The British Museum is full of stolen artifacts 

You know the old saying, "never ask a woman her age, a man his salary, or a British museum how it got its historical artifacts."

"Disputed ownership" is a typically British way of saying something is stolen.

In India,we often refer to this museum as "Chor bazzar" or "Market of theives"

In honesty,secretly appreciating others artifacts while calling them uncivilized is the most European thing ever

The only reason why the Great Pyramids of Giza are still standing is because it was too big to ship it back to a British Museum

Tourists visit this foreign museum to see their own cultural history

Someone said "Egypt doesnt know the true value of the stone". Its like breaking into someones house and take things from them because they rarely use it

When anyone tells you that the British Museum should keep the items because it's the best place to preserve them, just remind them that the museum used corrosive chemicals and metal tools in the 30s to "clean" the Parthenon marbles (from all the smog that accumulated on them in London), making them lose much of their original detailing.

"The British Museum is full of stolen artifacts" *pretends to be shocked*

Imagine robbing someones house and displaying their stolen stuff in your house

Rock: 'exist' British: that's mine

Maybe I can find my lost childhood bicycle there

''Most Nigerians will never see them'' that's really heartbreaking.

7:40 “You cannot claim to be an encyclopedic collector of stolen objects.” ☝🏾

As a Sri Lankan it's sad to see our artifacts in British museum 😞 Those artifacts are not just things. It's our heritage. Our history 😢

"British museum still behaves like a colonial museum" That was some line😅

"The British Museum‚ The only museum that has nothing British"

I'm a brazilian of mixed race, a descendant from the Benin people. Last year, i got a free scholarship on England and managed to visit the British Museum 6 times - which wasnt nearly enough to get to see half of it -, and the moment i saw the Benin bronzes i just. cried. my ancestors, stolen from their land, taken to Brazil as slaves, their beautiful culture stolen and taken to England, and somehow I managed to unite both of these things and get to see them. It was an emotional roller coaster!

As a British citizen, I agree these items should be returned to native home lands. We cannot make a claim over something that doesn't belong to us!

Probably didn't steal the pyramid because it was too heavy

There is a famous traditional tower in South Korea and it used to be surrounded by four stone lions which are represented to protect the tower. However, out of the four, one is missing. And the last time I visited the British museum, it was literally sitting behind a glass pane.

I feel so enraged. Our history, our culture, our artifacts and our gemstones being represented as a 'public attraction' after being stolen. Why doesn't anyone speak out about this? All of the countries need their artifacts and pride back.

I’m Iraqi and some of our stuff is at the British museum, even tho I might never get to see it face to face and that the British (army, rulers, etc) who divided us are the ones to own it but I’m still glad they have it. I know my government would never be able to take care of anything which is honestly sad

Telling people that you'll lend them the objects you stole from them is such a slap in the face

So ancient artifacts to the British is like oil to Americans.

I believe California had recently just returned a bunch of museum artifacts that were stolen from different places. The British museums should do the same thing and return what they stole.

Imagine, stealing culturally significant artifacts that complaining about being asked to return it

" *They Destroyed our Future and stole our past* "

As John Oliver once said: "The British Museum is basically an active crime scene"

I am African and let me tell you something about these objects ; These objects would’ve ended up in the same museums today anyway had any African found them , they would’ve sold them to the best offering price . So let’s not pretend that we would’ve kept them in our museums back then when we didn’t even have a piece of bread let alone museums. Respectfully.

When I travelled to the British museum for the first time in 2016, I was stunned to find out it had an entire collection of Chinese artifacts that spanned the entirety of the Chinese civilization, from Neolithic Age to 1949, some of the items were so rare that you can't even find in China. and in showroom No.95, an astonishing display of all the Chinese porcelain they looted from imperial China during the opium war, including the rarest Yuan Blue and white porcelain dragon vase. it was a very disheartening visit, I left with tears on my face

Other countries: yes I have made this thing British: "our" thing

I still remember the words that my tourist guide in Athens said when she painfully had to show us the copies of the marbles of the Parthenon instead of the original ones, kept inside the British Museum. She said:"When I visited the British museum they called Lord Elgin an important archeologist for bringing the marbles to England, but I call him a thief."

Honestly, seeing the current state of the world, i'd rather have my peoples culture perfectly preserved in the British Museum, than stolen or damaged in my home country... unpopular opinion, but at least everything is safe there. In my country hundreds of artefacts were already stolen or lost forever....

In 1972 while viewing the British Museum of Art I was astounded at the vast collection of Ancient Egyptian artifacts and mummies that were on display. Back then I thought that these pieces should be returned to Egypt

one of the weirdest experiences ive had was back when I lived in Nigerian I had a school trip to the uk to see nigerian artifacts because of a history unit. I had to travel to see my own countries artifacts .

