{"id":172321,"date":"2024-06-13T17:27:58","date_gmt":"2024-06-13T17:27:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/culture.org\/?p=172321"},"modified":"2024-06-13T17:27:58","modified_gmt":"2024-06-13T17:27:58","slug":"british-museum-stolen-artifacts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/culture.org\/art-and-culture\/british-museum-stolen-artifacts\/","title":{"rendered":"British Museum Recovers 268 More Missing Artifacts After Theft Scandal"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The British Museum has recovered 268 more missing artifacts after a major theft scandal, bringing the total to 626 recovered items.<\/p>\n           <!--  <script type=\"text\/javascript\">\r\n                jQuery(document).ready(function() {\r\n                    jQuery(\".key-accordion-item .key-menu\").on(\"click\", function() {\r\n                        if (jQuery(this).parent().hasClass(\"active\")) {\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                        } else {\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-content\").slideUp();\r\n                            jQuery(\".key-accordion-item\").removeClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).parent().addClass(\"active\");\r\n                            jQuery(this).next().slideDown();\r\n                        }\r\n                    });\r\n                })\r\n            <\/script> -->\r\n\r\n\r\n            <!-- start html -->\r\n\r\n            <div class=\"news-key-takeaway-wapper\">\r\n                                <span style=\"background-color:#4db2ee;\">Key Takeaways<\/span>\r\n                <ul class=\"news-key-nbox\" style=\"border-color:#4db2ee;background-color:rgba(77, 178, 238, 0.1);\">\r\n                                                        <li>The British Museum has successfully recovered 626 missing or stolen artifacts, with 268 recently located.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>The scandal involved the theft of over 1,500 items, some of which were sold on eBay for a fraction of their value.<\/li>\r\n                                                                    <li>Significant changes in museum leadership and a comprehensive review of security and governance have followed this heist.<\/li>\r\n                                                <\/ul>\r\n            <\/div>\r\n            \n<h2>The Scale of the British Museum Theft Scandal<\/h2>\n<p>In August last year, the British Museum announced the <a href=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/news\/extensive-theft-and-damage-at-the-british-museum\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">shocking news<\/a> that stunned the world of art and history.<\/p>\n<p>The museum revealed that <b>1,500 items had gone missing or been stolen<\/b>, including gold and semi-precious stone jewelry <b>from 1,500 BC to the 19th century<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>Some of these valuable items had even been <a href=\"https:\/\/culture.org\/news\/alleged-theft-from-the-british-museum-precious-artifacts-surface-on-ebay\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">found on eBay<\/a>, sold for much less than their worth.<\/p>\n<h2>The First Recovery and Changes in Leadership<\/h2>\n<p>After this discovery, the museum <b>recovered around 350 items by February<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>The investigation pointed to <b>Peter Higgs, a senior curator of Mediterranean cultures<\/b>, as the main suspect.<\/p>\n<p><b>Higgs had allegedly been stealing items for over 30 years <\/b>and selling them online. This scandal led to immediate and significant leadership changes.<\/p>\n<p>Hartwig Fischer, the then British Museum director, resigned, and deputy director Jonathan Williams also left after an independent review.<\/p>\n<h2>Recent Success in Recovering More Items<\/h2>\n<p>Recently, the British Museum <b>found 268 more artifacts, <\/b>bringing the <b>total number of recovered items to 626<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>These objects were found through careful detective work and help from supporters across Europe and North America.<\/p>\n<p>The museum is <b>still looking for about 100 other missing items<\/b>, showing its strong commitment to retrieving all of its lost pieces.<\/p>\n<h2>Public Appeal and Ongoing Search<\/h2>\n<p>George Osborne, the chairman of the museum trustees, expressed his surprise at the progress made.<\/p>\n<p><b>He praised the museum\u2019s team&#8217;s hard work and the public&#8217;s support<\/b>, making it clear that the search is not over.<\/p>\n<p>Osborne asked anyone with information to come forward, highlighting the importance of community help in finding the remaining missing items.<\/p>\n<h2>Improving Museum Security and Future Plans<\/h2>\n<p>After the scandal, an independent review made <b>36 suggestions for improving the museum\u2019s security, governance, and record-keeping<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>The museum has promised to document its entire collection within five years, which will cost <b>$12.1 million<\/b>.<\/p>\n<p>This is important to prevent future thefts and ensure all artifacts are well-protected and recorded.<\/p>\n<h2>Renewed Calls to Return Culturally Significant Items<\/h2>\n<p>The scandal has also restarted discussions about returning items like the <b>Benin Bronzes and the Parthenon Marbles<\/b> to their original countries.<\/p>\n<p>Notably, <b>officials from Nigeria and Greece have renewed their requests <\/b>for the repatriation of these culturally significant artifacts.<\/p>\n<p>The British Museum\u2019s new focus on being open and accountable might influence these talks, possibly leading to significant changes in how historical artifacts are handled worldwide.<\/p>\n<h2>Pursuit for the Remaining Missing Artifacts<\/h2>\n<p>While finding 268 more artifacts is a big success, the British Museum\u2019s work is not finished.<\/p>\n<p>The museum <b>still needs to recover the remaining missing items<\/b> and implement robust measures to prevent future thefts.<\/p>\n<p>With support from the community, careful investigation, and thorough security improvements, the British Museum aims to restore its reputation and keep its valuable collection safe for future generations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":10026,"featured_media":172323,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[410],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-172321","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-art-and-culture"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172321"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10026"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=172321"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/172321\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/172323"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=172321"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=172321"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/culture.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=172321"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}