Target reached!
Our greater goal is to repatriate eleven 'Tabots' - sacred Ethiopian plaques - which...
Our greater goal is to repatriate eleven 'Tabots' - sacred Ethiopian plaques - which...
The Scheherazade Foundation needs funds to return sacred treasures looted by the British in Ethiopia in 1868 to their original owners
The Scheherazade Foundation is committed to building bridges between cultures around the world. And to this end, we're working very hard to return to Ethiopia objects of enormous religious importance which were looted by British forces after the Battle of Maqdala in 1868.
Maqdala was a fortress packed with some of the most important treasures of Ethiopian culture when it was sacked by Lord Napier. The campaign led to the deaths of many hundreds of Ethiopians and the subsequent suicide of Emperor Tewodros II using a pistol which had been gifted to him by Queen Victoria herself.
In the aftermath of the tragedy, the Ethiopian treasures were looted wholesale by the British and largely shipped to London, where they are held in private collections and by museums such as the V&A and the British Museum to this day.
As the Western World wakes up to its colonial past, we believe there is a unique opportunity today to repatriate some of these sacred objects in the spirit of healing ancient wounds and forging closer ties between two great countries - Ethiopia and Britain. If left for too long, a rising tide of changing attitudes may make such an amicable arrangement far less possible.
We need funds to help us achieve this. We already have in our possession a number of items looted at Maqdala, and will be formally handing them back to the Ethiopian authorities at a ceremony in September. But with more funds we can purchase even more objects to make this a very special occasion in relations between the two countries. We have located several such items for sale around the world, but need at least £6,000 to get our hands on them.
And beyond these objects, we have our sights on an even greater goal: the Tabots - sacred Ethiopian plaques - eleven of which are currently held in the vaults of the British Museum in London. So special and important are these, that they have never been photographed, copied or studied, let alone put on display. That they remain largely forgotten in some underground corner of Bloomsbury when they are of such enormous importance for Ethiopia is clearly absurd. Yet for them to be repatriated requires a crack legal team to take on the case.
The Scheherazade Foundation has such a team ready and waiting to move this forward. All they need is the green light from us. But for this to happen we need a much bigger pot of money to start paying their costs - £60,000.
Which is where you come in.
Please help us reach our goal - not only of raising enough money to repatriate a handful of looted objects, but beyond that to right a great injustice which can, today, be achieved in the name of healing, and building new bridges between cultures.
Any amount you can donate will go a long way to bring closure and create new and lasting bonds.
Thank you.
This project successfully funded on 1st September 2021