Fresco Feud Finished
The ancient wall painting fragments that caused a feud between Egypt and the Louvre Museum in Paris (see my article Luxor Relics Repatriated ) have been returned to Cairo.
The five frescoed pieces – believed to be from a 3,200-year-old tomb in the Valley of the Kings near Luxor – arrived by air last week.
French officials had maintained that the Louvre had acquired the fragments, known as steles, in good faith. But Egypt’s antiquities department said the Louvre bought the fragments in 2000 and 2003 despite knowing they’d been stolen in the 1980s. It broke off ties with the museum in October, saying they would be restored only when the fragments had been returned.
Egypt is stepping up demands for the restitution of many relics, including the Rosetta Stone, on display in the British Museum, and the bust of Queen Nefertiti in the Neues Museum in Berlin.
“Everything which was stolen from us should be given back,” said Zawi Hawass, the head of the antiquities department.
by Andy Moreton
If you’re travelling to Luxor to see the wonders of the Valley of the Kings, take a look at Luxique’s two selected luxury hotels: the Old Winter Palace and the Hotel La Moudira.
Criminal western governments. It’s about time they corrected their errors.
Comment by liuhui — December 23, 2009 @ 11:21 pm
Emad, I couldn’t agree with you more.
Pingback by Alex B — December 23, 2009 @ 11:40 pm
I am Egyptian and I find this to be disturbing trend that governments and museums can do this. This is our heritage.
Pingback by Emad Marcos — December 24, 2009 @ 1:43 am
I found this to be an interesting story. Kind of surprised that the courts couldn’t sort this out sooner. There needs to be some international responsible party. What do you think Andy?
Pingback by Dave Levin — December 24, 2009 @ 1:56 am
I sympathise with Emad’s comment, and Dave’s idea of an international body to rule on the ownership of antiquities is a good one. But some of these disputes go back centuries when the world order was very different. A good example is the Parthenon Marbles that Greece has long called for to be returned from the British Museum. Greece says Lord Elgin (British Ambassador to the Ottoman empire 1799-1803)stole the fragments, but it’s always been maintained on the British side that he had permission from the Ottoman authorities to remove the pieces and ship them back to England.
Comment by Andy Moreton — December 25, 2009 @ 4:55 am