comment: >
  
  Did you even read my thread in the whole.
  Firstly not even British or anything English related
  Second, didn't I say things like the Benin Bronzes should be returned
  Third, Modern Day Egypt has nothing culturally or religiously in common with Ancient Egypt they themselves even destroyed some of these historically important artifacts
context: The "Egyptian race" still exists. There was never a massive die-off of Egyptians; the culture just changed. Modern-day Egyptians, both Arab and Copt, are of the same descent from the same people -- the Coptic language still spoken today is the modern-day rendition of the actual Egyptian language. There's also several Egyptian holidays and customs that are unique to the country thanks to its long history. >
  
  
  The reason being is that the ancient Egyptian race doesn't exist anymore and those who live there today don't have any cultural connection to it.
  
  8-12 million Coptic people would like a word with you. >
  
  Ya wtf thinks the ancient egyptian people's ancestry just...vanished? >
  
  Culturally, they were destroyed. No one knows how to speak Egyptian anymore, only read it. But of course, the ethnicity still exists, perhaps interbred a lot with other ethnicities, but still around. >
  
  It's like saying no one speaks Latin anymore. As an everyday language that's true, but Latin is still spoken by Roman Catholic clergy and its descendants like Spanish, Portuguese, French, and numerous others, are spoken by millions of people each.
  There are still Coptic Christians living in Egypt. They are 10 percent of the population. And though no one, not even Egyptian Christians use Coptic (the descendant of the Ancient Egyptian language) as an everyday language, it is still a liturgical language spoken by clergy and even lay people when saying prayers. >
  
  That agree with what he said? Coptic is the modern descendant go Ancient Egyptian. What we didn’t know was how to read hieroglyphic writing. Working back from Coptic we even know roughly how ancient Egyptian was probably spoken / pronounced >
  
  What happened to the people who used to live there? No descendants? >
  
  Believe it or not, jail. Right away. >
  
  I believe they either undercooked chicken or overcooked fish  🇻🇪 >
  
  You must be the curator of the British Museum. >
  
  
  God save the queen ''play God save the Queen''
  ​
  ​
  But in all honesty no I'm not, not even British >
  
  
  God save the king ''play God save the King''
  
  Fixed that for you. >
  
  Sorry I don't recognize Charles. >
  
  Why? What's so different about him from his mother, other than his gender? He's another elderly r4c!st with the absolute greatest possible privilege imaginable. Why except his mother but not him? >
  
  ah yes, all old people are racists. >
  
  No, all royals are assholes >
  
  how? >
  
  I completely agree, anyone wanna go steal the Parthenon with me? >
  
  I'm in >
  
  What makes you think the descendants of ancient Egypt don't currently live in Egypt. Where did they go? >
  
  Same place the Aztecs, Maya, and Inca went. >
  
  Um… the Aztecs, Maya and Inca still exist. >
  
  All of those civilizations have descendants. I actually know someone who is Mayan, speaks Mayan, and lived in a Mayan village 👀 >
  
  Not entirely related, but this connects somehow to the topic of much time as to pass before a invasion, a take over of territory, a war crime, etc, stops being mentioned on actual discussions. Like for example, the claim that Israel makes over Afghanistan, or the claims from Latin America over European former colonialists. It's an interesting (and murky) subject. >
  
  Israel over Afghanistan?  Hadn't hear that one.  
  However, what has the biggest impact was the wave of decolonization that went on around the world from 1945 to around 1980 (and then repeated in a different form with the fall of the Iron Curtain in 1989-1991).  
  There's always been conquest in history, but the creation of economically integrated global trade empires facilitated by steam transport and telegraph instant communication was much more recent, which was also impacted by the rise of nationalism that was an after-effect of the Napoleonic wars which also slowly spread over the world. 
  It's the sense of nationalism in the 'home' countries coupled with the modern trade and contact regime that lets regular people in a country make a fuss about old antiquities held by another country.  600 years ago, no one would have heard about it or discussed it. >
  
  I do agree that globalization seems to be the most important factor in play here. But I do say, which are the valid claims and which are not? Who gets to decide what gets retribution or what not? Or does everyone that has been done wrong in a single instance in history gets compensation?
  The territory occupied by Afghanistan was taken from the people of Israel millenia ago. Or so they say. >
  
