The British Museum made a deal with Iran in 2005 – that Iran would lend artefacts to the British Museum in for an exhibition on ancient Persia, in exchange for a later reciprocal loan of the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran. The loan from Iran went ahead as planned – but once it came to the loan to Iran the British Museum has dragged their heels at every step of the way.

From:
Press TV

Iran vs. British Museum: Who will be the Loser?
Fri, 26 Mar 2010 18:59:56 GMT
By Kourosh Ziabari

In early February 2010, the longstanding conflict between Iran and Britain, over a temporary exhibition of an ancient Persian artifact in Tehran, reached a conclusion that Iran had warned against: the severing of cultural ties with British Museum over the loan of the Cyrus Cylinder.

Cyrus Cylinder is a declaration of kingship, inscribed on the surface of a clay cylinder upon the decree of glorious Persian king, Cyrus the Great, who issued the manuscript following his conquest of Babylonia in 539 BC.
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As a reminder that there are at least two sides (& sometimes many more than that) to any issue, some Iranian’s would prefer that the Cyrus Cylinder wasn’t loaned to their country by the British Museum.

Their campaign is based on the fact that they do not believe that the government has any plans to safeguard any heritage that doesn’t relate to the Islamic Republic’s current worldview. Unfortunately though they may find that even under a different government (when they might want the artefact returned), the British Museum would be no more likely to return the artefact than they are now.

Read the petition here.

More coverage of the escalating dispute between Iran & the British Museum over the Cyrus Cylinder.

From:
Fars News Agency

News number: 8811171637
18:14 | 2010-02-06
Iran’s National Museum Drops Ties with British Museum

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iran’s National Museum on Saturday cut ties with the British Museum in protest at the delayed implementation of an agreement held earlier between the two sides on sending the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran.

“Now Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO) (as supervisor of Iran’s National Museum) makes this official announcement that it will have no relations with the British Museum as of Sunday,” Iranian Vice-President and ICHHTO Head Hamid Baqaei said in a press conference here in Tehran this afternoon.
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The dispute between Iran & the British Museum over the Cyrus Cylinder continues to drag on. Iran is taking further steps to cut ties with the British Museum, in the hope that this will force an earlier resolution to the situation.

From:
Museums Association

Iran cuts ties with British Museum
Gareth Harris
08/02/2010

Hamid Baghaei, head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organisation (ICHHTO), has cut ties with the British Museum (BM) after it delayed the loan of the Cyrus Cylinder. The sixth-century artefact was due to go on display at the Iran National Museum in Tehran last month.

The decision was announced during a press conference on Saturday according to the Tehran Times. But a spokeswoman for the British Museum said that the decision came as a “great surprise”, and added that the museum had finally agreed to loan the object to Iran only last week.
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The British Museum’s arguments with Iran continue, as they try to justify their position in continually delaying the proposed reciprocal loan of the Cyrus Cylinder. What is more interesting is that the British Museum clings on to these artefacts proclaiming how important they are, but then it is not included on the list of the 100 most important artefacts in the Museum.

From:
The Guardian

British Museum in battle with Iran over ancient ‘charter of rights’
Tehran alleges time-wasting as curator trawls through thousands of cuneiform clay fragments for Cyrus the Great’s legacy
John Wilson – The Observer, Sunday 24 January 2010

The discovery of fragments of ancient cuneiform tablets – hidden in a British Museum storeroom since 1881 – has sparked a diplomatic row between the UK and Iran. In dispute is a proposed loan of the Cyrus cylinder, one of the most important objects in the museum’s collection, and regarded by some historians as the world’s first human rights charter.

The Iranian government has threatened to “sever all cultural relations” with Britain unless the artefact is sent to Tehran immediately. Museum director Neil MacGregor has been accused by an Iranian vice-president of “wasting time” and “making excuses” not to make the loan of the 2,500-year-old clay object, as was agreed last year.
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More coverage of the discovery of new fragments of the Cyrus Cylinder & the delays that it is causing to the proposed loan of the artefact to Iran.

From:
The Art Newspaper

Major discovery delays Cyrus Cylinder loan to Iran
British Museum says the finding of related texts is “very significant” but Iranian cultural heritage head threatening to cut cultural ties to the UK
By Martin Bailey | Published online 20 Jan 10

The British Museum’s (BM) loan of the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran has been delayed, because of a major discovery in London. Part of Cyrus the Great’s text has been found on two fragments of inscribed clay tablets.

The first fragment was identified on 31 December by Wilfred Lambert, a retired professor from Birmingham University, who was going through some of the 130,000 tablets at the museum. Although it had been seen by earlier scholars, no one had linked the text to the Cyrus Cylinder.
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There has been quite a bit of coverage over Iran’s decision to block cultural events with the UK following the British Museum’s decision to further delay their planned loan of the Cyrus Cylinder.

