British expedition to Abyssinia
The British Expedition to Abyssinia was a rescue mission and punitive expedition carried out in 1868 by the armed forces of the British Empire against the Ethiopian Empire (also known at the time as Abyssinia). Emperor Tewodros II of Ethiopia, then often referred to by the anglicized name Theodore, imprisoned several missionaries and two representatives of the British government in an attempt to force the British government to comply with his requests for military assistance. The punitive expedition launched by the British in response required the transportation of a sizeable military force hundreds of kilometres across mountainous terrain lacking any road system. The formidable obstacles to the action were overcome by the commander of the expedition, General Robert Napier, who captured the Ethiopian capital, and rescued all the hostages.
Historian Harold G. Marcus described the action as "one of the most expensive affairs of honour in history."[3]
Looted objects[edit]
The British Museum sent a member of staff as part of the expedition.[45] After the Magdala expeditions ended, many looted objects, cultural artefacts and art objects found their way into state and private collections, family possessions, and the hands of ordinary soldiers.[46] Most of the books and manuscripts went to the British Museum or the Bodleian Library in Oxford, while a few went to the Royal Library in Windsor Castle and to smaller British collections. Other looted objects ended up in the Victoria and Albert Museum, the Museum of Mankind and the National Army Museum. The National Army Museum agreed to return a lock of Tewodros' hair in 2019 which was taken during the expedition.[47] All the scientific acquisitions and expropriated articles of the Magdala expedition stimulated and promoted an increased interest in the history and culture of Ethiopia among European researchers and the educated public. This laid the foundations for modern Ethiopian Studies, and also for the research on the ancient Kingdom of Aksum.
From time to time some of the looted treasure has been returned to Ethiopia. For instance, an edition of the Kebra Nagast along with an icon of a picture of Christ wearing the crown of thorns were returned to Emperor Yohannes IV in the 1870s. In 1902, Lady Valerie Meux bequeathed her collection of Ethiopian manuscripts to Emperor Menelik II, but her will was overturned shortly after her death in 1910.
In 1924, the Empress Zawditu was given one of the two looted crowns of Tewodros but the more valuable gold crown was retained by the Victoria and Albert Museum. In the 1960s, Queen Elizabeth II returned Tewodros's royal cap and seal to Emperor Haile Selassie while on a state visit to Ethiopia.[7]
In 1999, several prominent figures in Britain and Ethiopia created the Association For the Return of the Magdala Ethiopian Treasures (AFROMET) which has pursued an information and lobbying campaign to see all treasures taken during the expedition repatriated back to Ethiopia.
In popular culture[edit]
The Abyssinia Expedition is the setting for the George MacDonald Fraser novel Flashman on the March.