  Bro that’s Palestine not Afghanistan 💀💀 >
  
  LOL legit. I was like wait I’m Afghan how have I never heard this??? >
  
  Sorry about your homeland bud >
  
  Thanks >
  
  Yes, obviously they belong to London and Paris. /s >
  
  How far back to do you go then? The Egyptians conquered the Nubians, which is where they got most of their gold. So by your definition that gold doesn't bong to Egypt is belongs to Nubia, which doesn't exist anymore but was in the area of Sudan. So shouldn't we return those artifacts to the Sudanese people then since it was their gold that made those artifacts.
  Or let's look at the Black Hills in America. The US conquered the Lakota tribe and took control of the Black Hills in 1868, less than 100 years after the Lakota conquered the Chyenne tribe who inhabitants the Black Hills. So do we give it back to the Lakota/Sioux tribe or the Chyenne tribe? >
  
  Yes. >
  
  So if you go back far enough everyone came from Africa. Does that mean we all owe everything to ourselves? >
  
  Sure. Lets spread it around. >
  
  Everything is already owned by everyone isn’t it? So it’s already spread around I guess >
  
  I feel like the distribution could be tweaked a little, maybe. For justice. >
  
  You know that most Arab Egyptians are descendants of Ancient Egyptians right? Morden Egyptians and Ancient Egyptians are genetically the same, and if you think that modern Egyptians aren't "real Egyptians" because they don't speak an Egyptian language, there are still millions of Copts living in Egypt speaking Coptic. >
  
  Nice try @europe >
  
  Mainly the brits >
  
  The French too >
  
  I'd say that modern day Egypt is the closest to have a claim to them, as it's part of their cultural heritage. No other country should have a bigger claim over them. Who really decides who gets the claim? Is there such a thing as some countries having more authorities than others? 
  Same logic applies to British/Anglo-Saxon, Greek and others... >
  
  Modern day Egypt has almost nothing to do with ancient Egypt. Genetics, religion, culture.... >
  
  Genetics? I read they are mostly the same from thousands of years ago >
  
  Modern Egyptians are something like 20% Arab. >
  
  And 80% Egyptian >
  
  Correct, but not culturally or religion or linguistics >
  
  So? It's the artefacts of their ancestors.
  They belongs nowhere but Egypt.
  The Europeans are definitly not 'culturally or religion or linguistic' close to ancient Egypt. >
  
  One for r/confidentlyincorrect >
  
  I'm no historian or anything but I think most Egyptian artifacts do have value to the Egyptian population... Also where are you from? >
  
  If we gave them to the Brits yall would probably eat the rest of the mummies like yall did in the 1600s-1800s >
  
  Or paint with them... >
  
  If you don’t think Egypt has cultural connection to Egyptian artifacts, who else possibly could? Artifacts belong in the countries where they were found. 
  Just because greedy Englishmen enjoy grave-robbing does not mean Egyptian culture is no longer valid. >
  
  If Egypt doesn’t have “cultural connection” with ancient Egyptian artifacts, who does? >
  
  Was this written by the director of the British museum. >
  
  By this planning, Britain should give back all artifacts its taken, due to the fact that they don't have cultural relevance.
  Then we start on the Roman-British items, because that was Pre-Norman era and thus doesn't count as culturally relevant to today.
  Also, move every Viking object to York. That's where they're relevant. 
  Culture isn't based on the current version of that region's race. If it did, that'd be absolutely insane.
  Sometimes, it's right to give back things that your public have voted on. >
  
  Right. They belong to me. Be sure to package them properly before sending them over. Thanks. >
  
  Nice try Brittain, now return back everything you've stolen. >
  
  Egyptians have a cultural connection to ancient egypt. Your opinion isn’t unpopular, it is objectively incorrect. >
  
