I need help on a writing assignment for school. Should Egyptian artifacts be returned to Egypt? They don't come to our country and steal them from us. I NEED HELP!!!!! please, please, please, please help me and respond immediately! please please please please please please please please please please please help me i need help now now now now now now now d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d d
A good place to start might be this website of Dr. Zahi Hawass, the head of all archaeology operations in Egypt. Click here to go to that link. He's devoted to keeping all of Egypt's antiquities in Egypt's control and having Egyptian archaeologists be part of all archaeology digs.
Thank you
This subject was covered generally in a previous post with lots of comments and opinions.
While I appreciate the efforts of Dr. Hawass to have all Egyptian antiquities in Egypt, I can also appreciate the efforts (and expenses) of those who unearthed them. There is a difference between those items that have been stolen, and those acquired legitimately. Just as items looted in Iraq at the time of our invasion should be returned there, those items that have been stolen from Egypt should be returned to Egypt.
yes because
1. RIGHT OF OWNERSHIP/PROPERTY
- Various artifacts that were initially discovered in Egypt and which made up a large part of Egyptian history are currently in many museums scattered around other countries who never legally owned them in the first place.
- These artifacts were merely stolen, (no legal agreement took place) therefore they are technically still the property of Egypt. Today, they are still not in their rightful place that is why they should be returned.
- United Nations Charter and UNESCO Constitution both state per the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (Article 27), "Everyone has the right freely to participate in the cultural life of the community, to enjoy the arts and to share in the scientific advancement of its benefits. Everyone has the right to the protection of the moral and material interests resulting from any scientific, literary, or artistic production of which he is the author"
2. CULTURAL CONTEXT
- Most of the artifacts that were taken from Egypt were significant and relevant parts of Egyptian history. They symbolize Egyptian cultural heritage and national identity, for Egypt’s past contained many events which their people should be able to appreciate and take pride in, up to today. Some of the essential artifacts that aren’t on Egyptian land today but instead are in countries like [INSERT COUNTRY WITH EGYPTIAN STUFF HERE] are [INSERT IMPORTANT ARTIFACTS HERE].
- When the articles are someplace else, then how can the Egyptians fully appreciate and relate to them? (It’s foolish for Egyptians to have to fly all the way to the British Museum in order to see something that was originally in Egypt in the first place)
- Many archaeologists argue that an ancient object taken from its context loses most of its meaning.
I can also add that for most of the 19th century Egypt was part of the Ottoman Empire and rulled by the Ottoman Turks. When the English made Egypt a "protectorate" the Egyptian officals in charge were often bribed by European archaeologists so very little that was taken was legitimately legally collected. Send it back!
What if they don't get it back how do u think they will react?
yes they should be they are very impotant to egyptian culture they will be taken care of
yeah I agree they should be taken back to Egypt and should not be kept in different countries. I mean like it is Egypt's history really. one day I just hope someone will put their foot down and say right that's enough we are going to put these artefacts back where they came from! i hope you agree with me!
This is an interesting question. What about mummies at places like SMM? A century or so ago, visitors could buy mummies in museum gift shops in Egypt (or so I heard from someone studying this same issue). When mummies have been offered back to Egypt, they are sometimes refused due to lack of documentation/provenience and because they just don't have the facilities to store them. In fact, many Egyptian museums don't have proper environmental controls or protective structures--a friend of mine who studied Egyptian museums described people picking up ancient artifacts and riding sphinxes inside the museums.
While I don't agree that this necessarily means we shouldn't give things back, I do think it means that maybe not everything will go back, and also that we need to have more discussions with Egypt. It would be great if funders could help establish better museum facilities and practices there. Certainly I think that stuff excavated from now on should be protected and stay in the country, and I don't think there should be illicit trade in cultural heritage.
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