For 1,500 years the world had lost the way to understand ancient Egyptian hieroglyphic scripts. Then, in 1799, a French soldier stumbled upon an artifact that sparked a race to read the forgotten words of the pharaohs. The Rosetta Stone was discovered in the ruins of the fort St. Julien, near the mouth of the Nile, downriver from Rosetta. Renowned by the entire world, the Rosetta stone changed people’s lives because of its origins, the controversy of where it belongs, and how it influenced life today.
Owned by the British Museum, the Rosetta Stone is being fought for back in Egypt. Cahal Milmo, chief reporter of The Independent, talks about Dr. Zahi Hawass in his article about whether or not the Stone was stolen. Dr. Zahi Hawass, the secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and
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He has been working to further his demand for the return of the Rosetta Stone from the display rooms of the British Museum, where it has been on show since 1802. Speaking in 2003, when his campaign began, Dr. Hawass said: "If the British want to be remembered, if they want to restore their reputation, they should volunteer to return the Rosetta Stone because it is the icon of our Egyptian identity." There are a few stories about how it fell into British hands. One version is that it was taken by a British colonel who carried it away on a gun carriage. Another version is that a British Egyptologist, Edward Clarke, was passed the stone in a Cairo
...ons. New York’s Metropolitan Museum of Art, the Louvre in Paris, and all other western museums contain vast collections of work from other parts of the world. These marbles symbolize the cultural property in all of the world’s museums, and this debate affects them all.
Hunt insists that returning the marbles to Greece would create a precedent for other restitution claims. This in turn would rob all museums of their ability to provide a multicultural presentation of history. He declares that “we need the sharing of cultures.” I assert diversity can be achieved with castings, similar to the Romans copying Greek
...otion to the cause of maintaining knowledge is strong, and unhampered by personal ambition or pride. They possess a sensitivity and reverence for the Memorabilia, and knowledge in general, that allowed them to maintain and protect the sacred documents. However, it is their sense of responsibility towards the products of this knowledge, and their understanding of the dangers such knowledge could present, that makes them the ideal protectors and regulators of knowledge. While they welcome anyone who wishes to study the Memorabilia with open arms, for they love knowledge too, they also hope to imbue knowledge-seekers with foresight and an ethical obligation to the products of that knowledge, in hopes that scientists with a conscience might avoid another Flame Deluge.
The need for writing in Uruk was drastically different than that of the Egyptians, however. As evidenced at the archaeological site of Hierakonpolis, the Egyptian sy...
Leniaud, Jean-Michel and Francoise Perrot. The Sainte Chapelle. Paris: Centre des monuments nationaux, 2007. Print .
For years on end, countries have been fighting with big museums from other countries for ancient artifacts that belong to the original countries. The argument of whether or not the museums should be able to keep them still remains. It is the right of the country to have their own artifacts. It is imperative for countries to be able showcase their historical artifacts, therefor museums should return them to their rightful owners.
White, John B. Afterword. Stonehenge Decoded. By Gerald S. Hawkins. New York: Doubleday, 1965. 191-197.
Imagine that one piece of history that is taken from a town. This piece of history tells l people how this town was built and all the important people that were apart of the community. “Returning Antiquities to Their Countries of Origin” by Joyce Mortimer can many people about how objects are getting taken from Museums. They should be returned immediately. There are so many artifacts out there that could be so important to people, and if someone can just imagine what it would feel to have one of the most important object taken from a museum and to be never returned again. Many people enjoy seeing these objects so why are they being taken?
One could very well conclude that the Egyptians of the northern kingdom were critical thinkers in order to discover this intricate technique that forever left a lasting impact on mankind and his ability to pass on knowledge for future generations. We would later discover just how much the papyrus plant was important to later Egyptian creations during the unification, such as the creation of the Mdw-Ntr (Hieroglyphic) writing system—imagine having a writing system with nothing practical in everyday life to write on. Although stones were carved into, the papyrus plant would have made it easier for scribes to pass on more information at a time.
Nineteenth century British explorer Henry Rawlinson was among the first archeologists to draw attention to the importance of cuneiform writing. Arguably, his most valuable discovery was the monument at Bisitun in present-day Iran; Bitisun is a massive memorial to Darius, famed king of ancient Persia. Accor...
Fought over for centuries and claimed by many, the owner of this diamond only yields it to another at the cost of an empire. Believed to have originated from the depths of an ancient Indian mine, the Kohinoor Diamond is a missing link to an illustrious past of a fledgling modern nation. Since its independence, Indians, both in the Republic of India and those who reside throughout the Commonwealth, have demanded the return of the sacred jewel. A demand the British government has continually refused. For the British, the diamond is also a reminder of their renowned past when the sun never set upon their domain. Forever covered in the blood of its past owners, men and nations will continually fight one another, rather with words or war, just for the opportunity to hold the cursed gemstone.
From the time of the initial discovery there was also an upsurge in archeological expeditions to the area. One such expedition was in 1949 when Father Roland de Vaux, Dominican Director of the French Ecole Biblique et Archeologique at Jerusalem and Professor Lankester Harding the British Director of the Department of Antiquities in Amran arrived in Qumran. After the initial disappointment of finding no complete scrolls or jars they “ literally examined the floor of the cave with their fingernails. What they found allowed them to come to some astonishing conclusions” (“they found fragments and potsherds relating to Graeco-Roman times, dating from 30 B.C. to A.D. 70. Six hundred tiny scraps of leather and papyrus made it possible to recognize Hebrew transcriptions from Genesis, Deuteronomy, and the...
Maspero, Gaston. Manual Of Egyptian Archaeology And Guide To The Study Of Antiquities In Egypt. 1895. Print.
While the Valley of the Kings has a rich history, its modern-day contributions not only include advancements of our knowledge of Ancient Egypt, but positive economic effects as well. In 1922, archaeologist Howard Carter unveiled King Tutankhamen’s tomb in its entirety, hidden from any pervious tomb raiders and thieves (Reeves and Wilkinson 86). The hidden tomb was left intact, and Carter’s discovery revealed the riches and artifacts of an ancient civilization. As Reeves and Wilkinson explains, “Because of this vast show of wealth, 70 years after the discovery Tutankhamen remains the valley’s most famous son” (8). Since then, the mainstream...
There is no doubt that scholars, artists, and educators remain undoubtedly amazed by the immense collection of treasures that are consistently found within ancient Egyptians tombs. There is true meaning and history behind each artifact that has been found; collectors still see these priceless items as art, and many forget that they once served the main purpose in the afterlife. Everything in the ancient Egyptian culture was meant to serve their highest deities and gods. They created treasures to ensure that their lives would mean something, and many forget to reflect on the purpose of art or an object in general.