Art: The Egyptian Revolution

Countries have been attempting to claim back important artwork that was once theirs. The majority of the time, this artwork resides in the hands of museums of even collectors who have acquired possession many years ago. Though a few countries like Egypt have had some objects returned to them, there are still a few other countries like Greece and Iraq who are desperately wanting their artifacts back. In many cases, it has been quite the struggle to request back the artwork as it already has been set that it belongs to the museum who purchased it, so countries with the same issue have campaigned to retrieve those artifacts. In the other hand, artwork has simply been stolen during events that led for the area to not be surveyed. It is important
to understand why such conflict has lead to a few places in the world to not be able to take ownership of what was once truly theirs.
One major country that has been greatly impacted by not having artifacts returned to them, has been Egypt. To Egypt, their artwork is an important piece of their history; for them it hurts not being able to easily claim back what they created. In 2010, there was an article published on NBC News, which gives a base understanding of what Egypt did to claim some of their artwork back and what pieces were handed back. According to Zahi Hawass, the antiquities head since 2002, he would, “make their lives miserable.” He is referring this to the museums who have stolen or even received the artifacts as a gift, if they refuse his request. He teamed up with 25 other countries to push their campaign to recover back their artwork, some of which include officials from Greece, Italy, and U.S. This will add great weight to the campaign by escalating it to possibly receive back the work.
Among all the items Egypt wants back, the Bust of Nefertiti is one of them. Nefertiti was created roughly around 1340 B.C. by a sculptor named Thutmose, he used limestone to create the bust, then used gypsum to cover it up. One eye was made out of crystal with the pupil having black wax attached. As far as for the second eye, the inlay was never truly understood. Egypt declared the bust shipped out in 1913 with fraudulent papers, but according to The Society for the Promotion of the Egyptian Museum Berlin, James Simon funded the

excavations in Amarna, Egypt and earned ownership of the bust when the finds were seperated and bequeathed it to the National Museums in Berlin. The primary reason it is highly important for the Egyptians to get Nefertiti back is because according to Hawass, “I am doing something that I believe in and that should have been done a 100 years ago.” Meaning it undoubtedly should have never been taken away, either through the process of excavations, in Amarna nor through fraudulent papers. Nefertiti also was one of the most powerful and curious women in ancient Egypt, this being another reason as to why it is tremendously valuable to the Egyptians and their culture.
Unfortunately, in January 2011 a heartbreaking event occurred one late night in Egypt called, The Egyptian Revolution.
It set place in the center of Cairo, a city located in Muhafazat Al QahirahIt, as it was a devastating situation for the Egyptians; they witness protesting citizens intensely and violently raid the Museum of Tahrir Square, looting and wrecking the artwork which were of their own country. According to an article published by Jean Newman Glock on Huffington Post, this all occurred, “When local citizens formed a human chain to protect the Egyptian Antiquities Museum on Tahrir Square from those seeking to damage or steal its priceless contents.” Also, according to this article, two groups of people were the looters. The first group was simply looking for quick money such as gold. Apparently, they were arrested by the military once they were found cooking a feast in the museum kitchen, that was planned to be eaten by them. Comparatively, the second group were mainly international thieves who carried with them a list of artifacts they knew would easily would get sold to international buyers in order to make money for themselves. As the good citizens were not attempting anything bad, they received this surprise by their own people, which truly was a disappointment for them. All due to looting of the museum, it was considered a violent environment for the museums who have the artifacts that are wanted back by the head of antiquities, Hawass. For decades, the bust
has been in the Egyptian Museum of Berlin, ever since then it has been fought back by the Egyptians. To this day, they still have not been able to receive possession of the bust. Another country that has requested back an artwork from a different country, has been Greece. For many years, Greece has wished for the remaining Elgin Marbles to be returned to their homeland from the British Museum in London. As it mentions in an article published in 2016 by Independent.com, Thomas Bruce (the seventh Earl of Elgin), took half of the sculptures that survived from the Parthenon in Athens, then were sold to the British Government after an act was passed by parliament around July 1816. The remaining half are presently in the Acropolis Museum located in Greece. Due to Bruce’s actions, it has significantly been argued that he effectively stole the artifacts while Greece was being ruled by the Ottoman Empire, who according to Christopher Woolf, a publisher on Pri.com, “Elgin was the

