In May 2019 The Art Newspaper reported that the British Museum would consider a long-term loan of eleven Ethiopian tabots, sacred altar tablets that the Ethiopian Orthodox Church says should be seen only by priests.
The tablets are kept in a sealed storeroom in London. Most were seized after the 1868 Battle of Maqdala. An Ethiopian culture ministry delegation met museum director Hartwig Fischer and informally asked for their return along with other Maqdala objects.
UK law still blocked permanent deaccession for national museums, so officials floated a loan that could last for years if trustees agreed. Conservators would normally inspect loans, but these objects are meant to stay invisible even to curators, which made any arrangement unusual.
Kept as heritage archive, the file dates a concrete restitution talk over sacred Ethiopian Christian objects that British troops took in the nineteenth century.
Sources: The Art Newspaper