Rare Ethiopian manuscript stolen by British forces triggers restitution row

The Gondar Gospel belonged to the library of Emperor Tewedros but was seized in a battle decades ago.

The Gondarine Gospel's illuminated pages [File: inlibris.com]

A sacred book looted by British forces from an Ethiopian king has prompted an intense ownership dispute after it resurfaced in a private sales catalogue nearly 160 years after it was stolen.

The Gondarine Gospel, an ancient bible originally in the possession of Emperor Tewodros II, was listed among rare books meant to be sold at the ongoing Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. It was listed for sale at $250,000.

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Ethiopian authorities have urgently requested that the relic be removed and returned on ‘moral and ethical’ grounds.

The matter has provoked calls for wider-scale restitution of looted artefacts in Ethiopia. It has also reignited ongoing global debates over the responsibility of Western museums and collectors to return hundreds of thousands of Africa’s stolen treasures.

“There are clear moral grounds for art dealers to avoid selling items which are established as having been looted,” Abebaw Ayalew, head of the Ethiopian Heritage Authority (EHA), wrote in a letter seen by Al Jazeera and sent to Inlibris, the Vienna-based dealer of rare books which listed the book for sale on behalf of a private owner.

“It is considered morally unethical and raises serious reputational risks for famous art dealers such as Inlibris to be involved in the sale of items that are questionably looted,” he wrote.

However, Inlibris, in its response to the EHA, rejected the call, arguing that there are “no legal grounds for restitution”, as no laws existed before the 18th century guiding against the looting of cultural items during conflict and that the book’s present owner is thus not obliged to surrender it.

Speaking to Al Jazeera, Inlibris head Hugo Wertscherk did not name the collector but said handing over the book to Ethiopian authorities would be illegal.

“Of course I want to see all these manuscripts returned to their rightful owners, but I do not write the laws. I am only a businessman,” he said.

Wertscherk denied attempting to sell the bible at the Abu Dhabi fair and said it was only listed as a prop.

An employee arranges artefacts that were looted during the colonial-era by British forces at the Ethiopian National Museum in Addis Ababa after they were restituted from the UK, November 20, 2021 [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters]

A long-lost treasure

The Gondarine Gospel, bound in glossy leather and featuring intricate gold patterns, was stolen from the library of the powerful monarch, Emperor Tewodros.

Written in Ge’ez, an ancient South Semitic language, the manuscript contains 235 striking illustrations narrating the Gospel of Luke and John in vivid reds, greens and yellows. It was likely originally commissioned between 1730 and 1734 in the city of Gondar.

“It is not simply an old religious book, nor should its significance be reduced to its association with Emperor Tewodros,” said Abreha Kiros, a professor of art history at Ethiopia’s Aksum University, pointing out that it is also important for studying Ethiopian manuscript culture, ancient Geʽez literature, as well as the artistic traditions of Gondar, once famous for its artwork and architecture.

“It is also connected to a painful moment in Ethiopia’s history… The absence of a clear legal mechanism does not mean that there is no basis for dialogue or restitution,” he added.

Emperor Tewodros ruled Ethiopia from 1855 until he died in 1868, during the Battle of Magdala. On his many conquests, he gathered a vast collection of treasures for his great imperial library, which some historians call Ethiopia’s first modern museum.

In the mid-1860s, as his empire was increasingly threatened by an expanding Ottoman Empire and lesser, rival lords, Tewodros wrote to Queen Victoria for support, having long allied with Britain as a fellow Christian power.

When she failed to respond, Tewodros imprisoned British diplomats, prompting Britain to declare war.

On April 9, 1868, 13,000 troops dispatched from then-British India descended on the king’s court in Magdala and killed Tewodros’ 4,000 soldiers. Instead of surrendering, Tewodros shot himself.

The soldiers looted Magdala, taking everything from treasured artefacts to locks of Tewodros’ hair. Robert Napier, the British commander who led the mission, took the Gondarine Gospel. It has since been passed to other British colonial officers and British museums. About a decade ago, it fell into private hands.

Return or not return?

Thousands of relics stolen from Magdala and from other periods remain outside Ethiopia, although authorities there have actively sought their return.

