British Museum in London

One of the most famous sights in the British capital of London is the British National Museum, which is one of the most famous in the world , visiting which you can get to know the cultural heritage of ancient Rome, Greece, Egypt and many other countries that were part of the British Empire.

This museum was created in 1759, based on private collections of the President of the British Academy of Sciences Hans Sloan, the antiquary of Robert Cotton and the Earl of Robert Harley, who donated them in 1953 to the National Foundation of England.

Where is the British National Museum?

The British Museum was originally located in the mansion of Montague House, where exhibits could only be visited by a select audience. But after the construction in 1847 at the same address of the new building, the British Museum became available completely free to anyone who wished. The world's most famous museum of England is located all the same: in the central area of ​​London Bloomsbury, near the garden square, on the Great Russell Street, which is very easy to reach by metro, regular buses or by taxi.

Exhibits of the British National Museum

Thanks to archaeological excavations and donations from private collections, at the moment the collection of the museum has more than 7 million exhibits located in 94 rooms, with a total length of about four kilometers. All the exhibits presented in the British Museum are divided into such departments:

  1. Ancient Egypt is the largest collection of Egyptian culture in the world, known for its statue of Ramses II of Thebes, sculptures of the gods, stone sarcophagi, "Books of the Dead", a large number of papyri with literary works of different times and historical records, and the Rosetta stone on which the text of the ancient of the decree.
  2. Antiquities of the Near East - there are exhibits from the life of the ancient peoples of the Middle East (Sumer, Babylonia, Assyria, Akkad, Palestine, Ancient Iran, etc.). Contains very interesting expositions: a collection of cylindrical seals, monumental reliefs from Assyria and more than 150 thousand clay tablets with hieroglyphics.
  3. Ancient East - consists of a collection of sculptures, ceramics, engravings and paintings of the countries of South and South-East Asia, as well as the Far East. The most famous exhibits are the Buddha's head from Gandhar, the statuette of the goddess Parvati and the bronze bell.
  4. Ancient Greece and ancient Rome - acquaints with beautiful collections of antique sculptures (especially from the Parthenon and from the Sanctuary of Apollo), ancient Greek ceramics, bronze objects from Egeida (3-2 thousand BC) and works of art from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The masterpiece of this section is the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus.
  5. Prehistoric antiquities and monuments of Roman Britain - the instruments of labor, from the most primitive existing in the Celtic tribes and ending with the era of Roman rule, a collection of bronze objects and a unique silver treasure found in Mildenhall.
  6. Monuments of Europe: the Middle Ages and modern times - it contains works of decorative and applied art dating from the 1st to 19th centuries, and various knight armor with weapons. Also in this department is the largest collection of watches
  7. Numismatics - there are collections of coins and medals, containing from the very first samples to the modern ones. In total, this department has over 200 thousand exhibits.
  8. Engravings and drawings - introduces the drawings, sketches and engravings of such famous European artists as: B. Michelangelo, S. Botticelli, Rembrandt, R. Santi, and others.
  9. Ethnographic - consists of objects of everyday life and culture of the peoples of America, Africa, Australia and Oceania, since the time of their discovery.
  10. The British Library is the largest library in the UK, its funds hold over 7 million prints, as well as many manuscripts, maps, music and scientific journals. For the convenience of the readers, 6 reading rooms have been created.

Due to the wide variety of exhibits exhibited, when visiting the British National Museum, every tourist will find something interesting for himself.