The Royal Artillery is facing criticism after it emerged they are refusing public access to an “extraordinary object” looted by the British army in the 19th century from the Asante people in modern-day Ghana .
英国皇家炮兵部队因拒绝公众接触英国军队在 19 世纪从现代加纳的阿桑特人手中掠夺的“非凡物品”而面临批评。
The glistening golden ram’s head would seemingly be worthy of any museum, but it remains hidden within the regiment’s mess at Larkhill in Wiltshire.
闪闪发光的金色公羊头似乎值得任何博物馆收藏，但它仍然隐藏在威尔特郡拉克希尔团的食堂中。
The artefact is among treasures pillaged by the British army from the sprawling old royal palace in the Asante state capital, Kumasi, in 1874, before soldiers set fire to the city and blew up the palace. The British returned in 1896 and looted the rebuilt palace. Their commander later recalled: “I had shown the power of England.”
1874 年，英国军队从阿桑特州首府库马西庞大的古老皇宫掠夺了这件文物，随后士兵放火烧毁了这座城市并炸毁了宫殿。 1896年英国人返回并洗劫了重建的宫殿。 他们的指挥官后来回忆道：“我展示了英格兰的力量。”
The spoils of the Anglo-Asante wars were sold and dispersed among private and public collections, including to the Victoria and Albert Museum and the British Museum, which, in 2024, together made the historic decision to return 32 pieces of gold court regalia to the Manhyia Palace Museum in Ghana – although only on long-term loan.
盎格鲁-阿桑特战争的战利品被出售并分散在私人和公共收藏中，包括维多利亚和阿尔伯特博物馆以及大英博物馆，这两家博物馆于 2024 年共同做出了历史性决定，将 32 件宫廷金器归还给加纳曼希亚宫博物馆 — — 尽管只是长期租借。
The most impressive of the looted objects is arguably the beautifully cast ram’s head with spiralling horns, about 19cm in width.
被盗物品中最令人印象深刻的无疑是铸造精美、带有螺旋角的公羊头，宽度约 19 厘米。
Among newspaper reports of 1874, the Shipping and Mercantile Gazette reported: “The best trophy is a ram’s head … This is very valuable.”
1874年的报纸报道中，《航运和商业公报》报道说：“最好的战利品是公羊头……这非常有价值。”
Barnaby Phillips, a former BBC correspondent who reported for over a decade from Mozambique, Angola, Nigeria and South Africa , was taken aback when his request to see it in researching his forthcoming book was turned down for security reasons.
前 BBC 记者巴纳比·菲利普斯 (Barnaby Phillips) 曾在莫桑比克、安哥拉、尼日利亚和南非进行报道十多年，当他在研究即将出版的新书时要求查看该内容时，出于安全原因遭到拒绝，他大吃一惊。
He said: “It’s an army institution holding the spoils of war, but they say it’s not safe to show it to me. That’s somewhat ironic.”
他说：“这是一个保存战利品的军队机构，但他们说向我展示它不安全。 这有点讽刺。”
He added: “The letter from the Royal Artillery’s regimental secretary was curt and categorical. The regiment was ‘unable to agree’ to my request to see its Asante gold ram’s head, held in the officers’ mess room at their barracks in Larkhill … ‘It has long been our policy, primarily on security grounds, not to allow public access to items held in the regiment’s private collection,’ wrote the secretary. He clarified that it was for insurance reasons.”
他补充道：“皇家炮兵团秘书的这封信简短而明确。 该团“无法同意”我的要求，查看存放在拉克希尔军营军官餐厅里的阿桑特金公羊头……“长期以来，我们的政策主要是出于安全考虑，不允许公众接触该团私人收藏的物品，”秘书写道。 他澄清说这是出于保险原因。”
Ivor Agyeman-Duah, a Kumasi-born historian, diplomat and director of the Manhyia Palace Museum , has been asked by the Asante king, Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, to help negotiate the return of Asante regalia with British institutions.
