Olivia Hoernschemeyer
During one of our class trips we visited the British Museum and toured the Egyptian, Greek, and Roman galleries. Our main point of discussion was whether or not the artifacts that were housed in the British Museum should be kept their or if they should be returned to their country of origin. Many argue that many of the artifacts in the museum were wrongfully taken from their country of origin and so should be returned to their home country. Many of these artifacts were taken during the British Imperial years, so in this essay I will be looking at the effects that the British museum is still facing today as a result of British Imperialism.

The Elgin Marbles have been at the center of a debate regarding whether they should really be housed in the British Museum. A brief background on the marbles is they were made for the Parthenon in ancient Greece and remained there until the beginning of the 1800’s. Between the years 1801 to 1805 the British ambassador to the Ottoman empire, Lord Elgin, received approval to remove the remains of the marbles (much of the structure had been destroyed over the years) and take them back to Britain. They were shown in Lord Elgin’s personal museum until 1817 when they were given to the British Museum to be put on display. Since the 1980’s the Greek government has argued for the removal of the marbles and have them returned to Greece. The British Museum has argued that the marbles should stay at the museum because the museum showcases over 2 million years of cultural achievement from all over the world and these artifacts are made easily accessible to museum visitors.

The main argument that the Greek government has made for the returning of the marbles is that they were wrongfully taken in the first place. When the marbles were taken Greece was under control of the Ottoman Empire, so they did not have a say in whether the marbles could stay or go. The Greeks argue that the marbles were not rightfully given to Lord Elgin, and even argue that the agreement between Lord Elgin and the Ottoman Empire was fake, and so ultimately they consider Lord Elgin taking the marbles was really just him stealing the marbles. They are arguing that this was just really an act of greediness by the British government. 

We also had a chance to look at the Egyptian exhibit in the museum which houses the largest amount of ancient Egyptian artifacts outside of Egypt. Our tour guides Kate and Morgan discussed what the real purpose was of having all of these foreign ancient artifacts in the museum. Was it to educate the public or was it a subtle show of British power? Many of the artifacts that are on display in the museum were collected during the British Imperial years. During these years Britain had a vast empire around the world and conquered many foreign lands and forced their rule on these nations. Because of this Britain was able to collect many amazing artifacts, but many of these artifacts were most likely not taken in the proper way. As a result, the British Museum has faced international backlash due to the wrongful taking of artifacts, most famously are the Elgin marbles. The British Museum has maintained its stance that the artifacts belong in the museum because they are made easily accessible to the public and are safe and well taken care of.  Kate and Morgan argued that the museum is still maintaining a British Imperialist stance of keeping things that aren’t rightfully their’s. Our groups also discussed how it’s a bit harder to appreciate all of these artifacts because we aren't seeing them in their original context, but instead seeing them in one large great hall.

The debate for where all these artifacts rightfully belong shows no signs of going away anytime soon. There are many countries that feel that the objects in the museum rightfully belong to them. One thing that must be acknowledged is that some of the artifacts in the museum most likely ended up in the museum as a result of an aggressive and greedy imperialist British empire. However, these artifacts that have ended up in the museum have been well preserved and been put on display for the whole world to see.