![British Museum Great Court, London, UK - Diliff](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/5a/British_Museum_Great_Court%2C_London%2C_UK_-_Diliff.jpg)
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to
human history
Human history, also called world history, is the narrative of humanity's past. It is understood and studied through anthropology, archaeology, genetics, and linguistics. Since the invention of writing, human history has been studied throug ...
, art and culture located in the
Bloomsbury
Bloomsbury is a district in the West End of London. It is considered a fashionable residential area, and is the location of numerous cultural, intellectual, and educational institutions.
Bloomsbury is home of the British Museum, the largest mus ...
area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is among the
largest
Large means of great size.
Large may also refer to:
Mathematics
* Arbitrarily large, a phrase in mathematics
* Large cardinal, a property of certain transfinite numbers
* Large category, a category with a proper class of objects and morphisms (o ...
and most comprehensive in existence.
It documents the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present.
[Among the national museums in London, sculpture and ]decorative
Beauty is commonly described as a feature of objects that makes these objects pleasurable to perceive. Such objects include landscapes, sunsets, humans and works of art. Beauty, together with art and taste, is the main subject of aesthetics, o ...
and applied art
The applied arts are all the arts that apply design and decoration to everyday and essentially practical objects in order to make them aesthetically pleasing."Applied art" in ''The Oxford Dictionary of Art''. Online edition. Oxford Unive ...
are in the Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
; the British Museum houses earlier art, non-Western art, prints and drawings. The National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
holds the national collection of Western European art to about 1900, while art of the 20th century on is at Tate Modern
Tate Modern is an art gallery located in London. It houses the United Kingdom's national collection of international modern and contemporary art, and forms part of the Tate group together with Tate Britain, Tate Liverpool and Tate St Ives. It is ...
. Tate Britain
Tate Britain, known from 1897 to 1932 as the National Gallery of British Art and from 1932 to 2000 as the Tate Gallery, is an art museum on Millbank in the City of Westminster in London, England. It is part of the Tate network of galleries in ...
holds British Art from 1500 onwards. Books, manuscripts and many works on paper are in the British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
. There are significant overlaps between the coverage of the various collections. The British Museum was the first public national museum to cover all fields of knowledge.
The museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the Anglo-Irish physician and scientist
Sir Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...
. It first opened to the public in 1759, in
Montagu House, on the site of the current building. The museum's expansion over the following 250 years was largely a result of British colonisation and has resulted in the creation of several branch institutions, or independent spin-offs, the first being the
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
in 1881.
In 1973, the British Library Act 1972 detached the library department from the British Museum, but it continued to host the now separated
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
in the same
Reading Room
Reading room may refer to:
* Reference library
* British Museum Reading Room
* Christian Science Reading Room
image:5054_christian-science-reading-room-e.jpg, 400px, A typical storefront Christian Science Reading Room on the main street of a subu ...
and building as the museum until 1997. The museum is a
non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of n ...
sponsored by the
Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
, type = Department
, logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg
, logo_width =
, logo_caption =
, seal =
, seal_width =
, seal_caption =
, picture = Gove ...
, and as with all national museums in the UK it charges no admission fee, except for loan exhibitions.
Its ownership of some of its most famous objects originating in other countries is disputed and remains the subject of international controversy through
repatriation
Repatriation is the process of returning a thing or a person to its country of origin or citizenship. The term may refer to non-human entities, such as converting a foreign currency into the currency of one's own country, as well as to the pro ...
claims, most notably in the case of the
Elgin Marbles
The Elgin Marbles (), also known as the Parthenon Marbles ( el, Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα, lit. "sculptures of the Parthenon"), are a collection of Classical Greece, Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of th ...
of Greece,
and the
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancien ...
of Egypt.
History
Sir Hans Sloane
![Sir Hans Sloane, an engraving from a portrait by T](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/f2/Sir_Hans_Sloane%2C_an_engraving_from_a_portrait_by_T._Murray.jpg)
Although today principally a museum of cultural art objects and
antiquities
Antiquities are objects from antiquity, especially the civilizations of the Mediterranean: the Classical antiquity of Greece and Rome, Ancient Egypt and the other Ancient Near Eastern cultures. Artifacts from earlier periods such as the Meso ...
, the British Museum was founded as a "universal museum". Its foundations lie in the will of the
Anglo-Irish physician and naturalist
Sir Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...
(1660–1753), a London-based doctor and scientist from
Ulster
Ulster (; ga, Ulaidh or ''Cúige Uladh'' ; sco, label= Ulster Scots, Ulstèr or ''Ulster'') is one of the four traditional Irish provinces. It is made up of nine counties: six of these constitute Northern Ireland (a part of the United King ...
. During the course of his lifetime, and particularly after he married the widow of a wealthy Jamaican planter, Sloane gathered a large
collection of curiosities, and not wishing to see his collection broken up after death, he bequeathed it to
King George II, for the nation, for a sum of £20,000.
At that time, Sloane's collection consisted of around 71,000 objects of all kinds including some 40,000 printed books, 7,000 manuscripts, extensive natural history specimens including 337 volumes of dried plants,
prints and drawings including those by
Albrecht Dürer and antiquities from
Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
,
Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
,
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
, the
Ancient Near and Far East and the
Americas
The Americas, which are sometimes collectively called America, are a landmass comprising the totality of North and South America. The Americas make up most of the land in Earth's Western Hemisphere and comprise the New World.
Along with th ...
.
Foundation (1753)
On 7 June 1753,
King George II gave his
Royal Assent
Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in other ...
to the
Act of Parliament
Acts of Parliament, sometimes referred to as primary legislation, are texts of law passed by the Legislature, legislative body of a jurisdiction (often a parliament or council). In most countries with a parliamentary system of government, acts of ...
which established the British Museum. The
British Museum Act 1753
The British Museum Act 1753 ( 26 Geo 2 c 22) was an Act of the Parliament of Great Britain.
The whole Act was repealed by section 13(5) of, and Schedule 4 to, the British Museum Act 1963. Bylaws, ordinances, statutes or rules in force immedi ...
also added two other libraries to the Sloane collection, namely the
Cottonian Library
The Cotton or Cottonian library is a collection of manuscripts once owned by Sir Robert Bruce Cotton MP (1571–1631), an antiquarian and bibliophile. It later became the basis of what is now the British Library, which still holds the collection. ...
, assembled by
Sir Robert Cotton, dating back to
Elizabethan times, and the
Harleian Library
The Harleian Library, Harley Collection, Harleian Collection and other variants ( la, Bibliotheca Harleiana) is one of the main "closed" collections (namely, historic collections to which new material is no longer added) of the British Library in ...
, the collection of the
Earls of Oxford
Earl of Oxford is a dormant title in the Peerage of England, first created for Aubrey de Vere by the Empress Matilda in 1141. His family was to hold the title for more than five and a half centuries, until the death of the 20th Earl in 170 ...
. They were joined in 1757 by the "Old Royal Library", now the
Royal manuscripts, assembled by various
British monarchs
There have been 13 British monarchs since the political union of the Kingdom of England and the Kingdom of Scotland on 1 May 1707. England and Scotland had been in personal union since 24 March 1603. On 1 January 1801, the Kingdom of Great Brit ...
. Together these four "foundation collections" included many of the most treasured books now in the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
including the
Lindisfarne Gospels
The Lindisfarne Gospels (London, British Library Cotton MS Nero D.IV) is an illuminated manuscript gospel book probably produced around the years 715–720 in the monastery at Lindisfarne, off the coast of Northumberland, which is now in the B ...
and the sole surviving manuscript of ''
Beowulf
''Beowulf'' (; ang, Bēowulf ) is an Old English epic poem in the tradition of Germanic heroic legend consisting of 3,182 alliterative lines. It is one of the most important and most often translated works of Old English literature. The ...
''.
[The estimated footage of the various libraries as reported to the trustees has been summarised by Harris (1998), 3,6: Sloane 4,600, Harley 1,700, Cotton 384, Edwards 576, The Royal Library 1,890.]
![The North Prospect of Mountague House JamesSimonc1715](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/0/01/The_North_Prospect_of_Mountague_House_JamesSimonc1715.jpg)
The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public and aiming to collect everything. Sloane's collection, while including a vast miscellany of objects, tended to reflect his scientific interests. The addition of the
Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...
and
Harley manuscripts introduced a literary and
antiquarian
An antiquarian or antiquary () is an fan (person), aficionado or student of antiquities or things of the past. More specifically, the term is used for those who study history with particular attention to ancient artifact (archaeology), artifac ...
element, and meant that the British Museum now became both
National Museum
A national museum is a museum maintained and funded by a national government. In many countries it denotes a museum run by the central government, while other museums are run by regional or local governments. In other countries a much greater numb ...
and library.
Cabinet of curiosities (1753–1778)
![Rosetta Stone International Congress of Orientalists ILN 1874](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/5/57/Rosetta_Stone_International_Congress_of_Orientalists_ILN_1874.jpg)
The body of trustees decided on a converted 17th-century mansion,
Montagu House, as a location for the museum, which it bought from the
Montagu family
Montagu may refer to:
* Montagu (surname)
Titles of nobility
* Duke of Montagu
* Marquess of Montagu
** John Neville, 1st Marquess of Montagu (c. 1431 – 1471), Yorkist leader in the Wars of the Roses
* Baron Montagu of Beaulieu
* Baron Mon ...
for £20,000. The trustees rejected Buckingham House, which was later converted into the present day
Buckingham Palace
Buckingham Palace () is a London royal residence and the administrative headquarters of the monarch of the United Kingdom. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is often at the centre of state occasions and royal hospitality. It ...
, on the grounds of cost and the unsuitability of its location.
[This was perhaps rather unfortunate as the title to the house was complicated by the fact that part of the building had been erected on leasehold property (the Crown lease of which ran out in 1771); perhaps that is why ]George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
paid such a modest price (nominally £28,000) for what was to become Buckingham Palace. See Howard Colvin
Sir Howard Montagu Colvin (15 October 1919 – 27 December 2007) was a British architectural historian who produced two of the most outstanding works of scholarship in his field: ''A Biographical Dictionary of British Architects, 1600–1840' ...
''et al.'' (1976), 134.
With the acquisition of Montagu House, the first exhibition galleries and
reading room
Reading room may refer to:
* Reference library
* British Museum Reading Room
* Christian Science Reading Room
image:5054_christian-science-reading-room-e.jpg, 400px, A typical storefront Christian Science Reading Room on the main street of a subu ...
for scholars opened on 15 January 1759. At this time, the largest parts of collection were the library, which took up the majority of the rooms on the ground floor of Montagu House, and the natural history objects, which took up an entire wing on the second state storey of the building. In 1763, the trustees of the British Museum, under the influence of
Peter Collinson and
William Watson William, Willie, Bill or Billy Watson may refer to:
Entertainment
* William Watson (songwriter) (1794–1840), English concert hall singer and songwriter
* William Watson (poet) (1858–1935), English poet
* Billy Watson (actor) (1923–2022), A ...
, employed the former student of
Carl Linnaeus
Carl Linnaeus (; 23 May 1707 – 10 January 1778), also known after his ennoblement in 1761 as Carl von Linné Blunt (2004), p. 171. (), was a Swedish botanist, zoologist, taxonomist, and physician who formalised binomial nomenclature, the ...
,
Daniel Solander
Daniel Carlsson Solander or Daniel Charles Solander (19 February 1733 – 13 May 1782) was a Swedish naturalist and an apostle of Carl Linnaeus.
Solander was the first university-educated scientist to set foot on Australian soil.
Biography ...
, to reclassify the natural history collection according to the Linnaean system, thereby making the museum a public centre of learning accessible to the full range of European natural historians. In 1823, King George IV gave the
King's Library
The King's Library was one of the most important collections of books and pamphlets of the Age of Enlightenment.British LibraryGeorge III Collection: the King's Libraryaccessed 26 May 2010 Assembled by George III, this scholarly library of over ...
assembled by George III, and Parliament gave the right to a copy of every book published in the country, thereby ensuring that the museum's library would expand indefinitely. During the few years after its foundation the British Museum received several further gifts, including the
Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts and
David Garrick
David Garrick (19 February 1717 – 20 January 1779) was an English actor, playwright, theatre manager and producer who influenced nearly all aspects of European theatrical practice throughout the 18th century, and was a pupil and friend of Sa ...
's library of 1,000 printed plays. The predominance of natural history, books and manuscripts began to lessen when in 1772 the museum acquired for £8,410 its first significant antiquities in
Sir William Hamilton's "first" collection of
Greek vases.
Indolence and energy (1778–1800)
![Entrance ticket to the British Museum, London March 3, 1790](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/ce/Entrance_ticket_to_the_British_Museum%2C_London_March_3%2C_1790.jpg)
From 1778, a display of objects from the
South Seas brought back from the round-the-world voyages of Captain
James Cook and the travels of other explorers fascinated visitors with a glimpse of previously unknown lands. The bequest of a collection of books,
engraved gem
An engraved gem, frequently referred to as an intaglio, is a small and usually semi-precious gemstone that has been carved, in the Western tradition normally with images or inscriptions only on one face. The engraving of gemstones was a major lu ...
s, coins, prints and drawings by
Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode
Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode (1730–1799) was an English book and old master print collector, and a major benefactor of the British Museum.
Life
His father, Colonel Mordaunt Cracherode, later a general, had command of the marines in George Anso ...
in 1800 did much to raise the museum's reputation; but Montagu House became increasingly crowded and decrepit and it was apparent that it would be unable to cope with further expansion.
The museum's first notable addition towards its collection of antiquities, since its foundation, was by Sir
William Hamilton (1730–1803), British Ambassador to
Naples
Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...
, who sold his collection of Greek and Roman artefacts to the museum in 1784 together with a number of other antiquities and natural history specimens. A list of donations to the museum, dated 31 January 1784, refers to the Hamilton bequest of a "Colossal Foot of an
Apollo
Apollo, grc, Ἀπόλλωνος, Apóllōnos, label=genitive , ; , grc-dor, Ἀπέλλων, Apéllōn, ; grc, Ἀπείλων, Apeílōn, label=Arcadocypriot Greek, ; grc-aeo, Ἄπλουν, Áploun, la, Apollō, la, Apollinis, label= ...
in Marble". It was one of two antiquities of Hamilton's collection drawn for him by Francesco Progenie, a pupil of Pietro Fabris, who also contributed a number of drawings of Mount Vesuvius sent by Hamilton to the
Royal Society
The Royal Society, formally The Royal Society of London for Improving Natural Knowledge, is a learned society and the United Kingdom's national academy of sciences. The society fulfils a number of roles: promoting science and its benefits, re ...
in London.
Growth and change (1800–1825)
![P8282318](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/92/P8282318.1.JPG)
In the early 19th century the foundations for the extensive collection of sculpture began to be laid and Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts dominated the antiquities displays. After the defeat of the
French campaign
The Battle of France (french: bataille de France) (10 May – 25 June 1940), also known as the Western Campaign ('), the French Campaign (german: Frankreichfeldzug, ) and the Fall of France, was the German invasion of France during the Second World ...
in the
Battle of the Nile, in 1801, the British Museum acquired more Egyptian sculptures and in 1802
King George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
presented the
Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancien ...
– key to the deciphering of hieroglyphs. Gifts and purchases from
Henry Salt, British consul general in Egypt, beginning with the
Colossal bust of Ramesses II in 1818, laid the foundations of the collection of Egyptian Monumental Sculpture. Many Greek sculptures followed, notably the first purpose-built exhibition space, the
Charles Towneley collection, much of it Roman sculpture, in 1805. In 1806,
Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin
Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin and 11th Earl of Kincardine (; 20 July 176614 November 1841) was a British nobleman, soldier, politician and diplomat, known primarily for the controversial procurement of marble sculptures (known as the Elgin Ma ...
, ambassador to the
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman Empire, * ; is an archaic version. The definite article forms and were synonymous * and el, Оθωμανική Αυτοκρατορία, Othōmanikē Avtokratoria, label=none * info page on book at Martin Luther University) ...
from 1799 to 1803 removed the large collection of marble sculptures from the
Parthenon
The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
, on the
Acropolis
An acropolis was the settlement of an upper part of an ancient Greek city, especially a citadel, and frequently a hill with precipitous sides, mainly chosen for purposes of defense. The term is typically used to refer to the Acropolis of Athens, ...
in Athens and transferred them to the UK. In 1816 these masterpieces of western art were acquired by the British Museum by Act of Parliament and deposited in the museum thereafter. The collections were supplemented by the
Bassae
Bassae ( la, Bassae, grc, Βάσσαι - ''Bassai'', meaning "little vale in the rocks") is an archaeological site in Oichalia, a municipality in the northeastern part of Messenia, Greece. In classical antiquity, it was part of Arcadia. Bassae ...
frieze from
Phigaleia
Phigalia or Phigaleia or Phigalea ( grc, Φιγαλεία or ΦιγαλέαSo in Polybius, ''The Histories (Polybius), The Histories, iv. 3. or Φιγάλεια or ΦιγαλίαSo in Pausanias (geographer), Pausanias), also known as Phialia (Φι ...
,
Greece
Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
in 1815. The Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
n and
Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
n antiquities from the widow of
Claudius James Rich
Claudius James Rich (28 March 1787 – 5 October 1821) was a British Assyriologist, business agent, traveller and antiquarian scholar.
Biography
Rich was born near Dijon "of a good family", but passed his childhood at Bristol. Early on, he deve ...
.
In 1802 a buildings committee was set up to plan for expansion of the museum, and further highlighted by the donation in 1822 of the
King's Library
The King's Library was one of the most important collections of books and pamphlets of the Age of Enlightenment.British LibraryGeorge III Collection: the King's Libraryaccessed 26 May 2010 Assembled by George III, this scholarly library of over ...
, personal library of King George III's, comprising 65,000 volumes, 19,000
pamphlets, maps, charts and
topographical drawings. The
neoclassical architect,
Sir Robert Smirke
Sir Robert Smirke (1 October 1780 – 18 April 1867) was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture, though he also used other architectural styles. As architect to the Board of Works, he designed several major ...
, was asked to draw up plans for an eastern extension to the museum "... for the reception of the
Royal Library, and a Picture Gallery over it ..." and put forward plans for today's quadrangular building, much of which can be seen today. The dilapidated Old
Montagu House was demolished and work on the
King's Library
The King's Library was one of the most important collections of books and pamphlets of the Age of Enlightenment.British LibraryGeorge III Collection: the King's Libraryaccessed 26 May 2010 Assembled by George III, this scholarly library of over ...
Gallery began in 1823. The extension, the East Wing, was completed by 1831. However, following the founding of the
National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
, London in 1824,
[Understanding of the foundation of the ]National Gallery
The National Gallery is an art museum in Trafalgar Square in the City of Westminster, in Central London, England. Founded in 1824, it houses a collection of over 2,300 paintings dating from the mid-13th century to 1900. The current Director ...
is complicated by the fact that there is no documented history of the institution. At first the National Gallery functioned effectively as part of the British Museum, to which the trustee
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...
s transferred most of their most important pictures (ex. portraits). Full control was handed over to the National Gallery in 1868, after the Act of Parliament of 1856 established the Gallery as an independent body. the proposed Picture Gallery was no longer needed, and the space on the upper floor was given over to the
Natural history collections.
The first
Synopsis of the British Museum
A synopsis is a brief summary of the major points of a subject or written work or story, either as prose or as a table; an abridgment or condensation of a work.
Synopsis or synopsys may also refer to:
* Video synopsis, an approach to create a shor ...
was published in 1808. This described the contents of the museum, and the display of objects room by room, and updated editions were published every few years.
The largest building site in Europe (1825–1850)
![Image-The Grenville Library (1875)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e7/Image-The_Grenville_Library_%281875%29.jpg)
As
Sir Robert Smirke
Sir Robert Smirke (1 October 1780 – 18 April 1867) was an English architect, one of the leaders of Greek Revival architecture, though he also used other architectural styles. As architect to the Board of Works, he designed several major ...
's grand
neo-classical building gradually arose, the museum became a construction site. The
King's Library
The King's Library was one of the most important collections of books and pamphlets of the Age of Enlightenment.British LibraryGeorge III Collection: the King's Libraryaccessed 26 May 2010 Assembled by George III, this scholarly library of over ...
, on the ground floor of the East Wing, was handed over in 1827, and was described as one of the finest rooms in London. Although it was not fully open to the general public until 1857, special openings were arranged during
The Great Exhibition
The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of All Nations, also known as the Great Exhibition or the Crystal Palace Exhibition (in reference to the temporary structure in which it was held), was an international exhibition which took pl ...
of 1851.
In 1840, the museum became involved in its first overseas
excavations,
Charles Fellows
Sir Charles Fellows (31 August 1799 – 8 November 1860) was a British archaeologist and explorer, known for his numerous expeditions in what is present-day Turkey.
Biography
Charles Fellows was born at High Pavement, Nottingham on 31 August ...
's expedition to
Xanthos
Xanthos ( Lycian: 𐊀𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 ''Arñna'', el, Ξάνθος, Latin: ''Xanthus'', Turkish: ''Ksantos'') was an ancient major city near present-day Kınık, Antalya Province, Turkey. The remains of Xanthos lie on a hill on the left b ...
, in
Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, whence came remains of the tombs of the rulers of ancient
Lycia
Lycia (Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean ...
, among them the
Nereid
In Greek mythology, the Nereids or Nereides ( ; grc, Νηρηΐδες, Nērēḯdes; , also Νημερτές) are sea nymphs (female spirits of sea waters), the 50 daughters of the 'Old Man of the Sea' Nereus and the Oceanids, Oceanid Doris ...
and
Payava monuments. In 1857,
Charles Newton was to discover the 4th-century BC
Mausoleum of Halikarnassos, one of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2 ...
. In the 1840s and 1850s the museum supported excavations in
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
by
A.H. Layard and others at sites such as
Nimrud
Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
and
Nineveh. Of particular interest to curators was the eventual discovery of
Ashurbanipal's great library of
cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
tablets, which helped to make the museum a focus for
Assyrian studies.
Sir Thomas Grenville (1755–1846), a trustee of the British Museum from 1830, assembled a library of 20,240 volumes, which he left to the museum in his will. The books arrived in January 1847 in twenty-one horse-drawn vans. The only vacant space for this large library was a room originally intended for manuscripts, between the Front Entrance Hall and the Manuscript Saloon. The books remained here until the British Library moved to
St Pancras in 1998.
Collecting from the wider world (1850–1875)
The opening of the forecourt in 1852 marked the completion of
Robert Smirke's 1823 plan, but already adjustments were having to be made to cope with the unforeseen growth of the collections. Infill galleries were constructed for
Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
n sculptures and
Sydney Smirke
Sydney Smirke (20 December 1797 – 8 December 1877) was a British architect.
Smirke who was born in London, England as the fifth son of painter Robert Smirke and his wife, Elizabeth Russell. He was the younger brother of Sir Robert Smirke ...
's
Round Reading Room, with space for a million books, opened in 1857. Because of continued pressure on space the decision was taken to move natural history to a new building in
South Kensington
South Kensington, nicknamed Little Paris, is a district just west of Central London in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically it settled on part of the scattered Middlesex village of Brompton. Its name was supplanted with ...
, which would later become the
British Museum of Natural History
The Natural History Museum in London is a museum that exhibits a vast range of specimens from various segments of natural history. It is one of three major museums on Exhibition Road in South Kensington, the others being the Science Museum ...
.
