Egypt is demanding that the 2000-year-old Rosetta Stone be returned to Cairo and has threatened to pursue its claim "aggressively" if the British Museum does not agree to give it back. The stone, which became the key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics, was found by Napoleon's army in 1799 in the Nile delta, but has been in Britain for 200 years. "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," said Zahi Hawass, director of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo. He has begun negotiations with the museum."Otherwise I will have to approach them using a different strategy . . . the artefacts stolen from Egypt must come back." Dr Hawass said he had been discussing a three-month loan to the Cairo Museum, before the stone's permanent return to Egypt. The Rosetta Stone, which dates from 196 BC, was discovered in 1799 in the western delta of the Nile. The stone provided a key to understanding hieroglyphic text because it was accompanied by a Greek translation. The French ceded it to Britain under the Treaty of Alexandria in 1801 and it has been exhibited in the British Museum since 1802.
View: Full Article | Source: smh.com.au