My boyfriend used to be one of the managers in security there, he told me they hid so many artifacts there in storage and he got to see them. He was told they’ll never been shown to people as it would cause a lot of controversy

I think its better if its kept there, in my home country there's mountains with manmade holes in them where my ancestors lived and there were many precious artifacts. But locals and tourists took them and now they're essentially lost, it wouldve been better for them to be preserved in the museum for thousands to see.

Seeing how priceless antiquities kept in their native countries can be so easily destroyed or looted, as was the case with the museums in Egypt around 2013-2014, it's for the best that some of the treasures were kept safe in Britain. I'm not saying I agree with the British Museum owning and collecting so many pieces of other cultures history, but to see how regimes like the Taliban have destroyed numerous ancient sites and artifacts it makes me grateful that a lot is kept in Britain.

The irony is that the British were so busy stealing other people's history that their own history cannot find space in London. I was shocked that London does not have a dedicated Anglo-Saxon history museum when I visited last year. Only small ignored corners of the British museum has things like the Sutton Hoo treasure being dwarfed under the glory of the Egyptian and Middle-Eastern collection. I was genuinely feeling sorry for them.

How many conflicts you wanna create? British history: yes

if British museum return those artifacts, will they be displayed for publicity or find it way back to the black market ? Think clearly before criticizing them for stealing !!

As a brit i don't care tbh. If i found out ten stones from stone henge were in egypt i wouldn't care. Good for you. They're not mine, i just live here.

Some Country: *Has some Ancient History* Britain: is for me?

It’s a solid proof that Britain is not ashamed of its crime history.

These stolen artifacts should all be returned to its origins. It's just a disgrace to showcase these in a museum by the people who stole it. Shows the low humanity can get.

I didn't realize museum artifacts had stories like this behind them. I thought they were discovered on archaeology digs and such, so I didn't get why people were demanding them back. But in this case you have this man who never saw his country's artifacts until he went to a different country. That is kind of sad.

What I understood from the comments is that the British people are proud of their legacy of colonialism. They see nothing wrong with how these articles were acquired. A vast majority still believe that they are superior to other cultures. They think that developing countries can't be trusted with preserving their own heritage. Their mindset is still colonial.

"The British Museum is full of stolen artifacts" *Every sixty seconds in Africa, a minute passes*

Update, now they want back their stolen artifacts. When the British Museum steal from others, it is "contested", when others steal from the British Museum it is "stolen"

Honestly I don’t think many of these artifacts would’ve survived if it wasn’t in British hands

Land: *exists* The British: Hippity hoppity this is my property

So basically the Indiana Jones series is about the greatest thief of all time.

>"British" Museum >Looks inside >Non British artifacts.

They don’t take care of them. They’re better off there. Look what happen in Iraq…

Can we have our history back? British: But we are still looking at it

They have even looted the word “loot” itself.

'To the losers, go the spoils' -said no one ever

To think many of these artifacts would still be in the same pristine condition if they where at their original location is mad 😂 they would have been stolen, vandalized or just degraded over time, the only reason they want them back is because they have been so well kept unlike the majority of the artifacts that stayed in their original location.

"The sun doesn't set in the British empire because even god doesn't trust the British in the dark"

Imagine having to travel to the other side of the world just to see a part of your own culture

If these artifacts were not stored in the British museum, its likely that nobody writing these comments would even know about them.

WE AREN'T GIVING THEM BACK

"The sun never sets in the British Empire coz even god doesn't trust the British in the dark" - sashi tharoor

If our "Taj Mahal" was movable, they would've shifted it to London.

Sadly, these items are probably safer in the hands of the british museum

They better not charge entry fee for anyone to see these beautiful works of arts from around the world.

The british museum to greece : we can't return the marbles of the parthenon to you because you don't have a museum to display them in Greece: *builds the acropolis museum * The british museum: ok yes BUT-

It’s so funny how British people still somehow find a way to justify this. So funny

Like it or not, a lot of the cultures where these items were taken from didn't place a lot of value on those pieces, themselves. The locals were too busy surviving; they took it "for granted"; the (somewhat moer advanced) society of Victorian Britain took a greater interest in cultural heritgaes. (Because they "could afford" that type of "kuxury." Now, about 100 years later, when other cultures "caught up" / realized their artifacts are valued by others, now they want these items repatriated. For obvious reasons.

"These items may be artificats or little trinkets to you people but to us they represent our history and culture a part of that we were robbed"

Imagine if thousands of years ago someone stole the English crown and sceptre and put it in their museum and refused to give it up, poms would probably be livid.

They came, they saw, they stole.