Roughly contemporary with the construction of the new building was the career of a man sometimes called the "second founder" of the British Museum, the Italian librarian
Anthony Panizzi
Sir Antonio Genesio Maria Panizzi (16 September 1797 – 8 April 1879), better known as Anthony Panizzi, was a naturalised British citizen of Italian birth, and an Italian patriot. He was a librarian, becoming the Principal Librarian (i.e. head ...
. Under his supervision, the British Museum Library (now part of the
British Library
The British Library is the national library of the United Kingdom and is one of the largest libraries in the world. It is estimated to contain between 170 and 200 million items from many countries. As a legal deposit library, the British ...
) quintupled in size and became a well-organised institution worthy of being called a national library, the largest library in the world after the
National Library of Paris.
The
quadrangle at the centre of Smirke's design proved to be a waste of valuable space and was filled at Panizzi's request by a circular Reading Room of cast iron, designed by Smirke's brother, Sydney Smirke.
Until the mid-19th century, the museum's collections were relatively circumscribed but, in 1851, with the appointment to the staff of
Augustus Wollaston Franks
Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks (20 March 182621 May 1897) was a British antiquarian and museum administrator. Franks was described by Marjorie Caygill, historian of the British Museum, as "arguably the most important collector in the history of ...
to curate the collections, the museum began for the first time to collect British and European medieval antiquities,
prehistory
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
, branching out into Asia and diversifying its holdings of
ethnography
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
. A real coup for the museum was the purchase in 1867, over French objections, of the
Duke of Blacas's wide-ranging and valuable collection of antiquities. Overseas excavations continued and
John Turtle Wood
John Turtle Wood (13 February 1821 – 25 March 1890) was an English architect, engineer and archaeologist.
Biography
Wood was born at Hackney, London the son of John Wood of Shropshire and his wife Elizabeth Wood, née Turtle. He was educated ...
discovered the remains of the 4th century BC
Temple of Artemis
The Temple of Artemis or Artemision ( gr, Ἀρτεμίσιον; tr, Artemis Tapınağı), also known as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to an ancient, local form of the goddess Artemis (identified with Diana, a Roman go ...
at
Ephesos
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in ...
, another
Wonder of the Ancient World.
Scholarship and legacies (1875–1900)
The natural history collections were an integral part of the British Museum until their removal to the new British Museum of Natural History in 1887, nowadays the
Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
. With the departure and the completion of the new White Wing (fronting Montague Street) in 1884, more space was available for antiquities and
ethnography
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
and the library could further expand. This was a time of innovation as electric lighting was introduced in the Reading Room and exhibition galleries.
The
William Burges
William Burges (; 2 December 1827 – 20 April 1881) was an English architect and designer. Among the greatest of the Victorian art-architects, he sought in his work to escape from both nineteenth-century industrialisation and the Neoc ...
collection of
armoury
An arsenal is a place where arms and ammunition are made, maintained and repaired, stored, or issued, in any combination, whether privately or publicly owned. Arsenal and armoury (British English) or armory (American English) are most ...
was bequeathed to the museum in 1881. In 1882, the museum was involved in the establishment of the independent
Egypt Exploration Fund
The Egypt Exploration Society (EES) is a British non-profit organization. The society was founded in 1882 by Amelia Edwards and Reginald Stuart Poole in order to examine and excavate in the areas of Egypt and Sudan. The intent was to study and an ...
(now Society) the first British body to carry out research in Egypt. A bequest from Miss Emma Turner in 1892 financed excavations in Cyprus. In 1897 the death of the great collector and curator,
A. W. Franks, was followed by an immense bequest of 3,300
finger rings
A ring is a round band, usually made of metal, worn as ornamental jewelry. The term "ring" by itself always denotes jewellery worn on the finger; when worn as an ornament elsewhere, the body part is specified within the term, e.g., earrings, nec ...
, 153 drinking vessels, 512 pieces of continental porcelain, 1,500
netsuke
A is a miniature sculpture, originating in 17th century Japan. Initially a simply-carved button fastener on the cords of an box, later developed into ornately sculpted objects of craftsmanship.
History
Traditionally, Japanese clothing – ...
, 850
inro
An is a traditional Japanese case for holding small objects, suspended from the (sash) worn around the waist when wearing a kimono. They are often highly decorated with various materials such as lacquer and various techniques such as , and are ...
, over 30,000
bookplates
An ''Ex Libris'' (from ''ex-librīs'', ), also known as a bookplate (or book-plate, as it was commonly styled until the early 20th century), is a printed or decorative label pasted into a book, often on the front endpaper, to indicate ownership. ...
and miscellaneous items of jewellery and plate, among them the
Oxus Treasure
The Oxus treasure (Persian: گنجینه آمودریا) is a collection of about 180 surviving pieces of metalwork in gold and silver, most relatively small, and around 200 coins, from the Achaemenid Persian period which were found by the Oxus ...
.
In 1898
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild
Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild (17 December 1839 – 17 December 1898), also known as Ferdinand James Anselm Freiherr von Rothschild, was a British Jewish banker, art collector and politician who was a member of the prominent Rothschild family ...
bequeathed the
Waddesdon Bequest
In 1898, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild bequeathed to the British Museum as the Waddesdon Bequest the contents from his New Smoking Room at Waddesdon Manor. This consisted of a wide-ranging collection of almost 300 ''objets d'art et de vertu ...
, the glittering contents from his New Smoking Room at
Waddesdon Manor
Waddesdon Manor is a English country house, country house in the village of Waddesdon, in Buckinghamshire, England. Owned by National Trust for Places of Historic Interest or Natural Beauty, National Trust and managed by the Rothschild Foundation ...
. This consisted of almost 300 pieces of ''
objets d'art
In art history, the French term Objet d’art describes an ornamental work of art, and the term Objets d’art describes a range of works of art, usually small and three-dimensional, made of high-quality materials, and a finely-rendered finish th ...
et de vertu'' which included exquisite examples of jewellery, plate, enamel, carvings, glass and
maiolica
Maiolica is tin-glazed pottery decorated in colours on a white background. Italian maiolica dating from the Renaissance period is the most renowned. When depicting historical and mythical scenes, these works were known as ''istoriato'' wares ( ...
, among them the
Holy Thorn Reliquary
The Holy Thorn Reliquary was probably created in the 1390s in Paris for John, Duke of Berry, to house a relic of the Crown of Thorns. The reliquary was bequeathed to the British Museum in 1898 by Ferdinand de Rothschild as part of the Wad ...
, probably created in the 1390s in Paris for
John, Duke of Berry
John of Berry or John the Magnificent (French: ''Jean de Berry'', ; 30 November 1340 – 15 June 1416) was Duke of Berry and Auvergne and Count of Poitiers and Montpensier. He was Regent of France during the minority of his nephew 1380-1388 ...
. The collection was in the tradition of a ''
Schatzkammer'' such as those formed by the
Renaissance
The Renaissance ( , ) , from , with the same meanings. is a period in European history marking the transition from the Middle Ages to modernity and covering the 15th and 16th centuries, characterized by an effort to revive and surpass ideas ...
princes of Europe.
Baron Ferdinand's will was most specific, and failure to observe the terms would make it void, the collection should be
These terms are still observed, and the collection occupies room 2a.
New century, new building (1900–1925)
![Woolley holding the hardened plaster mold of a lyre](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Woolley_holding_the_hardened_plaster_mold_of_a_lyre.jpg)
By the last years of the 19th century, The British Museum's collections had increased to the extent that its building was no longer large enough. In 1895 the trustees purchased the 69 houses surrounding the museum with the intention of demolishing them and building around the west, north and east sides of the museum. The first stage was the construction of the northern wing beginning 1906.
All the while, the collections kept growing.
Emil Torday collected in Central Africa,
Aurel Stein
Sir Marc Aurel Stein,
( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at ...
in Central Asia,
D.G. Hogarth
David George Hogarth (23 May 1862 – 6 November 1927), also known as D. G. Hogarth, was a British archaeologist and scholar associated with T. E. Lawrence and Arthur Evans. He was Keeper of the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford from 1909 to 1927.
Hog ...
,
Leonard Woolley and
T. E. Lawrence
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
excavated at
Carchemish
Carchemish ( Turkish: ''Karkamış''; or ), also spelled Karkemish ( hit, ; Hieroglyphic Luwian: , /; Akkadian: ; Egyptian: ; Hebrew: ) was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during it ...
. Around this time, the American collector and philanthropist
J Pierpont Morgan donated a substantial number of objects to the museum, including
William Greenwell
Canon William Greenwell, (23 March 1820 – 27 January 1918) was an English archaeologist and Church of England priest.
Early life
William Greenwell was born 23 March 1820 at the estate known as Greenwell Ford near Lanchester, County Durham, E ...
's collection of prehistoric artefacts from across Europe which he had purchased for £10,000 in 1908. Morgan had also acquired a major part of Sir
John Evans's coin collection, which was later sold to the museum by his son
John Pierpont Morgan Junior in 1915. In 1918, because of the threat of wartime bombing, some objects were evacuated via the
London Post Office Railway
The Post Office Railway, is a narrow gauge, driverless underground railway in London that was built by the Post Office with assistance from the Underground Electric Railways Company of London, to transport mail between sorting offices. Inspire ...
to Holborn, the
National Library of Wales (Aberystwyth) and a country house near
Malvern
Malvern or Malverne may refer to:
Places Australia
* Malvern, South Australia, a suburb of Adelaide
* Malvern, Victoria, a suburb of Melbourne
* City of Malvern, a former local government area near Melbourne
* Electoral district of Malvern, an e ...
. On the return of antiquities from wartime storage in 1919 some objects were found to have deteriorated. A conservation laboratory was set up in May 1920 and became a permanent department in 1931. It is today the oldest in continuous existence. In 1923, the British Museum welcomed over one million visitors.
Disruption and reconstruction (1925–1950)
New
mezzanine floors were constructed and book stacks rebuilt in an attempt to cope with the flood of books. In 1931, the art dealer
Sir Joseph Duveen offered funds to build a gallery for the
Parthenon sculptures. Designed by the American architect
John Russell Pope
John Russell Pope (April 24, 1874 – August 27, 1937) was an American architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building (completed in 1935), the Jeff ...
, it was completed in 1938. The appearance of the exhibition galleries began to change as dark Victorian reds gave way to modern pastel shades.
Following the retirement of George Francis Hill as Director and Principal Librarian in 1936, he was succeeded by
John Forsdyke
Sir Edgar John Forsdyke KCB (12 September 1883 – 3 December 1979) was Director and Principal Librarian of the British Museum from 1936 to 1950. Under his tenure, an attempt was made to clean the Elgin Marbles in 1937, which lasted until 1938 a ...
.
As tensions with Nazi Germany developed and it appeared that war may be imminent Forsdyke came to the view that with the likelihood of far worse air-raids than that experienced in World War I that the museum had to make preparations to remove its most valuable items to secure locations. Following the Munich crisis Forsdyke ordered 3,300 No-Nail Boxes and stored them in the basement of Duveen Gallery. At the same time he began identifying and securing suitable locations. As a result the museum was able to quickly commence relocating selected items on 24 August 1939, (a mere day after the Home Secretary advised them to do so), to secure basements,
country houses
An English country house is a large house or mansion in the English countryside. Such houses were often owned by individuals who also owned a town house. This allowed them to spend time in the country and in the city—hence, for these peopl ...
,
Aldwych Underground station and the
National Library of Wales.
Many items were relocated in early 1942 from their initial dispersal locations to a newly developed facility at Westwood Quarry in Wiltshire.
[
The evacuation was timely, for in 1940 the Duveen Gallery was severely damaged by bombing. Meanwhile, prior to the war, the Nazis had sent a researcher to the British Museum for several years with the aim of "compiling an anti-Semitic history of Anglo-Jewry".]
After the war, the museum continued to collect from all countries and all centuries: among the most spectacular additions were the 2600 BC Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
n treasure from Ur, discovered during Leonard Woolley's 1922–34 excavations. Gold, silver and garnet
Garnets () are a group of silicate minerals that have been used since the Bronze Age as gemstones and abrasives.
All species of garnets possess similar physical properties and crystal forms, but differ in chemical composition. The different s ...
grave goods from the Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo (1939) and late Roman silver tableware from Mildenhall, Suffolk (1946). The immediate post-war years were taken up with the return of the collections from protection and the restoration of the museum after the Blitz
Blitz, German for "lightning", may refer to:
Military uses
*Blitzkrieg, blitz campaign, or blitz, a type of military campaign
*The Blitz, the German aerial campaign against Britain in the Second World War
*, an Imperial German Navy light cruiser b ...
. Work also began on restoring the damaged Duveen Gallery.
A new public face (1950–1975)
In 1953, the museum celebrated its bicentenary __NOTOC__
A bicentennial or bicentenary is the two-hundredth anniversary of a part, or the celebrations thereof. It may refer to:
Europe
*French Revolution bicentennial, commemorating the 200th anniversary of 14 July 1789 uprising, celebrated ...
. Many changes followed: the first full-time in-house designer and publications officer were appointed in 1964, the Friends
''Friends'' is an American television sitcom created by David Crane and Marta Kauffman, which aired on NBC from September 22, 1994, to May 6, 2004, lasting ten seasons. With an ensemble cast starring Jennifer Aniston, Courteney Cox, Lisa ...
organisation was set up in 1968, an Education Service established in 1970 and publishing house in 1973. In 1963, a new Act of Parliament introduced administrative reforms. It became easier to lend objects, the constitution of the board of trustees
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
changed and the Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
became fully independent. By 1959 the Coins and Medals office suite, completely destroyed during the war, was rebuilt and re-opened, attention turned towards the gallery work with new tastes in design leading to the remodelling of Robert Smirke's Classical and Near Eastern galleries. In 1962 the Duveen Gallery was finally restored and the Parthenon Sculptures were moved back into it, once again at the heart of the museum.
By the 1970s the museum was again expanding. More services for the public were introduced; visitor numbers soared, with the temporary exhibition "Treasures of Tutankhamun
Tutankhamun (, egy, twt-ꜥnḫ-jmn), Egyptological pronunciation Tutankhamen () (), sometimes referred to as King Tut, was an Egyptian pharaoh who was the last of his royal family to rule during the end of the Eighteenth Dynasty (ruled ...
" in 1972, attracting 1,694,117 visitors, the most successful in British history. In the same year the Act of Parliament establishing the British Library was passed, separating the collection of manuscripts and printed books from the British Museum. This left the museum with antiquities; coins, medals and paper money; prints and drawings; and ethnography
Ethnography (from Greek ''ethnos'' "folk, people, nation" and ''grapho'' "I write") is a branch of anthropology and the systematic study of individual cultures. Ethnography explores cultural phenomena from the point of view of the subject o ...
. A pressing problem was finding space for additions to the library which now required an extra of shelving each year. The Government suggested a site at St Pancras for the new British Library but the books did not leave the museum until 1997.
The Great Court emerges (1975–2000)
The departure of the British Library to a new site at St Pancras, finally achieved in 1998, provided the space needed for the books. It also created the opportunity to redevelop the vacant space in Robert Smirke's 19th-century central quadrangle into the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court
The Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, commonly referred to simply as the Great Court, is the covered central quadrangle of the British Museum in London. It was redeveloped during the late 1990s to a design by Foster and Partners, from a 1970s ...
– the largest covered square in Europe – which opened in 2000. The ethnography collections, which had been housed in the short-lived Museum of Mankind
Ethnography at the British Museum describes how ethnography has developed at the British Museum.
Within the Department of Natural History and Curiosities
The ethnographical collection was originally linked to the Department of Natural History a ...
at 6 Burlington Gardens from 1970, were returned to new purpose-built galleries in the museum in 2000.
The museum again readjusted its collecting policies as interest in "modern" objects: prints, drawings, medals and the decorative arts reawakened. Ethnographical fieldwork was carried out in places as diverse as New Guinea
New Guinea (; Hiri Motu
Hiri Motu, also known as Police Motu, Pidgin Motu, or just Hiri, is a language of Papua New Guinea, which is spoken in surrounding areas of Port Moresby (Capital of Papua New Guinea).
It is a simplified version of ...
, Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
, Romania
Romania ( ; ro, România ) is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern, and Southeast Europe, Southeastern Europe. It borders Bulgaria to the south, Ukraine to the north, Hungary to the west, S ...
, Guatemala
Guatemala ( ; ), officially the Republic of Guatemala ( es, República de Guatemala, links=no), is a country in Central America. It is bordered to the north and west by Mexico; to the northeast by Belize and the Caribbean; to the east by H ...
and Indonesia
Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...
and there were excavations in the Near East
The ''Near East''; he, המזרח הקרוב; arc, ܕܢܚܐ ܩܪܒ; fa, خاور نزدیک, Xāvar-e nazdik; tr, Yakın Doğu is a geographical term which roughly encompasses a transcontinental region in Western Asia, that was once the hist ...
, Egypt, Sudan and the UK. The Weston
Weston may refer to:
Places Australia
* Weston, Australian Capital Territory, a suburb of Canberra
* Weston, New South Wales
* Weston Creek, a residential district of Canberra
* Weston Park, Canberra, a park
Canada
* Weston, Nova Scotia
* ...
Gallery of Roman Britain, opened in 1997, displayed a number of recently discovered hoards which demonstrated the richness of what had been considered an unimportant part of the Roman Empire. The museum turned increasingly towards private funds for buildings, acquisitions and other purposes.
The British Museum today
Today the museum no longer houses collections of natural history, and the books and manuscripts it once held now form part of the independent British Library. The museum nevertheless preserves its universality in its collections of artefacts representing the cultures of the world, ancient and modern. The original 1753 collection has grown to over 13 million objects at the British Museum, 70 million at the Natural History Museum
A natural history museum or museum of natural history is a scientific institution with natural history collections that include current and historical records of animals, plants, fungi, ecosystems, geology, paleontology, climatology, and more. ...
and 150 million at the British Library.
The Round Reading Room, which was designed by the architect Sydney Smirke
Sydney Smirke (20 December 1797 – 8 December 1877) was a British architect.
Smirke who was born in London, England as the fifth son of painter Robert Smirke and his wife, Elizabeth Russell. He was the younger brother of Sir Robert Smirke ...
, opened in 1857. For almost 150 years researchers came here to consult the museum's vast library. The Reading Room closed in 1997 when the national library (the British Library) moved to a new building at St Pancras. Today it has been transformed into the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Annenberg may refer to:
* Annenberg (surname)
* The Annenberg Foundation, formerly Annenberg/CPB, known for funding educational television and the Annenberg Channel
* The USC Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern Calif ...
Centre.
With the bookstacks in the central courtyard of the museum empty, the demolition for Lord Foster
Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or a ...
's glass-roofed Great Court could begin. The Great Court, opened in 2000, while undoubtedly improving circulation around the museum, was criticised for having a lack of exhibition space at a time when the museum was in serious financial difficulties and many galleries were closed to the public. At the same time the African collections that had been temporarily housed in 6 Burlington Gardens were given a new gallery in the North Wing funded by the Sainsbury family – with the donation valued at £25 million.
As part of its very large website, the museum has the largest online database An online database is a database accessible from a local network or the Internet, as opposed to one that is stored locally on an individual computer or its attached storage (such as a CD). Online databases are hosted on websites, made available as s ...
of objects in the collection of any museum in the world, with 2,000,000 individual object entries, 650,000 of them illustrated, online at the start of 2012. There is also a "Highlights" database with longer entries on over 4,000 objects, and several specialised online research catalogues and online journals (all free to access). In 2013 the museum's website received 19.5 millions visits, an increase of 47% from the previous year.
In 2013 the museum received a record 6.7 million visitors, an increase of 20% from the previous year. Popular exhibitions including "Life and Death in Pompeii and Herculaneum" and "Ice Age Art" are credited with helping fuel the increase in visitors. Plans were announced in September 2014 to recreate the entire building along with all exhibits in the video game ''Minecraft
''Minecraft'' is a sandbox game developed by Mojang Studios. The game was created by Markus "Notch" Persson in the Java (programming language), Java programming language. Following several early private testing versions, it was first made pub ...
'' in conjunction with members of the public. A number of films have been shot at the British Museum.
Governance
Director
The British Museum is a non-departmental public body
In the United Kingdom, non-departmental public body (NDPB) is a classification applied by the Cabinet Office, Treasury, the Scottish Government and the Northern Ireland Executive to public sector organisations that have a role in the process of n ...
sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport
, type = Department
, logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg
, logo_width =
, logo_caption =
, seal =
, seal_width =
, seal_caption =
, picture = Gove ...
through a three-year funding agreement. Its head is the Director of the British Museum. The British Museum was run from its inception by a 'principal librarian' (when the book collections were still part of the museum), a role that was renamed 'director and principal librarian' in 1898, and 'director' in 1973 (on the separation of the British Library).
Trustees
A board of 25 trustees (with the director as their accounting officer
Accounting, also known as accountancy, is the measurement, processing, and communication of financial and non financial information about economic entities such as businesses and corporations. Accounting, which has been called the "language ...
for the purposes of reporting to Government) is responsible for the general management and control of the museum, in accordance with the British Museum Act
British Museum Act is a stock short title used in the United Kingdom for legislation relating to the British Museum.
List
:The British Museum Act 1753 (26 Geo 2 c 22)
:The British Museum Act 1767 (7 Geo 3 c 18)
:The British Museum Act 1805 (45 ...
1963 and the Museums and Galleries Act 1992
The Museums and Galleries Act 1992 is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom (1992 c. 44) the long title of which is "An Act to establish Boards of Trustees of the National Gallery, the Tate Gallery, the National Portrait Gallery and t ...
. Prior to the 1963 Act, it was chaired by the Archbishop of Canterbury
The archbishop of Canterbury is the senior bishop and a principal leader of the Church of England, the ceremonial head of the worldwide Anglican Communion and the diocesan bishop of the Diocese of Canterbury. The current archbishop is Justi ...
, the Lord Chancellor
The lord chancellor, formally the lord high chancellor of Great Britain, is the highest-ranking traditional minister among the Great Officers of State in Scotland and England in the United Kingdom, nominally outranking the prime minister. The ...
and the Speaker of the House of Commons Speaker of the House of Commons is a political leadership position found in countries that have a House of Commons, where the membership of the body elects a speaker to lead its proceedings.
Systems that have such a position include:
* Speaker of ...
. The board was formed on the museum's inception to hold its collections in trust for the nation without actually owning them themselves, and now fulfil a mainly advisory role. Trustee
Trustee (or the holding of a trusteeship) is a legal term which, in its broadest sense, is a synonym for anyone in a position of trust and so can refer to any individual who holds property, authority, or a position of trust or responsibility to t ...
appointments are governed by the regulatory framework set out in the code of practice on public appointments issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.
Building
The Greek Revival
The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but a ...
façade facing Great Russell Street is a characteristic building of Sir Robert Smirke, with 44 columns in the Ionic order high, closely based on those of the temple of Athena Polias
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek religion, ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretism, syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded ...
at Priene
Priene ( grc, Πριήνη, Priēnē; tr, Prien) was an ancient Greek city of Ionia (and member of the Ionian League) located at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of what was then the course of the Maeander River (now called th ...
in Asia Minor
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
. The pediment
Pediments are gables, usually of a triangular shape.
Pediments are placed above the horizontal structure of the lintel, or entablature, if supported by columns. Pediments can contain an overdoor and are usually topped by hood moulds.
A pedimen ...
over the main entrance is decorated by sculptures by Sir Richard Westmacott
Sir Richard Westmacott (15 July 17751 September 1856) was a British sculptor.
