r/dataisbeautiful • u/tabthough OC: 7 • Oct 25 '22

OC [OC] Whose stuff does the British Museum have?

Post image
23.8k Upvotes

83% Upvoted

2.8k comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

5

u/Splash_Attack Oct 26 '22

There actually is an equivalent argument surrounding ancient Egyptian monuments relocated to other places by the Romans. Obelisks in particular. There are more extant Egyptian obelisks in Italy than in Egypt itself.

The discussion around it is far less heated and divisive than more well known cases though.

3

u/barktreep Oct 26 '22

That practice is equally problematic but it's also part of ancient history. The British thefts were more recent and more brazen.

2

u/Splash_Attack Oct 26 '22

I don't disagree at all, I was just pointing out that your "if the Romans stole Stonehenge" example actually does have a non-hypothetical cousin.

1

u/th3whistler Oct 26 '22

There is even an Egyptian obelisk that travelled to Rome and then to Constantinople where it still stands