UK museum to return emperor´s hair locks to Ethiopia

LONDON: A London museum said on Monday it will return to Ethiopia locks of hair allegedly taken by British troops from an emperor who committed suicide rather than being captured over 150 years ago.

The National Army Museum will repatriate the hair, cut from the head of emperor Tewodros II, following a formal request from Ethiopia last year.

"We believe the Ethiopian government claim to repatriate is reasonable and we are pleased to be able to assist," said Terri Dendy, the museum´s head of collections standards and care.

She added it had reached the decision after spending "considerable time researching the provenance and cultural sensitivities around this matter”.

"It's very much based on the desire to inter the hair within the tomb alongside the emperor," Dendy said, adding that Tewodros was entombed in Trinity Monastery in northern Ethiopia.

The museum noted it was returning the items on the basis that they are ‘human remains’.

It acquired the two locks in 1959,one of which was framed with a letter and the emperor´s seal from the family of an artist who had painted the emperor before his death in 1868.

The Ethiopian embassy in London hailed the move a "commendable deed".

Ethiopia has demanded the return of the most significant of these "treasures of Magdala", which are housed in British institutions, including London´s Victoria and Albert Museum.

The requests mirror those of numerous African countries who want art and treasures taken during their colonisation by European powers to be repatriated.