Life and career
Westmacott studied with his father, also named Richard Westmacott, at his studio in Mount Street, off Grosvenor Square in London before going t ...
depicting ''The Progress of Civilisation'', consisting of fifteen allegorical
As a literary device or artistic form, an allegory is a narrative or visual representation in which a character, place, or event can be interpreted to represent a hidden meaning with moral or political significance. Authors have used allegory t ...
figures, installed in 1852.
The construction commenced around the courtyard with the East Wing ( The King's Library) in 1823–1828, followed by the North Wing in 1833–1838, which originally housed among other galleries a reading room, now the Wellcome Gallery. Work was also progressing on the northern half of the West Wing (The Egyptian Sculpture Gallery) 1826–1831, with Montagu House demolished in 1842 to make room for the final part of the West Wing, completed in 1846, and the South Wing with its great colonnade, initiated in 1843 and completed in 1847, when the Front Hall and Great Staircase were opened to the public. The museum is faced with Portland stone, but the perimeter walls and other parts of the building were built using Haytor
Haytor, also known as Haytor Rocks, Hay Tor, or occasionally Hey Tor, is a granite tor on the eastern edge of Dartmoor in the English county of Devon.
Location
The tor is at grid reference , near the village of Haytor Vale in the parish of Il ...
granite from Dartmoor in South Devon, transported via the unique Haytor Granite Tramway
The Haytor Granite Tramway (also called Heytor) was a tramway built to convey granite from Haytor Down, Dartmoor, Devon to the Stover Canal. It was very unusual in that the track was formed of granite sections, shaped to guide the wheels of ho ...
.
In 1846 Robert Smirke was replaced as the museum's architect by his brother Sydney Smirke
Sydney Smirke (20 December 1797 – 8 December 1877) was a British architect.
Smirke who was born in London, England as the fifth son of painter Robert Smirke and his wife, Elizabeth Russell. He was the younger brother of Sir Robert Smirke ...
, whose major addition was the Round Reading Room 1854–1857; at in diameter it was then the second widest dome
A dome () is an architectural element similar to the hollow upper half of a sphere. There is significant overlap with the term cupola, which may also refer to a dome or a structure on top of a dome. The precise definition of a dome has been a m ...
in the world, the Pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...
in Rome being slightly wider.
The next major addition was the White Wing 1882–1884 added behind the eastern end of the South Front, the architect being Sir John Taylor.
In 1895, Parliament gave the museum trustees a loan of £200,000 to purchase from the Duke of Bedford all 69 houses which backed onto the museum building in the five surrounding streets – Great Russell Street, Montague Street, Montague Place, Bedford Square and Bloomsbury Street. The trustees planned to demolish these houses and to build around the west, north and east sides of the museum new galleries that would completely fill the block on which the museum stands. The architect Sir John James Burnet
Sir John James Burnet (31 May 1857 – 2 July 1938) was a Scottish Edwardian architect who was noted for a number of prominent buildings in Glasgow and London. He was the son of the architect John Burnet, and later went into partnership with ...
was petitioned to put forward ambitious long-term plans to extend the building on all three sides. Most of the houses in Montague Place were knocked down a few years after the sale. Of this grand plan only the Edward VII galleries in the centre of the North Front were ever constructed, these were built 1906–14 to the design by J.J. Burnet, and opened by King George V
George V (George Frederick Ernest Albert; 3 June 1865 – 20 January 1936) was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 until his death in 1936.
Born during the reign of his grandmother Que ...
and Queen Mary in 1914. They now house the museum's collections of Prints and Drawings and Oriental Antiquities. There was not enough money to put up more new buildings, and so the houses in the other streets are nearly all still standing.
The Duveen Gallery, sited to the west of the Egyptian, Greek & Assyrian sculpture galleries, was designed to house the Elgin Marbles by the American Beaux-Arts architect John Russell Pope
John Russell Pope (April 24, 1874 – August 27, 1937) was an American architect whose firm is widely known for designing major public buildings, including the National Archives and Records Administration building (completed in 1935), the Jeff ...
. Although completed in 1938, it was hit by a bomb in 1940 and remained semi-derelict for 22 years, before reopening in 1962. Other areas damaged during World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
bombing included: in September 1940 two unexploded bombs hit the Edward VII galleries, the King's Library received a direct hit from a high explosive bomb, incendiaries fell on the dome of the Round Reading Room but did little damage; on the night of 10 to 11 May 1941 several incendiaries fell on the south-west corner of the museum, destroying the book stack and 150,000 books in the courtyard and the galleries around the top of the Great Staircase – this damage was not fully repaired until the early 1960s.
The Queen Elizabeth II
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; 21 April 1926 – 8 September 2022) was Queen of the United Kingdom and other Commonwealth realms from 6 February 1952 until Death and state funeral of Elizabeth II, her death in 2022. She was queen ...
Great Court is a covered square at the centre of the British Museum designed by the engineers Buro Happold
Buro Happold (previously ''BuroHappold Engineering'') is a British professional services firm that provides engineering consultancy, design, planning, project management, and consulting services for buildings, infrastructure, and the environment ...
and the architects Foster and Partners
Foster + Partners is a British architectural, engineering, and integrated design practice founded in 1967 as Foster Associates by Norman Foster. It is the largest architectural firm in the UK with over 1,500 employees in 13 studios worldwide.
...
. The Great Court opened in December 2000 and is the largest covered square in Europe. The roof is a glass and steel construction, built by an Austrian steelwork company, with 1,656 uniquely shaped panes of glass. At the centre of the Great Court is the Reading Room vacated by the British Library, its functions now moved to St Pancras. The Reading Room is open to any member of the public who wishes to read there.
Today, the British Museum has grown to become one of the largest museums in the world, covering an area of over 92,000 m2 (990,000 sq. ft). In addition to 21,600 m2 (232,000 sq. ft) of on-site storage space, and 9,400 m2 (101,000 sq. ft) of external storage space. Altogether, the British Museum showcases on public display less than 1% of its entire collection, approximately 50,000 items.
There are nearly one hundred galleries open to the public, representing of exhibition space, although the less popular ones have restricted opening times. However, the lack of a large temporary exhibition space led to the £135 million World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre to provide one and to concentrate all the museum's conservation facilities into one centre. This project was announced in July 2007, with the architects Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners. It was granted planning permission in December 2009 and was completed in time for the Viking exhibition in March 2014. In 2017, the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre was shortlisted for the Stirling Prize
The Royal Institute of British Architects Stirling Prize is a British prize for excellence in architecture. It is named after the architect James Stirling, organised and awarded annually by the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA). The S ...
for excellence in architecture.
Blythe House
Blythe House is a listed building located at 23 Blythe Road, West Kensington, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham, UK. Originally built as the headquarters of the Post Office Savings Bank, it is now used as a store and archive by the V ...
in West Kensington is used by the museum for off-site storage of small and medium-sized artefacts, and Franks House in East London is used for storage and work on the "Early Prehistory" – Palaeolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...
and Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
– and some other collections.
Departments
Department of Egypt and Sudan
The British Museum houses the world's largest[The Cairo Museum has 200,000 artefacts, with leading collections reposited at the Egyptian Museum of Berlin (100,000), Musée du Louvre (60,000), Petrie Museum (80,000), The Metropolitan Museum of art (26,000), University of Pennsylvania (42,000), Ashmolean Museum (40,000), Museum of Fine Arts, Boston (40,000), Museo Egizio, Turin (32,500 objects).] and most comprehensive collection of Egyptian antiquities
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious p ...
(with over 100,000 pieces) outside the Egyptian Museum
The Museum of Egyptian Antiquities, known commonly as the Egyptian Museum or the Cairo Museum, in Cairo, Egypt, is home to an extensive collection of ancient Egyptian antiquities. It has 120,000 items, with a representative amount on display a ...
in Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
. A collection of immense importance for its range and quality, it includes objects of all periods from virtually every site of importance in Egypt
Egypt ( ar, مصر , ), officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, is a transcontinental country spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia via a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. It is bordered by the Mediter ...
and the Sudan
Sudan ( or ; ar, السودان, as-Sūdān, officially the Republic of the Sudan ( ar, جمهورية السودان, link=no, Jumhūriyyat as-Sūdān), is a country in Northeast Africa. It shares borders with the Central African Republic t ...
. Together, they illustrate every aspect of the cultures of the Nile Valley (including Nubia
Nubia () (Nobiin: Nobīn, ) is a region along the Nile river encompassing the area between the first cataract of the Nile (just south of Aswan in southern Egypt) and the confluence of the Blue and White Niles (in Khartoum in central Sudan), or ...
), from the Predynastic
Prehistoric Egypt and Predynastic Egypt span the period from the earliest human settlement to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period around 3100 BC, starting with the first Pharaoh, Narmer for some Egyptologists, Hor-Aha for others, with ...
Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
period (c. 10,000 BC) through Coptic (Christian) times (12th century AD), and up to the present day, a time-span over 11,000 years.
Egyptian antiquities
Egyptology (from ''Egypt'' and Greek , ''-logia''; ar, علم المصريات) is the study of ancient Egyptian history, language, literature, religion, architecture and art from the 5th millennium BC until the end of its native religious p ...
have formed part of the British Museum collection ever since its foundation in 1753 after receiving 160 Egyptian objects from Sir Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane, 1st Baronet (16 April 1660 – 11 January 1753), was an Irish physician, naturalist, and collector, with a collection of 71,000 items which he bequeathed to the British nation, thus providing the foundation of the British Mu ...
. After the defeat of the French forces under Napoleon
Napoleon Bonaparte ; it, Napoleone Bonaparte, ; co, Napulione Buonaparte. (born Napoleone Buonaparte; 15 August 1769 – 5 May 1821), later known by his regnal name Napoleon I, was a French military commander and political leader who ...
at the Battle of the Nile in 1801, the Egyptian antiquities collected were confiscated by the British army
The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
and presented to the British Museum in 1803. These works, which included the famed Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancien ...
, were the first important group of large sculptures to be acquired by the museum. Thereafter, the UK appointed Henry Salt as consul
Consul (abbrev. ''cos.''; Latin plural ''consules'') was the title of one of the two chief magistrates of the Roman Republic, and subsequently also an important title under the Roman Empire. The title was used in other European city-states throu ...
in Egypt who amassed a huge collection of antiquities, some of which were assembled and transported with great ingenuity by the famous Italian explorer Giovanni Belzoni
Giovanni Battista Belzoni (; 5 November 1778 – 3 December 1823), sometimes known as The Great Belzoni, was a prolific Italian explorer and pioneer archaeologist of Egyptian antiquities. He is known for his removal to England of the seven-tonn ...
. Most of the antiquities Salt collected were purchased by the British Museum and the Musée du Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
.
By 1866 the collection consisted of some 10,000 objects. Antiquities from excavations started to come to the museum in the latter part of the 19th century as a result of the work of the Egypt Exploration Fund
The Egypt Exploration Society (EES) is a British non-profit organization. The society was founded in 1882 by Amelia Edwards and Reginald Stuart Poole in order to examine and excavate in the areas of Egypt and Sudan. The intent was to study and an ...
under the efforts of E.A. Wallis Budge. Over the years more than 11,000 objects came from this source, including pieces from Amarna, Bubastis
Bubastis ( Bohairic Coptic: ''Poubasti''; Greek: ''Boubastis'' or ''Boubastos''), also known in Arabic as Tell-Basta or in Egyptian as Per-Bast, was an ancient Egyptian city. Bubastis is often identified with the biblical ''Pi-Beseth'' ( h ...
and Deir el-Bahari
Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri ( ar, الدير البحري, al-Dayr al-Baḥrī, the Monastery of the North) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part o ...
. Other organisations and individuals also excavated and donated objects to the British Museum, including Flinders Petrie
Sir William Matthew Flinders Petrie ( – ), commonly known as simply Flinders Petrie, was a British Egyptologist and a pioneer of systematic methodology in archaeology and the preservation of artefacts. He held the first chair of Egyp ...
's Egypt Research Account and the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, as well as the University of Oxford
, mottoeng = The Lord is my light
, established =
, endowment = £6.1 billion (including colleges) (2019)
, budget = £2.145 billion (2019–20)
, chancellor ...
Expedition to Kawa and Faras
Faras (formerly grc, Παχώρας, ''Pakhôras''; la, Pachoras; Old Nubian: Ⲡⲁⲭⲱⲣⲁⲥ, ''Pakhoras'') was a major city in Lower Nubia. The site of the city, on the border between modern Egypt and Sudan at Wadi Halfa Salient, was fl ...
in Sudan.
Active support by the museum for excavations in Egypt continued to result in important acquisitions throughout the 20th century until changes in antiquities laws in Egypt led to the suspension of policies allowing finds to be exported, although divisions still continue in Sudan. The British Museum conducted its own excavations in Egypt where it received divisions of finds, including Asyut
AsyutAlso spelled ''Assiout'' or ''Assiut'' ( ar, أسيوط ' , from ' ) is the capital of the modern Asyut Governorate in Egypt. It was built close to the ancient city of the same name, which is situated nearby. The modern city is located at ...
(1907), Mostagedda and Matmar (1920s), Ashmunein
Hermopolis ( grc, Ἑρμούπολις ''Hermoúpolis'' "the City of Hermes", also ''Hermopolis Magna'', ''Hermoû pólis megálẽ'', egy, ḫmnw , Egyptological pronunciation: "Khemenu"; cop, Ϣⲙⲟⲩⲛ ''Shmun''; ar, الأشموني ...
(1980s) and sites in Sudan such as Soba, Kawa and the Northern Dongola Reach
The Dongola Reach is a reach of approximately 160 km in length stretching from the Fourth downriver to the Third Cataracts of the Nile in Upper Nubia, Sudan. Named after the Sudanese town of Dongola which dominates this part of the river, the rea ...
(1990s). The size of the Egyptian collections now stand at over 110,000 objects.
In autumn 2001 the eight million objects forming the museum's permanent collection were further expanded by the addition of six million objects from the Wendorf Collection of Egyptian
Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt.
Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to:
Nations and ethnic groups
* Egyptians, a national group in North Africa
** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...
and Sudanese Prehistory
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
. These were donated by Professor Fred Wendorf
Fred may refer to:
People
* Fred (name), including a list of people and characters with the name
Mononym
* Fred (cartoonist) (1931–2013), pen name of Fred Othon Aristidès, French
* Fred (footballer, born 1949) (1949–2022), Frederico R ...
of Southern Methodist University
, mottoeng = "The truth will make you free"
, established =
, type = Private research university
, accreditation = SACS
, academic_affiliations =
, religious_affiliation = United Methodist Church
, president = R. Gerald Turner
, prov ...
in Texas
Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...
, and comprise the entire collection of artefacts and environmental remains from his excavations at Prehistoric sites in the Sahara Desert
, photo = Sahara real color.jpg
, photo_caption = The Sahara taken by Apollo 17 astronauts, 1972
, map =
, map_image =
, location =
, country =
, country1 =
, ...
between 1963 and 1997. Other fieldwork collections have recently come from Dietrich and Rosemarie Klemm (University of Munich
The Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (simply University of Munich or LMU; german: Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München) is a public research university in Munich, Germany. It is Germany's List of universities in Germany, sixth-oldest u ...
) and William Adams (University of Kentucky
The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a Public University, public Land-grant University, land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentu ...
).
The seven permanent Egyptian galleries at the British Museum, which include its largest exhibition space (Room 4, for monumental sculpture), can display only 4% of its Egyptian holdings. The second-floor galleries have a selection of the museum's collection of 140 mummies
A mummy is a dead human or an animal whose soft tissues and organs have been preserved by either intentional or accidental exposure to chemicals, extreme cold, very low humidity, or lack of air, so that the recovered body does not decay furt ...
and coffins, the largest outside Cairo
Cairo ( ; ar, القاهرة, al-Qāhirah, ) is the capital of Egypt and its largest city, home to 10 million people. It is also part of the largest urban agglomeration in Africa, the Arab world and the Middle East: The Greater Cairo metro ...
. A high proportion of the collection comes from tombs or contexts associated with the cult of the dead, and it is these pieces, in particular the mummies, that remain among the most eagerly sought-after exhibits by visitors to the museum.
Highlights of the collections include:
Predynastic and Early Dynastic period (c. 6000 BC – c. 2690 BC)
* Mummy of Ginger
Ginger (''Zingiber officinale'') is a flowering plant whose rhizome, ginger root or ginger, is widely used as a spice
A spice is a seed, fruit, root, bark, or other plant substance primarily used for flavoring or coloring food. Spices ...
and five other individuals from Gebelein (c. 3400 BC)
* Flint knife with an ivory handle (known as the ''Pit-Rivers Knife''), Sheikh Hamada, Egypt (c. 3100 BC)
* The Battlefield Palette
The Battlefield Palette (also known as the Vultures Palette, the Giraffes Palette, or the Lion Palette) may be the earliest battle scene representation of the dozen or more ceremonial or ornamental cosmetic palettes of ancient Egypt. Along with t ...
and Hunters Palette
The Hunters Palette or Lion Hunt Palette is a circa 3100 BCE cosmetic palette from the Naqada III period of late prehistoric Egypt. The palette is broken: part is held by the British Museum and part is in the collection of the Louvre.
Content
The ...
, two cosmetic palettes with complex decorative schemes (c. 3100 BC)
* Ivory statuette of a king, from the early temple at Abydos, Egypt (c. 3000 BC)
* King Den's sandal label from Abydos, mid-1st Dynasty (c. 2985 BC)
* Stela of King Peribsen
Seth-Peribsen (also known as Ash-Peribsen, Peribsen and Perabsen) is the serekh name of an early Egyptian monarch (pharaoh), who ruled during the Second Dynasty of Egypt (c. 2890 – c. 2686 BC). His chronological position within this dyna ...
, Abydos (c. 2720–2710 BC)
Old Kingdom (2690–2181 BC)
* Artefacts from the tomb of King Khasekhemwy from the 2nd Dynasty (2690 BC)
* Granite statue of Ankhwa, the shipbuilder, Saqqara
Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis ...
, Egypt, 3rd Dynasty (c. 2650 BC)
* Several of the original casing stones from the Great Pyramid of Giza
The Great Pyramid of Giza is the biggest Egyptian pyramid and the tomb of Fourth Dynasty pharaoh Khufu. Built in the early 26th century BC during a period of around 27 years, the pyramid is the oldest of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient Worl ...
, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2 ...
(c. 2570 BC)
* Statue of Nenkheftka from Deshasha, 4th Dynasty (2500 BC)
* Limestone false door of Ptahshepses
Ptahshepses was the vizier and son-in-law of the Fifth Dynasty pharaoh Nyuserre Ini. As such he was one of the most distinguished members of the royal court.
Ptahshepses' mastaba complex in Abusir is considered by many to be the most exten ...
, Saqqara (2440 BC)
* Abusir Papyri
The Abusir Papyri are the largest papyrus findings to date from the Old Kingdom in ancient Egypt. The first papyri were discovered in 1893 at Abu Gorab near Abusir in northern Egypt. Their origins are dated to around the 24th century BC during ...
, some of the oldest papyri from ancient Egypt, Abusir (2400 BC)
* Wooden tomb statue of Tjeti, 5th to 6th Dynasty (c. 2345–2181 BC)
Middle Kingdom (2134–1690 BC)
* Inner and outer coffin of Sebekhetepi, Beni Hasan
Beni Hasan (also written as Bani Hasan, or also Beni-Hassan) ( ar, بني حسن) is an ancient Egyptian cemetery. It is located approximately to the south of modern-day Minya in the region known as Middle Egypt, the area between Asyut and Mem ...
(c. 2125–1795 BC)
* Quartzite statue of Ankhrekhu, 12th Dynasty (1985–1795 BC)
* Limestone stela of Heqaib, Abydos, Egypt, 12th Dynasty (1990–1750 BC)
* Block statue and stela of Sahathor, 12th Dynasty, reign of Amenemhat II (1922–1878 BC)
* Limestone statue and stelae from the offering chapel of Inyotef, Abydos, 12th Dynasty (c. 1920 BC)
* Stela of Samontu, Abydos (1910 BC)
* Reliefs from the tomb of Djehutyhotep, Deir-el-Bersha (1878–1855 BC)
* Three Granite statues of Senwosret III
Khakaure Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or the hellenised form, Sesostris III) was a pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth Dynasty of the ...
, Deir el-Bahri
Deir el-Bahari or Dayr al-Bahri ( ar, الدير البحري, al-Dayr al-Baḥrī, the Monastery of the North) is a complex of mortuary temples and tombs located on the west bank of the Nile, opposite the city of Luxor, Egypt. This is a part of ...
(1850 BC)
* Statue of Rehuankh, Abydos (1850–1830 BC)
* Colossal head of Amenemhat III
:''See Amenemhat, for other individuals with this name.''
Amenemhat III ( Ancient Egyptian: ''Ỉmn-m-hꜣt'' meaning 'Amun is at the forefront'), also known as Amenemhet III, was a pharaoh of ancient Egypt and the sixth king of the Twelfth Dy ...
, Bubastis (1800 BC)
* Stela of Nebipusenwosret, Abydos (1800 BC)
Second Intermediate Period (1650–1550 BC)
* Coffin of King Nubkheperre Intef, Thebes (1570 BC)
* The famous Rhind Mathematical Papyrus, an early example of Ancient Egyptian mathematics, Thebes (1550 BC)
New Kingdom (1549–1069 BC)
* Schist head of Pharaoh Hatshepsut
Hatshepsut (; also Hatchepsut; Egyptian: '' ḥꜣt- špswt'' "Foremost of Noble Ladies"; or Hatasu c. 1507–1458 BC) was the fifth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the second historically confirmed female pharaoh, af ...
or her successor Tuthmosis III
Thutmose III (variously also spelt Tuthmosis or Thothmes), sometimes called Thutmose the Great, was the sixth pharaoh of the Eighteenth Dynasty. Officially, Thutmose III ruled Egypt for almost 54 years and his reign is usually dated from 28 ...
(1480 BC)
* Statue of Senenmut
Senenmut ( egy, sn-n-mwt, sometimes spelled Senmut, Senemut, or Senmout) was an 18th Dynasty ancient Egyptian architect and government official. His name translates literally as "mother's brother."
Family
Senenmut was of low commoner birth, ...
with Princess Neferure
Neferure (or Neferura) was an Egyptian princess of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. She was the daughter of two pharaohs, Hatshepsut and Thutmose II. She served in high offices in the government and the religious administration of Ancient Egy ...
on his lap, Karnak
The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Constr ...
(1470 BC)
* Block statue of Sennefer
The ancient Egyptian noble Sennefer was "Mayor of the City" (i.e. Thebes) and "Overseer of the Granaries and Fields, Gardens and Cattle of Amun" during the reign of Amenhotep II of the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Being a favourite of the king ...
, Western Thebes (1430 BC)
* Twenty Sekhmet statues
The Sekhmet statues, dating back to the New Kingdom of Egypt during the 18th dynasty and later dynasties, are statues of the Egyptian goddess Sekhmet.
Sekhmet statues can be found throughout Egypt, Thebes, Karnak and other parts of Africa. ...
from the Temple of Mut, Thebes (1400 BC)
* Fragment of the beard of the Great Sphinx of Giza (14th century BC)
* Pair of granite monumental lion statues from Soleb
Soleb is an ancient town in Nubia, in present-day Sudan. The site is located north of the third
cataract of the Nile, on the western side of the Nile. It was discovered and described by
Karl Richard Lepsius in 1844.
