After a series of thefts from the British Museum, many countries demanded the return of their cultural relics

In recent days, the British Museum, which has a history of 270 years, has been exposed to another theft scandal. The whereabouts of more than 2,000 precious cultural relics are unknown, which has shocked public opinion in many countries. This incident led to the resignation of the curator Hartwig Fischer of the museum, and its security management and collection record keeping methods have also aroused great doubts from the outside world. Many countries have protested and demanded the return of their cultural relics.

The scandal over the theft of artefacts from its collection began on August 16, when the British Museum issued a statement confirming that it had found missing items from its collection. George Osborne (George Osborne), chairman of the board of directors of the British Museum, said that it is still unclear how many cultural relics from the collection have been lost. Christos Tsirogiannis, head of UNESCO's team working to combat illicit cultural relics trafficking, described the theft as the worst theft in modern history. He believes many of the priceless artefacts suspected of being stolen from the British Museum's collection may never be recovered because museum records of some items are incomplete or not at all.

According to the BBC, about 80,000 cultural relics are on public display in the British Museum, and most of the rest of the collection are stored in different locations. However, because many cultural relics have not been archived, the catalog is full of errors and omissions, and the age is long, which allows thieves to take advantage of it. People's worries also come from the fact that the theft of this scale is not the temporary intention of ordinary thieves, but stems from long-term self-theft. An employee who has worked for more than 30 years (Peter John Higgs) is suspected of using his position and authority in the museum to steal and sell it through online platforms such as eBay at a price far below the actual estimated value. The cultural relics he stole cover various works of art, jewelry, utensils, sculptures, etc. from different civilizations such as ancient Egypt, ancient Rome, ancient Greece, and ancient China. One of the Roman relics worth up to £50,000 was sold for just £40.

Founded in 1753, the British Museum is one of the most visited museums in the world with a collection of 8 million items. British archaeologist and anthropologist Dan Hicks believes that the theft should prompt the British Museum to change its "'imperialist' position as a custodian of cultural relics". As the cultural relics theft scandal continues to simmer, many countries are demanding that museums return their collections to their countries of origin

Greece has demanded the return of its Parthenon sculptures (also known as the Elgin Marbles). The head of the Association of Greek Archaeologists said that after the theft of cultural relics from the British Museum, the British side can no longer say that Greek cultural heritage is more important in the UK than in Greece. protected. Ethiopia wants the British Museum to return crosses, weapons, jewellery, altar plaques and more that were seized by the British from Makdala in the north of the country in 1868 during a military campaign; the Nigerian government has formally requested the British Museum to return 900 Benin bronzes; The British Museum has also been pressured to return its gold objects.

The BBC pointed out that the demands for the return of cultural relics in the collection to their countries of origin mainly come from countries that were once colonized. Just as Victor Hugo said in his letter condemning the burning of the Old Summer Palace: "The victors returned to Europe hand in hand with their pockets full... Today, they show off the splendid antiques in the Old Summer Palace with the innocence of their owners... …And what I saw was a theft, and two thieves."