How many artefacts in British Museum are actually British?

euronews (in English)

It's often claimed online that the British Museum in London would have nothing left to show if it returned every artefact that the UK allegedly stole from other countries, but there's more to the claim than meets the eye.

Transcript

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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