Artifact headed back to Ethiopia

Artifact headed back to Ethiopia

The tabot- an oblong wooden box representing the ark of the covenant- that was part of the loot seized by British forces in an attack on the Ethiopian Emperor Tewodros (Theodore) in 1868 and that ended up in an Edinburgh church is on its way back to Ethiopia.

It was handed over Jan. 27 at a ceremony in St. John’s Episcopal Church where it was discovered last year by the rector, John McLuckie.

The tabot had been presented to the church by a Scottish officer on his return to Edinburgh from the 1868 expedition.

The tabot was handed over to an Ethiopian delegation led by Archbishop Isaias and which included the Ethiopian ambassador to the United Kingdom.

The handover has led to calls for other objects looted from Ethiopia during the 1868 campaign to be returned.

(RNS)