Britain to return plundered Ethiopian book

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/storyprint.cfm?storyID=3526269

30.09.2003 - By HUGH MACLEOD

An ancient handwritten copy of the Bible's Book of Psalms is to be
returned to Ethiopia 135 years after it was stolen by British soldiers
during the bloody siege of Magdala city.

The 300-year-old book - written in the ancient Ethiopian language of
Ge'ez - was part of a huge haul of loot taken by British troops during
the 1868 invasion of Ethiopia to free Western diplomats imprisoned by
Emperor Theodore II.

After the battle the soldiers loaded hundreds of mules and elephants
with gold crowns, swords, altar slabs and manuscripts, before burning
the city to the ground.

The bulk of the plunder made its way into institutions like the British
Museum and Oxford's Bodleian Library. But a large number of smaller
items were taken home by individual soldiers and ended up in private
collections.

The holy book, which will be returned to Ethiopia later this month, was
bought from a private collector for (pounds sterling)750 after being
spotted in a bookdealer's catalogue by members of AFROMET - The
Association for the Return of the Magdala Ethiopian Treasures.

The return will increase pressure on the British museums and galleries
that still hold onto hundreds of illuminated manuscripts and other
plundered items taken during the siege.