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>Imagine if Egyptian law enforcement had the wherewithal to go after every nation and organization that's plundered their funereal monuments That would be pret

>Imagine if Egyptian law enforcement had the wherewithal to go after every nation and organization that's plundered their funereal monuments That would be pretty unjust considering that the funeral monuments don't belong to modern Egypt, as they were constructed by a radically different people some thousands of years ago. And at the time they were taken by British colonists, Egypt as a nation wasn't a thing either. So we have three separate entities: Ancient Egypt, whatever Egypt was when the British took some ancient artifacts, and then the modern nation of Egypt. Maybe the most just thing to do would be to find the descendants of those who were buried with the artifacts and return them their family heirlooms? Or no, perhaps those descended from the artisans and slaves who created the artifacts? But what of the invaders of Egypt seeking to destroy the artifacts? Should we give them the artifacts? Destruction is perhaps undesirable, so maybe we can place them somewhere in the world with the best steward? Does this mean my family can be repatriated our ancestral lands in northern Cumbria? If we get to play that game, you may not like how it works out for you. Or maybe we can stop looking at history with a modern, nationlistic lens. Stop looking at it with our modern sense of values. Stop trying to apply our modern sense of justice and misbeliefs about what did and didn't happen hundreds, thousands of years ago.

giraffe_lady 3y ago
We're not trying to adapt history to our modern values. We're trying to answer a modern question. What to do with ancient artifacts. Continuity with the ancient past is muddled or impossible, but there is still a place they come from, and the possibility they belong there. Continuity is muddled or impossible, but it's true that some people and places have stronger claims to that continuity than others. It's also true that these were taken during a period of european plundering of resources of all kinds, and that we're heirs and beneficiaries to that plundering in other ways, as well as this one. It's a complicated question, involving history certainly. But in no was is this us trying to graft modern morals onto the past. But it is a moral question regarding the past, and modern morals are the only ones we have to guide our decisions.

giraffe_lady 3y ago

We're not trying to adapt history to our modern values. We're trying to answer a modern question. What to do with ancient artifacts. Continuity with the ancient past is muddled or impossible, but there is still a place they come from, and the possibility they belong there. Continuity is muddled or impossible, but it's true that some people and places have stronger claims to that continuity than others. It's also true that these were taken during a period of european plundering of resources of all kinds, and that we're heirs and beneficiaries to that plundering in other ways, as well as this one. It's a complicated question, involving history certainly. But in no was is this us trying to graft modern morals onto the past. But it is a moral question regarding the past, and modern morals are the only ones we have to guide our decisions.