AN ETHIOPIAN CROWN IS RETURNED.

By Damali and Nii B. Andrews.

When yet another violent and murderous African government came to power in Ethiopia in 1974, Sirak Asfaw – an Ethiopian national, fled to the Netherlands 4 years later.

In his Rotterdam apartment, he hosted a string of friends and refugees from Ethiopia throughout the 1980s and 90s.

One such visitor arrived in 1998 with a priceless cultural object – an over 200 year old Ethiopian brass crown hidden in his suitcase; it had been stolen.

Mr. Sirak confronted the visitor and took possession of the crown insisting that he will not allow it to leave his apartment until it could be returned to Ethiopia.

Priest wearing the crown – also called a zwed.

True to his word, Sirak has been guarding the crown zealously for the last 21 years while waiting for the opportune moment to return it.

“Most people don’t really care about this cultural heritage,” he said. “I’m loyal to Ethiopia.”

Last year, with a new government in place in Ethiopia, Sirak initiated moves with the assistance of Dutch authorities to return the crown to its homeland.

The zwed.

It is an ornate gilded copper piece that features images of Jesus and his twelve apostles; it carries an inscription dating to 1633-34.

An Oxford University scholar – Jacopo Gnisci, who examined the crown has confirmed its authenticity, saying there were less than two dozen of these crowns, called “zewd”, in existence.

He added, “These crowns are of great cultural and symbolic significance in Ethiopia, as they are usually donated by high-ranking officials to churches in a practice that reaches as far back as the Late Antiquity.”

Ethiopian hand held crosses. Private collection.

The last time the crown was seen in public, it was worn by a priest in a photograph taken in 1993 before it disappeared, explained Gnisci. 

An investigation was launched at the time but the culprits were never found.

“Finally it is the right time to bring back the crown to its owners – and the owners of the crown are all Ethiopians,” Sirak told the BBC.

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