NY court says gold tablet belongs to German museum

[Adrian Stevenson]

That's right. Here is the well known image of her wearing them.

[Glenn66]

Regardless, wearing such ancient jewellery is kinda cool. I like her style if not her morals.

[asterperious]

Britain could always offer to Sell the Elgin marbles back to Greece-seeing as how they purchased them From Greece....but then again, Greece and Money....I don't think I'd take a Check from the Greek government just now...

(and No..no offense intended to any Greek members....lol)

Erm well technically, there was no 'Greece' at the time Elgin acquired the freizes. They were subjects of the Ottoman Empire and were in fact Turks. The Turks had already devastated the Parthenon by using it as a powder magazine, it blew up. At the time the Friezes were in real jeopardy - hence there permitted salvage and transport to England. Elgin was very concerned about the loss of Greek heritage to the Turks cultural repression of them. It is fascinating really. During my studies I had the unique opportunity to read Lord Elgins original diaries and letters from the operation. Greece's modern claims are sentimental, but not legal. Have other things been looted in the past - certainly, but many were legitimately acquired under the laws of the day. A parallel to our collecting is in the deep past a veteran or family member gives away or sells medals, three generations later descendant wants them back and cries 'stolen' as a justification for reclamation.

The laws governing the conduct of allied soldiers and cultural property are well recorded and the laws in their occupation territories were clear too. Had this ruling gone the other way it could call into jeopardy the legitimate claims of people who had property looted by the Nazi's who have had it returned under similar laws. There is good reason why courts are able to hear individual cases and make rulings in the contex of the body of law. Sometimes there are valid reasons for exception.