Egypt is holding a conference on stolen & looted antiquities, bringing together representatives from many of the nations that are requesting returns. Hopefully, many other countries can learn from some of Egypt’s recent successes in this field.

From:
BBC News

Page last updated at 01:23 GMT, Wednesday, 7 April 2010 02:23 UK
Egypt hosts meeting on recovery of ‘stolen treasures’

Global culture officials are to meet to discuss how to recover ancient treasures which they say have been stolen and displayed overseas.

Sixteen countries will be represented at the two-day conference in Cairo.

It has been organised by Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA), which wants many pharaonic items returned by Western museums.

The SCA said the forum would discuss “the protection and restitution of cultural heritage.”

Representatives will include cultural officials from Greece, Italy and China, all of which have lost ancient artefacts over the centuries which that they now want back.

Stolen artefacts

At the conference, representatives will announce their wish-lists and consider strategies to persuade museums overseas to respond to their demands.

They are also expected to call on the United Nations cultural body, Unesco, to amend a convention banning export and ownership of antiquities stolen after 1970 – so that they can pursue items that were snatched earlier, says the BBC’s Yolande Knell in Cairo.

In recent years, the Egyptian authorities have stepped up their efforts to recover stolen artefacts, with the head of the SCA, Zahi Hawass, attracting international attention for his efforts.

Last year, he broke off ties with the Louvre museum until France returned fragments chipped from a wall painting in an ancient Egyptian tomb.

He has repeatedly asked for the Rosetta Stone – which has been kept in the British Museum for more than 200 years – and a 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti on display in Berlin, to be given back to Egypt.

From:
Al Jazeera

UPDATED ON:
Wednesday, April 07, 2010
Egypt hosts antiquities meeting

Antiquities officials from around the world have gathered in Cairo to map out a strategy to bring back artefacts they say have been taken away from their countries and displayed abroad.

Antiquities officials, deputy culture ministers and museum directors from 16 countries are attending the two-day meeting.

Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) said the forum will discuss “the protection and restitution of cultural heritage”.

Delegates will also draw up lists of artefact’s missing from their countries and displayed in museums abroad, treasures they have been demanding be returned, the SCA said.

The conference will also call on the United Nations cultural body Unesco to amend a convention that bans export or ownership of stolen antiquities acquired after 1970.

The convention deals with the “means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property”, but stipulates there will be no “retroactive” measure for artefacts acquired before the convention was signed in 1970.

Retrieving ‘loot’

Over the years, Egypt’s antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass has made the return of looted Egyptian artefact’s the hallmark of his tenure and won many battles to bring home Pharaonic items and other ancient relics.

Thirty countries were invited to attend but only 16 are attending: Bolivia, China, Cyprus, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Iraq, Italy, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korean, Spain, Sri Lanka and Syria.

Officials from Iraq, whose national museum saw one of the biggest lootings in modern history following the US-led invasion in 2003, will attend the conference.

al-Atroshi, Iraq’s deputy culture minister, told Al Jazeera: “The number of antiquities stolen from the Iraqi national museum in 2003 is estimated at 15,000 pieces. Many of them date back to the third millennium BC.

“We have recovered around 7,000 pieces and we are still chasing the rest in neighbouring countries, Europe, Americas and Israel. The Israelis were interested in antiquities written in Hebrew.”

In March, Egypt said it retrieved from Britain some 25,000 ancient artefacts, including a stone axe dating back 200,000 years and pottery from the seventh millennium BC.

Egyptian efforts

But Hawass is still eyeing two high profile objects: the Rosetta stone held by the British Museum for more than 200 years and the 3,400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti on display at the Neues Museum in Berlin.

The iconic Rosetta stone, which dates back to 196 BC, was found by French forces in Egypt in 1799 and given to the British under a treaty two years later.

As for the Nefertiti bust, Germany has repeatedly rebuffed Egyptian claims to the rightful ownership of it and says the priceless sculpture was acquired legally nearly a century ago. Egypt says it was spirited out of the country.

Last year Egypt broke off relations with the Louvre Museum until France finally returns stolen steles chipped off a wall painting in the ancient tomb in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings.

Greece, one of the countries attending the conference, will chair a session devoted to “problems facing the countries in their attempt to retrieve their antiquities,” Hawass has said.

Athens has been locked in a 30-year antiquities “war” with London to retrieve the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum.

From:
News 24 (South Africa)

Egypt hosts stolen artefact meet
2010-04-06 22:51
Ines Bel Aiba

Cairo – Antiquities officials from around the world gather in Cairo on Wednesday to map out a strategy to recover ancient loot they say has been pillaged from their countries and displayed abroad.

The two-day conference will be attended by antiquities officials, deputy culture ministers and museum directors from 16 countries that have seen some of their national heritage stolen over the centuries.

Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) said the forum will discuss “the protection and restitution of cultural heritage”.

Delegates will also draw up lists of artefacts missing from their countries and displayed in museums abroad, treasures they have been demanding be returned, the SCA said.

The conference will also call on the UN cultural body Unesco to amend a convention that bans export or ownership of stolen antiquities acquired after 1970.

The convention deals with the “means of prohibiting and preventing the illicit import, export and transfer of ownership of cultural property”, but stipulates there will be no “retro-active” measure for artefacts acquired before the convention was signed in 1970.

Crusader Hawass

Over the years, Egypt’s antiquities supremo Zahi Hawass has made the return of looted Egyptian artefacts the hallmark of his tenure and won many battles to bring home Pharaonic items and other ancient relics.

In March, Egypt said it retrieved from Britain some 25 000 ancient artefacts, including a stone axe dating back 200 000 years and pottery from the seventh millennium BC.

But Hawass is still eyeing two high profile objects: the Rosetta stone held by the British Museum for more than 200 years and the 3 400-year-old bust of Queen Nefertiti on display at the Neues Museum in Berlin.

The iconic Rosetta stone, which dates back to 196 BC, was found by French forces in Egypt in 1799 and given to the British under a treaty two years later.

Its discovery led to a breakthrough in deciphering hieroglyphics, as it gives the same text in the ancient Egyptian script, plus the demotic Egyptian that was the common language and Greek, which was the language of officialdom.

Luxor and the Louvre

As for the Nefertiti bust, Germany has repeatedly rebuffed Egyptian claims to the rightful ownership of it and says the priceless sculpture was acquired legally nearly a century ago. Egypt says it was spirited out of the country.

Last year Egypt broke off relations with the Louvre Museum until France finally returns stolen steles chipped off a wall painting in the ancient tomb in Luxor’s Valley of the Kings.

Greece, one of the countries attending the conference, will chair a session devoted to “problems facing the countries in their attempt to retrieve their antiquities,” Hawass has said.

Athens has been locked in a 30-year antiquities “war” with London to retrieve the Elgin Marbles from the British Musuem.

Since becoming head of antiquities in 2002, Hawass has helped Egypt reclaim 31 000 relics from abroad. Last year he insisted that “what has been stolen from us must be returned”.

Thirty countries were invited to attend but only 16 are sending representatives: Bolivia, China, Cyprus, Greece, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Iraq, Italy, Libya, Mexico, Nigeria, South Korean, Spain, Sri Lanka and Syria.

– SAPA