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Egyptian archaeologist urges British Museum to return Rosetta Stone

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rosetta stone british museum

The Rosetta Stone is one of the most famous objects in the British Museum.

Egyptian archaeologist Zahi Hawass has called on the British Museum to return the 2,200-year-old Rosetta Stone to Egypt.

The Rosetta Stone, a granodiorite stele inscribed with hieroglyphs, ancient Greek and demotic, is one of the most famous objects in the British Museum. It was acquired by the institution in London in 1802.

It is one of three objects that Hawass would like to see returned to Egypt. The other artefacts are a bust of Queen Nefertiti in Berlin and a sculpted Zodiac ceiling at the Louvre in Paris.

“I believe those three items are unique and their home should be in Egypt. We collected all the evidence that proves that these three items are stolen from Egypt,” Hawass told The National.

“The icon of Egyptian identity”

“The Rosetta Stone is the icon of Egyptian identity. The British Museum has no right to show this artefact to the public.”

Hawass told the publication that he plans to send a petition signed by a group of Egyptian intellectuals to the European museums in October.

“They left Egypt completely illegally and they should come back,” he said.

The former antiquities minister wants to see the Rosetta Stone displayed in the upcoming Grand Egyptian Museum, which will be the largest museum in the world dedicated to a single civilisation.

Museums returning artefacts

The Grand Egyptian Museum will be home to more than 100,000 artefacts from around 3,000 years of ancient Egyptian history.

Glasgow Life, a charity managing the city’s museum collections, has become the first in the UK to return stolen artefacts to India. It is returning seven Indian antiquities.

Elsewhere, the Horniman Museum and Gardens in London has agreed to transfer the ownership of its Benin bronzes to Nigeria.

LA’s Getty Museum is set to return a group of illegally excavated Orpheus sculptures to Italy, and the Met in New York has returned two sculptures to the Nepalese government.

Image: British Museum

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Bea Mitchell

Bea is a journalist specialising in entertainment, attractions and tech with 10 years' experience. She has written and edited for publications including CNET, BuzzFeed, Digital Spy, Evening Standard and BBC. Bea graduated from King's College London and has an MA in journalism.

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