出生于库马西的历史学家、外交官兼曼希亚宫博物馆馆长艾弗·阿吉曼-杜阿 (Ivor Agyeman-Duah) 应阿散特国王奥图姆富奥·奥塞·图图二世 (Otumfuo Osei Tutu II) 的要求，协助与英国机构就阿散特王权的归还事宜进行谈判。
“We are interested in negotiating with the Royal Artillery,” Agyeman-Duah said. “I hope to go to the officer’s mess when I’m next in England and I shall be writing to them. This piece is iconic evidence of Asante prowess over two centuries.”
“我们有兴趣与皇家炮兵进行谈判，”阿吉曼-杜阿说。 “我希望下次去英格兰时能去军官食堂，我会写信给他们。 这件作品是阿桑特两个世纪以来高超技艺的标志性证据。”
The Anglo-Asante wars ended in 1901 with the formal annexation of its territory into the Gold Coast British crown colony. They were caused partly by Britain’s interests in west Africa’s natural resources, resisted by the Asante people, for whom such gold objects are imbued with the spirits of their ancestors. The British campaign was further justified by their determination at that stage to end slavery.
1901 年，英国-阿桑特战争结束，其领土正式并入黄金海岸英国直辖殖民地。 部分原因是英国对西非自然资源的兴趣引起了阿桑特人的抵制，对他们来说，这些金器充满了他们祖先的精神。 英国当时决心结束奴隶制，这进一步证明了他们的行动是合理的。
Phillips believes that the Royal Artillery may be “embarrassed” by a stand that was commissioned for the ram’s head in 1875, as it depicts three black boys in loincloths, as if holding the object aloft, while its base is engraved with words commemorating the battles and capture of the city.
菲利普斯认为，皇家炮兵可能会对 1875 年为公羊头制作的一个支架感到“尴尬”，因为它描绘了三个穿着腰带的黑人男孩，仿佛高举着这个物体，而它的底座上刻有纪念这场战斗和占领这座城市的文字。
He said: “The stand transformed the ram’s head into a trophy and cemented its ceremonial role in the officer’s mess. It is also, from the perspective of the 21st century, in shockingly bad taste.”
他说：“这个看台将公羊的头变成了战利品，并巩固了它在军官食堂中的仪式作用。 从 21 世纪的角度来看，这种做法的品味也极其低劣。”
He added that there was further embarrassment over another piece in the same mess. The soldier who took the ram’s head, William Knox, also looted a magnificent silver cross from a church on the controversial 1868 military expedition to Abyssinia.
他补充说，同样混乱的另一件作品更令人尴尬。 1868 年，在颇受争议的阿比西尼亚军事远征中，拿走公羊头的士兵威廉·诺克斯 (William Knox) 还从一座教堂抢走了一个华丽的银十字架。
Phillips said: “Two of the most extraordinary objects that were looted by the British army are in this mess and nobody can see them, except for the regiment’s invited guests.”
菲利普斯说：“英国军队掠夺的两件最非凡的物品就在这片狼藉中，除了受邀的军团客人外，没有人能看到它们。”
He argued that such important objects could at least be loaned to public museums rather than being seen by a select few.
他认为，如此重要的物品至少可以借给公共博物馆，而不是只供少数人参观。
Phillips’s latest research features in his forthcoming book, titled The African Kingdom of Gold: Britain and the Asante Treasure , which will be published next month.
菲利普斯在他即将出版的新书《非洲黄金王国：英国和阿桑特宝藏》中介绍了他的最新研究成果，该书将于下个月出版。
He quotes an unnamed director of a major national museum, who had been allowed to visit the objects at Larkhill, telling him: “When you see those things, and you realise no one else can see them, and they will never leave this place, it’s like a punch in the stomach.”
他引用了一位被允许参观拉克希尔展品的大型国家博物馆的未透露姓名的馆长的话，他告诉他：“当你看到这些东西时，你意识到没有人能看到它们，而且它们永远不会离开这个地方，这就像在肚子上打了一拳。”
An army spokesperson said: “Whilst we don’t comment on individual cases, access to military locations is controlled for security, operational and safety reasons.”
一名陆军发言人表示：“虽然我们不对个别案件发表评论，但出于安全、行动和安全原因，进入军事地点受到控制。”