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The Inquiry: Is it time for Britain to return the Rosetta Stone?

Is it time for Britain to return the Rosetta Stone?

27/10/2022 GMT

BBC World Service - The Inquiry, Is it time for Britain to return the Rosetta Stone?

After 200 years, is it time for Britain to return the Rosetta Stone to Egypt?

The Rosetta Stone has been in British hands for more than 200 years, but is it now time for the UK to return it to Egypt?

More than 200 years ago French soldiers uncovered a slab of granite in the Nile Delta which became the key to understanding the history of ancient Egypt. 

The Rosetta Stone is inscribed with ancient Egyptian and Greek text, and hieroglyphs. Before it was translated, no-one realised that hieroglyphs were a form of written language. 

After the French surrender of Egypt in 1801, the artifact was taken to the UK, and ever since, it’s been one of the main attractions at the British Museum in London. 

The museum is holding a major exhibition on hieroglyphs, with the stone as its centrepiece, but there are calls from Egyptian scholars for it to be taken back to its place of origin. 

However, the British Museum says there has been no formal request from the Egyptian government to return the Rosetta Stone.

So this week on the Inquiry, we’re asking: Is it time for Britain to return the Rosetta Stone? 

Presenter: Tanya Beckett 
Producer: Ravi Naik
Researcher: Anoushka Mutanda-Dougherty
Editor: Tara McDermott
Technical Producer: Nicky Edwards
Broadcast Coordinator: Jacqui Johnson  


(Image: The Rosetta Stone on display in the Egyptian Sculpture Gallery at the British Museum: BBC Images/European Photopress Agency/Neil Hall)

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