Dr. Tom Flynn, a senior lecturer at London's Kingston University, said the dramatic rise in the destruction of cultural heritage sites by ISIS had provoked new discussion about whether relics seized by colonial powers in the past should remain in universal museums in London, New York, Paris and elsewhere.
Because of the destruction in the Middle East people will argue that these objects are surely safer, he added, but said that was an over-simplification of the issues.
Flynn cited the example of the Parthenon Marbles — also known as the Elgin Marbles — that are displayed at the British Museum and which Greece wants back.
The collection of stone objects, inscriptions and architectural features includes sculptures from the Parthenon in Athens, which were acquired by Thomas Bruce, the seventh Earl of Elgin, between 1801 and 1805.
The Earl of Elgin spent £70,000 of his own money — the equivalent of almost $500 million today — to purchase half of the surviving 5th century BC sculptures and then transported them by sea to Britain.
The U.K. government bought them from him in 1816 and gave them to the British Museum, where they have remained ever since.
Matthew Fearn / Press Association Images FileA section of the Parthenon Marbles, also known as the Elgin Marbles, in the British Museum in 2014.Greece has been demanding the return of the spectacular works or more than 30 years but they recently declined to follow the suggestions of a 150-page report prepared by human-rights lawyer Amal Alamuddin, which suggested they take their claim to the International Criminal Court.
Greece has a just cause and it is high time for the British Museum to recognize this and return them, said Alamuddin, who is the wife of actor George Clooney. However, she acknowledged that Greece only had about a 15 percent chance of winning such a case.
Earlier this year, the British Museum turned down a proposal by UNESCO to mediate in the dispute. It justifies the decision to keep the Parthenon Marbles by claiming on its website that displaying them in London allows the worldwide public to re-examine cultural identities and explore the complex network of interconnected human cultures. The museum declined to comment when contacted by NBC News on Wednesday.
Many have also argued that Lord Elgin actually saved the sculptures from ongoing destruction.
The Greek church smashed up a large number of the ancient temple's carvings in the 5th century and the Venetians then blew up chunks of the building in 1687 and in the 19th century. When Lord Elgin arrived in Athens to serve as ambassador, the occupying Ottomans were grinding the sculptures up for limestone and using them for artillery target practice.
Perhaps Elgin did save them, said Eddie O'Hara, the chairman of the British Committee for the Reunification of the Parthenon Marbles. But that's a bit like taking someone's washing in because it's raining and not giving it back.相关的主题文章：


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