CAIRO: Dr. Zahi Hawass, the world-renowned archaeologist and Egyptologist, has called for the removal or relocation of the statue of French archeologist Jean Francois Champollion, which is located in the courtyard of College de France, because it is offensive to the Egyptian people.
The statue depicts Champollion standing with his foot on the head of the statue of Ramses.
Hawass made the request during a lecture recently delivered at a major antiquities exhibition in Paris entitled “Ramses the Great and the Gold of the Pharaohs,” which continues until Sept. 17.
“This statue shows contempt and a lack of appreciation that is not reciprocated by the Egyptian people, who appreciated Champollion’s role in the field of Egyptology and named a street after him,” Hawass said.
“Therefore, we demand the same amount of respect.”
In addition to the coffin of one of ancient Egypt’s longest-ruling pharaohs, Ramses II, the exhibition includes an array of ancient Egyptian artefacts, including solid gold and silver jewelry, statues, amulets, masks and other sarcophagi.
State-of-the-art multimedia reproductions are showcasing ancient Egyptian civilization and provide visitors insight into the life and accomplishments of Ramses II.
The traveling exhibition has been held in several major cities.
It was inaugurated in Houston in November 2021 before moving to San Francisco in August last year.
Champollion’s statue is made from limestone, crafted from a single stone block. Champollion is the French scholar who unlocked the secrets of ancient Egypt’s hieroglyphs. It was sculpted by Frederic Auguste Bartholdi in 1875.
Meanwhile, Hawass also called on France to return other antiquities. “The Zodiac ceiling (Dendera zodiac) currently displayed in the Louvre Museum must be returned to its original home, to be placed in the Dendera Temple in Qena Governorate (southern Egypt).”
The Dendera zodiac is an ancient Egyptian depiction of the sky and stars. It is a circular bas-relief carving from the ceiling of the Temple of Hathor in Dendera.
The zodiac is one of the oldest known depictions of the constellations.
Gen. Louis Desaix, a member of Napoleon’s expedition to Egypt, was so captivated by the Zodiac Ceiling that he commissioned artist Denon to draw it for the Description de L’Egypte, the record of the expedition's exploration of Egypt.
The ceiling’s beauty and significance did not go unnoticed by French collector Sebastien Saulnier. He decided that such a remarkable piece should belong to France.
However, Saulnier was determined to keep his plan a secret and announced that he was excavating at Thebes, where he purchased mummies and antiquities to cover his tracks.
During this time, some English visitors were also sketching at Dendera, and only after they left did Saulnier return.
With the help of his French agent, Saulnier removed the Ceiling of the Temple and transported it to Paris.
The ceiling was eventually sold to King Louis XVIII for 150,000 francs.
Last October, Hawass launched an electronic signature campaign to demand the return of the Rosetta Stone from the British Museum in London and the Zodiac Ceiling from the Louvre Museum in France.
Hawass said at the time: “The Zodiac is considered a unique and important Egyptian artifact, and removing it from its original location is immoral as it is a symbol of Egyptian civilization that must be returned to its rightful place.”