British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire”.
The reason it is tremendously important for the Greeks to get possession of their artifacts back once again, is because the marbles include their history of Athens in the past, as it was one of the centers of the civilized worlds. In addition, it was carved out precisely 2,500 years ago. Furthermore, in the article by Independent, it mentions a, “cross-party group of MP’s,” launching a bid for the Elgin Marbles to return home. This would take place on the 200th anniversary of the British Government’s choice to purchase the marbles out. As a result of this battle, many people agree the Elgin Marbles should be seen in only one location of the world. Not to mention, they most definitely are a symbol that stands for Greece. To add on to the article, a poll was done for The Times newspaper in which discovered that the majority of the British people support the reunification process between the marbles in two different countries. In addition, “an Ipsos-Mori poll found 69 per cent of those familiar with the issue were in favour of returning the sculptures, compared to just 13 per cent against.” No doubt, the right thing to do is return the marbles to the Greek although to this date, the Greeks continue to fight their battle on reuniting the other half of the Elgin Marbles with the hope they will one day see the full carving all in one
piece.
Above all, Greece has its reasons as to why the marbles should be returned to them. One main reason is the art. It is art that has never been done the same way, only until Michelangelo in the Renaissance came along. Although, the fluted columns are visible in places around the world such as London, Washington DC, and even Rome they will never overcome those of the Parthenon building nor its sculptures. Among all the artist, the ones who created the sculptures were overall handpicked and the finest in the world during that time, allowing for “stone seem almost like flesh.” Another reason is, it could help Greece economically as it would help boost tourism which will then help Greece financially. In 2008, after a global recession, Greece was buried under immense debt and was pushed to live under strict policies that eventually described the country into turning in a “quasi-slave." Not only has the country dealt with what includes unemployment from the youth to be approximately 50 percent and with increasing suicide rates, but with thousands of refugees escaping the tragic war occurring in Syria. As well as with refugees escaping poverty and religious extremism in other countries around the world and arriving in Greece. Therefore, having the British Museum return the Elgin Marbles will help the Greek’s economy as more people will want to visit and see the togetherness and fullness of the Elgin Marbles.

Iraq has as well been a county that has been effected by the problem of having important artifacts stolen, it occurred in the Baghdad Museum. It all happened in in 2003, when the museum was left solely alone and while the U.S. troops were on their way to protect it. Once all the staff from the museum had returned, the thieves had already taken about 15,000 items; many of which included heads of sculptures, amulets, Assyrian ivories, ritual vessel, as well as 5,000 cylinder seals. This caused Iraq to have a huge loss for humanity. "It is the only museum in the world where you can trace the earliest development of human culture—technology, agriculture, art, language and writing—in just one place." The art pieces that were stolen were primarily history that gave answers to questions asked about how we all came to be. After this looting occurred, a man named Matthew Bogdanos, many of which referred to him as the, “Pit Bull,” received authorization from the U.S Central Command to gather up a group of members to investigate more about the recent occurrence. Once Bogdanos met with his teammates, they flew to Baghdad to begin the search of the missing objects. It was quite interesting what they accomplished, they forwarded descriptions of what the artifacts looked like to people around the world such as, archeologists, border guards, and even the international police. They claimed that the items needed to be returned and that nobody would be prosecuted for it. Instead, Bogdanos would only say to them, "the only question you will be asked is whether you would like a cup of tea." As they truly needed their art pieces back, they were not going to conduct some prosecution against the thieves who took them. As weeks passed by, stolen goods began to appear. Shelves began to have items randomly show up and other objects were rescued from backyards and even underground containers that were meant for storage purposes. Some items arrived to the doors of the museum, such as a pot dating back from 6000 B.C was wrapped in a garbage bag and the Sacred Vase of Warka which dates back from 3200 B.C. was in the interior back seat of a car. Many artifacts were simply grabbed from international antiquity markets around the world, locations like New York, Syria, Kuwait, Jordan, and Saudi Arabia were involved. Moreover, a scholar was declared guilty at an international airport for hiding three 4,000 cylinder seals that were 4,000 years old! According to Bogdanos, “Mothers turned in items stolen by their sons Sons turned in items stolen by their friends. Employees turned in items stolen by their bosses," At the end, there was no appearance of the thieves who had entered the museum, they rather had someone else bring those artifacts back. After all, some museums have gained back artifacts that were stolen, gifted, or directly given away. Countries like Egypt, Greece, and Iraq have all been victims of this fight for numerous years. Though, some items have been given back, other items still remain in the hands of those who either bought or stole them. It is a fight that will continue, not until the items are brought to their original country people will feel settled.