Amid widespread calls from activists and African governments for the repatriation of looted objects held in Western museums, Britain, Germany, France, Belgium, among others, have begun instituting permanent returns or agreeing to temporary “loans”.

In May, the British returned a lock of hair believed to be from Emperor Tewodros, and a piece of cloth believed to be stained with his blood, to Ethiopia.

However, it remains uncertain whether the Gondarine Gospel will also find its way home.

Wertscherk of Inlibris told Al Jazeera that communication from Ethiopian authorities has been “threatening” in nature. The book dealer said his firm is open to dialogue and is willing to come to a “preferential price” settlement but that the final say ultimately rests with the manuscript’s legal owner.

“We are prepared to consider a serious institutional purchase proposal, but will not negotiate on the premise that restitution is owed,” he said.

However, British historian Alula Pankhurst, who first alerted Ethiopian authorities to the exhibition, rejected the claim.

“The Ethiopian Heritage Authority wrote them a polite letter which was not a threat,” Pankhurst said.

Ethiopian authorities “take the position that since the manuscript was clearly looted, as Inlibris openly acknowledged, it should first be withdrawn from the sale, and then negotiations can go ahead.

This has been the case in several successful recent cancellations of auctions in the UK, the US and Italy where the sellers have accepted the principle that looted items should not go to open sales and where subsequent negotiations have led to settlements,” he added.

A resolution does not have to be confrontational and could take the form of a negotiated return, donation, long-term loan, shared custodianship, or other mutually agreed arrangements, Kiros of Aksum University said, urging both sides to choose a constructive pathway.

“What matters is that the country and communities from which the cultural object originated are taken seriously in determining its future,” he concluded.

《贡达尔福音书》原属于特维德罗斯皇帝的图书馆，但在几十年前的一场战争中被缴获。

贡达林福音书的彩绘页 [文件：inlibris.com]

一本被英国军队从埃塞俄比亚国王手中掠夺的圣书，在被盗近 160 年后，突然出现在一份私人销售目录中，引发了激烈的归属权之争。

《贡达林福音书》是一部古老的圣经，原为皇帝特沃德罗斯二世所有，它被列入正在举行的阿布扎比​​国际书展的珍稀书籍出售清单中，标价25万美元。

列表 1/4 “为了埃塞俄比亚的遗产”：战争英雄的家人为追回被盗勋章而战

黎巴嫩归还六年前从埃及走私出的37件文物（共4份清单中的第2份）

巴西发现的四件被盗马蒂斯艺术品中的第三件

列表 4/4：艺术为加沙的年轻幸存者提供慰藉，让他们逃离战争的蹂躏

埃塞俄比亚当局以“道德和伦理”为由，紧急要求移除并归还这件圣物。

此事引发了各界呼吁更大规模地归还埃塞俄比亚被掠夺文物的呼声。它也再次点燃了全球范围内关于西方博物馆和收藏家是否有责任归还数十万件非洲被盗文物的争论。

“艺术品经销商有明确的道德理由避免出售已被证实为掠夺品的物品，”埃塞俄比亚遗产管理局 (EHA) 局长阿贝巴·阿亚勒在一封写给维也纳珍稀书籍经销商 Inlibris 的信中写道。半岛电视台看到了这封信，该经销商代表一位私人所有者将这本书列入了待售清单。

他写道：“像Inlibris这样的著名艺术品经销商参与出售来历可疑的掠夺品，在道德上被认为是不道德的，并且会造成严重的声誉风险。”

然而，Inlibris 在回应欧洲遗产委员会时拒绝了这一呼吁，辩称“没有归还的法律依据”，因为在 18 世纪之前没有法律规定在冲突期间不得掠夺文化物品，因此该书的现任所有者没有义务交出该书。

Inlibris 负责人 Hugo Wertscherk 在接受半岛电视台采访时没有透露收藏家的姓名，但他表示将这本书交给埃塞俄比亚当局是非法的。

“我当然希望看到所有这些手稿都能归还给它们的合法所有者，但我不是法律制定者。我只是个商人，”他说。

韦尔切克否认曾在阿布扎比博览会上试图出售这本圣经，并表示它只是作为道具展出。

2021 年 11 月 20 日，在亚的斯亚贝巴的埃塞俄比亚国家博物馆，一名员工正在整理英国军队在殖民时期掠夺的文物，这些文物从英国归还后 [Tiksa Negeri/Reuters]

