Ethiopia’s Request for the Tabots from the British Museum

Wɔatwerɛ nsɛm wei wɔ Asante Twi mu

Ethiopia ahwehwɛdeɛ a wɔde too dwa berɛ tententen a ɛne sɛ wɔnsan mfa Tabots a ɛyɛ Kristofoɔ nnoɔma kronkron a ɛwɔ British Museum ne mmeaeɛ afoforɔ a ɛwɔ UK no mma no no yɛ nsɛm a emu yɛ den a ɛfa honhom fam ne amanyɔsɛm ho wɔ Afrika amammerɛ agyapadeɛ a wɔresan agye no mu. Wɔkyerɛ sɛ adaka no yɛ ade kronkron paa wɔ Ethiopia Ortodɔks Asɔre no mu. Wɔkyerɛ sɛ ɛyɛ Apam Adaka no a wɔsan yɛɛ no, na ɛho hia ma Ethiopiafoɔ som ne wɔn ahotew. Wɔn a wɔhyɛɛ wɔn ma wotuu wɔn fii hɔ wɔ afeha a ɛto so 19 mu no da so ara yɛ abakɔsɛm mu ne honhom mu yawdie a emu yɛ den ma Ethiopia^[1].

Abakɔsɛm

Wɔfaa Tabotfo no wɔ afe 1868 mu bere a na Britainfoɔ de wɔn ani asi Maqdala, Ɔhempɔn Tewodros II bepɔ so aban no so no. Britaanifoɔ a na wɔhyɛ Sir Robert Napier ase no kɔtow hyɛɛ Maqdala so de tuaa ɔhempɔn no ka a ɔde Britain nanmusini bi too afiase no so ka. Berɛ a otwaa nkonimdie no na odii ne ho dɔm no, Britaniafoɔ asraafoɔ no tow hyɛɛ aban no so, na wɔfaa nyamesom mu nsaano ntwerɛeɛ, ahempɔn ahyɛnsodeɛ, ne nnoɔma kronkron pii a Tabots pii ka ho^[2].

Wɔ ahonyadeɛ a wɔfomm no mu no, anyɛ yie koraa no, wɔde Adaka no 11 kɔɔ Britain, na wɔn mu pii kɔɔ British Museum, Westminster Abbey, ne mmeaeɛ foforɔ. Esiane sɛ saa nneɛma yi yɛ kronkron ma Ethiopia Ortodɔks Asɔre no nti, sɛ wɔn a wɔnyɛ asɔfoɔ mpo de wɔn kɔkyerɛ obi anaa wɔde wɔn di dwuma a, na wobu no sɛ ɛyɛ nyamesom mu mmaratoɔ^[3].

Adaka ahodoɔ no Kyerɛkyerɛ Ade Kronkron Mu

Wɔ Ethiopia Ortodɔks amammerɛ mu no, Tabot yɛ dua anaa ɔbo a wɔde ayɛ kronkron, a wɔtaa de ntama a ɛyɛ fɛ kata so, a egyina hɔ ma Apam Adaka. Ɛyɛ kronkron araa ma ɛnsɛ sɛ ɔmanfo hu, na asɔfo a wɔahyɛ wɔn som ase nkutoo na wɔama wɔn kwan sɛ wɔnka ho. Anyɛ yiye koraa no, Ethiopia asɔre biara wɔ Tabot biako wɔ ne kronkronbea a ɛwɔ emu no mu, na ɛno na ɛma asɔre bi yɛ kronkron.

Saa Tabot yi a wɔawia na wɔde asie wɔ aman foforo so no nyɛ amammerɛ mu ahokyere nko na mmom ɛyɛ honhom mu yaw a emu yɛ den nso. Wɔn a wɔnni hɔ no amma wɔantumi anyɛ amanne ahorow a ɛho hia te sɛ ahosohyira, a ɛhwehwɛ sɛ Tabot no wɔ hɔ no^[4].

Ntoa a Ethiopia bɔ fa wɔn a wɔnsane de wɔn ba wɔn man mu no ho

Ɛfiri afeha a ɛtɔ so 20 mfinimfini mu no, na Ethiopia akɔ so ara reka sɛ wɔnsan mfa Maqdala asade no mma wɔn. Bere a adesrɛ kɔɔ so kɛseɛ wɔ 1970 UNESCO Nhyiam a wɔde too dwa wɔ amammerɛ ho nneɛma a wɔde ma a mmara mma ho kwan no akyi no, Tabots kronkronyɛ no ma saa adesrɛ yi ho hia kɛseɛ. Ethiopia aban, Ethiopia Ortodɔks Asɔre, ne wɔn a wɔtete akyirikyiri no nyinaa abɔ mmɔden sɛ wɔbɛsan de Tabots no ama British Museum ne nnipa bi a wɔboaboa wɔn nneɛma ano^[5].

