There’s an old Egyptian proverb that says the only reason the Pyramids are still in Egypt is because they were too heavy to steal and put on display elsewhere. Sadly, the same cannot be said of the iconic Rosetta Stone (the chiseled rock, not the language learning program). Today, thousands of Egyptians are demanding the return of the Rosetta Stone from its current perch in the British Museum in London.
The landmark artifact, which helped scientists finally decode Egyptian hieroglyphs and better understand the ancient society, has been in England’s blood-soaked hands since Napoleon (a well-known non-Egyptian) gave it up as part of the Treaty of Alexandria in 1801. If you go to the Egyptian Museum in Cairo you’ll undoubtedly find a massive collection of artifacts, mummies, and Pharaonic antiquities. What you won’t find are some of the most prized Egyptian historical treasures, the Rosetta Stone chief among them.
"The Rosetta stone was undeniably a spoil of war and an act of plunder that was outlawed in the 17th and 19th centuries. The presence of these artifacts in the British Museum to this day supports past colonial endeavors of cultural violence and deprives Egypt as the country of origin of not only the physical return of these objects, but also of their important role as Egyptian cultural heritage that spans a millennia of rich history."
- An excerpt from the petition to return the stone
Naturally this isn’t the first time the stone has been asked to be returned, and it almost certainly won’t be the last. The British are known for many things (colonization, imperialism, beans on toast for breakfast, poor dental hygiene, etc.) but they’re not known for their generosity in respecting other cultures. My heart tells me that if I really want to see the Rosetta Stone, I should book a trip to London.
But hypothetically, what if someone threw a can of soup on the Rosetta Stone??
Side Items
Girl Scouts Get Paid: MacKenzie Scott, the philanthropist and ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, donated $84.5 million to the Girl Scouts of the USA and 29 of its local branches. This is certainly an upgrade from the usual billionaire tendency to spend big money on lavish and unnecessary pet projects, but is it really the most effective use of $80+million? There are plenty of communities in this country without access to affordable housing or clean water, but thank goodness those Girl Scouts will be taken care of well into the future
New Solution for School Shootings: Rather than focus on the tedious intricacies of passing legislation and generating popular support, Texas public schools are instead sending their students home with DNA kits. The parents or guardians of a young student will be able to keep their kid’s DNA and fingerprint information at home, and can hand it over to law enforcement agencies in emergency situations…like a school shooting for instance. The recent school shooting in Uvalde presented a situation where the bodies of students were so mangled that some family members had to provide DNA swabs in order to identify the remains
NBA Back: The NBA kicked off last night as the Boston Celtics and Golden State Warriors opened their seasons with a win. On the flip side, the 76’ers of Philadelphia and those cursed LA Lakers stumbled out of the gate. The season is long and things will change, but my initial overreaction is that the Lakers are gonna be bad this year, and I’ll find a way to enjoy it