Hawass Wants Rosetta Stone Loan

"We are not pirates of the Caribbean - we are a civilised country"

So says Zahi Hawass in calling for the British Museum to loan the Rosetta Stone to Egypt. The British Museum has said the museum's trustees will consider the request. Hawass wants the loan in contemplation of the opening of Egypt's Grand Museum at Giza, in 2013. Other prominent objects Hawass would like returned on loan:

• a statue of Hemiunu, the architect of the Great Pyramid at Giza (Germany);
• the bust of Anchhaf, builder of the Chepren Pyramid (Boston);
• a painted Zodiac from the Dendera temple (Louvre); ann a statue of Ramesses II (Turin).

The requests are part of a series of prominent requests by Hawass in recent months.

1. Rosetta row 'would end with loan', BBC, December 8, 2009.