Wɔ afe 2002 mu no, Asafo a wɔfrɛ no St. Yohane Osuboni a na ɔwɔ Edinburgh no de Tabot baako san maa no, na eyi yɛɛ ade a ɛtaa si yiye, na ɔyɛɛ nhwɛsoɔ. Wɔ afe 2019 mu no, nnipa pii hyɛɛ Britain nnwumakuo ahodoɔ bi sɛ wɔnsan mfa Ethiopia nnwinneɛ no mma, titire bere a Victoria ne Albert Museum sii gyinae sɛ wɔde Maqdala nnwinneɛ no bɛhyɛ Ethiopia nsa no, nanso wɔantumi ansan amma wɔn no koraa ^[6].

Nea ɛyɛ nwanwa paa ne sɛ, Britain Tete Nneɛma Akorae no kura Tabot ahorow pii wɔ n'ahyehyɛdeɛ mu. Esiane sɛ tete nnoɔma akorae no nim sɛ ɛyɛ kronkron nti, wɔmfa nto dwa, na wɔde sie baabi a obiara ntumi nkɔ hɔ. Nanso, akɔsi nnɛ no, tete nnoɔma akorae no agyina UK mmara a ɛbɔ nneɛma a ɛwɔ ɔman no mu ho ban^[7].

Asetena ne mmara ho nsɛm a wɔhwɛ

Mpɛn pii no, Britania aban ne tete nneɛma akorae mpanimfoɔ gyina 1963 Mmara no so kyerɛkyerɛ nea enti a wontumi mfa nneɛma a ɛyɛ kronkron no mma. Nanso, amanaman ntam nhyɛsoɔ a ɛreyɛ kɛseɛ, abrabɔ ho akyinnyegye, ne nsɛdi a wɔde ama wɔ nnansa yi (te sɛ, Benin Bronzes) no rebɔ mmara a emu yɛ den a wɔde yɛ saa nhyehyɛe yi ho dawuru. Mmara ho abenfo ne wɔn a wɔpere sɛ wɔbɛsesa mmara no kyerɛ sɛ, ɛsɛ sɛ wɔyɛ nsakraeɛ ahodoɔ anaa ahofadi sononko ma nnoɔma a ɛho hia nyamesomfoɔ pa ara saa no, titire berɛ a nea ɛsɛ sɛ wɔyi firi hɔ no fa basabasayɛ ne adwotwa ho no^[8].

Bio nso, ɛnyɛ adwadie mu akatua na Ethiopia hwehwɛ na mmom ɔsom mu ne honhom fam nsiesie, a ɛma Tabot asɛm no yɛ sononko wɔ agyapadeɛ ho nsɛm afoforɔ ho. Wɔnam Tabots a wɔbɛsan de ama wɔn no so bu no sɛ ɛnyɛ abakɔsɛm mu atɛntenenee nko na mmom sɛ ɔbra pa a ɛsɛ sɛ Britain man no ne ahyehyɛdeɛ ahodoɔ no yɛ.

