Looted Art: Shattered and Scattered

The Parthenon had been greatly abused during the Ottoman rule of Greece. The explosion in 1687 severely damaged the temple and its sculptures. In the 1700s, wealthy European families started to tour Athens and took artifacts with them. From 1800 and 1803, Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin removed some of the surviving artifacts with the alleged permission of the Ottoman Empire, which occupied Greece until Greek independence in 1832. These sculptures, known as the Elgin Marbles, were moved to Britain. There, the acquisition of the collection was supported by some, while others, such as Lord Byron, likened the Earl's actions to vandalism. In 1816, he sold the Marbles to the British Museum in London, where they are now displayed. Since 1983, the Greek government has been urging the return of the marbles to Greece.

It is a pity that friezes cannot be joined together where they belong just because of the stubbornness of some museums and countries. Scattered artifacts are like wandering ghosts in search of a final resting place.

Soccer fans do not expect reminders of British colonialism's spoils in an European away game, but that is exactly what happened this week. Tottenham Spurs, a London team, played a Champions League away game against APOEL Nicosia, a team in Cyprus. A section of the fans held up this banner:

Plundered art is a common theme in wars and invasions throughout the history of human civilization. From Alexander the Great and the Valley of the King's tomb robbers to the conquistadors and Napoleon, people just love to steal art from losers of armed conflicts. Some of the best examples of looted art along with the Elgin Marbles are the Louvre's numerous Egyptian antiquities and Nefertiti's Bust in Berlin. The most common reason given by museums and countries that insist on holding on to foreign antiquities is that they can preserve the artifacts better than the country that the things came from. This argument is pure disrespect, and museums like the British Museum should be ashamed of themselves. Antiquities are part of a country's identity, priceless items that reflect a society's past and present. When an artifact is owned by a foreign country, the value is diminished, simply because it does not belong there. I hope all scattered art returns to where it belongs and where it will be most valued.