"Repatriation of antiquities" is the issue (or topic) I have decided to investigate.

For most, "repatriation of antiquities" may be misunderstood as to what this issue is. "Repatriation of antiquities" is the act of trying to gain back stolen or lost items to the home country. A main issue starts with whether or not the item should be located in a museum as a part of history about a person or should it be located in the home country of where the possession originated. There are many artifacts from around the world that home countries are trying to claim back. Here I will research a example of needing "repatriation of antiquities", and also what both sides (the home country and the country that has possession of the item now) believe should happen.

RETURN ANTIQUITIES!

The antiquity that stood out the most to me was the Parthenon Marbles. Now to an outsider it may seem like a pointless dispute over some insignificant antiquity, but the Greeks and the British take it very seriously. The reason of why the Parthenon Marbles are even located in Britain comes with a brief history lesson. During the time frame of 1801 to 1805, Lord Elgin was the British ambassador to the Ottoman Empire. With the permission of the Ottoman Empire, Lord Elgin took some of the pieces that fell from the Parthenon. Elgin was deeply passionate and interested in Greek sculpture, and therefore put the sculptures in Britain. In Britain, the people began an interest in Greek culture and artistic means.

Lord Elgin

The Greeks have been trying to claim back the Parthenon Marbles for over 150 years. The Parthenon Marbles are located in the British Museum today. Even with the Greeks asking for the Parthenon Marbles to be returned, the British have still refused to do so. This brings further frustration on both sides because both Greece and Britain want the Parthenon Marbles to be in their own countries.

The Parthenon Marbles

Of course Britain and Greece have different views of where the Parthenon Marbles should go. Greece believes that the Parthenon Marbles are an essential part of Greek culture. The Marbles keep the people in touch with their country's past. The Greeks argue that they were under control of another country and therefore were not notified on the removal of the Marbles. There is a group called the UNESCO that has guidelines for an antiquity needing to be replaced. The Parthenon Marbles meet these requirements. The Greek government plan on opening the Acropolis Museum, where the Parthenon Marbles will be located. The Greeks plan on continually fighting for the repatriation of antiquities that were taken by the British. However, on the British side, Britain has a different viewpoint on why they should keep the Parthenon Marbles. The British argue that during the time of Lord Elgin, there was no wrongdoing in taking the Marbles. Britain believes that giving the Marbles back would no longer make the British Museum a center for education and learning. The pollution in Athens, Greece apparently is bad for the Parthenon Marbles and would end up destroying the Marbles quicker. The British claim that the Parthenon Marbles has become part of British culture and defines them inspires the British artwork. As you can see here, the Parthenon Marbles has not only an important part of history, but now they are part of both country's culture.

Greece

VERSUS

Britain

The Parthenon Marbles are a huge part of two country's cultures. The British have advanced in their culture and artwork through the example of the Greeks. The Greeks have build the Parthenon Marbles and they originated in Greece. I have my opinion that the Parthenon Marbles should, in fact be returned to Greece. There was a poll taken and 92.5% voted in favor of the Parthenon Marbles to be returned to Greece. I think that the British could be influenced by the artwork of the Greeks without taking the Parthenon Marbles. Other countries have the same issue of another other country taking possession of an item that hasn't originated there. Together worldwide, we need to set into place a list of reasons for why an antiquity needs to be returned to the country it originated or not. With different cultures thinking that the antiquity belongs there or here, it sets a tension between the countries. This tension gets us nowhere as a country or as a global population. There is never going to be worldwide peace if we can't agree on the little things. In order to keep all the countries content with each other over where items should be possessed, each country needs to learn the give and take rule. This way we may be able to cooperate worldwide.