  Do you know what’s the problem with people like you? You think Egyptian history is as follows: pharaohs —> Arab invasion —> modern day. That’s why you never see a continuity. You keep skipping a couple of centuries here and a thousand years there. Where as a modern Egyptian can tell you our people story from the countries unification till the present day. 
  As to the modern Egyptian culture has nothing in common with the ancient Egyptian one. How do you know? Which past traditions are you referring to that modern Egyptians don’t follow? Do you even know anything about our traditions ancient or modern to compare? Do you know the cultural differences between north and south Egyptian and the cultural differences inside these two regions? Differences that go all the back to the unification of Egypt thousands of years ago btw. No you don’t know. You just know Egyptians are either Muslims or Christians and therefor have nothing to do with ancient Egyptians. 
  You say the ancient Egyptian race doesn’t exist. Again how do you know? is it just a feeling you have or something based on scientific facts? Did you take dna samples from ancient and modern Egyptians to compare? Because scientists did. and a continuity had been proven. Also what do you mean by ancient Egyptian race? Wich period do you mean and which region? Egypt is the world’s oldest melting pot. Foreigners settled in Egypt even before the Egyptian had a concept for a state. The whole Hyksos fiasco happened because the Egyptian just let Wanderers settle in the middle of their country and build their cities. Something many other people did even when Egypt was at the hight of its power and guess what, they melted into the population. 
  So please Next time before you talk about us and what we should and shouldn’t claim, try to take the time to educate yourself about our people, history and culture. And no I don’t mean skim the wiki, or ask someone who follows some western ideology ( which includes Afrocentrism). 
  Hope this helps and happy holidays >
  
  You mention the “Egyptian race” and how they’re no longer around anymore, what does that even mean? Middle eastern and African people? They’re very much still around. There was no mass culling of ancient Egyptians. >
  
  They got blended with Arabs and Hellenic peoples.
  Same like what happened to the Azteca and Maya. >
  
  Here's the thing. They also don't belong to the countries where they current are. The only claim a random museum in europe has to said artifact is that it was stolen a long time ago. As of today these artifacts are held by people with no ties to them and beyond the reach of most of humanity. We wouldn't even have this discussion if artifacts were acessible for everyone around the world without having to pay for a trip to europe just to see something that was taken from your country in the 19th century. >
  
  How? How do you make them "accessible for everyone....without having to pay for a trip to Europe"? >
  
  There are many museums around the world that could host the artifacts for a limited amount of time. Loans like this have been done before. Granted the logistics would be complicated but then again history is supposed to belong to everyone. 
  A example I like is the dagger of la  valette, the grandmaster of the knights of malta and the person who their capital is named after. It was taken by napoleon and remains in the Louvre to this day. It was loaned to malta in 2017 over 200 years after napoleon took it allowing them to see a important part of their history. >
  
  As an Egyptian...
  we absolutely do lol
  Egyptians take massive pride in their history and while we obviously don't hold the same culture and traditions as the Ancient Egyptians, the same can be said for any ancient civilization. The Greeks, Romans etc. So do other countries have the right to take archeological artifacts then? Where do you draw the line? With your logic, we have no connection to the people who build the Pyramids of Giza and the Sphinx, does that mean modern Egyptians have no claim over them? So the British can just yoink it?
  ​
  From my experience, it is less of a genetic or cultural tie that makes Egyptians care. It's more of a connection to the land itself, knowing that the land they walked was once one of the most bustling civilizations of the ancient world.
  ​
  Sincerely, an EG >
  
  I would have been in the op's camp until I seen the show Egypt put on when moving the mummies in 2021. >
  
  That was brilliant. >
  
  
  those who live there today don't have any cultural connection to it.
  
  I don't know if they do or do not, how do you? >
  
  OP thinks modern people need to practice their culture in the exact same way they did back then to have a tie to their culture. 
  He doesn't realize that culture exists across time. It's something that adapts to change and evolves, but its still tied to the people of that land. That connection is important to the people who still cherish their ancestors. >
  
  Bro they Arab now in Egypt. >
  
  Copts are the descendants of the ancient egyptians and theres millions of em
  Even the just bc the culture is arab modern arab egyptians are a mixture of greek,arab and egyptian.
  It belongs to them >
  
  One thing I never hear about in these repatriation arguments is what the people in the tribes or countries that made the artifacts actually want. Usually it's westerners making the argument on their behalf. Like if someone takes my bike when I was 8 and returns it 20 years later, for example, I would probably say "I'm happy that you had a change of heart, but this was so long ago and there are other things that I need and want more now."
  You mentioned the Benin Bronzes, for example. What if folks in Nigeria said to museums in the West that we can keep their statues, but in exchange they get more grants for education, human development, or just simply reparations for taking their stuff? If they want them back then they get them back, but what I'm saying is that these museums in Europe and North America should start the conversation by asking how can they atone for taking their (often, very sacred) things instead of just unilaterally giving them back out of guilt or PR awareness. >
  
