By DECLAN WALSH
He is no Indiana Jones, but a bespectacled Irish doctor has drawn comparisons with the Hollywood hero by returning a replica of the Lost Ark of the Covenant to its home in Ethiopia, 135 years after it was raided by British troops.
The return has been joyously hailed
in Ethiopia and renewed calls for Britain to return other treasures, including gold chalices and hundreds of sacred manuscripts, taken during colonial times and now held by national museums, libraries and the Queen.
Dr Ian MacLennan stumbled across the small wooden artefact, known as a tabot, in London's Maggs bookshop one month ago, where it was described as a "wooden portable slab for altar use".
The County Donegal native - a self-described eccentric who converted from Catholicism to the Ethiopian Orthodox church about 10 years ago - recognised the sacred treasure, bought it and quietly flew it back to Ethiopia on Monday.
For Ethiopians, the return of stolen tabots is of immense religious and cultural significance. The first to come back - from Edinburgh last September - drew a throng of hundreds of thousands onto the streets to witness a four-hour procession from airport to cathedral.
The tabot represents the original Ark of the Covenant in which the Israelites carried the 10 Commandments to the Promised Land.
The search for the ark inspired the Indiana Jones films, but Ethiopians believe it is held in the northern town of Axum.
MacLelland's tabot was stolen in 1868 after British troops stormed Maqdala, a mountain citadel where the Emperor Tewodros had been holding Queen Victoria's emissary hostage.
They also looted over 1200 treasures, gold crowns, hundreds of manuscripts, religious icons and at least a dozen tabots.
Campaigners say the precious objects should be returned immediately.
- INDEPENDENT
