Rare Ethiopian manuscript stolen by British forces triggers restitution row
The Gondar Gospel belonged to the library of Emperor Tewodros but was seized in a battle decades ago.
A sacred book looted by British forces from an Ethiopian king has prompted an intense ownership dispute after it resurfaced in a private sales catalogue nearly 160 years after it was stolen.
The Gondarine Gospel, an ancient bible originally in the possession of Emperor Tewodros II, was listed among rare books meant to be sold at the ongoing Abu Dhabi International Book Fair. It was listed for sale at $250,000.
Ethiopian authorities have urgently requested that the relic be removed and returned on ‘moral and ethical’ grounds.
In the mid-1860s, as his empire was increasingly threatened by an expanding Ottoman Empire and lesser, rival lords, Tewodros wrote to Queen Victoria for support, having long allied with Britain as a fellow Christian power.