Friday, 28 September 2012

Rights of Empire.

I was just reading about the ‘Iron Man’ carving, a Buddhist artefact that was stolen from Tibet by the Nazis in 1938. Scientific analysis indicates that it was carved from a 15,000-year-old meteorite, which gives it both religious and historical significance.

So now – surprise, surprise – they’re talking about its monetary value. $20,000 is the current estimate, but it could be worth a lot more. But… but… shouldn’t they be giving it back to the Tibetans? ‘Ah,’ you might ask, ‘but would the Chinese let them keep it?’

2 comments:

andrea kiss said...

Stuff like this breaks my heart :(

And only 20,000? Its priceless...

JJ said...

It all depends on final verification of it's age, apparently. If it proves to be as old as they think, it could well be priceless.

I think they should give it to the Dalai Lama. I'm sure the Tibetans would approve, and the Chinese overlords wouldn't be able to get their hands on it.