失落已久的宝藏

《贡达林福音书》装帧精美，采用光亮的皮革封面，并饰有错综复杂的金色图案，是从强大的君主特沃德罗斯皇帝的图书馆中被盗走的。

这部手稿以古老的南闪米特语吉兹语写成，包含235幅精美的插图，以鲜艳的红色、绿色和黄色描绘了路加福音和约翰福音的内容。它很可能最初是在1730年至1734年间于贡德尔城委托制作的。

“它不仅仅是一本古老的宗教书籍，其意义也不应仅仅局限于与特沃德罗斯皇帝的关联，”埃塞俄比亚阿克苏姆大学艺术史教授阿布雷哈·基罗斯指出，它对于研究埃塞俄比亚手稿文化、古代吉兹文学以及贡德尔的艺术传统也十分重要，贡德尔曾以其艺术作品和建筑而闻名。

“这也与埃塞俄比亚历史上的一段痛苦时期有关……缺乏明确的法律机制并不意味着没有对话或赔偿的基础，”他补充道。

特沃德罗斯皇帝从1855年统治埃塞俄比亚，直至1868年在马格达拉战役中去世。在他多次征服中，他为他宏伟的皇家图书馆搜罗了大量珍宝，一些历史学家称之为埃塞俄比亚第一座现代博物馆。

19 世纪 60 年代中期，随着奥斯曼帝国的扩张以及其他实力较弱的竞争领主对他的帝国构成越来越大的威胁，特沃德罗斯写信给维多利亚女王寻求支持，因为他长期以来一直与英国这个基督教国家结盟。

当她没有回应时，特沃德罗斯监禁了英国外交官，这促使英国对英国宣战。

1868年4月9日，从当时的英属印度派遣的13000名士兵攻入马格达拉国王的宫廷，杀死了特沃德罗斯的4000名士兵。特沃德罗斯没有投降，而是开枪自杀。

士兵们洗劫了抹大拉，从珍贵的文物到特沃德罗斯的头发，无所不包。率领此次行动的英国指挥官罗伯特·纳皮尔带走了贡达林福音书。此后，福音书几经易手，辗转于其他英国殖民官员和英国博物馆之间。大约十年前，它落入了私人手中。

退货还是不退货？

尽管埃塞俄比亚当局一直在积极寻求归还从马格达拉和其他时期被盗的数千件文物，但这些文物至今仍留在埃塞俄比亚境外。

在活动人士和非洲各国政府广泛呼吁归还西方博物馆中被掠夺的文物之际，英国、德国、法国、比利时等国已开始实施永久归还或同意临时“借展”。

5月，英国人将一缕据信属于特沃德罗斯皇帝的头发和一块据信沾有他鲜血的布料归还给了埃塞俄比亚。

然而，贡达林福音书是否也能流传回故乡，目前仍是未知数。

Inlibris书店的韦尔切克告诉半岛电视台，埃塞俄比亚当局的沟通带有“威胁性”。这位书商表示，他的公司愿意对话，并愿意达成“优惠价格”的解决方案，但最终决定权在于手稿的合法所有者。

他说：“我们准备认真考虑机构收购方案，但不会在存在赔偿义务的前提下进行谈判。”

然而，最先向埃塞俄比亚当局通报展览情况的英国历史学家阿鲁拉·潘克赫斯特驳斥了这一说法。

潘克赫斯特说：“埃塞俄比亚遗产管理局给他们写了一封措辞礼貌的信，信中没有任何威胁的意味。”

埃塞俄比亚当局的立场是，既然手稿显然是掠夺而来（正如 Inlibris 公开承认的那样），那么首先应该将其从出售中撤回，然后才能继续进行谈判。

“英国、美国和意大利最近几起成功的拍卖会取消案例就证明了这一点，卖家接受了被掠夺物品不应公开拍卖的原则，随后的谈判也达成了和解，”他补充道。

阿克苏姆大学的基罗斯表示，解决方案不必是对抗性的，可以采取协商归还、捐赠、长期贷款、共同监护或其他双方同意的安排等形式，并敦促双方选择建设性的道路。

他总结道：“重要的是，在决定文化物品的未来时，要认真考虑其来源国和社区的利益。”