A collection of Maqdala objects, seized by British troops in 1868, was handed over to the Ethiopian ambassador in London on Wednesday. This summer they had been bought by the writer Tahir Shah, through his Scheherazade Foundation, in order to restitute them to Ethiopia.
An embassy statement describes the objects as “the largest single restitution of Maqdala-era artefacts in Ethiopian history”.
Teferi Melesse Desta, the Ethiopian ambassador, received the collection at a presentation at London’s Athenaeum Club. He described Maqdala as “a wound”: “Lives were lost, families separated, traumas inflicted, culture was looted.” Maqdala objects are therefore “memorials”, which allow us to “mourn”. The ambassador also renewed calls for museums to return Maqdala heritage.
The restituted objects are from two privately owned groups. The first group was acquired in June, when the Bridport auction house Busby offered a Coptic Bible and three horn beakers, which had all been looted at Maqdala and passed down through a British family. The Ethiopian embassy called for their sale to be cancelled and the items were withdrawn the day before the auction. Shah then negotiated to buy them privately, for a total price of a few hundred pounds.
