The exact ownership of the Elgin Marbles has been controversial for many years between the British Museum and the Greek Ministry of Culture in Greece. The British Museum intends to keep the Elgin Marbles in London and display them in the Duveen Galleries. The Greek Ministry of Culture is attempting to acquire the Elgin Marbles, which claims Greece is the marbles' correct residence, to place them in the New Acropolis Museum in Athens. My position in this dispute is that the Eglin Marbles be returned to Greece so that they can be placed in the New Acropolis Museum. My solution to this problem is for the British Museum to donate half of the Elgin Marbles to the New Acropolis Museum, which will choose which marbles it wishes to receive. In exchange, the British Museum would receive some works of art from the New Acropolis Museum. The first question of the Elgin Marbles is who is considered the true owner of the marbles. The British Museum claims this is the case because they purchased the marbles from Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, who brought them to London after acquiring firmans from the Ottomans who ruled Greece at that time . But the firmans given to Lord Elgin by the Ottomans thwarted his actions in removing the Parthenon marbles. The firmans only gave Elgin permission to copy, draw, cast and dig around the Parthenon and not to remove the marbles (UNESCO). The second firman gives Elgin permission “to dig, to remove any sculpture or inscription which would not interfere with the works or the walls of the citadel” (“History of the Marbles”). The second confirmation that Elgin did not have the right to remove the Parthenon marbles is a letter from Robert Adair, the British ambassador to Constantinople. Adair wrote to Elgin on July 31...... middle of diary......, Ian. “The 1930s cleaning of the Parthenon sculptures at the British Museum.” British Museum. Np, and Web. March 22, 2014. .Theodorou, Théodore. “Letter from Robert Adair to Lord Elgin.” Adair in Elgin. Trans. Léonora Navari Web. March 22, 2014. .UNESCO, ed. Return or restitution of cultural property to countries of origin. Athens, Greece: 2008. Web. March 22, 2014. .Voulgarakis, Georgios. The presentation of the first fragment of the Parthenon marbles returned to Greece. University of Heidelberg, Heidelberg, Germany. September 5, 2006. Ministry of Culture and Sports. Internet. March 22. 2014. .