The tabot – a blackened flat piece of wood featuring a carved inscription that symbolically represents the Ark of the Covenant and the Ten Commandments – has been at the Abbey since British forces returned with it from the Battle of Maqdala, where it was looted in 1868. The move by Westminster Abbey will put pressure on the British Museum, which has 11 tabots in its collection that are not on display and are available to be visited by Ethiopian Orthodox priests. There have been successful returns of tabots held in British institutions. One was sent back to Ethiopia soon after it was discovered in a church cupboard in Edinburgh 23 years ago. When the artefact landed back in the country, which has been petitioning for the return of its tabots for decades, a public holiday was declared and thousands of people lined the streets of Addis Ababa to witness its return.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
