Historical facts about the Parthenon sculptures and Elgin at the Acropolis of Athens

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Historical and political facts

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One reality, one truth

Historical and political facts

Beyond claims of ownership, there is one truth: the Parthenon Sculptures are part of the Parthenon. They belong to the Acropolis in Athens, as the place of their original geographical, historical and archaeological context. The Parthenon Sculptures, and other sculptures of the Athenian Acropolis, like one of the six Caryatids from the Erectheion, were removed in 1801 by Elgin without explicit permission from the British government or the Turkish sultan (Korka, 2010). This is what we would call seizure today.

It is also a fact that the Sculptures were taken from the Acropolis without the consent of any representative of the Greek nation, as Athens was under Ottoman occupation at the time of their removal.

The Parthenon was designed, created and defended by the Greeks in the ancient world. Who would imagine that 2,500 years later the Greeks would have their beautiful sculptures taken away by fellow Europeans?

The Review of the Seizure
The Memorandum of the Greek Government for the Restitution of the Parthenon Marbles
List of Parthenon sculptures missing from Athens

Facts:

Elgin was the British Ambassador to the Ottoman empire in the early 1800s.

Elgin's delegate had a simple letter from a Turkish official, which he managed to get through bribery and pressure. This letter was informal, it did not have the Sultan's signature, neither did it have the form or syntax of a firman. Thus, Elgin's delegate did not have permission by any formal document, as there was a particular document type requirement according to Ottoman bureaucracy. The letter simply asked the Turkish provosts in Athens to allow Elgin's men to enter the Acropolis, draw and make casts, and, in case they found a small fragment of sculpture or inscription in the ruins around the monument, they could remove it (Hellenic Ministry of Culture, 2007; Korka, 2010). Thus, Elgin did not have permission or instruction to dismember buildings or temples of the Acropolis, or to detach, cut or remove any parts of them.

Elgin was in a critical financial state, and taking the Parthenon Sculptures to Britain was an easy way out of his financial trouble.

The Greek nation was practically ignored by Elgin, who literally cut the Sculptures off the Parthenon and shipped them to Britain. Today, Elgin's deed is approved and continued by the British Museum and some members of the English parliament, who refuse to return the Parthenon Sculptures to the site of the monument they are part of.