  Greek here. We've been asking for decades brits to give us back different stuff. One time the British museum told us if we built a special room for some stuff they would give them. We built it and never got them back >
  
  I visited the Acropolis Museum in Athens as a Brit. Seeing an empty plinth there was more than a little shameful.
  Especially when multiple polls have suggested that the public would not care if they were returned whatsoever. 
  There's literally no good reason not to give them back except for a minor profit margin and a bunch of angry colonialists who only speak up about defending history when you mention the idea of returning something. >
  
  Greece has done a pretty good job of curating and protecting their own relics though. The same cannot always be said of the countries of origin of other artifacts. >
  
  I don't disagree, sometimes safety genuinely is a reason. I think for certain countries like Greece now though, it really shows up that the driving force isn't always safety but greed. >
  
  …the ancient Egyptian race absolutely exists? Having a strong Arab presence in the region doesn’t make it gone. 
  Do you think mayan artifacts don’t belong in Central America anymore either? >
  
  How to steal European guide: commit genocide, steal, give it to their child, claim their crimes are ancient history when asked for justice, can't punish child for parents crime but child profits from stolen goods and wont return, years later claim it is their Heritage. This would be illegal if it happens to their citizens. British crimes don't have an expiry date but I guess it's only valid when the victim is British otherwise it's not even a crime.
  The culture and heritage stolen from colonies should be given back to them. Unlike Nazi, the colonial crimes are not punished because criminal says so even though colonialism is worse and continued after ww2/nazism. The same thing happened when people from colonies called for justice in the past and even now. Colonizing countries should accept and apologies for their genocide. They can't give back the life they have taken. I don't think they should be held accountable for the perishable and value goods but goods representing the culture, heritage, history of the place should be returned. You don't believe in the gods, you can't read the language, people who made them are not important in your history. You trade/auction them and keep them behind closed doors if someone is generous to keep it in a museum, people for whom it is important need to travel half the world and pay to see it for 5min. 
  So british, France, Italy, Spain, Dutch, Norway, Portugal, etc. Oh if one of them gave away all would have too and they are rich by stealing and how the poor are gonna get justice there is no international law to hold them accountable even if there was it's not like they could afford them. So they are just allied parties. 
  British decided to give some Greek artifacts back to Greece because they thought it belonged there. Maybe, thought is given if you are white European abrahamic people just like Nazi vs colonial crimes >
  
  They have as much claim to Egyptian artefacts as the Italians do to Roman ones, or the Greeks to Greek ones. >
  
  I agree. The British Museum deserves them more! /s >
  
  That is the dumbest excuse I've ever heard. >
  
  This whole post was written from a place of ignorance. >
  
  Don't you love it when opinions aren't unpopular, just based on dumb, ignorant beliefs and lack of knowledge >
  
  Well it sure as hell don’t belong to the british >
  
  I agree. Modern Egyptians have no more cultural connection to ancient Egypt than the archeologists who dug the artifacts up. The artifacts should go wherever they are safest and most likely to be preserved for future study. >
  
  They most definitely have more connection to ancient Egyptian land, culture, and history than modern day Brits. >
  
  That's sort of irrelevant considering just how great the separation from the people who created the artefacts are to the people who hold them/the people who live on the land they came from, 
  They say that Scandinavians have more neanderthal blood in them than other countries. Does that give them a right to all neanderthal artefacts...? 
  Of course not. But it raises the question of where we draw the line and why we draw the line >
  
  Neanderthal genes are not exclusive to Scandinavians though, they just have higher amounts….
  Egyptian artifacts are exclusive to egypt. Ie, egyptian artifacts are from egypt That alone gives modern Egyptians more claim to them than places like the UK >
  
  They still exist, 100 million plus. Is it hard for you to comprehend that not all regions of the world experienced genocides🫣. Do u understand that culture is ever changing? Why don’t u make the same arguments about Greeks, Italians latin Americans? >
  
  I am an Egyptian. As much as I'd love these artifacts to come back to our land and for us to be closer to Ancient Egypt history (I've seen Americans who know way more about ancient Egypt than me, just from what they've been taught in school.) And for it to be taught properly and all..
  I don't think they should be returned to Modern Day Egypt anytime soon. I don't trust that we will take care of them properly, that's the only reason honestly.. >
  
  Les go >
  
  1- Egyptians are genetically North Africans, they aren't Asiatics. 
  2- Stolen artefacts do belong to their countries, Greece has many stolen artefacts too, will you also wipe its nation off their country?!!!!! >
  