Necropolis
Soleb is also t ...
in Sudan, (1370 BC)
* Hoard of silver bullion from El-Amarna
Amarna (; ar, العمارنة, al-ʿamārnah) is an extensive Egyptian archaeological site containing the remains of what was the capital city of the late Eighteenth Dynasty. The city was established in 1346 BC, built at the direction of the Ph ...
(1352–1336 BC)
* Colossal head from a statue of Amenhotep III (1350 BC)
* Colossal limestone bust of Amenhotep III (1350 BC)
* Amarna Tablets
The Amarna letters (; sometimes referred to as the Amarna correspondence or Amarna tablets, and cited with the abbreviation EA, for "El Amarna") are an archive, written on clay tablets, primarily consisting of diplomatic correspondence between t ...
, 99 out of 382 tablets found, second largest collection in the world after the Vorderasiatisches Museum, Berlin
Berlin ( , ) is the capital and largest city of Germany by both area and population. Its 3.7 million inhabitants make it the European Union's most populous city, according to population within city limits. One of Germany's sixteen constitue ...
(203 tablets) (1350 BC)
* Stela of Horemheb
Horemheb, also spelled Horemhab or Haremhab ( egy, ḥr-m-ḥb, meaning " Horus is in Jubilation") was the last pharaoh of the 18th Dynasty of Egypt (1550–1295 BC). He ruled for at least 14 years between 1319 BC and 1292 BC. ...
from his tomb at Saqqara
Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis ...
(1330 BC)
* London Medical Papyrus
The London Medical Papyrus is an ancient Egyptian papyrus in the British Museum, London, England. The writings of this papyrus are of 61 recipes, of which 25 are classified as medical while the remainder are of magic. The medical subjects of the wr ...
with 61 medical and magical treatments (1300 BC)
* Papyrus of Ani
The Papyrus of Ani is a papyrus manuscript in the form of a scroll with cursive hieroglyphs and color illustrations that was created c. 1250 BCE, during the Nineteenth Dynasty of the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt. Egyptians compiled an individu ...
, one of the finest extant Book of the Dead
The ''Book of the Dead'' ( egy, 𓂋𓏤𓈒𓈒𓈒𓏌𓏤𓉐𓂋𓏏𓂻𓅓𓉔𓂋𓅱𓇳𓏤, ''rw n(y)w prt m hrw(w)'') is an ancient Egyptian funerary text generally written on papyrus and used from the beginning of the New Kingdom ...
from antiquity, Thebes (1275 BC)
* List of the kings of Egypt from the Temple of Ramesses II (1250 BC)
* Statue of Khaemwaset
Prince Khaemweset (also translated as Khamwese, Khaemwese or Khaemwaset or Setne Khamwas) was the fourth son of Ramesses II and the second son by his queen Isetnofret. His contributions to Egyptian society were remembered for centuries after his ...
, son of Ramses II
Ramesses II ( egy, rꜥ-ms-sw ''Rīʿa-məsī-sū'', , meaning "Ra is the one who bore him"; ), commonly known as Ramesses the Great, was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt. Along with Thutmose III he is often regarded as t ...
, Abydos (1250 BC)
* The Great Harris Papyrus
Papyrus Harris I is also known as the Great Harris Papyrus and (less accurately) simply the Harris Papyrus (though there are a number of other papyri in the Harris collection). Its technical designation is ''Papyrus British Museum EA 9999''. At 41 ...
, the longest surviving papyrus from antiquity, Thebes (1200 BC)
* D'Orbiney Papyrus with the Tale of Two Brothers (1200–1194 BC)
* Seated statue of Seti II
Seti II (or Sethos II) was the fifth pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and reigned from 1203 BC to 1197 BC. His throne name, Userkheperure Setepenre, means "Powerful are the manifestations of Re, the chosen one of Re." H ...
, Temple of Mut, Karnak
The Karnak Temple Complex, commonly known as Karnak (, which was originally derived from ar, خورنق ''Khurnaq'' "fortified village"), comprises a vast mix of decayed temples, pylons, chapels, and other buildings near Luxor, Egypt. Constr ...
(1200–1194 BC)
* Face from the sarcophagus of Ramses VI
Ramesses VI Nebmaatre-Meryamun (sometimes written Ramses or Rameses, also known under his princely name of Amenherkhepshef C) was the fifth ruler of the Twentieth Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned for about eight years in the mid-to-late 12th century ...
, Valley of the Kings (1140 BC)
* Book of the Dead of Nedjmet with painted offering-vignettes and columns of Hieroglyphic
Egyptian hieroglyphs (, ) were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, used for writing the Egyptian language. Hieroglyphs combined logographic, syllabic and alphabetic elements, with some 1,000 distinct characters.There were about 1,00 ...
text, Deir el-Bahari (1070 BC)
Third Intermediate Period (1069–664 BC)
* Greenfield papyrus
The Greenfield papyrus is a papyrus that contains an ancient Egyptian '' Book of the Dead'' and is named after Mrs. Edith Mary Greenfield, who presented it to the Trustees of the British Museum in May 1910. Now in the collections of the British ...
, funerary papyrus of Princess Nesitanebetashru
Nesitanebetashru ''(ns-t3-nb.t-ỉšrw)'' was the name of two ancient Egyptian women. The name means “belonging to the lady of the ''ashru''”; the ''ashru'' or '' isheru'' was a crescent-shaped sacred lake around the temples of solar goddesses ...
, daughter of Pinudjem II and Neskhons
Neskhons (“She Belongs to Khons”), once more commonly known as “Nsikhonsou”, was a noble lady of the 21st Dynasty of Egypt.
Biography
She was the daughter of Smendes II and Takhentdjehuti, and wed her paternal uncle, High Priest Pinedj ...
, and priestess of Amen-Ra at Thebes (950–930 BC)
* Pair of gold bracelets that belonged to General Nemareth, son of Shoshenq I, Sais
Sais ( grc, Σάϊς, cop, Ⲥⲁⲓ) was an ancient Egyptian city in the Western Nile Delta on the Canopic branch of the Nile,Mish, Frederick C., Editor in Chief. "Saïs." '' Webster's Ninth New Collegiate Dictionary''. 9th ed. Springfiel ...
(940 BC)
* Colossal column capital of Hathor
Hathor ( egy, ḥwt-ḥr, lit=House of Horus, grc, Ἁθώρ , cop, ϩⲁⲑⲱⲣ, Meroitic: ) was a major goddess in ancient Egyptian religion who played a wide variety of roles. As a sky deity, she was the mother or consort of the sky ...
from Bubastis
Bubastis ( Bohairic Coptic: ''Poubasti''; Greek: ''Boubastis'' or ''Boubastos''), also known in Arabic as Tell-Basta or in Egyptian as Per-Bast, was an ancient Egyptian city. Bubastis is often identified with the biblical ''Pi-Beseth'' ( h ...
, 22nd Dynasty (922–887 BC)
* Statue of the Nile god Hapy
Hapi ( Ancient Egyptian: ''ḥʿpy'') was the god of the annual flooding of the Nile in ancient Egyptian religion. The flood deposited rich silt (fertile soil) on the river's banks, allowing the Egyptians to grow crops.Wilkinson, p.106 Hapi was gre ...
, Karnak (c. 900 BC)
* Mummy case and coffin of Nesperennub, Thebes (c. 800 BC)
* Shabaka Stone
The Shabaka Stone, sometimes Shabaqo, is a relic incised with an ancient Egyptian religious text, which dates from the Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt. In later years, the stone was likely used as a millstone, which damaged the hieroglyphs. This dam ...
from Memphis, Egypt, 25th Dynasty (c. 700 BC)
* Coffin of king Menkaure
Menkaure (also Menkaura, Egyptian transliteration ''mn-k3w-Rˁ''), was an ancient Egyptian king (pharaoh) of the fourth dynasty during the Old Kingdom, who is well known under his Hellenized names Mykerinos ( gr, Μυκερῖνος) (by Herod ...
, Giza (700–600 BC)
* One of the three statues of Amun in the form of a ram protecting King Taharqo, Kawa (683 BC)
* Inner and outer coffins of the priest Hor, Deir el-Bahari, Thebes, 25th Dynasty (c. 680 BC)
* Granite statue of the Sphinx of Taharqo (680 BC)
Late Period (664–332 BC)
* Saite Sarcophagus of Sasobek, the vizier (prime minister) of the northern part of Egypt in the reign of Psammetichus I
Wahibre Psamtik I ( Ancient Egyptian: ) was the first pharaoh of the Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt, the Saite period, ruling from the city of Sais in the Nile delta between 664–610 BC. He was installed by Ashurbanipal of the Neo-Assyrian Empir ...
(664–610 BC)
* Sarcophagus lid of Sasobek (630 BC)
* Bronze figure of Isis and Horus, North Saqqara
Saqqara ( ar, سقارة, ), also spelled Sakkara or Saccara in English , is an Egyptian village in Giza Governorate, that contains ancient burial grounds of Egyptian royalty, serving as the necropolis for the ancient Egyptian capital, Memphis ...
, Egypt (600 BC)
* Sarcophagus of Hapmen, Cairo, 26th Dynasty or later (600–300 BC)
* Kneeling statue of Wahibre, from near Lake Mariout
Lake Mariout ( ar, بحيرة مريوط ', , also spelled Maryut or Mariut), is a brackish lake in northern Egypt near the city of Alexandria. The lake area covered and had a navigable canal at the beginning of the 20th century, but at the begin ...
(530 BC)
* Sarcophagus
A sarcophagus (plural sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a box-like funeral receptacle for a corpse, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek ...
of Ankhnesneferibre
Ankhnesneferibre was an ancient Egyptian princess and priestess during the 26th Dynasty, daughter of pharaoh Psamtik II and his queen Takhuit. She held the positions of Divine Adoratrice of Amun and later God's Wife of Amun between 595 and 525 ...
(525 BC)
* Torso of Nectanebo I
Nectanebo I ( Egyptian: ; grc-gre, Νεκτάνεβις ; died 361/60 BCE) was an ancient Egyptian pharaoh, founder of the last native dynasty of Egypt, the 30th.
Name
Nectanebo's Egyptian personal name was Nḫt-nb.f, which means "the stron ...
(380–362 BC)
* Obelisks
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by An ...
and sarcophagus of Pharaoh Nectanebo II
Nectanebo II ( Egyptian: ; grc-gre, Νεκτανεβώς ) was the last native ruler of Ancient Egypt, as well as the third and last pharaoh from the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned from 358 to 340 BC.
Under Nectanebo II, Egypt prosper ...
(360–343 BC)
* Sarcophagus of Nectanebo II
Nectanebo II ( Egyptian: ; grc-gre, Νεκτανεβώς ) was the last native ruler of Ancient Egypt, as well as the third and last pharaoh from the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned from 358 to 340 BC.
Under Nectanebo II, Egypt prosper ...
, Alexandria (360–343 BC)
Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BC)
* The famous Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancien ...
, trilingual stela that unlocked the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics (196 BC)
* Naos or temple shrine of Ptolemy VIII
Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II Tryphon ( gr, Πτολεμαῖος Εὐεργέτης Τρύφων, ''Ptolemaĩos Euergétēs Tryphon'' "Ptolemy the Benefactor; c. 184 BC – 28 June 116 BC), nicknamed Physcon ( "Fatty"), was a king of the Ptolema ...
from Philae
; ar, فيلة; cop, ⲡⲓⲗⲁⲕ
, alternate_name =
, image = File:File, Asuán, Egipto, 2022-04-01, DD 93.jpg
, alt =
, caption = The temple of Isis from Philae at its current location on Agilkia Island in Lake Nasse ...
(150 BC)
* Giant sculpture of a scarab beetle
The family Scarabaeidae, as currently defined, consists of over 30,000 species of beetles worldwide; they are often called scarabs or scarab beetles. The classification of this family has undergone significant change in recent years. Several sub ...
(32–30 BC)
* Fragment of a basalt Egyptian-style statue of Ptolemy I Soter
Ptolemy I Soter (; gr, Πτολεμαῖος Σωτήρ, ''Ptolemaîos Sōtḗr'' "Ptolemy the Savior"; c. 367 BC – January 282 BC) was a Macedonian Greek general, historian and companion of Alexander the Great from the Kingdom of Macedon ...
(305–283 BC)
* Mummy of Hornedjitef
Hornedjitef was an ancient Egyptian priest in the Temple of Amun at Karnak during the reign of Ptolemy III
, predecessor = Ptolemy II
, successor = Ptolemy IV
, nebty = ''ḳn nḏtj-nṯrw jnb-mnḫ-n-tꜢmrj'Qen nedjtinetjeru i ...
(inner coffin), Thebes (3rd century BC)
* Wall from a chapel of Queen Shanakdakhete
Shanakhdakheto or Shanakdakhete was a Queen of the Kingdom of Kush, when the polity was centered at Meroë, an ancient city in north Sudan. She is the earliest known ruling African queen of ancient Nubia, and reigned from c. 170–150 BC, althoug ...
, Meroë
Meroë (; also spelled ''Meroe''; Meroitic: or ; ar, مرواه, translit=Meruwah and ar, مروي, translit=Meruwi, label=none; grc, Μερόη, translit=Meróē) was an ancient city on the east bank of the Nile about 6 km north-east ...
(c. 150 BC)
* Shrine
A shrine ( la, scrinium "case or chest for books or papers"; Old French: ''escrin'' "box or case") is a sacred or holy sacred space, space dedicated to a specific deity, ancestor worship, ancestor, hero, martyr, saint, Daemon (mythology), daem ...
of Ptolemy VII, Philae (c. 150 BC)
Roman Period (30 BC – 641 AD)
* Schist head of a young man, Alexandria
Alexandria ( or ; ar, ٱلْإِسْكَنْدَرِيَّةُ ; grc-gre, Αλεξάνδρεια, Alexándria) is the second largest city in Egypt, and the largest city on the Mediterranean coast. Founded in by Alexander the Great, Alexandria ...
(after 30 BC)
* The Meriotic Hamadab Stela
The Hamadab Stela is a colossal sandstone stela found at Hamadab just south of the ancient site of Meroë in Sudan. Now kept at the British Museum, the significance of the stela resides in the fact that it is inscribed with one of the longest kn ...
from the Kingdom of Kush
The Kingdom of Kush (; Egyptian language, Egyptian: 𓎡𓄿𓈙𓈉 ''kꜣš'', Akkadian language, Assyrian: ''Kûsi'', in LXX grc, Κυς and Κυσι ; cop, ''Ecōš''; he, כּוּשׁ ''Kūš'') was an ancient kingdom in Nubia, ce ...
found near the ancient site of Meroë in Sudan, 24 BC
* Lid of the coffin of Soter and Cleopatra from Qurna, Thebes (early 2nd century AD)
* Mummy of a youth with a portrait of the deceased, Hawara
Hawara is an archaeological site of Ancient Egypt, south of the site of Crocodilopolis ('Arsinoë', also known as 'Medinet al-Faiyum') at the entrance to the depression of the Fayyum oasis. It is the site of a pyramid built by the Pharaoh Amene ...
(100–200 AD)
* Over 30 Fayum mummy portraits
Mummy portraits or Fayum mummy portraits are a type of naturalistic painted portrait on wooden boards attached to upper class mummies from Roman Egypt. They belong to the tradition of panel painting, one of the most highly regarded forms of ar ...
from Hawara
Hawara is an archaeological site of Ancient Egypt, south of the site of Crocodilopolis ('Arsinoë', also known as 'Medinet al-Faiyum') at the entrance to the depression of the Fayyum oasis. It is the site of a pyramid built by the Pharaoh Amene ...
and other sites in Fayum
Faiyum ( ar, الفيوم ' , borrowed from cop, ̀Ⲫⲓⲟⲙ or Ⲫⲓⲱⲙ ' from egy, pꜣ ym "the Sea, Lake") is a city in Middle Egypt. Located southwest of Cairo, in the Faiyum Oasis, it is the capital of the modern Faiyum ...
(40–250 AD)
* Bronze lamp and patera from the X-group tombs, Qasr Ibrim
Qasr Ibrim ( ar, قصر ابريم; Meroitic: ''Pedeme''; Old Nubian: ''Silimi''; Coptic: ⲡⲣⲓⲙ ''Prim''; Latin: ''Primis'') is an archaeological site in Lower Nubia, located in the modern country of Egypt. The site has a long history o ...
(1st–6th centuries AD)
* Coptic wall painting of the martyrdom
A martyr (, ''mártys'', "witness", or , ''marturia'', stem , ''martyr-'') is someone who suffers persecution and death for advocating, renouncing, or refusing to renounce or advocate, a religious belief or other cause as demanded by an externa ...
of saints, Wadi Sarga (6th century AD)
File:Bm-ginger.jpg, Room 64 – Egyptian grave containing a Gebelein predynastic mummy, late predynastic
Prehistoric Egypt and Predynastic Egypt span the period from the earliest human settlement to the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period around 3100 BC, starting with the first Pharaoh, Narmer for some Egyptologists, Hor-Aha for others, with ...
, 3400 BC
File:London - British Museum - 2273.jpg, Room 4 – Three black granite statues of the pharaoh Senusret III
Khakaure Senusret III (also written as Senwosret III or the hellenised form, Sesostris III) was a pharaoh of Egypt. He ruled from 1878 BC to 1839 BC during a time of great power and prosperity, and was the fifth king of the Twelfth Dynasty of the ...
, c. 1850 BC
File:ThreeStatuesOfGoddessSakhmet-ProfileView-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg, Room 4 – Three black granite statues of the goddess Sakhmet
In Egyptian mythology, Sekhmet ( or Sachmis (), also spelled Sakhmet, Sekhet, Sakhet among other spellings, cop, Ⲥⲁⲭⲙⲓ, Sakhmi), is a warrior goddess as well as goddess of healing. She is depicted as a lioness.
Sekhmet is a solar de ...
, c. 1400 BC
File:British Museum Egypt 086.JPG, Room 4 – Colossal statue of Amenhotep III, c. 1370 BC
File:Quartzite head of Amenhotep III.jpg, Great Court – Colossal quartzite statue of Amenhotep III
The colossal quartzite statue of Amenhotep III is an ancient Egyptian sculpture dating from the 18th Dynasty ( BCE). It was found in the massive mortuary temple of the pharaoh Amenhotep III on the West Bank of the River Nile at Thebes ( Luxor) ...
, c. 1350 BC
File:Egyptian Couple BM (1).JPG, Room 4 - Limestone statue of a husband and wife, 1300–1250 BC
File:P1050700 (5022075232).jpg, Room 63 - Gilded outer coffins from the tomb of Henutmehyt, Thebes, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, 1250 BC
File:Book of the Dead of Hunefer sheet 5.jpg, Book of the Dead of Hunefer
Hunefer was a scribe during the 19th Dynasty ('' fl.'' c. 1300 BCE). He was the owner of the Papyrus of Hunefer, a copy of the funerary Egyptian Book of the Dead, which represents one of the classic examples of these texts, along with others suc ...
, sheet 5, 19th Dynasty, 1250 BC
File:British Museum Egypt 101.jpg, Room 4 – Ancient Egyptian bronze statue of a cat
The cat (''Felis catus'') is a domestic species of small carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species in the family Felidae and is commonly referred to as the domestic cat or house cat to distinguish it from the wild members of ...
from the Late Period, c. 664–332 BC
File:British Museum Egypt 107.jpg, Room 4 – Green siltstone head of a Pharaoh, 26th–30th Dynasty, 600–340 BC
File:Nectanebo II obelisk.jpg, Great Court – Black siltstone obelisk of King Nectanebo II of Egypt, Thirtieth dynasty, c. 350 BC
File:Fayum-66.jpg, Room 62 – Detail from the mummy case of Artemidorus the Younger, a Greek who had settled in Thebes, Egypt, during Roman times, 100–200 AD
Department of Greece and Rome
The British Museum has one of the world's largest and most comprehensive collections of antiquities from the Classical world
Classical antiquity (also the classical era, classical period or classical age) is the period of cultural history between the 8th century BC and the 5th century AD centred on the Mediterranean Sea, comprising the interlocking civilizations of ...
, with over 100,000 objects. These mostly range in date from the beginning of the Greek Bronze Age (about 3200 BC) to the establishment of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, with the Edict of Milan
The Edict of Milan ( la, Edictum Mediolanense; el, Διάταγμα τῶν Μεδιολάνων, ''Diatagma tōn Mediolanōn'') was the February 313 AD agreement to treat Christians benevolently within the Roman Empire. Frend, W. H. C. ( ...
under the reign of the Roman emperor Constantine I
Constantine I ( , ; la, Flavius Valerius Constantinus, ; ; 27 February 22 May 337), also known as Constantine the Great, was Roman emperor from AD 306 to 337, the first one to Constantine the Great and Christianity, convert to Christiani ...
in 313 AD. Archaeology was in its infancy during the nineteenth century and many pioneering individuals began excavating sites across the Classical world, chief among them for the museum were Charles Newton, John Turtle Wood
John Turtle Wood (13 February 1821 – 25 March 1890) was an English architect, engineer and archaeologist.
Biography
Wood was born at Hackney, London the son of John Wood of Shropshire and his wife Elizabeth Wood, née Turtle. He was educated ...
, Robert Murdoch Smith
Major General Sir Robert Murdoch Smith KCMG FRSE (18 August 1835 – 3 July 1900) was a Scottish engineer, archaeologist and diplomat. He is known for his involvement with the excavation of antiquities found at Knidos and Cyrene, the telegraph ...
and Charles Fellows
Sir Charles Fellows (31 August 1799 – 8 November 1860) was a British archaeologist and explorer, known for his numerous expeditions in what is present-day Turkey.
Biography
Charles Fellows was born at High Pavement, Nottingham on 31 August ...
.
The Greek objects originate from across the Ancient Greek world, from the mainland of Greece and the Aegean Islands, to neighbouring lands in Asia Minor and Egypt in the eastern Mediterranean and as far as the western lands of Magna Graecia
Magna Graecia (, ; , , grc, Μεγάλη Ἑλλάς, ', it, Magna Grecia) was the name given by the Romans to the coastal areas of Southern Italy in the present-day Italian regions of Calabria, Apulia, Basilicata, Campania and Sicily; these re ...
that include Sicily and southern Italy. The Cycladic
The Cyclades (; el, Κυκλάδες, ) are an island group in the Aegean Sea, southeast of mainland Greece and a former administrative prefecture of Greece. They are one of the island groups which constitute the Aegean archipelago. The nam ...
, Minoan
The Minoan civilization was a Bronze Age Aegean civilization on the island of Crete and other Aegean Islands, whose earliest beginnings were from 3500BC, with the complex urban civilization beginning around 2000BC, and then declining from 1450B ...
and Mycenaean cultures are represented, and the Greek
Greek may refer to:
Greece
Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe:
*Greeks, an ethnic group.
*Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family.
**Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...
collection includes important sculpture from the Parthenon
The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
in Athens, as well as elements of two of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2 ...
, the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus ( grc, Μαυσωλεῖον τῆς Ἁλικαρνασσοῦ; tr, Halikarnas Mozolesi) was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC in Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey) for Mausolus, an ...
and the Temple of Artemis
The Temple of Artemis or Artemision ( gr, Ἀρτεμίσιον; tr, Artemis Tapınağı), also known as the Temple of Diana, was a Greek temple dedicated to an ancient, local form of the goddess Artemis (identified with Diana, a Roman go ...
at Ephesos
Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in ...
.
