{"id":4975,"date":"2016-05-03T17:00:07","date_gmt":"2016-05-03T23:00:07","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/admin.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/?p=4975"},"modified":"2016-05-01T09:46:27","modified_gmt":"2016-05-01T15:46:27","slug":"not-everything-belongs-in-a-museum","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.patheos.com\/blogs\/johnbeckett\/2016\/05\/not-everything-belongs-in-a-museum.html","title":{"rendered":"Not Everything Belongs in a Museum"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<\/head>

For better or worse, most of us got our introduction to archaeology from Indiana Jones and Lara Croft. Our ethics around ancient artifacts come from Harrison Ford\u2019s line early in Raiders of the Lost Ark<\/em>: \u201cThat belongs in a museum!\u201d Museums good, private collections bad. Study by experts good, weaponizing sacred objects bad\u2026 also very dangerous.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The British Museum<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

This idea of museums as the right and proper place for ancient items is reinforced when you visit some of the major museums. The National Museum of Ireland, the National Museum of Scotland, and the British Museum are all free to enter. They all allow photography. We shared the museums with hundreds of school children who were getting to see ancient history with their own eyes. I had a tremendous spiritual experience with the Gundestrup Cauldron, something I could not have done if it wasn\u2019t in a museum. Surely this is the most useful and egalitarian approach for handling ancient artifacts, right?<\/p>\n

Like so much in our society, though, the fact that museums have been around for hundreds of years and they benefit many causes us to ignore some unpleasant facts about how these objects came to be where they are. Just because \u201cwe\u2019ve always done it this way\u201d doesn\u2019t mean there isn\u2019t a better way.<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The National Museum of Ireland<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Tomb Raiders<\/strong>. We\u2019ve been burying our dead with grave goods for at least as long as we\u2019ve been human. And since shortly after that, there have been grave robbers and tomb raiders coming along to dig them up and steal anything of value. There have been many rationalizations for this: \u201cthe dead can\u2019t use it \u2013 why let it go to waste?\u201d \u201cwe\u2019ve always done this\u201d and \u201cwe\u2019re learning so much by digging up these graves.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the West, the vast majority of people believe that at death the soul leaves the body, and a significant minority believes that when brain activity stops, the person is gone forever \u2013 so grave goods don\u2019t matter. But the fact remains that we know virtually nothing about what happens after death. We cannot be certain the dead do not need or want the items that were buried with them \u2013 can we not respect their beliefs and wishes, even if we don\u2019t share\u00a0them?<\/p>\n

Respect for the dead<\/strong>. All three major museums we visited had Egyptian mummies on display. At least they weren\u2019t unwrapped, but these are still human bodies. The National Museum of Ireland has four bog bodies that were preserved for 2,000 years or so and are now on display. They\u2019re displayed behind cubicle-like screens, but I imagine that\u2019s more to protect the delicate sensitivities of some living visitors than to provide a modicum of dignity for the dead.<\/p>\n

These aren\u2019t tools or artwork. These are the bodies of people who once lived in this world, and who may (or may not) be living still. In the case of the Egyptians, we know it was considered necessary for parts of the soul to return to the body on a daily basis \u2013 is that still possible with their mummies removed to a faraway land?<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The National Museum of Scotland<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I offered prayers for the dead where I could. There are so many mummies in the British Museum I would have been there all day doing nothing else. A few I felt moved to pray for specifically, others I prayed for collectively. May their souls find the peace that was denied their bodies.<\/p>\n

Knowledge vs. entertainment<\/strong>. I love history and learning about the past. I\u2019m grateful for what we\u2019ve learned from mummies, bog bodies, and grave goods. And I sometimes wonder how I\u2019d feel if 5,000 years from now someone opened my grave and pored over my body and whatever I was buried with.<\/p>\n

If it was necessary to add to the body of knowledge at the time, I think I\u2019d be OK with it. If it helped tell my story and the story of my people to some future generation, I think I\u2019d see that as a way of being of service. So if by some miracle both this blog and my body are preserved long enough that they\u2019re of historical value, you have my permission to study whatever remains.<\/p>\n

But when you\u2019re done, put me back where you found me. Contributing to the state of human knowledge is one thing. Being on display as a grotesque curiosity is something completely different.<\/p>\n

Those are my thoughts. Yours may be different\u2026 and so may the thoughts and wishes of the Egyptians whose mummies now reside 2,000 miles from the Nile.<\/p>\n

Imperialism<\/strong>. Let\u2019s not ignore the elephant in the room. While some of the artifacts are local to the museums, many \u2013 particularly in the British Museum \u2013 come from around the world, and many of them were forcibly removed from their original locations by imperial governments and wealthy individuals supported by empires.<\/p>\n

Perhaps the most famous (or infamous) example of such looting was the removal of the Parthenon Sculptures from Athens to London by Lord Elgin in 1801-1805. This was done legally \u2013 Elgin had permission from the Ottoman Empire, who ruled Greece at the time. One empire gave another empire permission to plunder an occupied country, with no input from the Greeks.<\/p>\n

The British Museum argues<\/a> that the sculptures cannot be replaced on the Parthenon, the Acropolis Museum in Athens has roughly half of them, and leaving the other half in London \u201callows different and complementary stories to be told about the surviving sculptures, highlighting their significance within world culture and affirming the place of Ancient Greece among the great cultures of the world.\u201d<\/p>\n

Perhaps. But when we take artifacts out of their original context, we lose a significant part of their story. And if we are not very mindful, their display in foreign lands affirms the power of imperialism and of \u201cmight makes right.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"The<\/a>
The British Museum<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

It has long been argued that it is necessary to remove important artifacts for \u201csafekeeping\u201d \u2013 if 4,000 year old Minoan art wasn\u2019t in the British Museum, it would be hidden away in some billionaire\u2019s mansion and perhaps lost or even destroyed. Museums good, private collections bad. Given the damage and destruction we\u2019ve seen in the Middle East recently \u2013 some intentional, some the side effects of war \u2013 that argument has some merit. Yet many times imperial \u201csafekeeping\u201d is necessary only because of violence caused by the very presence of empires.<\/p>\n

So what do we do?<\/strong> I have no grand call to action. The museum system is largely (though not entirely) a good thing. Both ethical and academic standards have greatly increased since the early days of antiquarians and treasure hunters. Some artifacts have been returned<\/a> to their home countries.<\/p>\n

But I would like to see greater respect for the dead, including reburying bodies that aren\u2019t being actively studied. I\u2019d like to see greater respect for objects that are or were considered sacred by their cultures. Mostly, I\u2019d like to see an end to the plunder of imperialism, whether the plunder is historical artifacts, natural resources, or the exploitation of people.<\/p>\n

Not everything belongs in a museum.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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