  Egypt have best claim to it >
  
  Are you British? >
  
  I'm British. I agree with this post in principal but I recognise that the argument is fairly simplistic in nature.
  I don't believe anyone has a right to artefacts from thousands of years ago; particularly not purely based on the region they were located. Arguing that a 3000 year old Egyptian artifact belongs to the current Egyptian government is a fairly poor argument imo
  However, it does seem wrong to me that my country can hoard these artefacts from a time in history where our ruling class took advantage of the rest of the world. Nobody should own these items unless they have good reason to.
  British museums have already studied these artefacts. I think the most reasonable thing to do now is pass them on to other countries, primarily the ones where the artefact originated, for them to study too. I am privileged to grow up in a country with free museums that offer a rich look into global history. People from other countries deserve that too.
  I even think that Britain should donate artefacts from our own history for foreign countries to study.
  History is fucking cool; no one owns it so lets share it. >
  
  Well they sure as hell don’t belong to the Brits >
  
  There's no cultural continuity between the Minoans and the Modern (or Ancient) Greeks, the Tartessians and the modern Spaniards, the Etruscans and the Italians, or the Nuragaic culture and the modern Sardinians, so are they also fair game for some museum in very peaceful and stable Bhutan? >
  
  Remind us all how the people who live in Egypt have zero cultural connection to ancient Egypt? 
  Also lots of modern artifacts from Egypt (and other countries) are lent out to other museums across the globe. Not everything from a foreign country in an exhibit has been stolen. >
  
  Modern day Egyptians don’t have any cultural connection to ancient Egyptians? Really?
   (Genuine question. I have no clue) >
  
  Yeah, the classical ancient Egyptian Nation stopped to exist with Alexander and after the Romans and Mamluks there was next to no trace left of it >
  
  Modern Egyptians still share genetic ties with their ancient ancestors, and aspects of ancient Egyptian culture are still present today. The modern Egyptians do have a claim to these objects. By your own logic, the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas, Australia, and New Zealand don’t have any claim to their lands bc they aren’t connected with their ancestors from the 17th century. >
  
  We get that often. There's a whole thing about the US taking the Black Hills from the Sioux. Even though the Sioux took it from the Chyenne about 90 years earlier. The US has owned that land for around 150 years, yet apparently the Sioux who owned the land for only 90 years somehow has a better claim to it. If anything, it should go back to the Chyenne. >
  
  This doesn’t apply to Egypt in anyway whatsoever. >
  
  They don't belong to England either. >
  
  And with any of those artifacts in the British museum, the country they are from gave British archaeologists permission to go and do their thing. The people there had no interest in sifting around through the dirt looking for artifacts. If those artifacts belong to anyone it's the archeologists that went out on that expedition, put in the research and work, and got permission to do it.
  And ultimately a lot of those places where the British "stole" artifacts from are not the most stable places right now. Giving them back would be a terrible mistake because they could very likely be destroyed by extremists that hate any history before Islam. >
  
  Dude, this Is not an unpopular opinion, it is just not true. >
  
  Funny. 
  Saying modern Egyptians don't have any cultural connection to the mummies under their feet and the monuments all around them is hilarious.
  It's like saying modern Americans have no connection to Fort Ticonderoga because most of our ancestors immigrated later.
  So  there was a 2017 DNA study where they took DNA from 150 or so mummies. The study used 135 modern Egyptian samples. The ancient Egyptian individuals in their own dataset possessed highly similar mtDNA haplogroup profiles, and cluster together, supporting genetic continuity across the 1,300-year transect. Modern Egyptians shared this mtDNA haplogroup profile, but also carried 8% more African component. A wide range of mtDNA haplogroups were found including clades of J,U,H,HV,M,R0,R2,K,T,L,I,N,X,W. The three ancient Egyptian individuals were analysed for Y-DNA, two were assigned to West Asian haplogroup J and one to haplogroup E1b1b1 both are carried by modern Egyptians, and also common among Afroasiatic speakers in Northern Africa and the Middle East.
  So much for that theory from a genetic POV as well.  In fact, both ancient Egyptians and modern Egyptians have a wide variety of DNA, including the same DNA groups, leaving an indication that largely the Egyptians today are the Egyptians of yesteryear with a little bit of Arab, and Byzantine thrown in. >
  
  
  …the ancient Egyptian race doesn’t exist anymore and those who live there today don't have any cultural connection to it. 
  