Beginning from the early Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
, the department also houses one of the widest-ranging collections of Italic and Etruscan __NOTOC__
Etruscan may refer to:
Ancient civilization
*The Etruscan language, an extinct language in ancient Italy
*Something derived from or related to the Etruscan civilization
**Etruscan architecture
**Etruscan art
**Etruscan cities
** Etrusca ...
antiquities outside Italy, as well as extensive groups of material from Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
and non-Greek colonies in Lycia
Lycia (Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean ...
and Caria
Caria (; from Greek: Καρία, ''Karia''; tr, Karya) was a region of western Anatolia extending along the coast from mid-Ionia (Mycale) south to Lycia and east to Phrygia. The Ionians, Ionian and Dorians, Dorian Greeks colonized the west of i ...
on Asia Minor. There is some material from the Roman Republic
The Roman Republic ( la, Res publica Romana ) was a form of government of Rome and the era of the classical Roman civilization when it was run through public representation of the Roman people. Beginning with the overthrow of the Roman Kin ...
, but the collection's strength is in its comprehensive array of objects from across the Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post-Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Mediterr ...
, with the exception of Britain (which is the mainstay of the Department of Prehistory and Europe).
The collections of ancient jewellery and bronzes, Greek vases (many from graves in southern Italy that were once part of Sir William Hamilton's and Chevalier Durand's collections), Roman glass
Roman glass objects have been recovered across the Roman Empire in domestic, industrial and funerary contexts. Glass was used primarily for the production of vessels, although mosaic tiles and window glass were also produced. Roman glass productio ...
including the famous Cameo glass
Cameo glass is a luxury form of glass art produced by cameo glass engraving or etching and carving through fused layers of differently colored glass to produce designs, usually with white opaque glass figures and motifs on a dark-colored backgroun ...
Portland Vase, Roman gold glass
Gold glass or gold sandwich glass is a luxury form of glass where a decorative design in gold leaf is fused between two layers of glass. First found in Hellenistic Greece, it is especially characteristic of the Roman glass of the Late Empire ...
(the second largest collection after the Vatican Museums
The Vatican Museums ( it, Musei Vaticani; la, Musea Vaticana) are the public museums of the Vatican City. They display works from the immense collection amassed by the Catholic Church and the papacy throughout the centuries, including several of ...
), Roman mosaic
A Roman mosaic is a mosaic made during the Roman period, throughout the Roman Republic and later Empire. Mosaics were used in a variety of private and public buildings, on both floors and walls, though they competed with cheaper frescos for the ...
s from Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
and Utica in North Africa that were excavated by Nathan Davis, and silver hoards from Roman Gaul
Roman Gaul refers to GaulThe territory of Gaul roughly corresponds to modern-day France, Belgium and Luxembourg, and adjacient parts of the Netherlands, Switzerland and Germany. under provincial rule in the Roman Empire from the 1st century ...
(some of which were bequeathed by the philanthropist and museum trustee Richard Payne Knight
Richard Payne Knight (11 February 1751 – 23 April 1824) of Downton Castle in Herefordshire, and of 5 Soho Square,History of Parliament biography London, England, was a classical scholar, connoisseur, archaeologist and numismatist best ...
), are particularly important. Cypriot antiquities are strong too and have benefited from the purchase of Sir Robert Hamilton Lang's collection as well as the bequest of Emma Turner in 1892, which funded many excavations on the island. Roman sculptures (many of which are copies of Greek originals) are particularly well represented by the Townley collection
Townley is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
* A. C. Townley (1880–1959), American political organizer, founder the National Non-Partisan League
*Alvin Townley (born 1975), American author who writes about adventure with a gre ...
as well as residual sculptures from the famous Farnese collection
The classical sculptures in the Farnese Collection, one aspect of this large art collection, are one of the first collections of artistic items from Greco-Roman Antiquity. It includes some of the most influential classical works, including the sc ...
.
Objects from the Department of Greece and Rome are located throughout the museum, although many of the architectural monuments are to be found on the ground floor, with connecting galleries from Gallery 5 to Gallery 23. On the upper floor, there are galleries devoted to smaller material from ancient Italy, Greece, Cyprus and the Roman Empire.
Highlights of the collections include:
Temple of Hephaestus
The Temple of Hephaestus or ''Hephaisteion'' (also "Hephesteum" or "Hephaesteum"; grc, Ἡφαιστεῖον, ell, Ναός Ηφαίστου, and formerly called in error the Theseion or "Theseum"; grc, Θησεῖον, ell, Θησείο), ...
* Marble coffer
A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault.
A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also ...
frame and coffer from the colonnade
In classical architecture, a colonnade is a long sequence of columns joined by their entablature, often free-standing, or part of a building. Paired or multiple pairs of columns are normally employed in a colonnade which can be straight or cur ...
, (449–415 BC)
Parthenon
The Parthenon (; grc, Παρθενών, , ; ell, Παρθενώνας, , ) is a former temple on the Athenian Acropolis, Greece, that was dedicated to the goddess Athena during the fifth century BC. Its decorative sculptures are considere ...
* The Parthenon Marbles (Elgin Marbles), (447–438 BC)
Propylaea
* Capital and column drum, (437–432 BC)
Erechtheion
The Erechtheion (latinized as Erechtheum /ɪˈrɛkθiəm, ˌɛrɪkˈθiːəm/; Ancient Greek: Ἐρέχθειον, Greek: Ερέχθειο) or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple- telesterion on the north side of the Acropoli ...
* A surviving column and architectural fittings, (420–415 BC)
* One of six remaining Caryatid
A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...
s, (415 BC)
Temple of Athena Nike
Athena or Athene, often given the epithet Pallas, is an ancient Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare, and handicraft who was later syncretized with the Roman goddess Minerva. Athena was regarded as the patron and protectress o ...
* Surviving frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
slabs and capital, (427–424 BC)
Choragic Monument of Thrasyllos
The choragic monument of Thrasyllos is a memorial building erected in 320–319 BCE, on the artificial scarp of the south face of the Acropolis of Athens, to commemorate the choregos of Thrasyllos. It is built in the form of a small temple and f ...
* Statue of Dionysos, (270 BC)
Tower of the Winds
The Tower of the Winds or the Horologion of Andronikos Kyrrhestes is an octagonal Pentelic marble clocktower in the Roman Agora in Athens that functioned as a ''horologion'' or "timepiece". It is considered the world's first meteorological stat ...
* Marble Corinthian Corinthian or Corinthians may refer to:
*Several Pauline epistles, books of the New Testament of the Bible:
**First Epistle to the Corinthians
**Second Epistle to the Corinthians
**Third Epistle to the Corinthians (Orthodox)
*A demonym relating to ...
capital, (50 BC)
Temple of Poseidon, Sounion
*Fluted column base, (444–440 BC)
Temple of Nemesis, Rhamnus
* Head from the statue of Nemesis, (430–420 BC)
Temple of Bassae
Bassae ( la, Bassae, grc, Βάσσαι - ''Bassai'', meaning "little vale in the rocks") is an archaeological site in Oichalia, a municipality in the northeastern part of Messenia, Greece. In classical antiquity, it was part of Arcadia. Bassae ...
* Twenty-three surviving blocks of the frieze
In architecture, the frieze is the wide central section part of an entablature and may be plain in the Ionic or Doric order, or decorated with bas-reliefs. Paterae are also usually used to decorate friezes. Even when neither columns nor ...
from the interior of the temple, (420–400 BC)
Sanctuary of Apollo at Daphni
* Fluted columns, column bases and ionic capitals, (399–301 BC)
Temple of Athena Polias
The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. Th ...
, Priene
Priene ( grc, Πριήνη, Priēnē; tr, Prien) was an ancient Greek city of Ionia (and member of the Ionian League) located at the base of an escarpment of Mycale, about north of what was then the course of the Maeander River (now called th ...
* Sculptural coffer
A coffer (or coffering) in architecture is a series of sunken panels in the shape of a square, rectangle, or octagon in a ceiling, soffit or vault.
A series of these sunken panels was often used as decoration for a ceiling or a vault, also ...
s from the temple ceiling, (350–325 BC)
* Ionic capitals, architraves and antae
The Antes, or Antae ( gr, Ἄνται), were an early East Slavic tribal polity of the 6th century CE. They lived on the lower Danube River, in the northwestern Black Sea region (present-day Moldova and central Ukraine), and in the regions aro ...
, (350–325 BC)
* Marble torso of a chariot
A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...
eer, (320–300 BC)
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus ( grc, Μαυσωλεῖον τῆς Ἁλικαρνασσοῦ; tr, Halikarnas Mozolesi) was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC in Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey) for Mausolus, an ...
* Two colossal free-standing figures identified as Maussollos and his wife Artemisia
Artemisia may refer to:
People
* Artemisia I of Caria (fl. 480 BC), queen of Halicarnassus under the First Persian Empire, naval commander during the second Persian invasion of Greece
* Artemisia II of Caria (died 350 BC), queen of Caria under th ...
, (c. 350 BC)
* Part of an impressive horse from the chariot
A chariot is a type of cart driven by a charioteer, usually using horses to provide rapid motive power. The oldest known chariots have been found in burials of the Sintashta culture in modern-day Chelyabinsk Oblast, Russia, dated to c. 2000&nbs ...
group adorning the summit of the Mausoleum
A mausoleum is an external free-standing building constructed as a monument enclosing the interment space or burial chamber of a deceased person or people. A mausoleum without the person's remains is called a cenotaph. A mausoleum may be consid ...
, (c. 350 BC)
* The Amazonomachy
In Greek mythology, Amazonomachy ( English translation: "Amazon battle"; plural, Amazonomachiai ( grc, Ἀμαζονομαχίαι) or Amazonomachies) was one of various mythical battles between the ancient Greeks and the Amazons, a nation of ...
frieze – A long section of relief frieze showing the battle between Greeks and Amazons, (c. 350 BC)
Temple of Artemis in Ephesus
* One of the sculptured column bases, (340–320 BC)
* Part of the Ionic frieze situated above the colonnade, (330–300 BC)
Knidos
Knidos or Cnidus (; grc-gre, Κνίδος, , , Knídos) was a Greek city in ancient Caria and part of the Dorian Hexapolis, in south-western Asia Minor, modern-day Turkey. It was situated on the Datça peninsula, which forms the southern side ...
in Asia Minor
* Demeter of Knidos, (350 BC)
* Lion of Knidos
The Lion of Knidos is the name for a colossal ancient Greek statue erected near the ancient port of Knidos, south-west Asia Minor (now near Datça in Turkey). Although there is some debate about the age of the sculpture, in general, scholarly opin ...
, (350–200 BC)
Xanthos
Xanthos ( Lycian: 𐊀𐊕𐊑𐊏𐊀 ''Arñna'', el, Ξάνθος, Latin: ''Xanthus'', Turkish: ''Ksantos'') was an ancient major city near present-day Kınık, Antalya Province, Turkey. The remains of Xanthos lie on a hill on the left b ...
in Asia Minor
* Lion Tomb, (550–500 BC)
* Harpy Tomb
The Harpy Tomb is a marble chamber from a pillar tomb that stands in the abandoned city of Xanthos, capital of ancient Lycia, a region of southwestern Anatolia in what is now Turkey. Built in the Persian Achaemenid Empire, and dating to approxi ...
, (480–470 BC)
* Nereid Monument
The Nereid Monument is a sculptured tomb from Xanthos in Lycia (then part of the Achaemenid Persian Empire), close to present-day Fethiye in Mugla Province, Turkey. It took the form of a Greek temple on top of a base decorated with sculpted friez ...
, partial reconstruction of a large and elaborate Lykian tomb, (390–380 BC)
* Tomb of Merehi, (390–350 BC)
* Tomb of Payava
The Tomb of Payava is a Lycian tall rectangular free-standing barrel-vaulted stone sarcophagus, and one of the most famous tombs of Xanthos. It was built in the Achaemenid Persian Empire, for Payava, who was probably the ruler of Xanthos, Lycia a ...
, (375–350 BC)
* Bilingual Decree of Pixodaros, (340 BC)
Temple of Zeus, Salamis in Cyprus
* Marble capital with caryatid
A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...
figure standing between winged bulls, (300–250 BC)
Wider collection
Prehistoric Greece and Italy (3300 BC – 8th century BC)
* Over thirty Cycladic figures from islands in the Aegean Sea, many collected by James Theodore Bent
James Theodore Bent (30 March 1852 – 5 May 1897) was an English explorer, archaeologist, and author.
Biography
James Theodore Bent was born in Liverpool on 30 March 1852, the son of James (1807-1876) and Eleanor (née Lambert, c.1811-1873) ...
, Greece, (3300–2000 BC)
* A large Gaudo culture askos from Paestum
Paestum ( , , ) was a major ancient Greek city on the coast of the Tyrrhenian Sea in Magna Graecia (southern Italy). The ruins of Paestum are famous for their three ancient Greek temples in the Doric order, dating from about 550 to 450 BC, whi ...
, southern Italy, (2800–2400 BC)
* Kythnos Hoard of wood working metal tools from the island of Naxos
Naxos (; el, Νάξος, ) is a Greek island and the largest of the Cyclades. It was the centre of archaic Cycladic culture. The island is famous as a source of emery, a rock rich in corundum, which until modern times was one of the best ab ...
, Greece, (2700–2200 BC)
* Two pottery kernos
In the typology of ancient Greek pottery, the kernos ( or , plural ''kernoi'') is a pottery ring or stone tray to which are attached several small vessels for holding offerings. Its unusual design is described in literary sources, which also li ...
from Phylakopi
Phylakopi ( el, Φυλακωπή), located at the northern coast of the island of Milos, is one of the most important Bronze Age settlements in the Aegean and especially in the Cyclades. The importance of Phylakopi is in its continuity throughout ...
in Melos, Greece (2300–2000 BC)
* Material from the Palace of Knossos including a huge pottery storage jar, some donated by Sir Arthur Evans
Sir Arthur John Evans (8 July 1851 – 11 July 1941) was a British archaeologist and pioneer in the study of Aegean civilization in the Bronze Age. He is most famous for unearthing the palace of Knossos on the Greek island of Crete. Based on ...
, Crete, Greece, (1900–1100 BC)
* The Minoan gold treasure from Aegina
Aegina (; el, Αίγινα, ''Aígina'' ; grc, Αἴγῑνα) is one of the Saronic Islands of Greece in the Saronic Gulf, from Athens. Tradition derives the name from Aegina (mythology), Aegina, the mother of the hero Aeacus, who was born ...
, northern Aegean, Greece, (1850–1550 BC)
* Artefacts from the Psychro Cave
Psychro Cave ( el, Σπήλαιο Ψυχρού) is an ancient Minoan sacred cave in Lasithi plateau in the Lasithi district of eastern Crete. Psychro is associated with the Diktaean Cave ( el, link=no, Δικταῖον Ἄντρον; ''Diktaio ...
in Crete, including two serpentine libation tables, (1700–1450 BC)
* Bronze Minoan Bull-leaper
The Minoan bull leaper is a bronze group of a bull and leaper in the British Museum. It is the only known largely complete three-dimensional sculpture depicting Minoan bull-leaping. Although bull leaping certainly took place in Crete at this time ...
from Rethymnon, Crete, (1600–1450 BC)
* Segments of the columns and architraves from the Treasury of Atreus
The Treasury of Atreus or Tomb of Agamemnon is a large ''tholos'' or beehive tomb constructed between 1350 and 1250 BC in Mycenae, Greece.Wace, A. J. (1940). The Treasury of Atreus. ''Antiquity, 14'', 233. ISSN 0003-598X The tomb was used for an un ...
, Peloponnese, Greece, (1350–1250 BC)
* Ivory game board found at Enkomi, Cyprus, (12th century BC)
* Nuragic hoard of bronze artefacts found at Santa Maria in Paulis, Cagliari
Cagliari (, also , , ; sc, Casteddu ; lat, Caralis) is an Italian municipality and the capital of the island of Sardinia, an autonomous region of Italy. Cagliari's Sardinian name ''Casteddu'' means ''castle''. It has about 155,000 inhabitant ...
, Sardinia, (1100–900 BC)
* Elgin Amphora
The Elgin Amphora is a large Ancient Greek neck-handled amphora made from fired clay in Athens around 760 to 750 BC. The ceramic vessel may have been used to hold wine at a funeral feast, and then entombed with the cremated remains of the decea ...
, highly decorated pottery vase attributed to the Dipylon Master
The Dipylon Master was an Ancient Greece, ancient Greek vase painter who was active from around 760–750 BC. He worked in Athens, where he and his workshop produced large funerary vessels for those interred in the Dipylon Gate cemetery, whence h ...
, Athens, Greece, (8th century BC)
* Votive offerings from the Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia
The Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia, an Archaic site devoted in Classical times to Artemis, was one of the most important religious sites in the Greek city-state of Sparta, and continued to be used into the fourth century CE, when all non-Christian ...
at Sparta, (8th century BC)
Etruscan (8th century BC – 1st century BC)
* Gold jewellery and other rich artefacts from the Castellani and Galeassi Tombs in Palestrina
Palestrina (ancient ''Praeneste''; grc, Πραίνεστος, ''Prainestos'') is a modern Italian city and ''comune'' (municipality) with a population of about 22,000, in Lazio, about east of Rome. It is connected to the latter by the Via Pre ...
, central Italy, (8th–6th centuries BC)
* Ornate gold fibula
The fibula or calf bone is a leg bone on the lateral side of the tibia, to which it is connected above and below. It is the smaller of the two bones and, in proportion to its length, the most slender of all the long bones. Its upper extremity i ...
with granulated parade of animals from the Bernardini Tomb, Cerveteri
Cerveteri () is a town and '' comune'' of northern Lazio in the region of the Metropolitan City of Rome. Known by the ancient Romans as Caere, and previously by the Etruscans as Caisra or Cisra, and as Agylla (or ) by the Greeks, its modern na ...
, (675–650 BC)
* Various objects including two small terracotta statues from the "Tomb of the five chairs" in Cerveteri (625–600 BC)
* Gold libation bowl from Sant'Angelo Muxaro, Sicily, (600 BC)
* Contents of the Isis tomb and François Tomb
The François Tomb is an important painted Etruscan tomb from the Ponte Rotto Necropolis in the Etruscan city of Vulci, Lazio, in central Italy. It was discovered in 1857 by Alessandro François and Adolphe Noël des Vergers. It dates to the ...
, Vulci, (570–560 BC)
* Painted terracotta plaques (the so-called ''Boccanera Plaques'') from a tomb in Cerveteri
Cerveteri () is a town and '' comune'' of northern Lazio in the region of the Metropolitan City of Rome. Known by the ancient Romans as Caere, and previously by the Etruscans as Caisra or Cisra, and as Agylla (or ) by the Greeks, its modern na ...
, (560–550 BC)
* Decorated silver panels from Castel San Marino, near Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...
(540–520 BC)
* Statuette of a bronze votive figure from Pizzidimonte, near Prato, Italy (500–480 BC)
* Bronze helmet with inscription commemorating the Battle of Cumae
The Battle of Cumae is the name given to at least two battles between Cumae and the Etruscans:
* In 524 BC an invading army of Umbrians, Daunians, Etruscans, and others were defeated by the Greeks of Cumae.
* The naval battle in 474 BC was bet ...
, Olympia, Greece, (480 BC)
* Bronze votive
A votive offering or votive deposit is one or more objects displayed or deposited, without the intention of recovery or use, in a sacred place for religious purposes. Such items are a feature of modern and ancient societies and are generally ...
statuettes from the Lake of the Idols, Monte Falterona
Monte Falterona is a mountain in the Tuscan-Romagnolo Apeninnes, in the Casentino traditional region, standing at 1,654 m. It is part of the Casentino forests, Monte Falterona and Campigna National Park. The peak is crossed by the borders of t ...
, (420–400 BC)
* Part of a symposium
In ancient Greece, the symposium ( grc-gre, συμπόσιον ''symposion'' or ''symposio'', from συμπίνειν ''sympinein'', "to drink together") was a part of a banquet that took place after the meal, when drinking for pleasure was acc ...
set of bronze vessels from the tomb of Larth Metie, Bolsena
Bolsena is a town and ''comune'' of Italy, in the province of Viterbo in northern Lazio on the eastern shore of Lake Bolsena. It is 10 km (6 mi) north-north west of Montefiascone and 36 km (22 mi) north-west of Viterbo. The a ...
, Italy, (400–300 BC)
* Exquisite gold ear-ring
An earring is a piece of jewelry attached to the ear via a piercing in the earlobe or another external part of the ear (except in the case of clip earrings, which clip onto the lobe). Earrings have been worn by people in different civilizations an ...
with female head pendant, one of a pair from Perugia
Perugia (, , ; lat, Perusia) is the capital city of Umbria in central Italy, crossed by the River Tiber, and of the province of Perugia.
The city is located about north of Rome and southeast of Florence. It covers a high hilltop and part o ...
, (300–200 BC)
* Oscan Tablet
The Oscan Tablet (Latin Tabula Osca) or Agnone Tablet is a bronze inscription written in the Oscan alphabet that dates to the 3rd century BC. It was found near the town of Agnone in Molise, Italy. Since 1873, the original has been kept in the Bri ...
, one of the most important inscriptions in the Oscan language, (300–100 BC)
* Hoard of gold jewellery from Sant'Eufemia Lamezia, southern Italy, (340–330 BC)
* Latian bronze figure from the Sanctuary of Diana, Lake Nemi
Lake Nemi ( it, Lago di Nemi, la, Nemorensis Lacus, also called Diana's Mirror, la, Speculum Dianae) is a small circular volcanic lake in the Lazio region of Italy south of Rome, taking its name from Nemi, the largest town in the area, that ...
, Latium, (200–100 BC)
* Sarcophagus of Seianti Hanunia Tlesnasa from Chiusi, (150–140 BC)
Ancient Greece (8th century BC – 4th century AD)
* Orientalising gold jewellery from the Camirus
Camirus or Kamiros ( grc, Κάμιρος; ) or Cameirus or Kameiros (Κάμειρος) was a city of ancient Rhodes, in the Dodecanese, Greece. Its site is on the northwest coast of the island, west of the modern village of Kalavarda.
History
...
cemetery in Rhodes, (700–600 BC)
* Foot from the colossal Kouros
kouros ( grc, κοῦρος, , plural kouroi) is the modern term given to free-standing Ancient Greek sculptures that depict nude male youths. They first appear in the Archaic period in Greece and are prominent in Attica and Boeotia, with a less ...
of Apollo, Delos, (600–500 BC)
* Group of life-size archaic statues from the Sacred Way at Didyma
Didyma (; grc, Δίδυμα) was an ancient Greek sanctuary on the coast of Ionia in the domain of the famous city of Miletus. Apollo was the main deity of the sanctuary of Didyma, also called ''Didymaion''. But it was home to both of the tem ...
, western Turkey, (600–580 BC)
* Bronze statuette
Bronze is an alloy consisting primarily of copper, commonly with about 12–12.5% tin and often with the addition of other metals (including aluminium, manganese, nickel, or zinc) and sometimes non-metals, such as phosphorus, or metalloids such ...
of a rider and horse from Armento, southern Italy (550 BC)
* Bronze head of an axe
An axe ( sometimes ax in American English; see spelling differences) is an implement that has been used for millennia to shape, split and cut wood, to harvest timber, as a weapon, and as a ceremonial or heraldic symbol. The axe has ma ...
from San Sosti
San Sosti ( Calabrian: ; from ) is a ''comune'' in the province of Cosenza, in Calabria, southern Italy.
History
A highly decorated bronze axe-head was discovered near San Sosti in 1846. This votive offering was later bought by the collector a ...
