[CPProt.net] Briton returns relic from Ethiopia\'s ancient Magdala treasure

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Africa News
Briton returns relic from Ethiopia\'s ancient Magdala treasure
By DPA
Oct 29, 2005, 19:00 GMT

Addis Ababa - A 16th-century soldier\'s helmet taken by British invading
troops from Ethiopia\'s ancient Imperial Treasures at Magdala some 140 years
ago was returned to the country Saturday by a private collector in London. 

The helmet belonged to the treasury of Emperor Tewodros at Magdala Fortress
which was ransacked by British troops under General Robert Napier in 1868
for hundreds of ancient artefacts including priceless manuscripts by the
Ethiopian Orthodox Church. 

Like nine other artefacts returned over the past four years, the helmet was
returned by a private collector, the Association For the Return Of Magdala
Ethiopian Treasures (AFROMET) said Saturday in a statement. 

By contrast, the British Museum or Library still holds hundreds of priceless
manuscripts, crowns and other items stolen during the storming of Tewodros\'
mountain fortress at Magdala in 1868. 

\'Institutions like the British Museum have so far turned deaf ears to our
appeals and the appeals of other campaigns for Nigeria\'s Benin bronzes or
Ghana\'s Ashanti gold,\' said Richard Pankhurst, noted historian and
vice-chair of AFROMET. 

Originally left behind by Portuguese soldiers who supported Ethiopia\'s
Christian ruler when he was besieged by Moslem rebels under Ahmed Gragne at
the city of Gondar in the early 16th century, the helmet had been bought and
returned to Ethiopia by Richard Snailham, AFROMET member and president of
the Anglo-Ethiopian Society in London. 


C dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur 

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