Exploring Antiquities of the World at the British Museum
You can’t go to London and not visit the famous repository of those treasures brought back to England by British Archaeologists, Anthropologists, Historians and Explorers, THE BRITISH MUSEUM. The museum has a large collection and since I had been there in 2001, I could play the magnanimous spouse and steer Jim to the area of the museum I knew he would like best, the galleries containing ancient artifacts from Egypt, Greece and Assyria.
As usual we showed up first thing in the morning, trying to beat the hordes of school children that would soon swarm into the galleries. We had the gallery almost to ourselves for a good part of an hour and then they arrived…….. loads of kids with their notebooks and pencils held importantly elbow level following their teachers like flocks of ducklings, crowding around the sarcophagus, then the glass cases of mummies……..a few slipping away to crack jokes and dart among the displays, but soon rounded up again by the requisite class moms.
Strategically planning the rest of our stay, we headed directly in the opposite direction whenever we encountered one of these pods of children.
A trip to the British Museum must include the Rosetta Stone, the key to Egyptian hieroglyphics. Without this stone, our understanding of hieroglyphics would not have been achieved early in the 19th century. The engraving on the ancient stone slab presents a decree from Memphis Egypt in 196 BC from King Ptolemy V. It was discovered in building materials by a French soldier in 1799; then British troops got a hold of it when they defeated the French in Alexandria Egypt in 1801. The same proclamation was written in three languages. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Ancient Greek. The Greek translation was accomplished pretty quickly, but it took another 20 years to translate the hieroglyphics.
If you love architecture or art history, you will really enjoy the immense Assyrian winged lions and wall fragments displaying reliefs filled with archers driving chariots and armored warriors and royal processions. These ancient stone relics loomed huge in the gallery, towering over us with empty sculpted gazes staring out across the room.
My favorite room holds the “Elgin Marbles” which is the name given to the Parthenon Temple sculptures and friezes brought back from Athens by Lord Elgin from 1801 – 1805. They have been on display at the British Museum since 1817. During a war with the Venetians, the Parthenon was used as a gunpowder warehouse and an explosion in 1687 blew off the roof and destroyed many of the sculptures. Archaeologists world-wide believed that the sculptures could never be re-attached to the temple, so with the permission of the authorities in Greece (at that time the Ottoman Empire) Lord Elgin removed half of the sculptures and shipped them home to England. Dispute continues today as to whether they should be repatriated, but it is unlikely that will ever happen.
I knew Jim would love the creepy but really interesting Egyptian mummies. We couldn’t help but be fascinated by their concept of an eternal life where you take all your possessions with you and your body is anointed with resins and dried into permanent preservation in preparation for your new life. Many of the grave goods are in perfect condition even wooden chairs and pottery. Gold glistens smooth on coffins decorated with intricate patterns of sky blue lapis lazuli and black paint. Of course a woman (and at that time a man also) wouldn’t want to go to the afterlife without their best jewelry adorning them, so cases contain delicate gold and gems so beautiful, they could easily be fashionable today. When Jim was finally able to pry me away from all the gold and jewelry, we were ready to head to the museum shop to buy something more affordable and then off to other tourist adventures.
Check out the Photo Montage Below!
As usual we showed up first thing in the morning, trying to beat the hordes of school children that would soon swarm into the galleries. We had the gallery almost to ourselves for a good part of an hour and then they arrived…….. loads of kids with their notebooks and pencils held importantly elbow level following their teachers like flocks of ducklings, crowding around the sarcophagus, then the glass cases of mummies……..a few slipping away to crack jokes and dart among the displays, but soon rounded up again by the requisite class moms.
Strategically planning the rest of our stay, we headed directly in the opposite direction whenever we encountered one of these pods of children.
A trip to the British Museum must include the Rosetta Stone, the key to Egyptian hieroglyphics. Without this stone, our understanding of hieroglyphics would not have been achieved early in the 19th century. The engraving on the ancient stone slab presents a decree from Memphis Egypt in 196 BC from King Ptolemy V. It was discovered in building materials by a French soldier in 1799; then British troops got a hold of it when they defeated the French in Alexandria Egypt in 1801. The same proclamation was written in three languages. Ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics, Demotic, and Ancient Greek. The Greek translation was accomplished pretty quickly, but it took another 20 years to translate the hieroglyphics.
If you love architecture or art history, you will really enjoy the immense Assyrian winged lions and wall fragments displaying reliefs filled with archers driving chariots and armored warriors and royal processions. These ancient stone relics loomed huge in the gallery, towering over us with empty sculpted gazes staring out across the room.
My favorite room holds the “Elgin Marbles” which is the name given to the Parthenon Temple sculptures and friezes brought back from Athens by Lord Elgin from 1801 – 1805. They have been on display at the British Museum since 1817. During a war with the Venetians, the Parthenon was used as a gunpowder warehouse and an explosion in 1687 blew off the roof and destroyed many of the sculptures. Archaeologists world-wide believed that the sculptures could never be re-attached to the temple, so with the permission of the authorities in Greece (at that time the Ottoman Empire) Lord Elgin removed half of the sculptures and shipped them home to England. Dispute continues today as to whether they should be repatriated, but it is unlikely that will ever happen.
I knew Jim would love the creepy but really interesting Egyptian mummies. We couldn’t help but be fascinated by their concept of an eternal life where you take all your possessions with you and your body is anointed with resins and dried into permanent preservation in preparation for your new life. Many of the grave goods are in perfect condition even wooden chairs and pottery. Gold glistens smooth on coffins decorated with intricate patterns of sky blue lapis lazuli and black paint. Of course a woman (and at that time a man also) wouldn’t want to go to the afterlife without their best jewelry adorning them, so cases contain delicate gold and gems so beautiful, they could easily be fashionable today. When Jim was finally able to pry me away from all the gold and jewelry, we were ready to head to the museum shop to buy something more affordable and then off to other tourist adventures.
Check out the Photo Montage Below!