AFROMET 13 April 1999

The Association for the Return of The Maqdala Ethiopian Treasures (AFROMET) was officially launched at a press conference held at the Sheraton Addis on Tuesday April 13.

Held on the "solemn occasion of the one-hundred-thirty-first anniversary of the heroic suicide of Emperor Tewodros at Maqdala," the press conference announced the goals of AFROMET, and laid down the case for the return of the looted treasures.

According to a press release furnished by the association, "AFROMET’s aim is to retrieve the priceless treasures looted by the Napier expedition from Maqdala.... AFROMET seeks to restore these treasures forcibly taken from Ethiopia to Britain to the rightful owner (Ethiopia). AFROMET calls upon people of goodwill everywhere -- particularly in Ethiopia and the United Kingdom -- to extend their support to this effort in the pursuit of justice in rectification."

Speaking at the press conference, AFROMET Chair, Professor Andreas Eshete, remarked, "our present quest to retrieve the Maqdala treasures will ... yield something of value, irrespective of the worthy ultimate aims and barriers that will no doubt stand in the way of realizing them. The transmission of knowledge to future generations of the past, that they are heirs to a unique, great civilization is reason enough for a popular movement seeking the return of the Maqdala Treasures. By calling on Ethiopians citizens and friends of Ethiopia to work for the return of the Maqdala treasures AFROMET is in part paying homage and rejuvenating the deep sense of honor and pride displayed by Emperor Tewodros’s heroic suicide one-hundred and thirty-one years ago today."

The looting of Maqdala represented a major loss of national treasures from Ethiopia. As described by Professor Richard Pankhurst who spoke at the press conference, "The dispute between the British government and emperor Tewodros in international law in no way justified the looting of the citadel.... The looting involved the seizure of Tabots, crosses, and religious manuscripts from the church of Medhane Alem at Maqdala and was therefore an act of not only looting but also of sacrilege.... In the same way as the countries of Africa were entitled to independence taken away from them by force, so they are entitled to regain their cultural heritage, likewise taken away by force..." He continued, "The Ethiopian people who have created these treasures [are] the real owners of such articles and entitled to their return. The loot from Maqdala had been taken from Ethiopia unjustly and should, in all honesty, be returned... When the British soldiers looted Tewodros’s library at Maqdala, Ethiopia in a sense lost in one full sweep the equivalent of both its national library and national archives."

Professor Pankhurst presented the case in a different perspective suggesting, "let us imagine today that NATO troops attacked Yugoslavia and occupied part of the country and looted monasteries of Kosovo. The whole world would rise up in indignation to condemn such a cultural crime... today we would consider such actions reprehensible and an affront to today’s morality. We in (AFROMET) seek to apply that idea of morality to the question of the disposal of the Maqdala loot..."

Professor Pankhurst concluded his statements by saying, "we do not deny that many of these articles were kept more safely in British Libraries and Museums than they would have been in Ethiopia in the aftermath of Emperor Tewodros’s heroic suicide. We likewise do not deny that the Ethiopian manuscripts taken to Britain have been the subject of valuable scholarly study. But Ethiopia today has perfectly good libraries and other resources to look after the Maqdala collection, and would have a far greater interest in doing so than institutions in far way Europe... Addis Ababa and no longer Europe is today the center of Ethiopian studies. Our reply to British libraries seeking to retain the Maqdala collection is therefore a simple one. It is essentially the African reply, the reply of the people of Nigeria, Ghana, Zimbabwe, Egypt, and all the countries from which loot was taken. The reply is ‘thank you very much indeed for looking after our property... now please return them to us’...."

The Maqdala loot included two crowns, the inferior of which was returned to Ethiopia in 1925, over 400 manuscripts, gold silver and brass crosses and other ecclesiastical items, two large multicolored tents, the historical icon the Kwer’ata Re’esu, ten Tabots, etc.

Seymour Mclean, Jamaican Rastafarian activist and champion of the Maqdala cause based in England, made a slide presentation of objects and illustrations from manuscripts looted from Maqdala. In his presentation he stressed the importance of the Maqdala collection, and the Ethiopian and African heritage contained within them. He stated the importance of correcting a historical injustice against Ethiopia. He further expressed the importance of sharing this heritage contained in the Maqdala collection with the rest of Africa and African diasporic communities in North America and Europe and with the world in general.

The press conference ended with a brief statement by a representative of the Ethiopian Patriot’s Association who reiterated the importance of the task that AFROMET has undertaken. He stated the critical need for both the safeguarding and accessibility of Ethiopia’s cultural and historical heritage for the present and upcoming generations. According to the representative, achieving the return of the Maqdala Treasures is therefore an important goal and one toward which the patriot’s association will provide all the assistance it can.

AFROMET, currently made up of a nucleus of concerned and dedicated academics, artists, and students of Ethiopian history, intends to expand its membership and organize additional activities toward achieving the return of the Maqdala Treasures. The first task will be to educate and sensitize the public regarding the history of Maqdala and the nature of the loot and looting, and to lobby the Ethiopian Parliament to make an official request to the British Government for the return of the treasures. AFROMET will then seek public support for its worthy cause in Ethiopia, the United Kingdom, and internationally.