The Scotsman 29 January 2002

THE normally sober surroundings of an Episcopalian church yesterday gave way to a splash of colour by an entourage of Ethiopian priests who arrived in Edinburgh to retrieve a sacred carving.

The delegation, wearing bright robes and carrying decorated parasols, accepted the artefact, which was stolen from their country in a bloody battle and taken to the UK more than 130 years ago.

They hope the event will encourage other institutions, individuals and organisations - including the British Museum and the Royal Family - to return more than 100 artefacts and manuscripts taken along with the carving.

The six-inch wooden tablet, known as a tabot, was taken from an Ethiopian church by British soldiers during the battle of Magdala in 1868. The carving, which represents the Ark of the Covenant, which the Israelites used to carry the Ten Commandments as they travelled to the Promised Land, was discovered by the Rev John McLuckie at St John’s Scottish Episcopal Church, in Edinburgh.

Mr McLuckie found the tabot in a battered leather box at the church, where he is associate director, while searching for a communion set last October.

A 100-strong delegation of Ethiopian priests, officials and individuals from the Rastafarian community in the UK and overseas attended the ceremony at St John’s in which Mr McLuckie returned the tabot.

Ephrem Mehret-ab, the spokesman for the delegation, praised the Scottish church for returning the carving and said he hoped their gesture would encourage other people to hand back artefacts which belonged to Ethiopia.

He said: "No-one can underestimate just how significant and joyful this hand-over is. The people of my country, a number of whom have travelled to see this, are simply delighted. The tabot is part of our history and tradition and it’s rightfully ours."

He added he hoped the event would be the starting point for the return of artefacts held in other parts of the UK, including the British Museum and the Royal Library at Windsor Castle, as well as other countries around the world.

He sad: "What this event in Edinburgh symbolises is a beginning and we hope others take note and wake up to the fact that they have property, very secret and irreplaceable property, which does not belong."

Mr Mehret-ab said the Ethiopian embassy would be calling on the British government to step up its efforts to return the other artefacts.

More than 200 mules and 15 elephants were loaded with items after British Forces stormed the mountain fortress at Magdala, in 1868. The bounty, which included solid gold crowns and 10 tabots, was auctioned to soldiers. Some of it was later bought by respected institutions.

The tabot at the centre of yesterday’s ceremony was brought to the Princes Street church by a soldier who returned from Sir Robert Napier’s campaign against Ethiopian Emperor Theodore II.

Mr McLuckie, who recognised the carving after working in the Ethiopian capital of Addis Ababa, said he was "delighted" to be handing it back: "This is a wonderful event and the excitement it has generated has been unimaginable.

"There was never any question about the tabot being returned and to see joy in the faces of everyone here today is absolutely fantastic.

"This is a gesture of peace between different cultures at a time when the world is besmirched by all sorts of conflicts and atrocities."

The tabot, which can only be seen by the Archbishop of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church, will be returned home this week. History experts will determine exactly where it was taken from before putting it back.

Archbishop Bitsu Abune Isaias held back tears as he received his country’s carving and praised the Edinburgh church for its actions.

He said: "We are delighted by this critical symbol of preservation of Ethiopian heritage."

The tabot was kept under wraps during the noisy ceremony, when it was placed under a red and gold cloth on the head of Arch Mandrite Nibure-id Abba, of the London-based Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahido Church.

Judy Holland, a spokeswoman for Afromet, the Association for the Return of the Magdala Ethiopian Treasures, added: "We were surprised but thrilled when we heard this tabot had been found here and that it was being given back.

"Maybe now others will take note of what has happened here and return property that they have to Ethiopia."