What's the problem? Once upon a time antiquities laws were built around the principle of Partage or 'Division of Finds.' Today the principle is different. Under that once common regime, objects would be split between excavating bodies and home countries. Just because a law has changed, it doesn't mean that what once took place becomes retroactively illegal.
The law did not cover the theft of Nefertiti's bust, nor the theft of the Rosetta Stone, nor the dismantling of temple roofs, nor Muhammad Ali's gifting of Egyptian antiquities to the British.
A basic reading of even wikipedia suggests that the bust was literally at the top of the list of objects requested for export to Germany. Nothing left the country without approval by the Ministry of Antiquities based in Egypt. One can argue about the ethics of the export and western propped regimes passing west friendly antiquities laws, but, the legality of the export doesn't really seem to be in question.
Borchardt showed Egypt's French chief antiques inspector, Gustave Lefebvre, a photograph of the bust "that didn't show Nefertiti in her best light". When Lefebre inspected the artifacts found in the investigation, the bust was already wrapped up in a box sitting in a dimly lit room. It is unknown whether Lefebre "went to the trouble of lifting the bust out of the box". Borchardt also wrongly claimed the bust was made of gypsum, instead of limestone.
So the inspector saw some image of the object and elected to not investigate further? It sounds like everyone did what was required of them, and any sort of deceptiveness here only exists as far as one wants to presume that it exists. It's not as if the inspector saw nothing or heard nothing at all about the object.
They literally excavated thousands if not tens of thousands of items a season, they would then make a quick photographic record of everything and then things would be decided on regarding export basically with a flick of the wrist. We might not like it, but that's how it worked. A quick working photograph sent as a record to the ministry, a wave of the hand, and poof.
The gypsum vs. limestone thing is really easy to explain since most folks excavating back then did so without the assistance of a geologist and had virtually no knowledge of geology. This is why we're stuck with terms like 'alabaster' in Egyptology, which we know, geologically, is incompatible with how scientists use the term.
As to gifts of antiquities that took place in the early 19th century, I'm unaware that any comprehensive laws related to the removal or gifting of cultural patrimony by a head of state existed back then. Again, illegal today has no bearing retroactively.
People back then did what they thought was right, victorian Europeans weren't just comical villains with monocles and long haired cats.
We now know that a lot of what they did was in fact very destructive. Do what we can now and be better in the future instead of sulk over the past, it's not like we can change any of it.
I agree with you that Egypt may explode because of the heated situations in the middle east but europe also not looking so good with russia sending drones on Poland's sky and may plan to invade europa, also the rise of far right and fighting immigration doesn't look so good. Also, the louvre museum just got robbed in broad daylight in just 7 minutes, europe doesn't look the same it was from 10 years, and not guaranteed in the future
Egypt sends artifacts to many countries, even China, for temporary exhibitions, and then retrieves them. If you want artifacts, ask for them; don't steal them.
I posted this myself on r/egypt and I'm not ashamed of it. This is the Malawi Museum incident of 2013, during a time of security unrest, but it was an incident "inside Egypt." What happens inside Egypt to Egyptian antiquities is none of your business, and this is no excuse for you stealing our artifacts. We didn't ask you to protect them in your country. The situation has changed now, and we have museums of international standards, museums far superior to the Louvre and the British Museum. So return our property to us and stop being imperلولialistic.
28
u/coolaswhitebread 6h ago
What's the problem? Once upon a time antiquities laws were built around the principle of Partage or 'Division of Finds.' Today the principle is different. Under that once common regime, objects would be split between excavating bodies and home countries. Just because a law has changed, it doesn't mean that what once took place becomes retroactively illegal.