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BRING THE GODDESS HOME: EDUCATION MINISTER LAUNCHES INITIATIVE ON RETURNING DIVINE ANAHIT TO ARMENIA
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow
06.02.12 | 15:18
Minister of Science and Education Armen Ashotyan took the initiative
of returning the fragments of Armenian Pagan Goddess Anahit's bronze
statue from United Kingdom (UK) to Armenia through the Facebook online
social network. A great number of Facebook users have welcomed the
initiative.
Enlarge Photo Minister of Science and Education Armen Ashotyan
"UK has appointed two ambassadors to Armenia. I suggest all of us
to unite and appeal to the British Embassy to Armenia sending them a
letter with our signatures and demand to return the fragments (head
and hands) of Goddess Anahit's well-known statue, kept at British
Museum, to Armenia. There is an experience of returning cultural
values from UK to their homelands; particularly Egypt has succeeded
in this respect several times. What would you say?" Minister Ashotyan
addressed to his friends.
The head and hand of the bronze statue referred to Anahit, who was
goddess of fertility and war, according to the website of the British
Museum, was found in 1872 by a peasant accidently when he was digging
the land in Satagh, south-eastern Turkey.
"The head made its way via Constantinople (modern Istanbul) and
Italy to the dealer Alessandro Castellani, who eventually sold it to
The British Museum. The hand was presented to the Museum a few years
later. Despite rumors that the whole statue had previously been found,
the body has never come to light," the website writes. A copy of the
statue is kept at the History Museum of Armenia in Yerevan.
Ashotyan also suggests jointly drafting a common text of the letter
addressed to the UK Secretary of Culture, the British ambassadors,
and the management of the British Museum, as well as starting a
signature collection at higher educational institutions of Armenia,
on Facebook and elsewhere. The minister also reports that a number
of students and NGOs have already turned to him, and it will better
for them to start the collection of signatures for returning the
fragments of Goddess Anahit's statue to Armenia.
From: A. Papazian
By Siranuysh Gevorgyan
ArmeniaNow
06.02.12 | 15:18
Minister of Science and Education Armen Ashotyan took the initiative
of returning the fragments of Armenian Pagan Goddess Anahit's bronze
statue from United Kingdom (UK) to Armenia through the Facebook online
social network. A great number of Facebook users have welcomed the
initiative.
Enlarge Photo Minister of Science and Education Armen Ashotyan
"UK has appointed two ambassadors to Armenia. I suggest all of us
to unite and appeal to the British Embassy to Armenia sending them a
letter with our signatures and demand to return the fragments (head
and hands) of Goddess Anahit's well-known statue, kept at British
Museum, to Armenia. There is an experience of returning cultural
values from UK to their homelands; particularly Egypt has succeeded
in this respect several times. What would you say?" Minister Ashotyan
addressed to his friends.
The head and hand of the bronze statue referred to Anahit, who was
goddess of fertility and war, according to the website of the British
Museum, was found in 1872 by a peasant accidently when he was digging
the land in Satagh, south-eastern Turkey.
"The head made its way via Constantinople (modern Istanbul) and
Italy to the dealer Alessandro Castellani, who eventually sold it to
The British Museum. The hand was presented to the Museum a few years
later. Despite rumors that the whole statue had previously been found,
the body has never come to light," the website writes. A copy of the
statue is kept at the History Museum of Armenia in Yerevan.
Ashotyan also suggests jointly drafting a common text of the letter
addressed to the UK Secretary of Culture, the British ambassadors,
and the management of the British Museum, as well as starting a
signature collection at higher educational institutions of Armenia,
on Facebook and elsewhere. The minister also reports that a number
of students and NGOs have already turned to him, and it will better
for them to start the collection of signatures for returning the
fragments of Goddess Anahit's statue to Armenia.
From: A. Papazian