00:00How many artifacts in the British Museum are actually British?
00:08A recent meeting between the British and Greek Prime Ministers has once again revived a long
00:13running debate about whether the UK should return the Parthenon sculptures,
00:17also known as the Elgin Marbles. They're a collection of marble decorations from the
00:21Temple of Athena or the Parthenon on the Acropolis in Athens, dating back as early as 447 BC.
00:28In the early 1800s, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, claimed he
00:33obtained permission from local authorities to remove about half of the remaining sculptures
00:37from the Parthenon, citing concern for their preservation. They were eventually transferred
00:42to the British Museum and have since been a significant point of contention between the UK
00:47and Greece. The debate often prompts a wider discussion as to what the UK should give back,
00:52as well as claims that there'd be nothing left in the British Museum if it returned
00:57everything that the UK allegedly stole. However, the claim is hyperbolic because the vast majority
01:03of the items in the museum originate from the UK. Conducting a search of the British Museum's
01:08collection on its website shows that around 650,000 artifacts come from England, Scotland,
01:14Wales or Northern Ireland, with the biggest bulk coming from England. In fact, England is the single
01:20biggest contributor of items to the British Museum, around four times as much as the next
01:25most prevalent countries, including Iraq and Italy. Some 66,000 artifacts come from Greece,
01:30according to the British Museum online catalogue. Nevertheless, some of the museum's most
01:34remarkable pieces are the most controversial. In addition to Greece's claims on the Parthenon
01:40marbles, Egypt wants the return of the Rosetta Stone, the famous slab engraved with the decree
01:45in two languages and three scripts. Ethiopia, meanwhile, wants the Maqdala collection back.
01:50For more artifacts and details, take a look at euronews.com
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