Eritrea wants artefacts back

2005-02-10 13:07

Asmara - Eritrea is to demand the return from Ethiopia of hundreds of archaeological artefacts taken from ancient sites in the 1960s, an official said on Thursday, threatening a new row between the feuding Horn of Africa neighbours.

In addition, Asmara will petition Italy for the return of objects it says were taken by Italian nationals before Eritrea - an Italian colony and then British protectorate annexed by Ethiopia in 1962 - won independence in 1993.

"The Eritrean National Commission for Unesco will officially ask in a few months for the return of the cultural property taken by Italy, then Ethiopia," National Museum chief Lebsekal Yosief said.

Lebsekal said Eritrea, like Ethiopia, wants to preserve its cultural heritage and that items excavated from sites at the southern town of Matara, the Red Sea port of Adulis and monasteries near Asmara, should be returned.

Taken to Ethiopia

"Today, just as Ethiopia asks Italy to hand back the Axum stele, we ask the Ethiopians to hand back the objects found in Matara which are currently in Addis Ababa," Lebsekal said.

He referred to the ancient 160-tonne granite monument taken from the Ethiopian town of Axum by Italian troops in 1937 that is to be returned to Ethiopia this year after a protracted dispute that soured relations between Rome and Addis Ababa for decades.

Between 1960 and 1965, in the early years of Eritrea's struggle for independence from Ethiopia, a team headed by French archaeologist Francis Anfray conducted research in Matara, which dates from the seventh century BC.

The site, located on a desert plain surrounded by enormous rocky outcrops near the southern town of Senafe about 135km from Asmara, is scattered with the ruins of ancient villas and churches.

Anfray and his team unearthed hundreds of artefacts, including sarcophagi, tombs, pottery and coins, that were taken to Ethiopia and have remained in a museum in Addis Ababa ever since, according to Lebsekal.

Beginning in the seventh century, Matara gradually disappeared as its trade declined and the Red Sea port of Adulis gained in importance.

Lebsekal said Eritrea also believed artefacts were taken from Adulis and that 12th and 13th century manuscripts from the Debre Bizen monastery near Asmara had already appeared in exhibitions in Ethiopia.

"And among the Italians, there were many amateurs digging around who found archaeological objects," he said.

- AFP