Please read and enjoy our article and watch your FREE LONDON MUSIC VIDEO at the end Where's Our Marbles? - The British Museum
How old is the old Cockney riddle "What's a Greek Urn?".
Probably not quite as old as as some of the Greek collections at the British Museum in London. But ancient, nonetheless!
Some of these items date from the Bronze Age . | | | The best known are probably the Greek sculptures known as the 'Elgin collection' , or the Elgin Marbles , named after the 7th earl of Elgin who 'secured' them from the Parthenon in Athens .
Few things are guaranteed to make our Greek friends' collective blood boil than knowing that their 'Parthenon Marbles' are under lock and key and exhibited in a London Museum . It makes you wonder how we, the British might have reacted if somebody called Stavros once helped himself to the Stone of Scone a few hundred years ago and carted it off to Athens !
The British Museum is in Bloomsbury , west central London, and houses a wonderful collection of science and art treasures . The British Museum first opened to the public in 1759 . The famous domed Reading Room was built in 1857 and is now part of the glassed-in Great Court .
The British Museum's mandate is "to illuminate the histories of cultures for the benefit of present and future generations" . The number and the range of the museum's exhibits is vast. All parts of the World are represented
A visit to the British Museum is a visit back through the centuries , looking at who mankind was, what he did and what he has left behind of himself.
The British Museum has a large British collection tracing the history of Britain and covers prehistoric times , Roman Britain , medieval and more recent Britain .
The Stone Age collections in the British Museum include works of art and jewellery dating from 35,000 to 10,000 years ago. Roman Britain is typified by early Christian objects and collections of Roman coins .
Other exhibits illustrate the history of the Roman Empire and the evolution of European society going back to the Stone Age .
The British Museum boasts a huge collection of British prints , drawings , and watercolours including works by Constable and Turner . More huge collections are kept in storage. There are large collections of coins , clocks , watches and scientific instruments .
The British Museum has the largest collection of Egyptian artifacts in the world outside of the Cairo museum (the British have probably got a few Egyptians upset with us as well ! ) . The Egyptian exhibits include a famous collection of mummies and coffins , jewelry, weapons, furniture, and tools . | | Egyptian Sculpture |
|  | | The British Museum | The exhibits include the Rosetta Stone , perhaps the most famous of all the Egyptian artifacts , a basalt slab with identical texts in hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek. This stone was the key to unlocking Egyptian hieroglyphic translation .
Other huge collections in the British Museum illustrate the history of Africa , the Americas , the Middle East covering Mesopotamia and the Phoenician world, the Arabian Peninsula , and Central Asia .
Aboriginal culture is featured as part of the section on Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands . Perhaps the most famous object is the great statue, Hoa Hakananai'a , from Easter Island .
The British Museum boasts material from Asia dating back 9,000 years. Sculpture from India is featured as well as Chinese porcelain, bronze, and jade. Islamic pottery (one of the world's best collections) and tiles are also on display.
16th century Vietnamese trade ceramics , salvaged from the seabed, are one of the British Museum's recent acquisitions. | | The Reading Room | There are also Japanese swords, armour, metalwork , and art reflecting the evolution of Japanese culture .
Self-evidently the British Museum today contains one of the most comprehensive collections of art and artifacts in the world , a 'must place to visit' for those with a love of all things historical .
For those who like to make comprehensive plans for their tours of London attractions, please note you will need to allow more than ½ hour for your visit to the British Museum
....Only kidding!!!
Talking of which, the answer to the Cockney riddle is....
"About 50 drachmas a week….."
(What did you expect, Bob Hope?) |
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