Document Type
Note
Abstract
Ancient Egypt is an era in history that has drawn immense fascination for hundreds of years. Ancient Egyptians contributed much to modern-day civilization, including both mathematics and engineering. Perhaps the ancient Egyptians’ most valuable contributions were the beautiful objects of art we have come to admire. Ancient Egyptian art has been adored and studied all over the world. However, many Egyptians would prefer for that art to be adored at home, in Egypt.
Most of the artifacts Egypt seeks to recover were taken from inside its borders during the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. In fact, Europe’s fascination and obsession with Egyptian culture began with the Napoleonic expedition in 1798. This led to a race between the European powers, namely Britian and France, to acquire more antiquities than the other. The Egyptian desert was stripped of hundreds of thousands of invaluable artifacts, including statutes, jewelry sarcophagi and mummies inside them. One can only imagine what the infamous “mummy opening” parties that were so popular at the time must have been like. In cities like London and Paris, “the appetite for ancient Egyptian valuables and curiosities were so insatiable that museums were prepared to ship entire rooms, friezes and tombs from across the Mediterranean.” Today there are entire museums across Europe dedicated exclusively to housing the Egyptian art and artifacts that were plundered years ago. But now Egypt wants them back.
This Article will examine the intriguing phenomenon of art repatriation. Part II will discuss the views on who should own a country’s cultural property and why. Part III will cover the various international conventions on the subject and how (if at all) Egypt can use these conventions to its advantage. Finally, Part IV will advocate for the repatriation of Egypt’s cultural property, successful repatriation efforts by other countries, whether repatriation is really a viable option for Egypt, and a possible alternative solution.
Recommended Citation
Aisha Y. Salem,
Finders Keepers? The Repatriation of Egyptian Art,
10 J. Tech. L. & Pol'y
(2005).
Available at: https://scholarship.law.ufl.edu/jtlp/vol10/iss1/6