The reunion of the architectural sculptures of the Parthenon with the top monument is a fair claim of many decades reports the Association of Greek Archaeologists for the 23rd Session of the Intergovernmental Commission of UNESCO and the Greek request for the return of the sculptures.
As it is emphasized in the announcement, the competent services of the Ministry of Culture and Sports have documented the destruction that was done with deceit by the diplomat Lord Elgin, by amputation and sawing of the monument and removal of its structural elements, in order to use the architectural sculptures for personal gain, by selling them to the British public. Even then, in the early 19th century, there were reactions inside and outside the British Parliament to Elgin’s immoral act. Therefore, what was allegedly mentioned by the British side at the 23rd Session of the UNESCO Intergovernmental Commission, are provocative statements without historical and moral basis.
The request for the return of the architectural sculptures of the Parthenon, which together with the other sculptures, constitute the sculptural decoration of the top monument from which they were violently cut and detached, is based on the international conventions for the protection of cultural and international property. who has been fighting for this demand for decades and requires method and consistency.
The competent Directorates and the archaeologists of YPPOA methodically and consistently deal with the documentation, claiming and repatriation of antiquities stolen from Greece, having in their assets significant successes. Representative examples of these official actions are the positive developments in the last two UNESCO meetings on the Parthenon and the recent return of a gold seal ring from Mycenaean times, which was stolen during the Occupation from the Archaeological Museum of Rhodes and returned to Greece. Nobel Foundation.
It is noted that the decision of the University of Heidelberg in 2006 to return the fragment of stone VIII of the northern frieze of the Parthenon, which was in its university collection, as well as the decision of the Region of Sicily to return the “Fagan fragment” for good from the stone VI of the eastern frieze are the examples that show the moral and legal way to return the sculptures to the monument, where they belong.
“The effort made by the Ministry of Culture over the years since the early 1980s has brought results to the international public opinion, even to the British, so that the request is not only made by Greece, but to be coordinated with the international efforts against in the looting of cultural property, which unfortunately continues even today, especially in war zones. “The claim is the fruit of a long-term effort, and it is important to take steps, such as UNESCO’s continued recommendations to the British side from 1982 onwards.”
Following the decisions taken by UNESCO to invite the British side to a dialogue with Greece on the issue in question, the negative attitude of the British Museum officials to return the sculptures to the monument where they belong, as well as the proposal they make publicly for “borrowing” the antiquities, can only cause indignation in the international scientific community and the international public opinion. The Greek state has no legitimacy to enter into any discussion of “borrowing”, “exchange” with other important exhibits and any other direct or indirect recognition of “ownership” in the so-called “Elgin collection” by the British side.
The request from the Greek state for the return of the Parthenon sculptures in the British Museum must continue on the basis of the consolidation and eventual acceptance by the British side that Greece and the top monument of the Acropolis were victims of fraudulent acts, according to colonial conceptions that prevailed in the 19th century. The sculptures of the Parthenon are not part of the national heritage of Britain, but of Greece, an integral part of a single monumental ensemble. Thoughts on any exchange of antiquities between Greece and Britain are a retreat from the line of ethics and legitimize abduction. Moreover, the exchange is a violation of the archaeological law itself, which precludes the transaction, and therefore the exchange, of Greek antiquities.
“In this direction, the Ministry of Culture must move forward to abolish the provision for long-term export of finds from archeological museums abroad (the provision of Law 4761 which allows the export of Museum collections for 50 years) and to proceed immediately to the preparation and approval of the list of immovable finds of Greek state archaeological museums, as requested by the General Assembly of the Association of Greek Archaeologists on 13/5/2022 “concludes the announcement.
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