A debate about the Magdala treasures from Ethiopia (currently in the British Museum) is to be held in Brixton on Wednesday 11th April.

Received by email.

Dear members of the Anglican Communion,

Please accept our Jamaican-British Diamond and Golden Jubilee greetings and best wishes for our “Queen’s Most Excellent Majesty” in our season of rejoicing.

You are invited to attend our great Magdala debate on 11th April in Brixton, we have sent for your information 2 PDF Files, (1) The Great Magdala Debate, with the Queen’s Speech, and (2) AFROMET-Jamaica inspection of the Magdala Battlefield, the original battle took place on Friday 13th April 1868.

If you are unable to attend can you submit any comment, opinion and or observations that can serve to advance the great Magdala Debate, and to promote a better Christian vista?

Fro further information, contact seymour31@hotmail.co.uk

The Jamaica-British Diamond and Golden Jubilee OAU (AU) 2013, in association with the Office of the International Executive Secretary, EWF Inc, presents. The great Magdala debate, Action now.
On the 11th April 2012, 365, Brixton Road, SW9 7DA, next to Police Station
“Looting of Magdala, and the Looted treasures in England today. ” start time 7pm – 9pm Arrival 6.30pm. One Voice debate, Musical recital.

“there are indeed six Ethiopian manuscripts in the Royal Library at Windsor Castle”, looted at Magdala, The Triple Crown and Golden Chalice is in the V&A. 550 Ethiopian manuscripts from the Church of Madhane-Alem at Magdala in the British Library and other Library’s. Google AFROMET. New Jamaican national anthem.

Many years after they were originally taken from Ethiopia during a punitive exhibition by the British army, the Magdala treasures in various institutions in the UK continue to be a source of contention. There has been little headway towards any sort of comprehensive assessment of whether any of these artefacts can be repatriated, despite the fact that they have a religious & cultural significance for many Ethiopians whereas in the UK many of them are not even on public display.

From:
Voice-Online

Should Britain return Africa’s stolen treasures?
BY Davina Morris
Published: 21 February 2010 – Issue: 1411

FANS of the ‘90s BBC comedy show The Real McCoy may remember the sketch when pro-African activist Babylon (played by Felix Dexter) urged black Britons to head down to the British Museum with a big bin liner to “tek back your tings!”

Though the sketch was intended to be comedic (and it was), it highlighted the ongoing issue of whether British institutions should return the many cultural items they possess that were taken from Africa years ago.
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More coverage of Ethiopia’s request addressed to many of Britain’s leading museums, for the return of stolen treasures, seized from the country in 1868.

From:
The Independent

Ethiopia demands stolen crown back
By Andrew Johnson
Sunday, 23 November 2008

President writes to British museums to call for return of more than 400 treasures looted in 1868

Ethiopia is demanding that Britain’s museums return some of its most significant religious treasures. President Girma Wolde-Giorgis has personally intervened in a dispute to get the artefacts, including the Ethiopian royal crown, returned home 140 years after they were “looted” by marauding British troops.
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Many museums of the west are filled with African artefacts – but in many cases, even cursory scrutiny of how the pieces were acquired shows that if it were to happen in the same way today, there were many laws that forbid it. But little is done today to help repair the damage that was caused by the actions of our ancestors – instead justifications of preservation & the importance of these artefacts as part of a collection are used as excuses for inaction.

From:
Modern Ghana

WHEN WILL WESTERN NATIONS RETURN ETHIOPIA’S STOLEN TREASURES?
By Kwame Opoku, Dr.
Feature Article | Tue, 16 Sep 2008

Probably very few countries have been so systematically and intensively deprived of their cultural objects with tremendous violence by Western European countries as Ethiopia has been. First, the British under Queen Victoria sent an army in 1868 to conquer the African country under Emperor Tewodros. The Ethiopian ruler committed suicide in Magdala, the capital, with a gun given to him previously as a gift by Queen Victoria rather than let himself be captured and humiliated by the invading British Army. The barbarous behaviour of the invading army after conquer and loot has been described many times. The list of objects stolen by the British, including processional crosses, imperial gold and silver crowns, historical and religious illustrated manuscripts and other objects from Ethiopia will fill pages. Ethiopia became Christian in the 4th Century, long before many in Europe had heard of Christianity.
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The British Museum likes people to believe that there is no purpose in returning artefacts that left their original context long ago (for arguments sake, lets say, prior to the begining of the Nazi era (1933), as we know that artefacts since then have been considered as valid for return). If public opinion (& actions) go against this point of view though, they may be forced to reconsider.

From:
Independent

02 November 2002 12:59 BDT
Return of amulet puts pressure on British Museum
By Andrew Heavens in Addis Ababa
02 November 2002

A sacred amulet is due to be returned to Ethiopia today, 135 years after a British soldier ripped it from the neck of the country’s Emperor during a battle.

An anonymous British man has agreed to hand over the artefact which was taken at the siege of Magdala in 1868. The return will step up pressure on the British Museum and other institutions which still hold hundreds of illuminated manuscripts, crowns and religious objects seized at the same time. It is also the latest in a line of controversies over the repatriation of foreign treasures from Britain, including Nigeria’s Benin Bronzes and the Elgin Marbles.
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