Re:Secret Messages Detected on Egyptian Obelisk in Paris
by amitport on Thursday May 08, 2025 @09:03AM
(#43925717)
In any case, it didn't belong to the Ottomans to give away.
Getting it as gift from a conquering entity, does not make any of it better.
Re:Secret Messages Detected on Egyptian Obelisk in Paris
by shakow on Thursday May 08, 2025 @08:35PM
(#43932734)
I mean, if you really want to go down this way, it does not really belong to the Egyptians either. It's not because current-day Egyptians share the same land as antiquity Egyptians that they are the same people – countless waves of war, massacres, migrations, emigrations happened in the last 4 millenia.
Re:Secret Messages Detected on Egyptian Obelisk in Paris
by jimjimjim on Thursday May 08, 2025 @08:39PM
(#43932755)
By that logic who does it belong to? How long does someone need to be in an area to be the "owner" of it. The people on Egypt currently weren't there when it was moved. Why should they get it? The people that were there when it was moved definitely weren't there 3000 years ago when it was made. Did they own it? In fact who owns anything in the world?
Re:Secret Messages Detected on Egyptian Obelisk in Paris
by amitport on Friday May 09, 2025 @01:03PM
(#43938984)
easy, never give away or sell ancient artifacts. Would you be fine with people conquering rome, and selling it all stone by stone? Would you be OK with some Italian dictator doing it?
Re:Secret Messages Detected on Egyptian Obelisk in Paris
by rixed on Friday May 09, 2025 @11:27PM
(#43942994)
Rings true to me. The notion of ownership has been extended to almost everything and it makes no sense that anyone can claim ownership of an ancient obelisk. Or rather, we should distinguish between "I'm the caretaker of", "I'm the one who benefits from", and "I can do whatever I want with".
According to wikipedia[0], the frenchs did think about stealing it during the Napoleonic wars, but didn't. Some time later they "suggested" to the Ottomans that the obelisks be offered, in exchange for a monumental clock[1]
[0] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luxor_Obelisks#Luxor_Obelisk...
[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_Citadel_Clock