Thefts at the British Museum and Greece’s call for the return of the Elgin marbles

Photo Courtesy: Mike Norton

A £50,000 gemstone was listed on eBay for £40 in 2016. This August, seven years later, the British Museum announced that items from its collection were “stolen, missing or damaged.” Which items? They don’t know. 

Founded in 1753, the institution presides over an estimated 8 million artefacts, of which only 1 percent are on public display. This is a nauseating ratio in light of the recent revelation that for the majority of unseen artefacts there is no record that they even exist. In response to outcry, the museum attests that it is not uncommon for museums, even of this calibre, to harbour incomplete catalogues. It is an unconvincing argument for Christos Tsirogannis, chair of a UNESCO group dedicated to illicit antiquities trafficking, who claims he “never got a reply” after approaching the British Museum’s Director,  Hartwig Fischer, about searching the collection for post-1970 looted artefacts and has consistently spoken against its negligence. He argues recording collections is the “primary responsibility,” of any museum, especially in this digital age. Yet, there have been no arrests so far.

In the meantime, the race to reclaim stolen artefacts rages on. For years, Greek artefacts in the British Museum have been a source of diplomatic contention, namely the sections of Parthenon frieze dubbed the Elgin marbles. Lina Mendoni, Hellenic minister of culture, claims that the thefts reinforce “the permanent and just demand for definitive return.” 

Meanwhile, an internal investigation has singled out an academic who remained active keeper of Greek collections even after the Museum received a file linking an illegal artefact dealer to a bank account under his name. Moments like these thread the Museum's recent history, pulling its inner workings and correspondence from darkness into unflattering light. Head of the Association of Greek Archaeologists, Despina Koutsoumba,  expressed concern about the number of Greek items missing and damaged; “...they cannot any more say Greek culture heritage is more protected in the British Museum. It is obvious it is very well protected in Greece and not in the British Museum.”

For decades the institution has been celebrated as a bank of global culture, the safest place for these artefacts regardless of their origin. In light of the thefts, can anyone believe this? 

The New Acropolis Museum in Athens was completed in 2009, purpose built to hold the Parthenon marbles, both those in Greece and the remainders scattered across a handful of museums around the world. The “four story edifice” has now marked its 14th birthday. Its Parthenon room, a “glass-walled chambre”, painstakingly matched in dimension and orientation to the original Parthenon Cella, is filled with plaster imitations. In 2019, France agreed to draw up a Parthenon exchange which would allow a section of marble exhibited in the Louvre to return, temporarily, to Greece. In 2022, Pope Francis ordered the Vatican to return its section to Athens. Yet, British Ministers have no intention to amend the 1960s British Museum Act which prevents returning artefacts except in limited circumstances including damage. Damage, it’s worth noting, that the marbles already endured in the 1930s and which the British Museum attempted to hide. 

Amid publicity for the thefts, Lina Mendoni promises the current Greek government “like any Greek government” will not stop claiming Greek marbles in the British Museum. A new museum director cannot reverse decades of theft and damage. No written apology can return these broken pieces. It is time for the British Museum to listen.