahi Hawass has long called for foreign museums to return six of the most prized antiquities of Egypt.

The British Museum said it would consider the loan request soon.

A spokeswoman said no official request had been made by Egypt for the permanent return of the stone, but the loan had been discussed and would be considered by the museum's trustees "fairly shortly".

Dr Hawass said while he still ultimately wanted the stone to have its home in Cairo, he would settle for the British Museum's acceptance of his request for a three-month loan.

An FAQ of the Rosetta Stone:

The Independent, UK (Cahal Milmo)

Why are we asking this now?

Dr Zahi Hawass, the secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and the high priest of all matters archaeological in the Land of the Pharaohs, arrived in London yesterday to further his demand for the return of the Rosetta Stone from the display rooms of the British Museum, where it has been on show since 1802. Dr Hawass has embarked on an international campaign to secure the return of a host of renowned artefacts which he claims were plundered by colonial oppressors and assorted brigands from Egypt's ancient tombs and palaces before ending up in some of the world's most famous museums.

What is so important about a 2,200-year-old slab of granite?

Carved in 196BC, the Rosetta Stone is the linguistic key to deciphering hieroglyphics and probably the single-most important conduit of understanding between the modern world and ancient Egypt.

Opinion:

A don's life, Times Onine (Mary Beard)

What is the best selling post-card in the British Museum?

The last time I inquired -- admittedly more than a decade ago, but was told that it was the permanent "number one" -- it was a rather dreary image of the Rosetta Stone. That outsold its major rivals by several thousand. If you are interested, the main post-card rivals were: various views of the Museum itself, the (also Egyptian) bronze "Gayer Egypt Anderson" cat (displayed on the card plus or minus a real live tabby cat) and an original drawing of Beatrix Potter's Flopsy Bunnies.

There is no doubt that the Rosetta Stone (seen a few years back above) is a major icon of the British Museum -- and in fact, its post-card celebrity is backed up by its presence on best selling umbrellas, duvet covers and mouse mats (remember them?), all especially popular, I am told, in Japan.

I was once very puzzled about all this. After all, it is a rather uninspiring lump of black basalt, inscribed at the beginning of the second century BCE, recording an agreement between the Greek king of Egypt and a group of Egyptian priests, concerned among other things with tax breaks for the said priests. It came to London, as spolls of war in the early nineteenth century, captured from the French.

So why so charismatic?

Presumably because it was the key to decoding Egyptian hieroglyphs, as the inscription was trilingual -- in hieroglyphs, Greek and Egyptian demotic. Whether you think that the key work was done by Thomas Young (British) or Jean-Francois Champollion (French) depends partly on your national prejudice.

And now, again, Zahi Hawass (Secretary General of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt) wants it "back"? Does he have a point?

In my view, no -- not at all.

And on a lighter note:

The Guardian, UK (John Crace)

The head of Egypt's supreme council of antiquities is in London to request the return of the Rosetta stone from the British Museum. The 2,200- year-old tablet bears three parallel texts of the same passage and was the key to deciphering ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs. But what does it actually say?

Captain's Log Star Date Year 9, Xandikos day 4, the King, the lord of the Uraei, whom Ptah has chosen to help decode hieroglyphics with this edict though it would have been nicer if it had been something more interesting, the son of Pre Ptolemy, living for ever, obviously, the Manifest God whose excellence is fine, which is more than can be said for the punctuation, on this day, a decree is made to the mr-sn priests and scribes of the House of Life on the festival of the Rulership by King Ptolemy . . . . .

There's also a discussion taking place in the Comments section on The Guardian website (150 comments at the time of writing). Some of it is pretty lame, and all of it is predictable, but it's there if you're interested.