[Review] The Prince and the Plunder

The Historical Journal, 2023

In 1863, Emperor Tewodros II of Abyssinia (present-day Ethiopia and Eritrea) took a British consul hostage; five years later, the British sent a punitive expedition. This military expedition continued the brutal tradition of earlier ones and shaped later campaigns in Sudan and West Africa in the 1890s. Typically, a large contingent of non-military personnel accompanied these expeditions and the 1868 expedition to Maqdala was no different. What was unique for Maqdala was the inclusion of a member of staff from the British Museum. We argue that a letter from Charles Thomas Newton, keeper of the Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities, to Sir Roderick Murchison, the president of the Royal Geographical Society (RGS), illustrates that the plunder of cultural heritage was planned. We also argue that the plunder did not go to plan. The inclusion of a man from the museum made this expedition unique in the museum's history. The acquisition of these objects through colonial violence constitutes a strong moral reason for their repatriation from the British Museum and the numerous institutions in which they are dispersed. Understanding the planning involved in their plunder illustrates the entanglement of politics and imperialism with scientific and cultural institutions that constituted the backbone of Victorian Britain. In 2022, the British Museum catalogue described a tabot, object number Af1868.1001.21, as 'carved from wood with a depiction of a cross and Ge'ez inscriptions'. 1 This online collections record informed the reader that at some point the tabot was moved from the 'former Medieval and Late History Department' to the Department of Africa, Oceania, and the Americas. The catalogue entry explained that 'the tabot is the foundation of the Ethiopian Orthodox church and is what sanctifies and consecrates a church

Translocations. Historical Enquiries into the Displacement of Cultural Assets https://translanth.hypotheses.org/ueber/stanley, 2020

A section of Henry M. Stanley's "Coomassie and Magdala: The Story of Two British Campaigns in Africa" followed by a scholarly comment written for the Translocations Anthology - a research blog that examines and comments on source texts since antiquity about looted art, art as war booty and the translocation of cultural assets. Format of PDF may be corrupted, please see original blog post at https://translanth.hypotheses.org/ueber/stanley In the second half of the 19th century, the journalist Henry Morton Stanley covered the exploits of the Anglo-Indian invasion force of the ›Abyssinian Expedition‹ against the Ethiopian king Tewodros II, which came to a head at the Battle of Mäqdäla on 13 April 1868. After storming Tewodros‘ stronghold of Mäqdäla, the British soldiers looted the mountain fortress – which had served as repository for countless treasures recently looted by Tewodros himself from all over the Ethiopian kingdom as a means to establish his claim to sovereignty. A crown and chalice described by Stanley can be identified with items now in the possession of the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, where claims for restitution date back to the 1870s.

Religion in den Bergen, 2023

Throughout history, the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church had to defend its cultural property against threats, be it during religious wars or attempts of colonization.' Most destructive, and still causing epistemic violence to this day, were the immense expropriations of religious materials and texts by Europeans.' Especially ancient scripts written in the biblical Geez language attracted European attention and desire. The Tewahedo Church is rooted in monasterial traditions. Hence, churches and monasteries were built on remote hilltops and on islands for the clergy to concentrate on prayer. They also served as safe places for treasured manuscripts and sacred objects. However, even there, Ethiopian material, cultural, intellectual, sacred and religious property was not secure.

Master Thesis, 2023

In recent years following the French president’s speech in Africa and the BLM (black lives matter) movement, restitution discourse gained momentum and attention in museums and cultural circles, specifically regarding the African looted objects. However, this did not make the issue less controversial or more accessible. Restitution is still an issue with no common grounds, specifically regarding its main problematic area: the acquisition methods and its complications. This research will highlight some facts regarding the acquisition methods during colonization and the restitution attempts with its past and current obstacles. It will question the legitimacy of the acquisition methods by analyzing several examples focusing on the gift notion and its specific controversial nature in the colonial context. The research will conclude by asserting the need for an integral ethical-based reparation policy that aims to ensure just solutions for victims of colonization, including restitution of their lost heritage.

2019

In my paper, I examine the British Museum’s history of appropriation and exploitation using the modern nations of Nigeria, Zambia, and Ethiopia as case studies. The British Museum’s acquisition as well as continued withholdment of artifacts such as the Benin Bronzes, the Broken Hill skull, and Ethiopian religious manuscripts serve to embolden Britain’s colonial legacy by extending the consequences of the expeditions, lootings, and violent invasions of ancient African nations to include current cultural loss. The arguments for these artifacts’ repatriation center around their historical significances to their countries of origin.

Magdala, a fortress in the hilly areas of Ethiopia was ruled by the great King Theodore and in 1868, a British army campaign led by Commander Naiper reached Magdala to free the European hostages kept by the King. However, while the expedition was indeed successful and hostages were rescued unharmed, the Queen's army plundered the fortress and took whatever valuable they could get their hands on. These looted items were then auctioned and most of them were bought by Mr. Holmes who was a representative of the British Museum and the rest were out bided by other individuals (Bates 1979 : 204).The money raised from the auction was divided amongst the soldiers and the amount that each soldier received was around 25

Jahazi Journal. Culture, arts, performance, 2022

Special issue : https://jahazi.co.ke/reclaiming-our-cultural-heritage/ Reclaiming Our Cultural Heritage is the name of the issue that Jahazi Journal dedicated to the restitution of cultural heritage stolen from the African continent. With 28 articles from journalists, researchers and artists, the issue is shifting the narrative on how African voices have agency in the debate to right the wrongs of the past.

African Voices of the Global Past: 1500 to the Present, ed. by Trevor R. Getz, 2014

TIJ's Research Journal of Social Science & Management - RJSSM, 2018

After 1960s Tewodros II of Ethiopia has been elucidated popularly in foreign and Ethiopian Media as well. Since then, he was portrayed as a national hero of the country. Yet, some foreign media had a different position in describing the aforementioned melting pot of modernity and unity in the history Ethiopian. They stated him from “crazy king” to “national hero”. The BBC witness program broadcasted that Emperor Tewodros II was one of the titanic figures of modern Ethiopian history. While the Telegraph described him as a “mad king of Abyssinia”. Hence, the statements of Media with regard to Tewodros II and his fall at Maqdala will be discussed through different topics of study. Hence, an in-depth study of Media reactions to the battle of Maqdala as seen in foreign and domestic media would require considerable study. The fall of Tewodros II at the battle of Maqdala in 10 April 1868 has become a topic of dialogue and media coverage up to date. Most of the publications represent the ba...

Heritage Justice