Officials in Greece and Nigeria are again calling for the return of the Parthenon marbles and Benin bronzes after thousands of items in the British Museum’s collection were stolen.
The 2,500-year-old Parthenon marbles, also known as the Elgin marbles, once adorned the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens. Fragments of the sculptures have been in the British Museum’s holdings since the 19th century.
On BBC Radio 4’s World Tonight programme (via BBC), archaeologist Despoina Koutsoumba said the Parthenon marbles should be returned to Greece “because they are not safe in London”.
“We are very much worried how many Greek items were [among] these stolen items and we want to tell the British Museum that they cannot anymore say that Greek cultural heritage is more protected in the British Museum,” she said
“All museums in the world have to learn what happened in the British Museum so that if we have problems in our security protocols [we can] change it.”
The Benin bronzes were stolen by the British army during the Benin Expedition of 1897 and then auctioned off to European buyers. One of the largest collections of Benin bronzes is held at the British Museum.
Repatriation of Benin bronzes, Parthenon marbles
“It’s shocking to hear that the countries and museums that have been telling us that the Benin bronzes would not be secure in Nigeria, have thefts happening there,” Abba Isa Tijani, director of Nigeria’s National Commission for Museums and Monuments, told Sky News.
“They are the subject of loot. They were illegally taken out of the country,” Tijani added. “It is irrespective whether they are safe there. That is not an issue. The issue is that these are stolen artefacts, and they should be returned to Nigeria to the communities that they belong to.”
In a statement last week, British Museum director Hartwig Fischer described the incident as “highly unusual”. In response, the institution has sacked a member of staff and started an independent review of security. The Met Police’s Economic Crime Command is investigating.