, southern Italy, (520 BC)
* Statue of a nude standing youth from Marion, Cyprus
Marion ( el, Μάριον) was one of the Ten city-kingdoms of Cyprus. It was situated in the north-west of the island in the Akamas region, close to or under the present town of Polis. Both Strabo and Pliny the Elder mention the city in their wri ...
, (520–510 BC)
* Large terracotta sarcophagus and lid with painted scenes from Klazomenai
Klazomenai ( grc, Κλαζομεναί) or Clazomenae was an ancient Greek city on the coast of Ionia and a member of the Ionian League. It was one of the first cities to issue silver coinage. Its ruins are now located in the modern town Urla n ...
, western Turkey, (510–480 BC)
* Two bronze tablets in the Locrian Greek
Locrian Greek is an ancient Greek dialect that was spoken by the Locrians in Locris, Central Greece. It is a dialect of Northwest Greek. The Locrians were divided into two tribes, the Ozolian Locrians and the Opuntian Locrians, thus the Locrian d ...
dialect from Galaxidi
Galaxidi or Galaxeidi ( el, Γαλαξίδι/Γαλαξείδι), is a town and a former municipality in the southern part of Phocis, Greece. Since the 2011 local government reform it is part of the municipality Delphi, of which it is a municipal ...
, central Greece, (500–475 BC)
* Fragments from a large bronze equestrian
The word equestrian is a reference to equestrianism, or horseback riding, derived from Latin ' and ', "horse".
Horseback riding (or Riding in British English)
Examples of this are:
* Equestrian sports
*Equestrian order, one of the upper classes i ...
statue of the Taranto
Taranto (, also ; ; nap, label= Tarantino, Tarde; Latin: Tarentum; Old Italian: ''Tarento''; Ancient Greek: Τάρᾱς) is a coastal city in Apulia, Southern Italy. It is the capital of the Province of Taranto, serving as an important com ...
Rider, southern Italy, (480–460 BC)
* Chatsworth Apollo Head, Tamassos, Cyprus (460 BC)
* Statue of recumbent bull from the Dipylon Cemetery, Athens (4th century BC)
* Hoard of gold jewellery from Avola, Sicily, (370–300 BC)
* Dedicatory Inscription by Alexander the Great from Priene in Turkey (330 BC)
* Head from the colossal statue of the Asclepius of Milos
The Asclepius of Milos or Asklepios of Melos is a marble head from what was once a colossal ancient Greek statue of Asclepius found on the island of Milos in Greece. It was acquired by the British Museum along with the rest of the Blacas collec ...
, Greece, (325–300 BC)
* Braganza Brooch
The Braganza Brooch is a gold ornamental fibula that was made in the third century BC by a Greek craftsman for a Celtic Iberian client. Since its discovery in unknown circumstances in the nineteenth century in Portugal, it has belonged to a varie ...
, Ornamental gold fibula reflecting Celtic and Greek influences (3rd century BC)
* Hoard of silver patera
In the material culture of classical antiquity, a ''phiale'' ( ) or ''patera'' () is a shallow ceramic or metal libation bowl. It often has a bulbous indentation (''omphalos'', "bellybutton") in the center underside to facilitate holding it, in ...
from Èze
Èze (; oc, Esa; it, Eza) is a seaside commune in the Alpes-Maritimes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. It is located on the French Riviera, 8.5 km (5.2 mi) to the northeast of Nice and 4.5 km (2.7 mi ...
, southeastern France, (3rd century BC)
* Gold tablet from an Orphic sanctuary in southern Italy (3rd–2nd centuries BC)
* Marble relief of the Apotheosis of Homer
The Apotheosis of Homer is a common scene in classical and neo-classical art, showing the poet Homer's apotheosis or elevation to divine status.
Homer was the subject of a number of formal hero cults in classical antiquity. The earliest notable ...
from Bovillae
Bovillae was an ancient Latin town in Lazio, central Italy, currently part of Frattocchie ''frazione'' in the municipality of Marino.
Overview
Bovillae was a station on the Via Appia (which in 293 BC was already paved up to this point), located ...
, central Italy, (221–205 BC)
* Bronze sculpture of a Greek poet known as the Arundel Head
The Arundel Head is a Hellenistic bronze portrait of a dramatist or king from Asia Minor, now kept in the British Museum. Dating to the 2nd-1st centuries BC, the head once belonged to (and takes its name from) the famous English collector of class ...
, western Turkey, (2nd–1st centuries BC)
* Remains of the Scylla monument at Bargylia, south west Anatolia, Turkey, (200–150 BC)
* Bronze head and hand of the statue of Aphrodite of Satala (1st century BC)
* Bronze statuettes from Paramythia (2nd century AD)
* Large statue of Europa
Europa may refer to:
Places
* Europe
* Europa (Roman province), a province within the Diocese of Thrace
* Europa (Seville Metro), Seville, Spain; a station on the Seville Metro
* Europa City, Paris, France; a planned development
* Europa Cliff ...
sitting on the back of a bull from the amphitheatre at Gortyna
Gortyna ( grc, Γόρτυνα; also known as Gortyn (Γορτύν)) was a town of ancient Crete which appears in the Homeric poems under the form of Γορτύν; but afterwards became usually Gortyna (Γόρτυνα). According to Stephanus o ...
, Crete, (100 BC)
Ancient Rome (1st century BC – 4th century AD)
* Pair of engraved oval agate
Agate () is a common rock formation, consisting of chalcedony and quartz as its primary components, with a wide variety of colors. Agates are primarily formed within volcanic and metamorphic rocks. The ornamental use of agate was common in Anci ...
plaques depicting Livia as Diana and Octavian
Caesar Augustus (born Gaius Octavius; 23 September 63 BC – 19 August AD 14), also known as Octavian, was the first Roman emperor; he reigned from 27 BC until his death in AD 14. He is known for being the founder of the Roman Pri ...
as Mercury, (Rome, 30–25 BC)
* Guildford Puteal
The Guilford Puteal is a Pentelic marble Ancient Roman sculpture. Its name derives from its use as a puteal or wellhead, and one of its previous owners, Frederick North, second Earl of Guilford. Its discovery in Corinth gives rise to an altern ...
from Corinth, Greece (30–10 BC)
* Bronze head of Augustus from Meroë in Sudan (27–25 BC)
* Cameo glass Portland Vase
The Portland Vase is a Roman cameo glass vase, which is dated to between AD 1 and AD 25, though low BC dates have some scholarly support. It is the best known piece of Roman cameo glass and has served as an inspiration to many glass and porcelain ...
, the most famous glass vessel from ancient Rome, (1–25 AD)
* Silver Warren Cup
The Warren Cup is an ancient Greco-Roman silver drinking cup decorated in relief with two images of male same-sex acts. It was purchased by the British Museum for £1.8 million in 1999, the most expensive single purchase by the museum at that ...
with homoerotic scenes, found near Jerusalem, (5–15 AD)
* Gladius of Mainz (or "Sword of Tiberius") and Blacas Cameo
The Blacas Cameo is an unusually large Ancient Roman cameo, high, carved from a piece of sardonyx with four alternating layers of white and brown. It shows the profile head of the Roman emperor Augustus and probably dates from shortly after hi ...
, depicting Roman emperors in triumph (15 AD)
* Horse trappings
Tack is equipment or accessories equipped on horses and other equines in the course of their use as domesticated animals. This equipment includes such items as saddles, stirrups, bridles, halters, reins, bits, and harnesses. Equipping a horse i ...
in decorated silver-plated bronze from Xanten, Germany (1st century AD)
* Pair of carved fluorite cups known as the Barber Cup and Crawford Cup
The Barber Cup and Crawford Cup are two non-matching carved fluorite cups from about 50–100 AD. They were discovered during World War I by an Austro-Croatian officer who excavated a Roman tomb near the current Turkish–Syrian border. Both cups ...
(100 AD)
* Athlete statue, "Vaison Diadumenos
The Vaison Diadumenos is a life size marble statue of an athlete found at the Roman city of Vaison, southern France. Since 1870, it has been part of the British Museum's collection.
Discovery
The statue known as the Vaison Diadumenos was discover ...
", from an ancient Roman city in southern France (118–138 AD)
* A hoard of silver votive plaques dedicated to the Roman God Jupiter Dolichenus
Jupiter Dolichenus was a Roman god whose mystery cult was widespread in the Roman Empire from the early-2nd to mid-3rd centuries AD. Like several other figures of the mystery cults, Jupiter Dolichenus was one of the so-called 'oriental' gods; tha ...
, discovered in Heddernheim
Heddernheim is a quarter of Frankfurt am Main, Germany. It is part of the '' Ortsbezirk Nord-West'' and is subdivided into the ''Stadtbezirke'' Heddernheim-Ost and Heddernheim-West.
History Antiquity
The Roman town of Nida (Roman town) was situ ...
, near Frankfurt, Germany, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
* Discus-thrower (Discobolos) and Bronze Head of Hypnos from Civitella d'Arna, Italy, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
* Part of a large wooden wheel for draining a copper mine in Huelva
Huelva (, ) is a city in southwestern Spain, the capital of the province of Huelva in the autonomous community of Andalusia. It is between two short rias though has an outlying spur including nature reserve on the Gulf of Cádiz coast. The rias ...
, southern Spain, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
* Capitals from some of the pilasters
In classical architecture, a pilaster is an architectural element used to give the appearance of a supporting column and to articulate an extent of wall, with only an ornamental function. It consists of a flat surface raised from the main wall ...
of the Pantheon
Pantheon may refer to:
* Pantheon (religion), a set of gods belonging to a particular religion or tradition, and a temple or sacred building
Arts and entertainment Comics
*Pantheon (Marvel Comics), a fictional organization
* ''Pantheon'' (Lone S ...
, Rome, (126 AD)
* Colossal marble head of Faustina the Elder
Annia Galeria Faustina the Elder, sometimes referred to as Faustina I or Faustina Major (born on February 16 around 100; died in October or November of 140), was a Roman empress and wife of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius. The emperor Marcus Au ...
, wife of the Roman emperor Antoninus Pius from Sardis
Sardis () or Sardes (; Lydian: 𐤳𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣 ''Sfard''; el, Σάρδεις ''Sardeis''; peo, Sparda; hbo, ספרד ''Sfarad'') was an ancient city at the location of modern ''Sart'' (Sartmahmut before 19 October 2005), near Salihli, ...
, western Turkey, (140 AD)
* Marble throne from the prohedria of the Panathenaic Stadium
The Panathenaic Stadium ( el, Παναθηναϊκό Στάδιο, Panathinaïkó Stádio, ), as spelled by Philostratus. or ''Kallimarmaro'' (Καλλιμάρμαρο, , Literal translation, lit. "beautiful marble") is a multi-purpose stadium ...
, Athens, (140–143 AD)
* Hoard of jewellery from a tomb in the vicinity of Miletopolis
Miletopolis ( grc, Μιλητόπολις) or Miletoupolis (Μιλητούπολις) was a town in the north of ancient Mysia, at the confluence of the rivers Macestus and Rhyndacus, and on the west of the lake which derives its name from the t ...
, Turkey, (175–180 AD)
* Inscribed marble base of the Roman Consul Tiberius Claudius Candidus
Tiberius Claudius Candidus (died c. 198 CE) was a Roman general and senator. He played an important role supporting Septimius Severus in the struggle for succession following the assassination of the emperor Pertinax in 193 CE.
Early Career a ...
, unearthed in Tarragona
Tarragona (, ; Phoenician: ''Tarqon''; la, Tarraco) is a port city located in northeast Spain on the Costa Daurada by the Mediterranean Sea. Founded before the fifth century BC, it is the capital of the Province of Tarragona, and part of Tar ...
, Spain (195–199 AD)
* Jennings Dog
The Jennings Dog (also known as The Duncombe Dog or The Dog of Alcibiades) is a Roman sculpture of a dog with a docked tail. Named for its first modern owner, Henry Constantine Jennings, it is a 2nd-century AD Roman copy of a Hellenistic bronze ...
, a statue of a Molossian
The Molossians () were a group of ancient Greek tribes which inhabited the region of Epirus in classical antiquity. Together with the Chaonians and the Thesprotians, they formed the main tribal groupings of the northwestern Greek group. On thei ...
guard dog, central Italy, (2nd century AD)
* Segment of a decorated marble balustrade
A baluster is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its con ...
from the Colosseum
The Colosseum ( ; it, Colosseo ) is an oval amphitheatre in the centre of the city of Rome, Italy, just east of the Roman Forum. It is the largest ancient amphitheatre ever built, and is still the largest standing amphitheatre in the world to ...
, Rome, Italy, (2nd century AD)
* Politarch
Politarch ( el, πολιτάρχης, ''politarches''; plural πολιτάρχαι, ''politarchai'') was a Hellenistic and Roman-era Macedonian title for an elected governor (''archon'') of a city (''polis''). The term had been already attested in ...
inscription from the Vardar Gate, Thessaloniki
Thessaloniki (; el, Θεσσαλονίκη, , also known as Thessalonica (), Saloniki, or Salonica (), is the second-largest city in Greece, with over one million inhabitants in its Thessaloniki metropolitan area, metropolitan area, and the capi ...
, Greece, (2nd century AD)
* Various silver treasures found at Arcisate
Arcisate is a town and ''comune'' located in the province of Varese, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. The celebrated Arcisate Treasure of Roman silverware was found in the town in the nineteenth century. It is now in the British Museum
...
, Beaurains
Beaurains () is a commune in the Pas-de-Calais department in the Hauts-de-France region in northern France.
Geography
A suburban town located 3 miles (5 km) south of Arras at the junction of the N17 with the D5 road.
History
The first ...
, Boscoreale
Boscoreale (; "Royal Grove") is an Italian '' comune ''and town in the Metropolitan City of Naples, Campania, with a population of 27,457 in 2011. Located in the Vesuvius National Park, under the slopes of Mount Vesuvius, it is known for the fru ...
, Bursa
( grc-gre, Προῦσα, Proûsa, Latin: Prusa, ota, بورسه, Arabic:بورصة) is a city in northwestern Turkey and the administrative center of Bursa Province. The fourth-most populous city in Turkey and second-most populous in the ...
, Chaourse
Chaourse is a commune in the Aisne department in Hauts-de-France in northern France. The famous Chaourse Treasure of Roman artefacts, now in the British Museum, was found in the village in 1883.
Population
See also
*Communes of the Aisn ...
, Caubiac, Chatuzange, Conimbriga, Mâcon
Mâcon (), historically anglicised as Mascon, is a city in east-central France. It is the prefecture of the department of Saône-et-Loire in Bourgogne-Franche-Comté. Mâcon is home to near 34,000 residents, who are referred to in French as ...
and Revel-Tourdan (1st–3rd century AD)
* Votive statue of Apollo of Cyrene
The Apollo of Cyrene is a colossal Roman statue of Apollo found at the ancient city of Cyrene, Libya. It was unearthed at the site along with a large number of other ancient sculptures and inscriptions which were presented to the British Museum in ...
, Libya (2nd century AD)
* Uerdingen Hoard found near Düsseldorf in Germany (2nd–3rd centuries AD)
The collection encompasses architectural, sculptural and epigraphic items from many other sites across the classical world including Amathus
Amathus or Amathous ( grc, Ἀμαθοῦς) was an ancient city and one of the ancient royal cities of Cyprus until about 300 BC. Some of its impressive remains can be seen today on the southern coast in front of Agios Tychonas, about west o ...
, Atripalda
Atripalda is a town and ''comune'' in the province of Avellino, Campania, southern Italy.
History
The town is the home of the ruins of ''Abellinum'', the Ancient Roman Avellino. A large than life-size Roman marble statue of a veiled priestess ...
, Aphrodisias
Aphrodisias (; grc, Ἀφροδισιάς, Aphrodisiás) was a small ancient Greek Hellenistic city in the historic Caria cultural region of western Anatolia, Turkey. It is located near the modern village of Geyre, about east/inland from the ...
, Delos, Iasos
Iasos or Iassos (; el, Ἰασός ''Iasós'' or ''Iassós''), also in Latinized form Iasus or Iassus (), was a Greek city in ancient Caria located on the Gulf of Iasos (now called the Gulf of Güllük), opposite the modern town of Güllük, T ...
, Idalion
Idalion or Idalium ( el, Ιδάλιον, ''Idalion'') was an ancient city in Cyprus, in modern Dali, Nicosia District. The city was founded on the copper trade in the 3rd millennium BC. Its name in the 8th century BC was "Ed-di-al" as it appears ...
, Lindus Lindus or Lindos ( gr, Λίνδος) was one of the most important towns in ancient Rhodes. It was situated on the eastern coast, a little to the north of a promontory bearing the same name. The district was in ancient times very productive in wine ...
, Kalymnos
Kalymnos ( el, Κάλυμνος) is a Greek island and municipality in the southeastern Aegean Sea. It belongs to the Dodecanese island chain, between the islands of Kos (south, at a distance of ) and Leros (north, at a distance of less than ): ...
, Kerch
Kerch ( uk, Керч; russian: Керчь, ; Old East Slavic: Кърчевъ; Ancient Greek: , ''Pantikápaion''; Medieval Greek: ''Bosporos''; crh, , ; tr, Kerç) is a city of regional significance on the Kerch Peninsula in the east of t ...
, Rhamnous
Rhamnous ( grc, Ῥαμνοῦς, Rhamnoûs; el, Ραμνούς, Ramnoús, label=Modern Greek), also Ramnous or Rhamnus, was an ancient Greek city in Attica situated on the coast, overlooking the Euboean Strait. Its impressive ruins lie northwe ...
, Salamis, Sestos, Sounion
Cape Sounion (Modern Greek: Aκρωτήριο Σούνιο ''Akrotírio Soúnio'' ; grc, Ἄκρον Σούνιον ''Άkron Soúnion'', latinized ''Sunium''; Venetian: ''Capo Colonne'' "Cape of Columns") is the promontory at the southernmost ...
, Tomis and Thessanoloki.
File:Aegina treasure 01.jpg, Room 12 – A gold earring from the Aegina Treasure
The Aegina Treasure or Aigina Treasure is an important Minoan gold hoard said to have been found on the island of Aegina, Greece. Since 1892, it has been part of the British Museum's collection. It is one of the most important groups of Minoan ...
, Greece, 1700-1500 BC
File:BM; RM18 - GR, The Parthenon Galleries 1 Temple of Athena Parthenos (447-438 B.C) + North Slip Room, -Full Elevation & Viewing North-.JPG, Room 18 – Parthenon statuary from the east pediment and Metopes from the south wall, Athens, Greece, 447-438 BC
File:BM, GNR; The Acropolis & The late 5th C BC ~ Erechtheum Caryatid + Ionic Column (Room 19).jpg, Room 19 – Caryatid
A caryatid ( or or ; grc, Καρυᾶτις, pl. ) is a sculpted female figure serving as an architectural support taking the place of a column or a pillar supporting an entablature on her head. The Greek term ''karyatides'' literally means "ma ...
and Ionian column from the Erechtheion
The Erechtheion (latinized as Erechtheum /ɪˈrɛkθiəm, ˌɛrɪkˈθiːəm/; Ancient Greek: Ἐρέχθειον, Greek: Ερέχθειο) or Temple of Athena Polias is an ancient Greek Ionic temple- telesterion on the north side of the Acropoli ...
, Acropolis of Athens
The Acropolis of Athens is an ancient citadel located on a rocky outcrop above the city of Athens and contains the remains of several ancient buildings of great architectural and historical significance, the most famous being the Parthenon. Th ...
, Greece, 420-415 BC
File:Tomb of Payava 2.jpg, Room 20 – Tomb of Payava
The Tomb of Payava is a Lycian tall rectangular free-standing barrel-vaulted stone sarcophagus, and one of the most famous tombs of Xanthos. It was built in the Achaemenid Persian Empire, for Payava, who was probably the ruler of Xanthos, Lycia a ...
, Lycia
Lycia (Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean ...
, Turkey, 360 BC
File:Fragmentary horse from the colossal four-horses chariot group which topped the podium of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, British Museum (8245662728).jpg, Room 21 – Fragmentary horse from the colossal chariot group which topped the podium of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
The Mausoleum at Halicarnassus or Tomb of Mausolus ( grc, Μαυσωλεῖον τῆς Ἁλικαρνασσοῦ; tr, Halikarnas Mozolesi) was a tomb built between 353 and 350 BC in Halicarnassus (present Bodrum, Turkey) for Mausolus, an ...
, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2 ...
, Turkey, c. 350 BC
File:Gold wreath BM 1908.4-14.1.jpg, Room 22 - Gold oak wreath with a bee and two cicadas, western Turkey, c. 350-300 BC
File:Column drum Ephesus.JPG, Room 22 – Column from the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World
The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, also known as the Seven Wonders of the World or simply the Seven Wonders, is a list of seven notable structures present during classical antiquity. The first known list of seven wonders dates back to the 2 ...
, Turkey, early 4th century BC
File:Asklepios Melos BM Sc550.jpg, Room 22 - Colossal head of Asclepius wearing a metal crown (now lost), from a cult statue on Melos, Greece, 325-300 BC
File:SFEC BritMus Roman 011.JPG, Room 1 - Farnese Hermes
Hermes (; grc-gre, wikt:Ἑρμῆς, Ἑρμῆς) is an Olympian deity in ancient Greek religion and Greek mythology, mythology. Hermes is considered the herald of the gods. He is also considered the protector of human heralds, travelle ...
in the Enlightenment Gallery, Italy, 1st century AD
File:GladiatorHelmetBM.jpg, Room 69 - Roman gladiator helmet from Pompeii, Italy, 1st century AD
File:Lely Venus BM 1963.jpg, Room 23 - The famous version of the 'Crouching Venus
:''This article discusses the type itself: see links within it for specific instances of the type.''
The ''Crouching Venus'' is a Hellenistic model of Venus surprised at her bath. Venus crouches with her right knee close to the ground, turns he ...
', Roman, c. 1st century AD
File:Spinario-British Museum.jpg, Room 22 – Roman marble copy of the famous ' Spinario (Boy with Thorn)', Italy, c. 1st century AD
File:Apollo Kitharoidos BM 1380.jpg, Room 22 – Apollo of Cyrene
The Apollo of Cyrene is a colossal Roman statue of Apollo found at the ancient city of Cyrene, Libya. It was unearthed at the site along with a large number of other ancient sculptures and inscriptions which were presented to the British Museum in ...
(holding a lyre
The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...
), Libya, c. 2nd century AD
File:Head and left hand from a bronze cult statue of Anahita, a local goddess shown here in the guide of Aphrodite, 200-100 BC, British Museum (8167358544).jpg, Room 22 – Satala Aphrodite
The Satala Aphrodite is a larger-than-life–sized head of an ancient Hellenistic statue discovered in Satala (classical Armenia Minor, present-day Sadak, Gümüşhane Province, Turkey). It was acquired by the British Museum in 1873, a year after ...
Department of the Middle East
With a collection numbering some 330,000 works, the British Museum possesses the world's largest and most important collection of Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
n antiquities outside Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
. A collection of immense importance, the holdings of Assyrian sculpture
Assyrian sculpture is the sculpture of the ancient Assyrian states, especially the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911 to 612 BC, which was centered around the city of Assur in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) which at its height, ruled over all of Mesopo ...
