Dublin’s historic Shelbourne Hotel has removed four statues that have stood at the front of the landmark for 153 years as they depict two Nubian princesses and two shackled slave girls holding torches over their heads.
Nubia was a rival kingdom of Ancient Egypt that existed along the Nile River. It was the seat of one of the earliest civilizations of ancient Africa, with a history that can be traced from at least 2500 BC onward with the Kerma culture.
The Irish Times reported that the statues were removed due to the sensitivities surrounding the depiction of slavery.
In recent times with the rise of Black Lives Matter protests in recent months, statues with racist connotations or connected in some way to the African slave trade have been targeted in the US and UK by both mobs and elected officials for removal.
These particular statutes were commissioned from the studios of MM Barbezat of Paris and two or ornate statues depicted ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics on the front of them.
Erected in 1867 the statues were a common sight for Dubliners throughout tumultuous times in Irish and world history the Shelbourne Hotel announced that the statues were removed in “in light of recent world events” the Irish Times reported.
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