Baabi a menyaa mmoa firiiɛ

↑ British Museum faces probe over handling of tabots, sacred Ethiopian artifacts held 150 years out of view - CBS News (in American English), 2024-04-03, retrieved 2025-07-30
↑ Abebe M Aga, Mekoro Beyene, Anberbir Alemu, Fiseha Alemayehu, Tigist Abebe, Gemechis Motuma, Demise Mulugeta, Jemal Mohamed, Efrem Emana, Serkadis Oljira, Birhanu Hurisa (2024), "The Status of Rabies Post Exposure Prophylaxis Using Nerve Tissue Anti-Rabies Vaccine in Ethiopia", ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, pp. 01–05, doi:10.54615/2231-7805.24.15.569, retrieved 2025-07-30{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Anna Mosna (2024-04-22), "Cultural Heritage Protection and Restitution Beyond the Divide Between Cultural Nationalism and Cultural Internationalism", Cultural Property Crime and the Law, London: Routledge, pp. 62–78, ISBN 978-1-003-36380-4, retrieved 2025-07-30
↑ Ayenachew Alemayhou Desta, Asfawossen Asrat, Minyahl Teferi Desta (2023-08-10), "Petrogenesis of Oligocene volcanic rocks of the Lake Tana area, Ethiopian large Igneous Province", Acta Geochimica, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 1104–1123, doi:10.1007/s11631-023-00634-6, ISSN 2096-0956, retrieved 2025-07-30{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Afolasade A Adewumi, John Oluwole, A Akintayo, Andrzej Jakubowski (2024-02-29), "Article 15 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Agreements for Return or Restitution of Cultural Property Removed Prior to 1972", The 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions on Stolen or Illegally Transferred Cultural Property, Oxford University Press, pp. 368–382, ISBN 0-19-284688-4, retrieved 2025-07-30{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
↑ Mathilde Pavis, Andrea Wallace (2019), "Response to the 2018 Sarr-Savoy Report: Statement on Intellectual Property Rights and Open Access Relevant to the Digitization and Restitution of African Cultural Heritage and Associated Materials", SSRN Electronic Journal, doi:10.2139/ssrn.3378200, ISSN 1556-5068, retrieved 2025-07-30
↑ Sandro Debono (2021-07-03), "Thinking Phygital: A Museological Framework of Predictive Futures", Museum International, vol. 73, no. 3–4, pp. 156–167, doi:10.1080/13500775.2021.2016287, ISSN 1350-0775, retrieved 2025-07-30
↑ Anna Mosna (2024-04-22), "Cultural Heritage Protection and Restitution Beyond the Divide Between Cultural Nationalism and Cultural Internationalism", Cultural Property Crime and the Law, London: Routledge, pp. 62–78, ISBN 978-1-003-36380-4, retrieved 2025-07-30

[1] British Museum faces probe over handling of tabots, sacred Ethiopian artifacts held 150 years out of view - CBS News (in American English), 2024-04-03, retrieved 2025-07-30

[2] Abebe M Aga, Mekoro Beyene, Anberbir Alemu, Fiseha Alemayehu, Tigist Abebe, Gemechis Motuma, Demise Mulugeta, Jemal Mohamed, Efrem Emana, Serkadis Oljira, Birhanu Hurisa (2024), "The Status of Rabies Post Exposure Prophylaxis Using Nerve Tissue Anti-Rabies Vaccine in Ethiopia", ASEAN Journal of Psychiatry, pp. 01–05, doi:10.54615/2231-7805.24.15.569, retrieved 2025-07-30{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[3] Anna Mosna (2024-04-22), "Cultural Heritage Protection and Restitution Beyond the Divide Between Cultural Nationalism and Cultural Internationalism", Cultural Property Crime and the Law, London: Routledge, pp. 62–78, ISBN 978-1-003-36380-4, retrieved 2025-07-30

[4] Ayenachew Alemayhou Desta, Asfawossen Asrat, Minyahl Teferi Desta (2023-08-10), "Petrogenesis of Oligocene volcanic rocks of the Lake Tana area, Ethiopian large Igneous Province", Acta Geochimica, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 1104–1123, doi:10.1007/s11631-023-00634-6, ISSN 2096-0956, retrieved 2025-07-30{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[5] Afolasade A Adewumi, John Oluwole, A Akintayo, Andrzej Jakubowski (2024-02-29), "Article 15 of the 1970 UNESCO Convention: Agreements for Return or Restitution of Cultural Property Removed Prior to 1972", The 1970 UNESCO and 1995 UNIDROIT Conventions on Stolen or Illegally Transferred Cultural Property, Oxford University Press, pp. 368–382, ISBN 0-19-284688-4, retrieved 2025-07-30{{citation}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)

[6] Mathilde Pavis, Andrea Wallace (2019), "Response to the 2018 Sarr-Savoy Report: Statement on Intellectual Property Rights and Open Access Relevant to the Digitization and Restitution of African Cultural Heritage and Associated Materials", SSRN Electronic Journal, doi:10.2139/ssrn.3378200, ISSN 1556-5068, retrieved 2025-07-30

[7] Sandro Debono (2021-07-03), "Thinking Phygital: A Museological Framework of Predictive Futures", Museum International, vol. 73, no. 3–4, pp. 156–167, doi:10.1080/13500775.2021.2016287, ISSN 1350-0775, retrieved 2025-07-30

[8] Anna Mosna (2024-04-22), "Cultural Heritage Protection and Restitution Beyond the Divide Between Cultural Nationalism and Cultural Internationalism", Cultural Property Crime and the Law, London: Routledge, pp. 62–78, ISBN 978-1-003-36380-4, retrieved 2025-07-30

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