http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704689804575535662169204940.html
Zahi Hawass, Secretary General of the Supreme Council for Antiquities in Egypt has been lobbying for the return of Egyptian cultural objects from various museums around the world. The latest museum to return objects is the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City. A series of objects that ended up at the museum after Howard Carter's discovery of King Tut's tomb are being returned to Egypt, with the reasoning being that they never should have ended up at the museum in the first place. Ok, so then why did they end up there at all, and for nearly 100 years??
More importantly, though, are the tactics Dr. Hawass is employing in his lobbying. If he can't get his way through negotiation, he threatens to ban archaeologists affiliated with certain museums from digging in Egypt at all. (I.e. Museums he wants to get stuff back from who have yet to comply).
A new museum is being built in Cairo, and some of this pressure to get objects back seems to give the impression that the Egyptian government doesn't have enough material already to fill the museum (Unlikely, with several thousand years worth of history at their feet).
Some museums have refused to give back objects, stating that the circumstances under which they were acquired (in one case, as spoils of war), are not affected by some of the international treaties that are being cited by Dr. Hawass.
So, what do you think? Is Dr. Hawass using his position in the government to strong arm other museums into doing his bidding? What do you think of his tactics? Are they justified or a form of bullying? What about the ethical vs legal argument (that is, it might be legal for a museum to hang onto some of the Egyptian goods that they have, but is it ethical?)
More importantly, though, are the tactics Dr. Hawass is employing in his lobbying. If he can't get his way through negotiation, he threatens to ban archaeologists affiliated with certain museums from digging in Egypt at all. (I.e. Museums he wants to get stuff back from who have yet to comply).
A new museum is being built in Cairo, and some of this pressure to get objects back seems to give the impression that the Egyptian government doesn't have enough material already to fill the museum (Unlikely, with several thousand years worth of history at their feet).
Some museums have refused to give back objects, stating that the circumstances under which they were acquired (in one case, as spoils of war), are not affected by some of the international treaties that are being cited by Dr. Hawass.
So, what do you think? Is Dr. Hawass using his position in the government to strong arm other museums into doing his bidding? What do you think of his tactics? Are they justified or a form of bullying? What about the ethical vs legal argument (that is, it might be legal for a museum to hang onto some of the Egyptian goods that they have, but is it ethical?)
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