[MSN] Queen Nefertiti Boils Cairo Blood as Germans Reject Bust Loan

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Queen Nefertiti Boils Cairo Blood as Germans Reject Bust Loan 

By Abeer Allam

 Sept. 11 (Bloomberg) -- In 1912, Ludwig Borchardt discovered a
3,400-year-old statue of Nefertiti, a queen of ancient Egypt, among ruins on
the eastern bank of the Nile. 

The German archaeologist shipped it home to Berlin, where it became the
centerpiece of the antiquities collection at the Altes Museum. Now the blue,
gold and terracotta bust is the focus of an international tug of war. After
Germany refused to lend the statue to Egypt for a three-month exhibition,
Egyptian officials said they may demand the statue be returned permanently. 

``They were taken out by imperialism,'' says Zahi Hawass, secretary general
of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities in Cairo. ``Well, the days of
imperialism are over.'' 

Egypt's complaint echoes those of Italy and Greece, which are seeking to
recover antiquities they say were illegally taken by foreign archaeologists.
For Egyptians, the dispute is about more than just artifacts. People in
Cairo say the German attitude underscores a lack of respect for Egyptian
culture. 

Nefertiti has become a cause celebre among Egypt's 75 million people, with
talk-shows and newspaper columns dedicated to regaining the bust. 

``Those people make my blood boil,'' says Ahmed Nabil, a 29- year-old hotel
clerk. ``I already have hypertension and they made it worse. Do they think
we're a bunch of thieves? They stole her, not us.'' 

Egypt first requested Nefertiti's return in 1925. Germany agreed to hand it
over in 1935 before Adolf Hitler decided it should stay put. It has remained
in Germany ever since. 

Fit to Travel? 

The Egyptian government wants to borrow Nefertiti for three months so it can
be displayed at the opening of the $550 million Grand Egyptian Museum near
the Giza pyramids. 

In April, German Culture Minister Bernd Neumann said there were ``serious
conservational and restorative concerns'' about transporting the bust of
Nefertiti. He stressed that his country's procurement of the work was lawful
and said Egypt had no grounds to demand its return. 

That position hasn't changed after months of lobbying by the Egyptians.
``It's up to the owner of a work of art to decide whether it is fit to
travel or not,'' says Mechtild Kronenberg, director of the German Museums
Association. 

Hawass, who has recovered about 4,000 artifacts from countries including
Spain, France and Mexico since 2002, is also asking the British Museum to
lend the Rosetta Stone to Egypt. 

Royal `Gift' 

The stone, which provided the key to deciphering hieroglyphics, was
discovered in Egypt in 1799. It is on display in London as a ``Gift of
George III,'' according to the museum's Web site, referring to the British
king at the time. 

The British Museum's Board of Trustees is reviewing the request, says
spokeswoman Hannah Boulton. 

Egypt asked to borrow the works as part of a project to fill 19 new museums,
of which the Grand Egyptian Museum will be the largest. The museum is under
construction and is scheduled to open in 2012. 

The country may need that long to bring Nefertiti and the Rosetta Stone back
to Cairo, even temporarily. 

It took two years of lobbying by Italy before the Getty Museum in Los
Angeles returned 40 relics the Egyptian government said were looted. 

Greece has been trying to retrieve the Elgin Marbles from the British Museum
for 21 years. The large marble sculptures were removed from the Parthenon
two centuries ago by Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to Greece at the
time. 

Prepared to Fight 

In 1970, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural
Organization, or Unesco, adopted a convention that binds member nations to
help restore stolen or illegally exported artifacts when another member
requests it. 

The convention backs Egypt's claim, says Hawass, who alleges the bust was
smuggled out of the country. 

``If they won't loan them, we would recover them permanently,'' he says. 

Hawass also threatened to impose a ``cultural embargo'' on museums that
rebuff his requests. For example, Egypt could bar archaeologists associated
with those museums from working in the country or stop lending artifacts to
them. 

Some experts question Egypt's right to antiquities discovered before 1983,
when the government passed a law stipulating that all artifacts belong to
the state. 

``Certainly there is no legal claim for the Rosetta Stone because it was
taken out centuries ago,'' says Salima Ikram, a professor of archaeology at
the American University in Cairo. ``For Nefertiti, maybe.'' 

`Plunder' 

El Beet Betak, a popular talk-show, has dedicated at least a dozen episodes
to the issue. 

``How dare they even dispute this?'' Mona El-Sharqawi, host of the
nationally televised program, said of the Germans during one recent show.
``We are Nefertiti's descendants. She should be with us.'' 

Letters and columns in newspapers such as Al-Gomhuria have compared the
plundering of Egyptian artifacts to the U.S.-led military occupation of
Iraq, a fellow Muslim country. 

Abeer Ali, 40, a nutritionist in Cairo, says the dispute over Nefertiti
reinforces her view that the U.S. and Europe don't respect Arabs. 

``The West wants to deprive us of anything we are proud of,'' Ali says at a
restaurant, while watching an interview with Hawass. ``They plunder the
Iraqi oil and now they plunder our heritage.'' 

To contact the reporter on this story: Abeer Allam in Cairo at
aallam at bloomberg.net . 

Last Updated: September 10, 2007 20:13 EDT

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