The British Museum

· The British Museum is a museum of human history and culture situated in North of London, in Bloomsbury’s neighbourhood. Its collection, which has more than seven million objects, is one of the largest and most comprehensive in the world and originates from all continents, illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginning to the present. We can find everything from prehistoric bones and Parthenon’s shards to exhibition halls like Assyrian palaces and golden jewels.

· The British Museum was founded in 1753, was mainly based on the collections of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane and it was the first national public museum in the world. The visitor have never had to pay to get in. Visitor numbers have grown around 5,000 a year in the eighteenth century to nearly 6 million today.
· Some objects in the collection, like the Elgin Marbles from the Parthenon, are the objects of intense controversy and calls for restitution to their countries of origin.
Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, the largest covered square in Europe, surrounding the original Reading Room.


Departments:
Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan
Department of Greek and Roman Antiquities
Department of the Middle East
Department of Prints and Drawings
Department of Asia
Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
Department of Coins and Medals
Department of Prehistory and Europe
Department of Conservation, Documentation and Science
Libraries and Archives

Panorama of the circular Reading Room

Some outstanding collections and pieces

- The Elgin Marbles: An extensive collection of Greek marbles from the Parthenon. The collection represents more than half of the decorative sculptures of the Parthenon.

- The Portland Vase: Is a Roman vase built in the first century, which has been the inspiration for many manufacturers of glass and porcelain from the early eighteenth century onwards.

- Warren Cup: Is a Roman silver cup. It is unique because it is decorated with homoerotic representations, two explicit sexual acts between men, of great artistic quality.

- Rosetta Stone: It contains a text in three types of writing and it is important because it has been the key to decipher the hieroglyphics of the ancient Egyptians.

- Royal Game of Ur: It refers to two games found on the Royal Tombs of Ur by Sir Leonard Woolley in the 1920s. The two tablets date from the First Dynasty of Ur, before 2600 BC. Ur Royal Game is probably the oldest board game set found.

· How to get to the British Museum:

By Underground :
Tottenham Court Road (300m): Central line and Northern line – Charing Cross branch
Holborn (500m): Central line and Piccadilly line
Russell Square (800m): Piccadilly line
Goodge Street (800m): Northern line – Charing Cross branch

Location :

Great Russell Street, WC2

Victor R. and Miriam A. 1rBTX C