These artifacts would probably be lost if not in the Museum

Being ethnically Iraqi, I’m so so glad those artifacts ended in western museums. All one has to do is watch here on RU-vid what isis did to existing pieces in iraq. In 2003, after the fall of Saddam, there was a temporary loss of power vacuum, lawlessness and anarchy ensued. Here’s the first place which housed priceless artifacts were stolen, looted, damaged and of course of course I’m talking about the Ithe iraq museum in Baghdad. Here is the coup de Grace of where, why, what, when and how the the course of humanity shaped and took place. No, not only myself or the 40 + million Iraqis, but every world citizen has lost a piece of his/her history, beyond any sadness and disgust.

so basically when the rich people steal something its not illegal and they aren't punished for their action.

The British Were Basically Like My 5 Year Old Nephew When He Visits My House.

So is the Louvre, you know. the most visited museum in the world, but no one ever wants to have that conversation….

I recently learned about this in college. Because of how they removed them it’s most likely we won’t ever figure out what exactly they say or at least in what order. Really sad

When I visited Taj Mahal, all the engraved precious stones were missing, some of it were stolen by the locals, but most of it is in British museum.

the fact that an *Egyptian* museum exists in Berlin solely because of stolen artifacts just makes me wonder how many museums Egypt could open if they get their artifacts, from all over the world, back.

The British museum is full of many protected and preserved artifacts. Fixed your title to make it more accurate.

Well, other countries aren't exactly known for preserving theirs

Imagine needing a visa to see your history and culture.

‘LENDING the bronze statues to the nigerians’ whew that sentence had me heated asf

Even the british queen use stolen diamond in her crown.

What’s the difference between artifacts being in Britain as compared to being “returned” to GOVERNMENTS that have nothing to do with the culture these pieces originate from? Britain has the best track record in human history for actually preserving these items. Egypt is a country which frequently challenges Britain over similar artifacts for example. Egyptian government has also been known to deconstruct ancient sites for BUILDING MATERIALS and for selling countless treasures to private bidders. China is a different sort of example where their government is constantly found to be just blatantly destroying their history so it can be written to a modern agenda. For this reason, many Chinese historical artifacts are centralized in places like Taiwan and Korea. Again another government as well who has nothing to do with the people and cultures of that region in ancient times. These arguments are mostly based on social constructs like race and nationality is generally just framed from a really illogical position. Our history should be as accessible as possible to as many people as possible so information can be exchanged as freely as possible. I use the word our specifically, because all history is shared among us regardless of where you were born. Genetics is the only sound right to claim anyone would have, but we all come from the same source and are heading toward the same destination. The way genetics have branched over the centuries it would literally be impossible to identify an owner this way too though. Genetics are not static, they spread and change rapidly over very short periods of time. Historical objects offer us nothing but information, and that information belongs to the human race. It should solely be able assigning responsible stewards over our history. British institutions and government have a better track record at enabling this access more than anyone else for hundreds of years now. The public pays to view these things which pays the bills, but these institutions exists so scientists and scholars from all over the globe can have access to them. Again this is something British institutions just have an unprecedented track record for. Even with ethical questions of the past and genuine mistakes, in this arena they have done less harm than anyone else and more good than anyone combined. Edit: I'm an American and don't have any connection to British sentiments, I just try to look at everything logically.

'If looting is an art: Britain is a Picasso...' 😆

I love how it's named the "British museum" but half of the items inside aren't even British Edit: the way so many people don't understand I'm joking. Just pointing out the irony of it 😭😭??

It would be so easy to return the stolen items and put replicas in the British museum instead, visitors wouldn't even care!

All in all, the British just had a knack for collecting national treasures from people of countries they deemed as ‘not worthy’ of these artifacts. So British of them 🙄

British took the Ariana Grande song too seriously. "I see it, I like it, I want it, I got it!"

Half the world: "You stole our artifacts!" British Museum: "oh no! Anyway."

Bro I'm an Egyptian I can bet you the only reason they didn't steal the pyramids is because their too heavy

A thief can never have a title superior to those of the original owners

Everyone: why do you have so many artifacts? British museum: the secret ingredient is crime.

Perfectly summed up - "you cannot claim to be an encyclopaedic collector of stolen items". British museum should be renamed as the 'vault of the thieves guild'

it is an extremely good thing that a countries heritage is not confined to the country of origin. If they had not been dispersed through museums and collections throughout the world then a fraction of what now exists would remain thanks to the depredations of war, revolutions, neglect and much else besides. They still remain part of their country's heritage even in a foreign country.

Three of Cambodia lost antiquities were stored in the storage room of the British museum and was recently signed it off back to us, but in condition of only returning after 3 years of displaying there. We're slowly restoring our precious treasure back together again, piece by piece, and I’m very relieved by that.

Somewhere in a British school: If David has two artifacts and Dinesh has two artifacts, then how many artifacts is David going to have?