October 27, 2011
Nefertiti & the Parthenon Marbles
An extract from a radio discussion, noted on David Gill’s Looting Matters blog. I am unclear though about what Tom Holland’s reason was for suggesting at the end that the Parthenon Sculptures should not be re-united in a single place.
From:
Looting Matters
Nefertiti & the Parthenon Marbles,Nefertiti and the Parthenon Marbles
I am grateful to my sharp-eared colleague Chris Hall for drawing my attention to this interview.
Salima Ikram, American University in Cairo, and Tom Holland, were in conversation with John Humphrys of BBC Radio 4’s “Today” programme earlier today [Monday, February 21, 2011: interview]. They discussed the limited looting in the Cairo Museum and were in agreement that the people of Egypt demonstrated that they cared about the protection of their antiquities.
Humphrys explored the issue of distributing significant finds across a number of museums around the world. They considered the issue of material from Afghanistan and drew attention to the forthcoming exhibition at the British Museum.Salima Ikram was asked what she would like to see returned to Egypt and top of her list was the head of Nefertiti in Berlin. She was also concerned to see fragmentary pieces reunited. She also made it clear that she was not speaking in an official capacity.
Tom Holland seemed to hesitate over the question, and when pressed by Humphrys closed with the words, “I wouldn’t say the Elgin marbles”.
- Nefertiti loan request rejection by Germany : September 12, 2007
- Suspicious behaviour surrounding Nefertiti bust in Berlin’s Neues Museum : November 3, 2009
- Hawass’s changing story about the looting of Egypt : October 25, 2011
- Egypt asks second German museum for statue loan : May 5, 2007
- Further details on Egypt’s stolen antiquities conference : January 6, 2010
- Germany refuses Nefertiti Bust return request : February 22, 2011
- Egypt calls for unity between restitution campaigns : June 7, 2010
- Berlin’s Egyptian Museum celebrates centenary of Nefertiti bust discovery : September 12, 2012