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EsotericAbstractIdea t1_j145s5l wrote

Reply to comment by Mr_EZ_sk in Germany returns 20 Benin bronzes to Nigeria, noting ‘dark past’ by Fit-Asparagus8557

If I come in your backyard and dig up some shit, is it mine?

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inksmudgedhands t1_j14cw49 wrote

If what you dig up belonged to someone else, it might not be yours or mine, the current landowner. For example, I am in North Carolina. If you dug up my backyard and found an ancient Native American site full of artifacts, do I get to claim it because it was on my land or does the Native American nation whose ancestors those artifacts belong to get claim it? The Rosetta Stone was created during a time when the Greeks controlled Egypt and it was part of the Grecian Empire. That makes it a Greek artifact. If anything, the modern Greeks have a stronger claim on that artifact than the modern Egyptians.

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EsotericAbstractIdea t1_j14d33f wrote

The English have the least claim.

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inksmudgedhands t1_j14guod wrote

True. But the Egyptians have as much of a claim. Especially since it was originally considered worthless trash at the time it was collected. So much so, that similar artifacts around it were being used as building materials for other things. The Europeans salvaged it, put the work into figure exactly what it was and translated it. Now that it has actual value, the Egyptians want it back? Screw that. They didn't give a damn about it for centuries. They were even a threat to it because, again, they saw it as worthless and were smashing up all the ruins. But the moment someone else put in the actual hard work to make valuable they claim it was theirs all along.

That's nonsense.

It would be like you throwing out a couch on the curb to be taken away by the garbage man. Instead, someone else with a truck took it, restored it wonderfully, displayed it for all to admire and you come along and say, "Hey, that's my couch. Give it back!" No, you were going to throw out the couch. It was salvaged and restored by someone else. Now it's their couch. You don't get to reclaim it now that it has been restored. You lost it the moment you declared it trash.

The case of the Rosetta Stone isn't like the Benin Bronzes which were actually being used for what they were intended and honored by the original owners. That is a clear cut case of the original owners having their property, which was at the time being used properly, being stolen. The Rosetta Stone is not the same and shouldn't be treated as such.

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Aldervale t1_j146u4m wrote

It might be, depending on the mineral rights laws where you live.

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kekentyl t1_j14mt1h wrote

Which is pretty stupid tbh. "You can use the surface of this land, but if there's anything valuable under it, it's mine and a court will force you to allow me access to the land to drill/mine for it."

I mean, if you can only use it so long as it's not burdensome for the owner of the mineral rights, is it really yours?

In Texas at least, where some of the largest landowners are ranchers, these kinds of laws seem crafted specially to protect and grow their wealth and prevent anyone else from using the mineral resources present on "their" land to attain wealth.

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