From:
Fars News Agency

News number: 8810261670
19:10 | 2010-01-16
Official Warns British Museum against Delay in Sending Cyrus Cylinder to Iran

TEHRAN (FNA)- Iranian Vice-President Hamid Baqaei on Saturday called on the British Museum to put an end to the delayed implementation of an agreement held earlier between the two sides and send the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran, warning that Tehran may drop all relations with the Museum in case the delay is prolonged any further.

“We are currently holding negotiations with the British Museum. We will cut all our cultural relations with the museum if we realize later that the British Museum has been wasting time and seeking excuses to shrug off our requests,” said Baqaei, who is also Head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHHTO).
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Following the latest delays to the loan of the Cyrus Cylinder to Iran, the country’s government is now threatening to break cultural connections with the UK in the hope that this will speed up resolution of the problem. The first step in this exercise is the cancellation of a British play that was due to be performed at a festival in Iran.

From:
Tehran Times

January 16, 2010
Iran threatens to cut cultural ties with Britain over Cyrus Cylinder loan
Tehran Times Culture Desk

TEHRAN — Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Tourism and Handicrafts Organization (CHTHO) director, who is also a vice president, said on Thursday that Iran would cut cultural ties with Britain if they cannot come to an agreement with the British Museum concerning the Cyrus Cylinder loan.

“We are currently talking to them about the issue and if the discussions produce the outcome that Britain doesn’t want to fulfill the previous agreement, undoubtedly, we will cut cultural ties with Britain due to our previous ultimatum,” Hamid Baqaii told the Persian service of IRNA.
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The long running dispute over the Cyrus cylinder took a new twist recently when additional fragments from it were thought to have been discovered. Many are unconvinced by this though – whether or not fragments have suddenly appeared, is this a valid reason for delaying an already extensively postponed issue, or merely a delaying tactic.

From:
Press TV (Iran)

‘Cyrus cylinder does not have new info’
Tue, 12 Jan 2010 17:47:43 GMT

Senior Research Associate of the University of Chicago says finding new Cyrus cylinder pieces should not delay its exhibition in Iran.

“Finding new pieces of the cylinder is not a good excuse for postponing its exhibition in Iran,” Iranologist and Senior Research Associate for the Iranian Prehistoric Project of the University of Chicago’s Oriental Institute Abbas Alizadeh told ISNA.
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Following various discussions in November on the proposed loan of the Cyrus Cylinder, there are now going to be further delays to the loan, caused by the emergence of some new fragments of the cylinder that are being studied before anything else happens to it. Its unclear quite why these fragments have suddenly transpired now.

From:
Bloomberg News

British Museum Delays Sending Artifact to Iran After New Find
Last Updated: January 11, 2010 07:33 EST
By Farah Nayeri

Jan. 11 (Bloomberg) — The British Museum, which faces demands from Iran to lend an ancient artifact known as the Cyrus Cylinder, said it would delay sending the object there after making a discovery.

In agreement with the Iranian Cultural Heritage, Handicraft and Tourism Organization, the Cylinder will stay in London after similar inscriptions were found on two pieces of cuneiform tablet in the museum’s collections that may shed light on its “missing” or “obscure” passages, the museum said in an e-mailed news release.
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Zahi Hawass’s comments about the Rosetta Stone have provoked a lot of discussion in the UK – but as yet, no signs of any actual progress towards resolving the issue.

From:
The Independent

The Big Question: What is the Rosetta Stone, and should Britain return it to Egypt?
By Cahal Milmo, Chief Reporter
Wednesday, 9 December 2009

Why are we asking this now?

Dr Zahi Hawass, the secretary general of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and the high priest of all matters archaeological in the Land of the Pharaohs, arrived in London yesterday to further his demand for the return of the Rosetta Stone from the display rooms of the British Museum, where it has been on show since 1802. Dr Hawass has embarked on an international campaign to secure the return of a host of renowned artefacts which he claims were plundered by colonial oppressors and assorted brigands from Egypt’s ancient tombs and palaces before ending up in some of the world’s most famous museums.
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After delays & discussions, the promised loan by the British Museum of the Cyrus Cylinder looks like it is finally going to go ahead.

From:
Press TV (Iran)

Iran finalizes Cyrus Cylinder exhibit
Wed, 11 Nov 2009 10:47:13 GMT

After several months of negotiations with the British Museum in London, the Cyrus the Great Cylinder exhibit in Iran has been finalized for January 16, 2010.

The clay Cyrus Cylinder, which is currently housed at the British Museum in London, will be brought to Tehran in January, the head of Iran’s Cultural Heritage, Handicrafts and Tourism Organization (ICHTO) announced on Wednesday.
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