The British Museum May Return Looted Ethiopian Orthodox Artefacts

Ethiopian Priests carrying the Tabot. Pic – Wiki

OCP News Service  – 17/9/21

London-United Kingdom: The British Museum may return Ethiopian Artefacts (9 tabots) that were looted from Ethiopia by the British soldiers during the Expedition to Abyssinia (1868). A group of campaigners including Stephen Fry, Rupert Everett, and others have urged Hartwig Fischer, the director of the British museum to return the sacred tablets to Ethiopia, reports the Telegraph.

Fischer is already in discussion with the Ethiopian authorities to explore loophole to return the tabots. However, legislation mandates that nation collection shall be retained for public and should not be given away without appropriate authoritative agreements. At the same time, the British Museum act of 1963 sates that objects those are useless to the institution can be disposed. If the Museum authorities declare tabots to be unfit for the institution, then they shall be moved to Ethiopia.

Tabots are replica of the Tablets of Law (inscription of the Biblical Ten Commandments) or the Ark of the Covenant.

Source:
OCP News Service