, Babylonia
Babylonia (; Akkadian: , ''māt Akkadī'') was an ancient Akkadian-speaking state and cultural area based in the city of Babylon in central-southern Mesopotamia (present-day Iraq and parts of Syria). It emerged as an Amorite-ruled state c. ...
n and Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian antiquities are among the most comprehensive in the world with entire suites of rooms panelled in alabaster Assyrian palace reliefs
Assyrian sculpture is the sculpture of the ancient Assyrian states, especially the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911 to 612 BC, which was centered around the city of Assur in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) which at its height, ruled over all of Mesopotam ...
from Nimrud
Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
, Nineveh and Khorsabad
Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon"; ar, دور شروكين, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mo ...
.
The collections represent the civilisations of the ancient Near East and its adjacent areas. These cover Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
, Persia
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, the Arabian Peninsula
The Arabian Peninsula, (; ar, شِبْهُ الْجَزِيرَةِ الْعَرَبِيَّة, , "Arabian Peninsula" or , , "Island of the Arabs") or Arabia, is a peninsula of Western Asia, situated northeast of Africa on the Arabian Plate ...
, Anatolia
Anatolia, tr, Anadolu Yarımadası), and the Anatolian plateau, also known as Asia Minor, is a large peninsula in Western Asia and the westernmost protrusion of the Asian continent. It constitutes the major part of modern-day Turkey. The re ...
, the Caucasus
The Caucasus () or Caucasia (), is a region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea, mainly comprising Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and parts of Southern Russia. The Caucasus Mountains, including the Greater Caucasus range, have historically ...
, parts of Central Asia, Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
, the Holy Land
The Holy Land; Arabic: or is an area roughly located between the Mediterranean Sea and the Eastern Bank of the Jordan River, traditionally synonymous both with the biblical Land of Israel and with the region of Palestine. The term "Holy ...
and Phoenicia
Phoenicia () was an ancient thalassocratic civilization originating in the Levant region of the eastern Mediterranean, primarily located in modern Lebanon. The territory of the Phoenician city-states extended and shrank throughout their histor ...
n settlements in the western Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
from the prehistoric period
Prehistory, also known as pre-literary history, is the period of human history between the use of the first stone tools by hominins 3.3 million years ago and the beginning of recorded history with the invention of writing systems. The use of ...
and include objects from the 7th century.
The first significant addition of Mesopotamian objects was from the collection of Claudius James Rich
Claudius James Rich (28 March 1787 – 5 October 1821) was a British Assyriologist, business agent, traveller and antiquarian scholar.
Biography
Rich was born near Dijon "of a good family", but passed his childhood at Bristol. Early on, he deve ...
in 1825. The collection was later dramatically enlarged by the excavations of A. H. Layard at the Assyria
Assyria (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , romanized: ''māt Aššur''; syc, ܐܬܘܪ, ʾāthor) was a major ancient Mesopotamian civilization which existed as a city-state at times controlling regional territories in the indigenous lands of the A ...
n sites of Nimrud
Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
and Nineveh between 1845 and 1851. At Nimrud, Layard discovered the North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, as well as three other palaces and various temples. He later uncovered the Palace of Sennacherib
Sennacherib ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynas ...
at Nineveh with 'no less than seventy-one halls'. As a result, a large numbers of Lamassu
''Lama'', ''Lamma'', or ''Lamassu'' (Cuneiform: , ; Sumerian: lammař; later in Akkadian: ''lamassu''; sometimes called a ''lamassus'') is an Assyrian protective deity.
Initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was called ''La ...
s, palace reliefs, stelae
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...
, including the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a black limestone Assyrian sculpture with many scenes in bas-relief and inscriptions. It comes from Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), in northern Iraq, and commemorates the deeds of King Shalmaneser III (reigned 858 ...
, were brought to the British Museum.
Layard's work was continued by his assistant, Hormuzd Rassam
Hormuzd Rassam ( ar, هرمز رسام; syr, ܗܪܡܙܕ ܪܣܐܡ; 182616 September 1910), was an Assyriologist and author.
He is known for making a number of important archaeological discoveries from 1877 to 1882, including the clay tablets tha ...
and in 1852–1854 he went on to discover the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh with many magnificent reliefs, including the famous Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal
The royal Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal is shown on a famous group of Assyrian palace reliefs from the North Palace of Nineveh that are now displayed in room 10a of the British Museum. They are widely regarded as "the supreme masterpieces of Assyria ...
and Lachish relief
The Lachish reliefs are a set of Assyrian palace reliefs narrating the story of the Assyrian victory over the kingdom of Judah during the siege of Lachish in 701 BCE. Carved between 700 and 681 BCE, as a decoration of the South-West Palace of Senn ...
s. He also discovered the Royal Library of Ashurbanipal
The Royal Library of Ashurbanipal, named after Ashurbanipal, the last great monarch, king of the Assyrian Empire, is a collection of more than 30,000 clay tablets and fragments containing texts of all kinds from the 7th century BC, including text ...
, a large collection of cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
tablets of enormous importance that today number around 130,000 pieces. W. K. Loftus excavated in Nimrud between 1850 and 1855 and found a remarkable hoard of ivories in the Burnt Palace. Between 1878 and 1882 Rassam greatly improved the museum's holdings with exquisite objects including the Cyrus Cylinder
The Cyrus Cylinder is an ancient clay cylinder, now broken into several pieces, on which is written a declaration in Akkadian cuneiform script in the name of Persia's Achaemenid king Cyrus the Great. Kuhrt (2007), p. 70, 72 It dates from the 6th c ...
from Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
, the bronze gates from Balawat, important objects from Sippar
Sippar ( Sumerian: , Zimbir) was an ancient Near Eastern Sumerian and later Babylonian city on the east bank of the Euphrates river. Its '' tell'' is located at the site of modern Tell Abu Habbah near Yusufiyah in Iraq's Baghdad Governorate, som ...
, and a fine collection of Urartian
Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushpa, ...
bronzes from Toprakkale including a copper figurine of a winged, human-headed bull.
In the early 20th century excavations were carried out at Carchemish
Carchemish ( Turkish: ''Karkamış''; or ), also spelled Karkemish ( hit, ; Hieroglyphic Luwian: , /; Akkadian: ; Egyptian: ; Hebrew: ) was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during it ...
, Turkey
Turkey ( tr, Türkiye ), officially the Republic of Türkiye ( tr, Türkiye Cumhuriyeti, links=no ), is a list of transcontinental countries, transcontinental country located mainly on the Anatolia, Anatolian Peninsula in Western Asia, with ...
by D. G. Hogarth and Leonard Woolley, the latter assisted by T. E. Lawrence
Thomas Edward Lawrence (16 August 1888 – 19 May 1935) was a British archaeologist, army officer, diplomat, and writer who became renowned for his role in the Arab Revolt (1916–1918) and the Sinai and Palestine Campaign (1915–1918 ...
. The Mesopotamian collections were greatly augmented by excavations in southern Iraq
Iraq,; ku, عێراق, translit=Êraq officially the Republic of Iraq, '; ku, کۆماری عێراق, translit=Komarî Êraq is a country in Western Asia. It is bordered by Turkey to Iraq–Turkey border, the north, Iran to Iran–Iraq ...
after the First World War
World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. From Tell al-Ubaid came the bronze furnishings of a Sumer
Sumer () is the earliest known civilization in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the sixth and fifth millennium BC. It is one of the cradles of c ...
ian temple, including life-sized lions and a panel featuring the lion-headed eagle Indugud found by H. R. Hall in 1919–24. Woolley went on to excavate Ur between 1922 and 1934, discovering the 'Royal Cemeteries' of the 3rd millennium BC. Some of the masterpieces include the 'Standard of Ur
The Standard of Ur is a Sumerian artifact of the 3rd millennium BC that is now in the collection of the British Museum. It comprises a hollow wooden box measuring wide by long, inlaid with a mosaic of shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli. It ...
', the 'Ram in a Thicket', the 'Royal Game of Ur
The Royal Game of Ur is a two-player strategy race board game of the tables family that was first played in ancient Mesopotamia during the early third millennium BC. The game was popular across the Middle East among people of all social strata ...
', and two bull-headed lyres Yoke lutes, commonly called lyres, are a class of string instruments, subfamily of lutes, indicated with the code 321.2 in the Hornbostel–Sachs classification.
Description
Yoke lutes are defined as instruments with one or more strings, arrange ...
. The department also has three diorite
Diorite ( ) is an intrusive igneous rock formed by the slow cooling underground of magma (molten rock) that has a moderate content of silica and a relatively low content of alkali metals. It is intermediate in composition between low-silic ...
statues of the ruler Gudea
Gudea ( Sumerian: , ''Gu3-de2-a'') was a ruler ('' ensi'') of the state of Lagash in Southern Mesopotamia, who ruled circa 2080–2060 BC ( short chronology) or 2144-2124 BC (middle chronology). He probably did not come from the city, but had marr ...
from the ancient state of Lagash
Lagash (cuneiform: LAGAŠKI; Sumerian: ''Lagaš''), was an ancient city state located northwest of the junction of the Euphrates and Tigris rivers and east of Uruk, about east of the modern town of Ash Shatrah, Iraq. Lagash (modern Al-Hiba) w ...
and a series of limestone kudurru
A kudurru was a type of stone document used as a boundary stone and as a record of land grants to vassals by the Kassites and later dynasties in ancient Babylonia between the 16th and 7th centuries BC. The original kudurru would typically be stor ...
or boundary stones from different locations across ancient Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia ''Mesopotamíā''; ar, بِلَاد ٱلرَّافِدَيْن or ; syc, ܐܪܡ ܢܗܪ̈ܝܢ, or , ) is a historical region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the F ...
.
Although the collections centre on Mesopotamia, most of the surrounding areas are well represented. The Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
collection was enhanced with the addition of the Oxus Treasure
The Oxus treasure (Persian: گنجینه آمودریا) is a collection of about 180 surviving pieces of metalwork in gold and silver, most relatively small, and around 200 coins, from the Achaemenid Persian period which were found by the Oxus ...
in 1897 and objects excavated by the German scholar Ernst Herzfeld
Ernst Emil Herzfeld (23 July 1879 – 20 January 1948) was a German archaeologist and Iranologist.
Life
Herzfeld was born in Celle, Province of Hanover. He studied architecture in Munich and Berlin, while also taking classes in Assyriology, a ...
and the Hungarian-British explorer Sir Aurel Stein
Sir Marc Aurel Stein,
( hu, Stein Márk Aurél; 26 November 1862 – 26 October 1943) was a Hungarian-born British archaeologist, primarily known for his explorations and archaeological discoveries in Central Asia. He was also a professor at ...
. Reliefs and sculptures from the site of Persepolis
, native_name_lang =
, alternate_name =
, image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg
, image_size =
, alt =
, caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.
, map =
, map_type ...
were donated by Sir Gore Ouseley
Sir Gore Ouseley, 1st Baronet GCH, PC (24 June 1770 – 18 November 1844), was a British entrepreneur, linguist and diplomat. He was born in 1770 and died at Hall Barn Park, Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire in 1844. He negotiated an important ...
in 1825 and the 5th Earl of Aberdeen in 1861 and the museum received part of a pot-hoard of jewellery from Pasargadae as the division of finds in 1963 and part of the Ziwiye hoard
The Ziwiye hoard is a treasure hoard containing gold, silver, and ivory objects, also including a few gold pieces with the shape of human face , that was uncovered on in Ziwiyeh plat near Saqqez city in Kurdistan Province, Iran, in 1947.
Prove ...
in 1971. A large column base from the One Hundred Column Hall at Persepolis was acquired in exchange from the Oriental Institute, Chicago. Moreover, the museum has been able to acquire one of the greatest assemblages of Achaemenid silverware in the world. The later Sasanian Empire
The Sasanian () or Sassanid Empire, officially known as the Empire of Iranians (, ) and also referred to by historians as the Neo-Persian Empire, was the History of Iran, last Iranian empire before the early Muslim conquests of the 7th-8th cen ...
is also well represented by ornate silver plates and cups, many representing ruling monarchs hunting lions and deer. Phoenician antiquities come from across the region, but the Tharros
Tharros (also spelled Tharras, Archaic Greek: , Hellenistic Greek, Tarras or Tarrae, Τάρραι) was an ancient city and former bishopric on the west coast of Sardinia, Italy.
It is currently a Latin Catholic titular see and an archaeologica ...
collection from Sardinia
Sardinia ( ; it, Sardegna, label=Italian, Corsican and Tabarchino ; sc, Sardigna , sdc, Sardhigna; french: Sardaigne; sdn, Saldigna; ca, Sardenya, label=Algherese and Catalan) is the second-largest island in the Mediterranean Sea, after ...
, the hoard of 16 metal bowls and hundreds of ivories from Nimrud and the large number of Phoenician stelae from Carthage
Carthage was the capital city of Ancient Carthage, on the eastern side of the Lake of Tunis in what is now Tunisia. Carthage was one of the most important trading hubs of the Ancient Mediterranean and one of the most affluent cities of the classi ...
and Maghrawa
The Maghrawa or Meghrawa ( ar, المغراويون) were a large Zenata Berber tribal confederation whose cradle and seat of power was the territory located on the Chlef in the north-western part of today's Algeria, bounded by the Ouarsenis to ...
are outstanding. The number of Phoenician inscriptions from sites across Cyprus
Cyprus ; tr, Kıbrıs (), officially the Republic of Cyprus,, , lit: Republic of Cyprus is an island country located south of the Anatolian Peninsula in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Its continental position is disputed; while it is geo ...
is also considerable, and include artefacts found at the Kition necropolis (with the two Kition Tariffs having the longest Phoenician inscription discovered on the island), the Idalion temple site and two bilingual pedestals found at Tamassos
Tamassos (Greek: Ταμασσός) or Tamasos (Greek: Τἀμασος) – names Latinized as Tamassus or Tamasus – was a city-kingdom in ancient Cyprus, one of the ten kingdoms of Cyprus. It was situated in the great central plain of the is ...
. Another often overlooked highlight is Yemeni
Yemen (; ar, ٱلْيَمَن, al-Yaman), officially the Republic of Yemen,, ) is a country in Western Asia. It is situated on the southern end of the Arabian Peninsula, and borders Saudi Arabia to the Saudi Arabia–Yemen border, north and ...
antiquities, the finest collection outside that country. Furthermore, the museum has a representative collection of Dilmun
Dilmun, or Telmun, ( Sumerian: , later 𒉌𒌇(𒆠), ni.tukki = DILMUNki; ar, دلمون) was an ancient East Semitic-speaking civilization in Eastern Arabia mentioned from the 3rd millennium BC onwards.
Based on contextual evidence, it was ...
and Parthian Parthian may be:
Historical
* A demonym "of Parthia", a region of north-eastern of Greater Iran
* Parthian Empire (247 BC – 224 AD)
* Parthian language, a now-extinct Middle Iranian language
* Parthian shot, an archery skill famously employed by ...
material excavated from various burial mounds at the ancient sites of A'ali
A'ali ( ar, عالي) is a major town in northern Bahrain. It is a part of the Northern Governorate, although from 2001 to 2014 it lay within the Central Governorate. A'ali is famous for its ancient burial mounds, especially several very large ...
and Shakhura (that included a Roman ribbed glass bowl) in Bahrain.
From the modern state of Syria
Syria ( ar, سُورِيَا or سُورِيَة, translit=Sūriyā), officially the Syrian Arab Republic ( ar, الجمهورية العربية السورية, al-Jumhūrīyah al-ʻArabīyah as-Sūrīyah), is a Western Asian country loc ...
come almost forty funerary busts from Palmyra
Palmyra (; Palmyrene: () ''Tadmor''; ar, تَدْمُر ''Tadmur'') is an ancient city in present-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Archaeological finds date back to the Neolithic period, and documents first mention the city in the early secon ...
and a group of stone reliefs from the excavations of Max von Oppenheim
Baron Max von Oppenheim (15 July 1860, in Cologne – 17 November 1946, in Landshut) was a German lawyer, diplomat, ancient historian, and archaeologist. He was a member of the Oppenheim banking dynasty. Abandoning his career in diplomacy, h ...
at Tell Halaf
Tell Halaf ( ar, تل حلف) is an archaeological site in the Al Hasakah governorate of northeastern Syria, a few kilometers from the city of Ra's al-'Ayn near the Turkish border. The site, which dates to the 6th millennium BCE, was the firs ...
that was purchased in 1920. More material followed from the excavations of Max Mallowan
Sir Max Edgar Lucien Mallowan (6 May 1904 – 19 August 1978) was a prominent British archaeologist, specialising in ancient Middle Eastern history. He was the second husband of Dame Agatha Christie.
Life and work
Born Edgar Mallowan in Wands ...
at Chagar Bazar
Chagar Bazar (Šagir Bazar, Arabic: تل شاغربازار) is a tell, or settlement mound, in northern Al-Hasakah Governorate, Syria. It is a short distance from the major ancient city of Nagar (Tell Brak). The site was occupied from the Halaf ...
and Tell Brak
Tell Brak (Nagar, Nawar) was an ancient city in Syria; its remains constitute a tell located in the Upper Khabur region, near the modern village of Tell Brak, 50 kilometers north-east of Al-Hasaka city, Al-Hasakah Governorate. The city' ...
in 1935–1938 and from Woolley at Alalakh
Alalakh (''Tell Atchana''; Hittite: Alalaḫ) is an ancient archaeological site approximately northeast of Antakya (historic Antioch) in what is now Turkey's Hatay Province. It flourished, as an urban settlement, in the Middle and Late Bronze Ag ...
in the years just before and after the Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
. Mallowan returned with his wife Agatha Christie
Dame Agatha Mary Clarissa Christie, Lady Mallowan, (; 15 September 1890 – 12 January 1976) was an English writer known for her 66 detective novels and 14 short story collections, particularly those revolving around fictiona ...
to carry out further digs at Nimrud in the postwar period which secured many important artefacts for the museum. The collection of Palestinian
Palestinians ( ar, الفلسطينيون, ; he, פָלַסְטִינִים, ) or Palestinian people ( ar, الشعب الفلسطيني, label=none, ), also referred to as Palestinian Arabs ( ar, الفلسطينيين العرب, label=non ...
material was strengthened by the work of Kathleen Kenyon
Dame Kathleen Mary Kenyon, (5 January 1906 – 24 August 1978) was a British archaeologist of Neolithic culture in the Fertile Crescent. She led excavations of Tell es-Sultan, the site of ancient Jericho, from 1952 to 1958, and has been called ...
at Tell es-Sultan
Tell es-Sultan ( ar, تل السلطان, ''lit.'' Sultan's Hill), also known as Tel Jericho ( he, תל יריחו) or Ancient Jericho, is a UNESCO-nominated archaeological site in the West Bank, in the State of Palestine, located adjacent to th ...
(Jericho) in the 1950s and the acquisition in 1980 of around 17,000 objects found at Lachish
Lachish ( he, לכיש; grc, Λαχίς; la, Lachis) was an ancient Canaanite and Israelite city in the Shephelah ("lowlands of Judea") region of Israel, on the South bank of the Lakhish River, mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. Th ...
by the Wellcome-Marston expedition of 1932–1938. Archaeological digs are still taking place where permitted in the Middle East, and, depending on the country, the museum continues to receive a share of the finds from sites such as Tell es Sa'idiyeh in Jordan.
The museum's collection of Islamic art
Islamic art is a part of Islamic culture and encompasses the visual arts produced since the 7th century CE by people who lived within territories inhabited or ruled by Muslim populations. Referring to characteristic traditions across a wide ra ...
, including archaeological material, numbers about 40,000 objects, one of the largest of its kind in the world. As such, it contains a broad range of pottery, paintings, tiles, metalwork, glass, seals, and inscriptions from across the Islamic world, from Spain in the west to India in the east. It is particularly famous for its collection of Iznik ceramics (the largest in the world), its large number of mosque lamp
Mosque lamps of enamelled glass, often with gilding, survive in considerable numbers from the Islamic art of the Middle Ages, especially the 13th and 14th centuries, with Cairo in Egypt and Aleppo and Damascus in Syria the most important centres ...
s including one from the Dome of the Rock, mediaeval metalwork such as the Vaso Vescovali with its depictions of the Zodiac
The zodiac is a belt-shaped region of the sky that extends approximately 8° north or south (as measured in celestial latitude) of the ecliptic, the Sun path, apparent path of the Sun across the celestial sphere over the course of the year. ...
, a fine selection of astrolabes
An astrolabe ( grc, ἀστρολάβος ; ar, ٱلأَسْطُرلاب ; persian, ستارهیاب ) is an ancient astronomical instrument that was a handheld model of the universe. Its various functions also make it an elaborate inclin ...
, and Mughal paintings
Mughal painting is a style of painting on paper confined to miniatures either as book illustrations or as single works to be kept in albums (muraqqa), from the territory of the Mughal Empire in South Asia. It emerged from Persian miniature paint ...
and precious artwork including a large jade terrapin made for the emperor Jahangir
Nur-ud-Din Muhammad Salim (30 August 1569 – 28 October 1627), known by his imperial name Jahangir (; ), was the fourth Mughal Emperor, who ruled from 1605 until he died in 1627. He was named after the Indian Sufi saint, Salim Chishti.
Ear ...
. Thousands of objects were excavated after the war by professional archaeologists at Iranian sites such as Siraf
Bandar Siraf ( fa, بندر سیراف), also Romanized as Bandar-e Sīraf; also known as Sīraf, Ṭāherī, and Tāhiri; as well as Bandar-e Ṭāherī and Bandar-i Ṭāhirī ( fa, بندر طاهری, Bandar-e Ṭāherī), is a city in the Ce ...
by David Whitehouse
David Bryn Whitehouse, FSA, FRGS (15 October 194117 February 2013) was a British archaeologist and senior scholar of the Corning Museum of Glass. He was director of the British School at Rome between 1974 and 1984.
Early life
Whitehouse was born ...
and Alamut Castle
Alamut ( fa, wikt:الموت, الموت, meaning "eagle's nest") is a ruined mountain fortress located in the Alamut region in the South Caspian Sea, Caspian province of Qazvin near the Masudabad, Qazvin, Masoudabad region in Iran, approximately ...
by Peter Willey. The collection was augmented in 1983 by the Godman bequest of Iznik, Hispano-Moresque
Hispano-Moresque ware is a style of initially Islamic pottery created in Al-Andalus, which continued to be produced under Christian rule in styles blending Islamic and European elements. It was the most elaborate and luxurious pottery being pr ...
and early Iranian pottery. Artefacts from the Islamic world are on display in Gallery 34 of the museum.
A representative selection from the Department of Middle East, including the most important pieces, are on display in 13 galleries throughout the museum and total some 4,500 objects. A whole suite of rooms on the ground floor display the sculptured reliefs from the Assyrian palaces at Nineveh, Nimrud and Khorsabad, while 8 galleries on the upper floor hold smaller material from ancient sites across the Middle East. The remainder form the study collection which ranges in size from beads to large sculptures. They include approximately 130,000 cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
tablets from Mesopotamia.
Highlights of the collections include:
Nimrud
Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
:
Assyrian palace reliefs
Assyrian sculpture is the sculpture of the ancient Assyrian states, especially the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911 to 612 BC, which was centered around the city of Assur in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) which at its height, ruled over all of Mesopotam ...
from:
* The North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II, (883–859 BC)
* Palace of Adad-nirari III
Adad-nirari III (also Adad-narari) was a King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. Note that this assumes that the longer version of the Assyrian Eponym List, which has an additional eponym for Adad-nirari III, is the correct one. For the shorter eponym ...
