buddha's dead sea

The Schøyen Collection, in Oslo, Norway, perhaps the largest private collection of religious manuscripts in the world, is up for sale.  The owner of the collection, Mr. Martin Schøyen, hopes Norway's national government will purchase the collection for the National Library, and wants to donate the proceeds to a humanitarian fund named in his honour.

The collection includes important biblical manuscripts, one of which was recently sold to the Vatican.   But of considerable interest - at least to the press and also in terms of ethics - is a large collection of ancient Buddhist manuscripts smuggled out of Afghanistan in the aftermath of the Taliban's rise to power, sometimes dubbed Buddhism's "Dead Sea Scrolls". 

In a statement, the Schøyen Library points out that the Buddhist manuscripts are the only ones that do not come from old collections, “but were acquired to prevent destruction, after requests from Buddhists and scholars.” The statement goes on to address the question of whether these manuscripts should be returned to Afghanistan, “after they have been published, and if peace, order, religious tolerance and safe conditions have been established in that country.” But after analyzing the history of Afghanistan, the Schøyen Library concludes that it is “not the right and safe home for these manuscripts in the future.”

Bendik Rugaas, director of Norway’s National Library, has already welcomed Mr Schøyen’s proposal to sell his entire collection to the State. But even if the money is raised, and the sale goes ahead, this does not resolve the question of what should eventually happen to the Buddhist material. Although Mr Rugaas would be happy for the manuscripts to remain in Oslo, John Herstad, director of the National Archives, is among those who support the return of the manuscripts to Afghanistan when conditions are appropriate.

Yeah, that and the Elgin marbles.

Ain't gonna happen, so why the hand wringing I don't know.  Scholars will have more access to the manuscripts in Oslo, with or without the Taliban.