Egyptians desire their Rosetta Stone

• More countries want their history returned from European and North American institutions.
• Thousands of Egyptians are once again demanding the Rosetta Stone’s return.
• British Museum’s possession is a sign of Western cultural assault against Egypt.

More countries want their history returned from European and North American institutions.

Thousands of Egyptians are once again demanding the Rosetta Stone’s return.

Monica Hanna, dean of the Arab Academy for Science, Technology & Maritime Transport and petition organizer, called the British Museum’s possession of the stone a sign of Western cultural assault against Egypt.

The writings on the dark grey granite block were the key to interpreting ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics.

Rosetta Stone was “confiscated” during British-French imperial warfare. French soldiers discovered the stone in 1799 at Rashid, known as Rosetta by the French, after Napoleon Bonaparte occupied Egypt.

In 1801, British soldiers conquered the French in Egypt, and the British took the stone and other antiquities. The British Museum has had it since.

Hanna’s appeal argues the stone was “plunder” and a “war spoil”. Zahi Hawass, Egypt’s former antiquities minister, has a petition with 100,000 signatures.

Both petitions say Egypt had no say in 1801.

The British Museum says an Ottoman admiral who fought alongside the British against the French signed the 1801 contract, saying that he represented Egypt because the Ottoman sultan technically ruled Egypt during Napoleon’s invasion.

21 of 28 known copies of the engraved decree are still in Egypt, according to the Museum.

Egyptology’s original stone is unmatched. The 2nd-century BC tablet has three versions of a decision settling a dispute between the reigning Ptolemies and

Egyptian priesthood. First, basic hieroglyphics, then demotic and ancient Greek.

French Egyptologist Jean-Francois Champollion cracked the language in 1822.

The British Museum has about 100,000 Egyptian and Sudanese artifacts. Many were taken during Britain’s 1883-1953 colonial rule.

More museums and collectors are returning artifacts to their nation of origin, sometimes by judicial order, sometimes voluntarily to atone for historical wrongs.

The Metropolitan Museum repatriated 16 antiquities to Egypt in September after an inquiry found they were unlawfully smuggled. London’s Horniman Museum returned 72 items, including 12 seized Benin Bronzes, to Nigeria on Monday.

US-based art lawyer Nicholas Donnell said no international legal framework exists for such conflicts. Repatriation is left to the museum’s discretion unless there’s evidence an artifact was acquired illegally.

Given the treaties and period, the Rosetta Stone is a tough legal battle, said Donnell.

The British Museum has confirmed receiving artifact repatriation petitions from numerous countries, but it does not disclose specifics on their status or number. It hasn’t been confirmed if it’s ever repatriated artifact.

Archaeologist and Past Preserves CEO Nigel Hetherington think the museum’s lack of transparency reveals ulterior objectives.

“It’s about money, relevancy, and worry that people would stop coming,” he said.

Western museums have long defended their world heritage holdings by asserting superior facilities and larger crowds.

Hanna prioritizes Egyptians’ access to their past.

Egypt suffered an increase in artifact smuggling after the 2011 revolt that deposed Hosni Mubarak, which cost the government an estimated $3bn between 2011 and 2013.

Since then, President Abdel Fattah el-Sissi has heavily invested in antiquities. Egypt has reclaimed thousands of globally smuggled artifacts and wants to construct a new, state-of-the-art museum.

Egypt’s ancient sites, from the Pyramids of Giza to Abu Simbel on the Sudanese border, attracted $13bn in tourism in 2021.

Egyptian officials did not comment on the Rosetta Stone or other artifacts presented overseas. Hawass and Hanna don’t trust the government.

Hawass said the Rosetta Stone symbolizes Egyptian nationality. I’ll utilize the media and academics to convince the British museum to stop.

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