  🤦🏻‍♂️ >
  
  I think they should stay where they are and where they are safe :) >
  
  
  and where they are safe
  
  AHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA >
  
  You are right. They belong in the British Museum. Because everyone knows that they are the true ancient Egyptians. >
  
  The mental gymnastics that people go through to excuse colonization and theft of artifacts is crazy but here is an upvote because this truly is an unpopular opinion. >
  
  The current population of Egypt are descendants of colonizers though. The Arabs weren't the original inhabitants. >
  
  When did this colonization happen, and how exactly were native Egyptians removed or killed? >
  
  Now this is odd here, this says "Conquest" and not "Colonization"
  It also doesnt say anything about Egyptians being replaced with Arabs.
  Using this to back up your claim of colonization is a bit embarrasing. >
  
  Um. Wow. This is a fucked opinion. >
  
  Not one for preservation of history are you? The repercussions of just letting anyone take anything would lead to a wild loss of historical information.
  Furthermore, ancient Egyptian artifacts are significantly more related to Egypt than to a country none of the people at the time ever even saw. >
  
  There are some Roman or Greek graffiti found in some ancient Egyptian stuff. The writing was Around 2k years old. Nobody fucking cares about preservation. >
  
  Random idiot does something bad = nobody cares
  Just because some don't care doesn't mean no one cares >
  
  Following emancipation, the French said the something quite similar about the black people that they brought to the Island of Martinique >
  
  So who do you think they belong to?
  The current country and current population might not be the exact same entity or ethnic group, but still are the successors of the land and the "next of kin"? >
  
  Incorrect. >
  
  Average British museum employee >
  
  #HowToMakeEverythingAboutRace
  This argument is just stupid on so many levels... >
  
  Every single person trying to get that stuff are grave robbers in any case. Hypothetically, if I have a mausoleum built for myself, and before I die I start stashing gold in it, then I die, leaving no heirs, but someone finds out about it, they don’t have a right to it, no heirs that have a right to it, and honestly I’m dead so I don’t need it, guarantee eventually someone’s going to see money just sitting there and come get it, at which point finders keepers seems to be everyone’s opinion. 
  The issue I admit I don’t know anything about, why did the Egyptian government let them to take that shit in the first place? The government of country tends to claim ownership of any wealth within it’s borders and don’t let outsiders extract it without their permission. I’m going to guess bribes to the right people were involved, which would mean that their own countrymen actually sold those.  Even if those people were corrupt, I don’t think there’s any precedent for backsies. Just in the US, I’m betting Russia would like to rethink the sale of Alaska and the French the Louisiana Purchase (even though neither really owned that land, they just claimed it even though other people were living there, just like the rest of the US), and the native Americans the sale of Manhattan for $24 worth of beads as I hear it. I guarantee you we’re not going to return it to any of them. >
  
  This is what the sub is meant for, a prime unpopular opinion, although I'm not inclined to agree with the "the people there have no cultural connection to ancient Egypt and all ancient Egyptian traces are gone" >
  
  well this certainly fits the sub >
  
  .... put the dead peoples back where they were buried, and the stuff they had w them lol. My dad died recently and I'm just thinking of people digging him up and taking his stuff while wandering off , then arguing whi gets to keep him lmao. >
  
  okay if that is your opinion, then where should these artifacts go? Louvre Museum? The British Museum? No, they belong to their land honey sorry to break it to you. >
  
  I don’t think we should encourage British people to keep mummies based on their cultural connection to them considering they used to eat mummies… >
  
  Britain has no connection to them either. Should they still keep them? >
  
  bro it belongs to the country in which it came from. the modern Egyptians don't need to have a connection to the ruins to claim it. another county can't just go into Egypt and take what ever they want simply because they have no "cultural connection to it" >
  
  Whom they belong to then if not Egyptians? And why does Stonehenge belong to England? Congrats sir, this is officially the most idiotic statement I have ever read on Reddit. >
  
  I hear someone is taking Stonehenge apart and moving it to the US. No issues there it has nothing to do with us. >
  
  Curious to hear your thoughts on the Winged Victory being taken from Greece! >
  
  British museum is this your secret account? >
  
  
  The reason being is that the ancient Egyptian race doesn't exist anymore and those who live there today don't have any cultural connection to it.
  
