for thousands of years the culture of
ancient Egypt has been admired and
coveted today some of the greatest
artifacts of Egyptian culture are found
thousands of miles away from the land
that created them and that angers dr.
Zahi Hawass what they mean to steal this
artifacts devoted to their museums and
they damaged the value of the tomb and
they damaged a store and they damaged a
civilization
dr. who was is the man in charge of
Egypt’s antiquities and he’s got a wish
list of items he’d like to see come home
to look at the bust of Nefertiti and the
zodiac that shows the sky at the roof
and the statue of the architect of the
Great Pyramid hem you know every piece
that has his pollen stolen from Egypt it
should come back at the top of his list
is the greatest prize the rosetta stone
it was really my dream to see in a hole
at the Cairo Museum looking at the
rosetta stone it is the icon of our
Egyptian identity the rosetta stone
arguably the most important Egyptian
artifact ever unearthed this nearly
one-ton Rock is engraved with messages
in ancient Greek and to hieroglyphics
scripts by comparing the Greek to the
hieroglyphs scholars were able to crack
the hieroglyphic code and for the first
time understand the meaning of the
ancient Egyptian language it’s an object
that’s important to all of humanity it’s
important for all of us to have access
to to seeing an object that’s that’s as
significant as the Rosetta Stone and I
think that’s why we feel it’s important
for it to be to be based here in the
museum
Hannah Bolton is a spokeswoman for the
British Museum where the Rosetta Stone
has been on display for the last two
centuries the rosetta stone came into
the museum’s collection historically
when it was originally found by
polian and when he took his
archaeologists and invaded Egypt and
they discovered the rosetta stone and
when the British beat Napoleon they took
the material that he had collected
so the British seized from the French
what the French seized from the
Egyptians you’re talking about material
that’s been in museum collection
particular in terms of the British
Museum often for – over 200 years 250
years and therefore it has a history
within this collection but the history
of the object here has been about 200
years the history of the object from
where it came from is about how many
thousands of years of years but
thousands of years under the sand right
so it isn’t quite you’re not talking
about a situation where for 2,000 years
you know people were able to go and see
that object in in Egypt but now all of
this material is is uncovered and
excavated and it’s actually only at that
point that you start to get this this
sort of issue of where it should be
always where it should be on display
because that’s when you’ve discovered it
no Gary Vee Khan director of the Walters
Art Museum in Baltimore believes the
question of ownership is complicated the
English and the French have contributed
to what the Rosetta Stone is the read is
that rosetta stone didn’t come out of
the ground with a neon sign on it saying
I’m important by the way it took work it
took knowledge and that I think has to
translate into some sense of of at least
metaphysical ownership what if just say
if you know Egyptians had invaded
Britain 200 years ago they had found
stones massive stones and carted them
back to Egypt and their Egyptian
scholars discovered what they are or
what we now know a stone edge would
Britain not be right in asking for their
return I think we can we come back to
this issue about ownership and I think
the the the then trustees or the
trustees that ended up being set up to
run the the Egyptian Museum if you like
would probably use the same argument
that the trustees at the British Museum
use here which is that actually you know
that there is a need and there’s a great
benefit to having a museum of world
civilizations because you’re able to
compare and God Ross there’s always new
things you can learn there’s always new
connections that you can make I need
one person to come and debate with me to
tell me this sentence that you keep this
monuments outside of Egypt it has a
value the value of it is in Egypt not in
this museum’s doctor who was his passion
may just soon pay off he’s asked the
British Museum to allow the stone to be
exhibited in Cairo for three months when
Egypt’s new giza museum opens in 2012
we lend many thousands of objects for
many hundreds of museums every year and
subject to fitness to travel and
conditions and conservation and so on
there isn’t any reason why aspects of
the collection can’t be sent on
short-term loans anywhere in the world
it will happen one day that this
artifacts should be shown here are for a
short time like three months and it will
happen and perhaps this stone that once
brought about such understanding
centuries ago still has the power to
unite people of two great cultures
ancient Egypt has been admired and
coveted today some of the greatest
artifacts of Egyptian culture are found
thousands of miles away from the land
that created them and that angers dr.
