Dr. Zahi Hawass is confident that one day the Rosetta Stone will return to Egypt. It is not a question of if, but when.

From:
Asharq Alawsat

The Rosetta Stone Will Return
26/01/2010
By Dr. Zahi Hawass

Cairo, Asharq Al-Awsat- With all its history and glory, Egypt owes [a great deal to] the black basalt slab called the Rosetta Stone that unravelled the mysteries of Pharoanic scripture engraved on temples, graves, obelisks and the pyramids. Before the stone was discovered, these writings were merely signs and symbols.

The story of the puzzling stone began when part of the French [military] expedition to Egypt arrived in the Mediterranean city of Rosetta, where the water of the River Nile meets the Mediterranean Sea. The soldiers admired the city and its fresh air, and were fascinated by its residents, their handicrafts, their small fishing boats and the beautiful houses. Engineers then made changes to the Citadel of Qaitbay in Rosetta before they surrounded it with red brick walls to act as a fort and protect the city’s entrance against a potential English invasion.
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Egypt’s Zahi Hawass follows up his lecture in London with his thoughts on why now is the time for many of his countries artefacts to return home from foreign museums.

From:
Asharq Alawsat

Time for the Antiquities to Return Home
17/12/2009
By Zahi Hawass

I recently travelled to London to give a lecture at the British Museum on my archaeological discoveries, and to host a book-signing event for my book ‘A Secret Voyage’ that has finally been published in English. This book deals with the experiences of my career [as an archaeologist] from my view on the beauty of the Pharaonic civilization, to [discussing] the Pharaonic view on love, religion, daily life, and festivals, and also includes stories about my latest discoveries in the Valley of the Kings.

This visit came a long time after my last visit to the British capital, and I told journalists and reporters from various media organizations that I had come to London to demand the return of the Rosetta Stone that is housed by the British Museum. The Rosetta Stone was part of an agreement concluded by the French with the British following the Battle of the Nile [also known as the Battle of Aboukir Bay]. The French fleet was defeated in this battle, forcing it to leave Egypt, which then fell under British influence.
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If the British Museum did relinquish ownership of the Rosetta Stone, some parties claim that there are still reasons why it would not necessarily return to Egypt as other countries also potentially have claims of ownership on the artefact.

From:
The Times Blogs

December 11, 2009
Should the Rosetta Stone go back….where?

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.
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Whilst the British Museum insists that the New Acropolis Museum changes nothing in the battle for the battle for the return of the Elgin Marbles, most commentators tend to disagree. It is not the only museum built to potentially returned artefacts either, as the Egyptians are also building a new Grand Museum of Egypt with the hope that this will act as a catalyst for restitution claims.

From:
Foreign Policy (USA)

Is Greece Losing its Elgin Marbles?
The battle between antiquities-loving and antiquities-producing countries continues.
BY SUSAN EMERLING | AUGUST 21, 2009

The culture war between antiquities-importing countries and those whose soils harbor archaeological treasures has flared up again. This time, the battle isn’t over recently looted artifacts returned by a chastened American museum to their country of origin. Instead, it is over the June opening of Athens’ New Acropolis Museum (NAM), which, in addition to housing an eye-boggling cache of art and artifacts found on the Acropolis, was built with the wishful premise of someday housing what the British refer to as the “Elgin Marbles.” These are the late fifth-century sculptures that were removed from the Parthenon in the early 19th-century by Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, and acquired by the British Museum in 1816.

Although there are certainly entrenched political and legal obstacles to the return of the Elgin Marbles to Greece — chief among them, the British Museum’s claim of rightful ownership — the elegant, state-of-the-art concrete and glass-walled NAM, designed by Swiss-born New York-based architect Bernard Tschumi has put to bed long-standing concerns over Greece’s ability to safeguard and exhibit the stones, should they ever return to its shores. Despite its persistent refusal to consider the restitution, even the British Museum seems to have tacitly acknowledged the suitability of the NAM by offering the marginally sincere three-month loan of the marbles in exchange for a renunciation of Greece’s ownership claims. (The Greeks ridiculed and rejected the offer.) But amid all this posturing, does the construction of the NAM signal the beginning of a shift in the repatriation debate, which might affect museums around the world that are caught in similar conflicts over contested objects? Although not all archaeological source countries have the resources to build such an unimpeachable museum, the issue of restitution for works of art might increasingly be decided less on whether these source countries can legally reclaim their own antiquities — but whether, ethically, they should.
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