The Chinese Schoolboy who carved his name on a sculpture on the wall of an ancient temple in Egypt has had his name exposed online & is now being subjected to online harassment as a result. While graffiti on ancient sites is something to be condemned, it is hardly a new problem – even Byron (who much criticised Elgin’s removal of the Parthenon Sculptures) carved his initials on the Temple of Poseidon at Cape Sounio.

Having said this, Egypt’s antiquities currently face far bigger problems than initials scratched on a wall – and perhaps focusing people’s attentions on this distracts from the enormous scale of the actual issues faced at present.

From:
Independent

Chinese schoolboy, 15, exposed as Egypt’s ancient temple graffiti vandal
Internet users name and shame teenager who scratched 3,500-year-old artwork
Clifford Coonan
Beijing
Tuesday 28 May 2013

The parents of a Chinese teenager who scratched his name into a 3,500-year-old Egyptian artwork have apologised for his actions after internet users tracked down the boy to name and shame him.

The 15-year-old, from Nanjing, was identified after a photo of his graffiti – which said “Ding Jinhao was here” in Mandarin – at the Temple of Luxor was posted online on Friday.
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Earth Hour circles the world, where many famous monuments turn off their lights for an hour to highlight the need to conserve energy. As in previous years, the Acropolis will be amongst other Athens landmarks taking part in this event.

From:
Christian Science Monitor

Earth Hour 2010 aims to get 1 billion to turn off the lights
By Will Buchanan, Contributor / March 27, 2010

For this year’s Earth Hour, set for 8:30 p.m. Saturday, more businesses and governments are expected to take part in the campaign to turn off the lights. The aim: at least 1 billion participants.

The Earth Hour concept is simple: Turn off the lights for an hour to acknowledge climate change and advocate sustainability.
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Zahi Hawass’s requests for the return of the bust of Nefertiti by Germany has generated large amounts of publicity, encouraging people to enter into discussion on why the artefacts is in Germany & whether it should be returned to Egypt.

From:
Christian Science Monitor

Germany: Time for Egypt’s Nefertiti bust to go home?
A German museum has a bust of the Egyptian Queen Nefertiti as its centerpiece. But should Germany and other Western nations keep or return Egypt’s cultural artifacts?
By Isabelle de Pommereau | Correspondent 11.02.09

BERLIN – Queen Nefertiti, who lived 3,500 years ago, was a wife of Pharaoh Akhenaten. In 1912, German Egyptologist Ludwig Borchardt found her on the banks of the River Nile – her bust that is, made of stucco and lime. Her new home became Berlin’s Neues Museum. But World War II annihilated the museum and the German Democratic Republic’s communist government let it decay.

This past October, seven decades later, Queen Nefertiti found her home again, as the centerpiece of a new, €200 million (about US$300 million) restored Neues Museum.
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Despite attempts by China to block the sale of artefacts looted from Beijing & now in the collection of the late Yves Saint Lauren, the sale is still due to proceed.

A new & bizarre twist in the story is added by the seller’s offer to trade the artefacts in exchange for recognising human rights within China.

From:
Christian Science Monitor

China protests Christie’s auction in Paris of relics
Legal efforts to retrieve two bronzes looted by Western troops in 1860 may fail. Another option: let wealthy donors buy them back.
By Peter Ford | Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor
from the February 20, 2009 edition

Beijing – A rat and a rabbit, emerging from a century and a half of peaceful seclusion, have found themselves in the eye of an international storm about their future, and the proper fate of looted artworks.

Once upon a time, the two animal heads, cast in bronze, adorned a water clock fountain in the Chinese emperor’s Summer Palace here. They were plundered when British and French troops ransacked and burned the palace buildings in 1860.
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Greek Prime Minister, Costas Simitis, is going to raise the issue of the Parthenon Sculptures with Tony Blair whilst on an official visit to Britain.

From:
Macedonian Press Agency

GREECE ASKS FOR RETURN OF MARBLES
London, 29 October 2002 (12:06 UTC+2)

Greece officially asked for the return of the Parthenon Marbles during Prime Minister Kostas Simitis’ meeting with British Prime Minister Tony Blair in London, concerning EU enlargement and Cyprus’ accession. Mr. Simitis stressed that discussions must begin, so that the marbles can be placed in the new Acropolis Museum for the 2004 Olympics.

As Mr. Simitis mentioned, all issues concerning bilateral relations and the EU were discussed sincerely.
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