Theft is a crime

  Important facts

 
  • In 1801, the British Ambassador to the Ottoman empire decided to vandalise the Parthenon - and that he definitely did

  • His name was Lord Elgin and, because he liked the Parthenon marble sculptures, he brutally removed them from the temple and shipped them to his house in Britain - read more

  • Elgin never had the explicit consent of the British Government to commit his deeds

  • At the time in history when Elgin stole the marbles, there was no Greek state; following the 400-year Turkish occupation, the Greeks where shedding their blood fighting the Ottoman forces, in a desperate effort to free themselves and form an independent Greek state

  • Elgin bribed the Turkish guards at the Acropolis of Athens, in order to perform his vandalism unobstructed


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    A criminal act of theft, offensive to one of the finest pieces of art worldwide, certainly does not represent Britain culturally. Surely the British Museum has a better face to show; that of true appreciation of art, not of support of cultural vandalism.

    "The stubbornness and possesive attitude of the British Museum is both an insult to a unique monument, and to the UK itself. Unfairly, it also causes international embarrassment to the British people, the very individuals who support the museum through their taxes.

    Did you know that most British people are for the Return of the Marbles to/near the site of the original monument? And that this reality is ignored by the Museum?

    It is the British Museum and British MPs (not all) who insist on keeping the stolen items.

    The director of the British Museum is the authority who decides to Keep or Return the stolen Marbles.

    		         

    Looting is a shameful act

      Tragic facts

     
  • Elgin brought the Parthenon marble units down, broke apart the architectural extension of the marbles by cutting them with a saw, and shipped the artistic facade of the marbles to Britain

  • On its way to Britain, the ship that carried the sculptures was sunk, leaving these unique articles of fine art in wild sea water for two years

  • The sculptures suffered severe maltreatment by Elgin. They were placed in a dirty, damp shed in the grounds of his house, where they remained for years decaying - read more

  • At the end of Elgin's financially devastating adventures, the British Museum bought the stolen pieces of art. Today, the British Museum still holds the stolen Marbles on their premises in London

    • ^ top | history >>




    Thou shalt not steal.