Zahi Hawass what they mean to steal this
artifacts devoted to their museums and
they damaged the value of the tomb and
they damaged a store and they damaged a
civilization
dr. who was is the man in charge of
Egypt’s antiquities and he’s got a wish
list of items he’d like to see come home
to look at the bust of Nefertiti and the
zodiac that shows the sky at the roof
and the statue of the architect of the
Great Pyramid hem you know every piece
that has his pollen stolen from Egypt it
should come back at the top of his list
is the greatest prize the rosetta stone
it was really my dream to see in a hole
at the Cairo Museum looking at the
rosetta stone it is the icon of our
Egyptian identity the rosetta stone
arguably the most important Egyptian
artifact ever unearthed this nearly
one-ton Rock is engraved with messages
in ancient Greek and to hieroglyphics
scripts by comparing the Greek to the
hieroglyphs scholars were able to crack
the hieroglyphic code and for the first
time understand the meaning of the
ancient Egyptian language it’s an object
that’s important to all of humanity it’s
important for all of us to have access
to to seeing an object that’s that’s as
significant as the Rosetta Stone and I
think that’s why we feel it’s important
for it to be to be based here in the
museum
Hannah Bolton is a spokeswoman for the
British Museum where the Rosetta Stone
has been on display for the last two
centuries the rosetta stone came into
the museum’s collection historically
when it was originally found by
polian and when he took his
archaeologists and invaded Egypt and
they discovered the rosetta stone and
when the British beat Napoleon they took
the material that he had collected
so the British seized from the French
what the French seized from the
Egyptians you’re talking about material
that’s been in museum collection
particular in terms of the British
Museum often for – over 200 years 250
years and therefore it has a history
within this collection but the history
of the object here has been about 200
years the history of the object from
where it came from is about how many
thousands of years of years but
thousands of years under the sand right
so it isn’t quite you’re not talking
about a situation where for 2,000 years
you know people were able to go and see
that object in in Egypt but now all of
this material is is uncovered and
excavated and it’s actually only at that
point that you start to get this this
sort of issue of where it should be
always where it should be on display
because that’s when you’ve discovered it
no Gary Vee Khan director of the Walters
Art Museum in Baltimore believes the
question of ownership is complicated the
English and the French have contributed
to what the Rosetta Stone is the read is
that rosetta stone didn’t come out of
the ground with a neon sign on it saying
I’m important by the way it took work it
took knowledge and that I think has to
translate into some sense of of at least
metaphysical ownership what if just say
if you know Egyptians had invaded
Britain 200 years ago they had found
stones massive stones and carted them
back to Egypt and their Egyptian
scholars discovered what they are or
what we now know a stone edge would
Britain not be right in asking for their
return I think we can we come back to
this issue about ownership and I think
the the the then trustees or the
trustees that ended up being set up to
run the the Egyptian Museum if you like
would probably use the same argument
that the trustees at the British Museum
use here which is that actually you know
that there is a need and there’s a great
benefit to having a museum of world
civilizations because you’re able to
compare and God Ross there’s always new
things you can learn there’s always new
connections that you can make I need
one person to come and debate with me to
tell me this sentence that you keep this
monuments outside of Egypt it has a
value the value of it is in Egypt not in
this museum’s doctor who was his passion
may just soon pay off he’s asked the
British Museum to allow the stone to be
exhibited in Cairo for three months when
Egypt’s new giza museum opens in 2012
we lend many thousands of objects for
many hundreds of museums every year and
subject to fitness to travel and
conditions and conservation and so on
there isn’t any reason why aspects of
the collection can’t be sent on
short-term loans anywhere in the world
it will happen one day that this
artifacts should be shown here are for a
short time like three months and it will
happen and perhaps this stone that once
brought about such understanding
centuries ago still has the power to
unite people of two great cultures
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