  Smartest european >
  
  They belong to whoever gets then and can stop others from taking it. >
  
  Doesn’t matter one bit. Their land, their stuff. It was taken illegally, and it belonged to the people who’s land they took it from. >
  
  Op sounds like he works for the British Museum. >
  
  only decent arguement i can see for any egyptian stuff not belonging to egypt would be things that the egyptians themselves had stolen. since its literally impossible to proove that, i cannot think of any reason why their artifacts and relics would not belong to them...... >
  
  Don't agree. But, you worded it reasonably so I'll upvote. >
  
  So where do they belong and who should have claim to them? >
  
  I agree with OP's point generally, but I think it needs a bit of edit. Yes, the Coptic culture, language, and religion still exist, but they are the minority. The majority is the Arab settlers who came later >
  
  Brb off to raid some museums in China, they have cars now and no longer have an emperor so none of their heritage is actually theirs anymore. You logic is fucked on multiple levels op. >
  
  Egyptian artifacts don’t belong in Egypt? Mmmm hmmmmmmm… >
  
  Truly unpopular, the western colonization mindset never went away >
  
  No “cultural connection” 😂 because clearly no one’s gives a shit about history >
  
  So the British have a more legitimate claim as conquerors? >
  
  Notice how they’re both called “Egyptians” though? Just because they don’t have the ancient practices and old architecture you see in movies doesn’t mean they don’t still exist. They might not write in hieroglyphics, but they’re still descendants of the ancient Egyptians. It is their heritage. >
  
  So....do they belong to the Victorian & Edwardian Brits who ransacked tombs for mummies to grind into snuff to put up their noses? Just asking for clarification. >
  
  As a Brit I'm legally obliged to agree. >
  
  And they belong in The British Museum? >
  
  Some people still practice the same beliefs as ancient Egyptians. The eye of Horus, Sun god worship etc. Your take seems like an uneducated one. >
  
  Someone heard that Ptolemy was a Greek and went full force on this one. Just getting my comment in before this thread is locked. >
  
  Whatever country's territory it was found in is who owns it. 
  You can't just find certain Native American artifacts in the United States and claim their yours because you found them and the culture doesn't exist anymore. >
  
  Yes but the natives still exist the ancient Egyptians don't >
  
  Yeah, and museums still take our historical artefacts. We have families still alive and well with their ancestors cultural items on display. 
  If done well, and at the consent of the family, sure. Put it in a museum. But don't just take it and never assume that just because a culture from ancient times is dead doesn't mean the people lost ties with it. >
  
  “Don’t have any cultural connection to it”.   
  I think colonized history books lied to you. >
  
  WTH are you even talking about? There is no "ancient Egyptian race" that is genetically distinct from modern Egyptian populations. There has surely been a lot of cultural changes in the last 5,000 years because - yeah- thats true everywhere. There has also been an injection of Arab and Ottoman blood given colonialism but modern and ancient Egyptians are mostly genetically North African and always have been so those artifacts, very much, belong to them. >
  
  So all the fossil fuels and mineral deposits belong to the descendants of dinosaurs?  this is  dumb. >
  
  So the land where they were discovered does not have a claim on them. Then, who does?
  Also, why do you think your criteria of blood ties is the only reason for artifacts to belong to a country? What about all the money they spent on preserving and keeping the areas under protection, or when their country was invaded centuries ago, those were also by definition, modern day egyptians, yet they struggled to keep the artifacts safe.
  Your logic also fails to consider things like the pyramids. They are immovable objects but belong to egypt, yet a smaller, movable object does not belong simply because it can be taken outside the country? how does that work exactly?
  ​
  This is technically an opinion, and is in line with the theme of this sub, but my personal opinion on your opinion is that it is a shallow opinion based on nothing realistic. >
  
  Yes they do. >
  
  so the coptic people still exist >
  
  The super majority of Modern Egyptians are North Africans. They didn't get wiped out, they were the biggest ever nation in the ancient MENA. >
  
  American soil doesn't belong to the US. >
  
  You realize the egyptians are still around now? Like they didn’t all die right? >
  
  So England doesn't have to give back all the things they've "stolen", I mean appropriated for display in a museum, from different countries that it had conquered, I mean colonized?
  Don't gatekeep what you think should be relevant to a different country