, (811–783 BC)
* The Sharrat-Niphi Temple, (c. 9th century BC)
* Temple of Ninurta, (c. 9th century BC)
* South-East Palace ('Burnt Palace'), (8th–7th century BC)
* Central- Palace of Tiglath-Pileser III
Tiglath-Pileser III (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "my trust belongs to the son of Ešarra"), was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 745 BC to his death in 727. One of the most prominent and historically significant Assyrian kings, Tig ...
, (745–727 BC)
* South-West Palace of Esarhaddon
Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of hi ...
, (681–669 BC)
* The Nabu
Nabu ( akk, cuneiform: 𒀭𒀝 Nabû syr, ܢܵܒܼܘܼ\ܢܒܼܘܿ\ܢܵܒܼܘܿ Nāvū or Nvō or Nāvō) is the ancient Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom.
Etymology and meaning
The Akkadian "nab ...
Temple (Ezida), (c. 7th century BC)
Sculptures and inscriptions:
* Pair of Human Headed Lamassu
''Lama'', ''Lamma'', or ''Lamassu'' (Cuneiform: , ; Sumerian: lammař; later in Akkadian: ''lamassu''; sometimes called a ''lamassus'') is an Assyrian protective deity.
Initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was called ''La ...
Lions, (883–859 BC)
* Human Headed Lamassu Bull, sister piece in The Metropolitan Museum of Art
The Metropolitan Museum of Art of New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 ...
, (883–859 BC)
* Human Headed Lamassu Lion, sister piece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, (883–859 BC)
* Colossal Statue of a Lion, (883–859 BC)
* Foundation tablet of Ashurnasirpal II from the Temple of Ishtar
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Su ...
, (875–865 BC)
* Rassam Obelisk of Ashurnasirpal II, (873–859 BC)
* Stela
A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), wh ...
and Statue
A statue is a free-standing sculpture in which the realistic, full-length figures of persons or animals are carved or cast in a durable material such as wood, metal or stone. Typical statues are life-sized or close to life-size; a sculpture t ...
of King Ashurnasirpal II, (883–859 BC)
* The Black Obelisk
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a black limestone Assyrian sculpture with many scenes in bas-relief and inscriptions. It comes from Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), in northern Iraq, and commemorates the deeds of King Shalmaneser III (reigned 858 ...
of Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Ashurnasirpal II in 859 BC to his own death in 824 BC.
His long reign was a constant series of campai ...
, (858–824 BC)
* Stela of Shamshi-Adad V, (824–811 BC)
* Rare Head of Human Headed 'Lamassu', recovered from the North-West Palace, (811–783 BC)
* Pair of statues of attendant god dedicated to Nabu
Nabu ( akk, cuneiform: 𒀭𒀝 Nabû syr, ܢܵܒܼܘܼ\ܢܒܼܘܿ\ܢܵܒܼܘܿ Nāvū or Nvō or Nāvō) is the ancient Mesopotamian patron god of literacy, the rational arts, scribes, and wisdom.
Etymology and meaning
The Akkadian "nab ...
by Adad-Nirari III
Adad-nirari III (also Adad-narari) was a King of Assyria from 811 to 783 BC. Note that this assumes that the longer version of the Assyrian Eponym List, which has an additional eponym for Adad-nirari III, is the correct one. For the shorter eponym ...
and Sammuramat, (810–800 BC)
* Bilingual Assyrian lion weights
The Assyrian lion weights are a group of bronze statues of lions, discovered in archaeological excavations in or adjacent to ancient Assyria.
The first published, and the most notable, are a group of sixteen bronze Mesopotamian weights found at ...
with both cuneiform and Phoenician inscriptions, (800–700 BC)
* Large sculpture of a male bearded head from a Lamassu
''Lama'', ''Lamma'', or ''Lamassu'' (Cuneiform: , ; Sumerian: lammař; later in Akkadian: ''lamassu''; sometimes called a ''lamassus'') is an Assyrian protective deity.
Initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was called ''La ...
with inscription dedicated to Esarhaddon
Esarhaddon, also spelled Essarhaddon, Assarhaddon and Ashurhaddon ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , also , meaning " Ashur has given me a brother"; Biblical Hebrew: ''ʾĒsar-Ḥaddōn'') was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of hi ...
, (670 BC)
; Nineveh:
Assyrian palace reliefs
Assyrian sculpture is the sculpture of the ancient Assyrian states, especially the Neo-Assyrian Empire of 911 to 612 BC, which was centered around the city of Assur in Mesopotamia (modern-day Iraq) which at its height, ruled over all of Mesopotam ...
and sculptures from:
* South-West Palace of Sennacherib
Sennacherib ( Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: or , meaning " Sîn has replaced the brothers") was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Sargon II in 705BC to his own death in 681BC. The second king of the Sargonid dynas ...
, (705–681 BC)
* North-Palace of Ashurbanipal, (c. 645 BC), including the ''Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal
The royal Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal is shown on a famous group of Assyrian palace reliefs from the North Palace of Nineveh that are now displayed in room 10a of the British Museum. They are widely regarded as "the supreme masterpieces of Assyria ...
'' and Lachish relief
The Lachish reliefs are a set of Assyrian palace reliefs narrating the story of the Assyrian victory over the kingdom of Judah during the siege of Lachish in 701 BCE. Carved between 700 and 681 BCE, as a decoration of the South-West Palace of Senn ...
* The famous ''Garden Party'' Relief, (645 BC)
* Statue of a nude woman, (11th century BC)
* Broken Obelisk of Ashur-bel-kala
Aššūr-bēl-kala, inscribed m''aš-šur-''EN''-ka-la'' and meaning “ Aššur is lord of all,” was the king of Assyria 1074/3–1056 BC, the 89th to appear on the ''Assyrian Kinglist''. He was the son of Tukultī-apil-Ešarra I, succeeded his ...
, the earliest known Assyrian obelisk
An obelisk (; from grc, ὀβελίσκος ; diminutive of ''obelos'', " spit, nail, pointed pillar") is a tall, four-sided, narrow tapering monument which ends in a pyramid-like shape or pyramidion at the top. Originally constructed by Anc ...
, (11th century BC)
* White Obelisk of Ashurnasirpal I
The White Obelisk is a large stone monolith found at the ancient Assyrian settlement of Nineveh, northern Iraq. Excavated by the British archaeologist Hormuzd Rassam in 1853, it is one of only two intact obelisks to survive from the Assyrian empire ...
, (1050–1031 BC)
Royal Library of Ashurbanipal:
* A large collection of cuneiform
Cuneiform is a logo-syllabic script that was used to write several languages of the Ancient Middle East. The script was in active use from the early Bronze Age until the beginning of the Common Era. It is named for the characteristic wedge-sha ...
tablets of enormous importance, approximately 22,000 inscribed clay tablets, (7th century BC)
* The Flood Tablet, relating part of the famous ''Epic of Gilgamesh
The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh ...
'', (7th century BC)
* Taylor Prism
Sennacherib's Annals are the annals of the Assyrian king Sennacherib. They are found inscribed on a number of artifacts, and the final versions were found in three clay prisms inscribed with the same text: the Taylor Prism is in the British Museum ...
, hexagonal clay foundation record, (691 BC)
* Rassam cylinder
The Rassam cylinder is a cuneiform cylinder, forming a prism with ten faces, written by Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal in the 7th century BCE, in 643 BCE. The cylinder was discovered in the North Palace of Nineveh by Hormuzd Rassam in 1854, hence ...
with ten faces, that describes the military campaigns of king Ashurbanipal, (643 BC)
;Other Mesopotamian sites:
Khorsabad
Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon"; ar, دور شروكين, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mo ...
and Balawat:
* Alabaster bas-reliefs from the Palace of Sargon II, (710–705 BC)
* Pair of Human Headed Winged Lamassu
''Lama'', ''Lamma'', or ''Lamassu'' (Cuneiform: , ; Sumerian: lammař; later in Akkadian: ''lamassu''; sometimes called a ''lamassus'') is an Assyrian protective deity.
Initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was called ''La ...
Bulls, (710–705 BC)
* The Balawat Gates
The Balawat Gates are three sets of decorated bronze bands that had adorned the main doors of several buildings at Balawat (ancient Imgur-Enlil), dating to the reigns of Ashurnasirpal II (r. 883–859 BC) and Shalmaneser III (r. 859–824 BC). Th ...
of Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Ashurnasirpal II in 859 BC to his own death in 824 BC.
His long reign was a constant series of campai ...
, (860 BC)
; Ur:
* The Standard of Ur
The Standard of Ur is a Sumerian artifact of the 3rd millennium BC that is now in the collection of the British Museum. It comprises a hollow wooden box measuring wide by long, inlaid with a mosaic of shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli. It ...
with depictions of war and peace, (2600 BC)
* Queen's Lyre and gold drinking cup from Queen Puabi
Puabi (Akkadian language, Akkadian: 𒅤𒀀𒉿 ''Pu-A-Bi'' "Word of my father"), also called Shubad or Shudi-Ad due to a misinterpretation by Sir Charles Leonard Woolley, was an important woman in the Sumerian city of Ur, during the First Dyn ...
's tomb, (2600 BC)
* The Ram in a Thicket
The ''Ram in a Thicket'' is a pair of figures excavated at Ur, in southern Iraq, which date from about 2600–2400 BC. One is in the Mesopotamia Gallery in Room 56 of the British Museum in London; the other is in the University of Pennsylvania ...
, one of pair, the other is in Philadelphia
Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, (2600–2400 BC)
* The Royal Game of Ur, an ancient game board, (2600–2400 BC)
;Wider collection:
* Plastered human skull from Jericho, a very early form of portraiture, Palestine, (7000–6000 BC)
* Tell Brak Head, one of the oldest portrait busts from the Middle East, north east Syria, (3500–3300 BC)
* Uruk Trough, one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief sculpture from the Middle East, southern Iraq, (3300–3000 BC)
* Pair of inscribed stone objects known as the Blau Monuments
The Blau Monuments are a pair of inscribed stone objects from Mesopotamia now in the British Museum. They are commonly thought to be a form of ancient kudurru.I. J. Gelb, P. Steinkeller, and R. M. Whiting Jr, "OIP 104. Earliest Land Tenure System ...
from Uruk
Uruk, also known as Warka or Warkah, was an ancient city of Sumer (and later of Babylonia) situated east of the present bed of the Euphrates River on the dried-up ancient channel of the Euphrates east of modern Samawah, Al-Muthannā, Iraq.Harm ...
, Iraq, (3100–2700 BC)
* Hoard of Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
gold jewellery found at the Canaan
Canaan (; Phoenician: 𐤊𐤍𐤏𐤍 – ; he, כְּנַעַן – , in pausa – ; grc-bib, Χανααν – ;The current scholarly edition of the Greek Old Testament spells the word without any accents, cf. Septuaginta : id est Vetus T ...
ite site of Tell el-Ajjul
Tall al-Ajjul or Tell el-'Ajul is an archaeological mound or '' tell'' in the Gaza Strip. The fortified city excavated at the site dates as far back as ca. 2000-1800 BCE and was inhabited during the Bronze Age. It is located at the mouth of Wad ...
in Gaza, (1750–1550 BC)
* Statue of Idrimi from the ancient city of Alalakh, southern Turkey, (1600 BC)
* Bronze bowl and ivory cosmetic box in the shape of a fish from Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, Jordan, (1250–1150 BC)
* Group of 16 stone reliefs from the palace of King Kapara at Tell Halaf
Tell Halaf ( ar, تل حلف) is an archaeological site in the Al Hasakah governorate of northeastern Syria, a few kilometers from the city of Ra's al-'Ayn near the Turkish border. The site, which dates to the 6th millennium BCE, was the firs ...
, northern Syria, (10th century BC)
* Tablet of Shamash, depicting the sun-god Shamash, from Sippar, Iraq, (early 9th century BC)
* Hittites, Hittite lion head from the monument to King Katuwa at Carchemish
Carchemish ( Turkish: ''Karkamış''; or ), also spelled Karkemish ( hit, ; Hieroglyphic Luwian: , /; Akkadian: ; Egyptian: ; Hebrew: ) was an important ancient capital in the northern part of the region of Syria. At times during it ...
, southern Turkey, (9th century BC)
* Two large Kurkh Monoliths, Assyrian stelae from Kurkh, southern Turkey, (850 BC)
* Seated statue of Kidudu or guardian spirit from the Assyrian city of Assur under Shalmaneser III
Shalmaneser III (''Šulmānu-ašarēdu'', "the god Shulmanu is pre-eminent") was king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from the death of his father Ashurnasirpal II in 859 BC to his own death in 824 BC.
His long reign was a constant series of campai ...
, Iraq, (835 BC)
* Basalt bowl with engraved inscription in Hieroglyphic Luwian found at Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
, southern Iraq, (8th century BC)
* Shebna Inscription from Siloam near Jerusalem, (7th century BC)
* Group of 4 bronze shields with inscription of king Rusa III from the temple of Khaldi (god), Khaldi at the Urartian
Urartian or Vannic is an extinct Hurro-Urartian language which was spoken by the inhabitants of the ancient kingdom of Urartu (''Biaini'' or ''Biainili'' in Urartian), which was centered on the region around Lake Van and had its capital, Tushpa, ...
fortress of Toprakkale, eastern Turkey, (650 BC)
* East India House Inscription from Babylon
''Bābili(m)''
* sux, 𒆍𒀭𒊏𒆠
* arc, 𐡁𐡁𐡋 ''Bāḇel''
* syc, ܒܒܠ ''Bāḇel''
* grc-gre, Βαβυλών ''Babylṓn''
* he, בָּבֶל ''Bāvel''
* peo, 𐎲𐎠𐎲𐎡𐎽𐎢 ''Bābiru''
* elx, 𒀸𒁀𒉿𒇷 ''Babi ...
, Iraq, (604–562 BC)
* Lachish letters, Lachish Letters, group of ostraka written in alphabetic Hebrew from Lachish
Lachish ( he, לכיש; grc, Λαχίς; la, Lachis) was an ancient Canaanite and Israelite city in the Shephelah ("lowlands of Judea") region of Israel, on the South bank of the Lakhish River, mentioned several times in the Hebrew Bible. Th ...
, Israel, (586 BC)
* Cylinders of Nabonidus, Cylinder of Nabonidus, foundation cylinder of King Nabonidus, Sippar, Iraq, (555–540 BC)
* The famous Oxus Treasure
The Oxus treasure (Persian: گنجینه آمودریا) is a collection of about 180 surviving pieces of metalwork in gold and silver, most relatively small, and around 200 coins, from the Achaemenid Persian period which were found by the Oxus ...
, the largest ancient Persian hoard of gold artefacts, (550–330 BC)
* Jar of Xerxes I, alabaster alabastron with quadrilingual signature of Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
ruler Xerxes I, found in the ruins of the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, Turkey, (486–465 BC)
* Idalion bilingual, Idalion Bilingual, bilingual Cypriot- Phoenician inscription, key to the decipherment of the Cypriot syllabary, Idalion
Idalion or Idalium ( el, Ιδάλιον, ''Idalion'') was an ancient city in Cyprus, in modern Dali, Nicosia District. The city was founded on the copper trade in the 3rd millennium BC. Its name in the 8th century BC was "Ed-di-al" as it appears ...
, Cyprus, (388 BC)
* Punic-Libyan Inscription from the Libyco-Punic Mausoleum of Dougga, Mausoleum of Ateban, key to the decipherment of the Numidian language, Dougga, Tunisia, (146 BC)
* Amran Tablets found near Sana'a, Yemen, (1st century BC)
* One of the pottery storage jars containing the Dead Sea Scrolls found in a cave near List of manuscripts from Qumran Cave 1, Qumran, Jordan, (4 BC – 68 AD)
* Two limestone ossuary, ossuaries from Cave of Nicanor, caves in Jerusalem, (1st century AD)
* Fragment of a carved basalt architrave depicting a lion's head from the Temple of Garni, Armenia, (1st century AD)
* Group of boulders with Safaitic inscriptions from Jordan/Syria, one of which was donated by Gertrude Bell, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
* Parthian Empire, Parthian dynasty gold belt-buckle with central repoussé figure of eagle with outstretched wings from Nihavand, Iran, (1st–3rd centuries AD)
* Silver bowl from Khwarezm depicting a Nana (Kushan goddess), four-armed goddess seated on a lion, Kazakhstan, (658 AD)
* One of the rare Hedwig glasses, originating from the Middle East or Norman Sicily, (10th–12th centuries AD)
* Hoard of Seljuq dynasty, Seljuq artefacts from Hamadan including gold cup, silver gilt belt fittings and dress accessories, Iran, (11th–12th centuries)
* Islamic brass ewers with engraved decoration and inlaid with silver and copper from Herat, Afghanistan and Mosul, Iraq (12th–13th centuries AD)
File:Raminathicket2.jpg, Room 56 – The 'Ram in a Thicket
The ''Ram in a Thicket'' is a pair of figures excavated at Ur, in southern Iraq, which date from about 2600–2400 BC. One is in the Mesopotamia Gallery in Room 56 of the British Museum in London; the other is in the University of Pennsylvania ...
' figure, one of a pair, from Ur, Southern Iraq, c. 2600 BC
File:Standard of Ur - War.jpg, Room 56 – The famous 'Standard of Ur
The Standard of Ur is a Sumerian artifact of the 3rd millennium BC that is now in the collection of the British Museum. It comprises a hollow wooden box measuring wide by long, inlaid with a mosaic of shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli. It ...
', a hollow wooden box with scenes of war and peace, from Ur, c. 2600 BC
File:Imdugud.jpg, Room 56 - Tell al-'Ubaid Copper Lintel, Sculpture of the god Imdugud, lion-headed eagle surmounting a lintel made from sheets of copper, Temple of Ninhursag at Tell al-'Ubaid, Iraq, c. 2500 BC
File:Statue Kurlil BM WA114207.jpg, Room 56 - Statue of Kurlil, from the Temple of Ninhursag in Tell al-'Ubaid, southern Iraq, c. 2500 BC
File:Ishtar goddess.jpg, Room 56 – The famous Babylonian 'Burney Relief, Queen of the Night relief' of the goddess Ishtar
Inanna, also sux, 𒀭𒊩𒌆𒀭𒈾, nin-an-na, label=none is an ancient Mesopotamian goddess of love, war, and fertility. She is also associated with beauty, sex, divine justice, and political power. She was originally worshiped in Su ...
, Iraq, c. 1790 BC
File:Carved ivory depicting a woman at a window.jpg, Room 57 - Carved ivory object from the Nimrud Ivories, Phoenician, Nimrud, Iraq, 9th–8th century BC
File:Jehu-on-Obelisk-of-Shalmaneser.jpg, Room 6 – Depiction of the hypocrite, Jehu, King of Israel on the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III is a black limestone Assyrian sculpture with many scenes in bas-relief and inscriptions. It comes from Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), in northern Iraq, and commemorates the deeds of King Shalmaneser III (reigned 858 ...
, Nimrud
Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
, c. 827 BC
File:Winged Human-headed Bulls.JPG, Room 10 – Lamassu, Human Headed Winged Bulls from Khorsabad
Dur-Sharrukin ("Fortress of Sargon"; ar, دور شروكين, Syriac: ܕܘܪ ܫܪܘ ܘܟܢ), present day Khorsabad, was the Assyrian capital in the time of Sargon II of Assyria. Khorsabad is a village in northern Iraq, 15 km northeast of Mo ...
, companion pieces in the Musée du Louvre
The Louvre ( ), or the Louvre Museum ( ), is the world's most-visited museum, and an historic landmark in Paris, France. It is the home of some of the best-known works of art, including the ''Mona Lisa'' and the ''Venus de Milo''. A central l ...
, Iraq, 710–705 BC
File:BM; ANE - RM 55, Cuneiform Tablets Display.1.JPG, Room 55 – Cuneiform Collection, including the Epic of Gilgamesh
The ''Epic of Gilgamesh'' () is an epic poetry, epic poem from ancient Mesopotamia, and is regarded as the earliest surviving notable literature and the second oldest religious text, after the Pyramid Texts. The literary history of Gilgamesh ...
, Iraq, c. 669-631 BC
File:Dying Lion.R.jpg, Room 55 – ''Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal
The royal Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal is shown on a famous group of Assyrian palace reliefs from the North Palace of Nineveh that are now displayed in room 10a of the British Museum. They are widely regarded as "the supreme masterpieces of Assyria ...
'' (detail), Nineveh, Neo-Assyrian, Iraq, c. 645 BC
File:BabylonLion-BM.JPG, Room 55 - Panel with striding lion made from glazed bricks, Neo-Babylonian, Nebuchadnezzar II, Southern Iraq, 604–562 BC
File:Oxus chariot model.jpg, Room 52 – A chariot from the Oxus Treasure
The Oxus treasure (Persian: گنجینه آمودریا) is a collection of about 180 surviving pieces of metalwork in gold and silver, most relatively small, and around 200 coins, from the Achaemenid Persian period which were found by the Oxus ...
, the most important surviving collection of Achaemenid Empire, Achaemenid Persian metalwork, c. 5th to 4th centuries BC
File:Bmane2002-1-114,1.jpg, Room 53 - Stela said to come from Tamma' cemetery, Yemen, 1st century AD
File:British Museum Yemen 07d.jpg, Room 53 - Alabaster statue of a standing female figure, Yemen, 1st-2nd centuries AD
File:Brass box BM 1878 12-30 674.jpg, Room 34 - Cylindrical lidded box with an Arabic inscription recording its manufacture for the ruler of Mosul, Badr al-Din Lu'lu', Iraq, c. 1233 – 1259 AD
Department of Prints and Drawings
The Department of Old master print, Prints and Drawings holds the national collection of Western art history, Western prints and drawings. It ranks as one of the largest and best print room collections in existence alongside the Albertina, Vienna, Albertina in Vienna, the Paris collections and the Hermitage Museum, Hermitage. The holdings are easily accessible to the general public in the Study Room, unlike many such collections. The department also has its own exhibition gallery in Room 90, where the displays and exhibitions change several times a year.
Since its foundation in 1808, the prints and drawings collection has grown to international renown as one of the richest and most representative collections in the world. There are approximately 50,000 drawings and over two million prints. The collection of drawings covers the period from the 14th century to the present, and includes many works of the highest quality by the leading artists of the Western art history, European schools. The collection of prints covers the tradition of fine printmaking from its beginnings in the 15th century up to the present, with near complete holdings of most of the great names before the 19th century. Key benefactors to the department have been Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode
Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode (1730–1799) was an English book and old master print collector, and a major benefactor of the British Museum.
Life
His father, Colonel Mordaunt Cracherode, later a general, had command of the marines in George Anso ...
, Richard Payne Knight
Richard Payne Knight (11 February 1751 – 23 April 1824) of Downton Castle in Herefordshire, and of 5 Soho Square,History of Parliament biography London, England, was a classical scholar, connoisseur, archaeologist and numismatist best ...
, John Malcolm, Campbell Dodgson, César Mange de Hauke and Tomás Harris. Writer and author Louis Alexander Fagan, who worked in the department 1869-1894 made significant contributions to the department in form of his ''Handbook to the Department'', as well as various other books about the museum in general.
There are groups of drawings by Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, (including Epifania (Michelangelo drawing), his only surviving full-scale cartoon), Albrecht Dürer, Dürer (a collection of 138 drawings is one of the finest in existence), Peter Paul Rubens, Rembrandt, Claude Lorrain, Claude and Antoine Watteau, Watteau, and largely complete collections of the works of all the great printmakers including Albrecht Dürer, Dürer (99 engravings, 6 etchings and most of his 346 woodcuts), Rembrandt and Francisco Goya, Goya. More than 30,000 British drawings and Watercolor painting, watercolours include important examples of work by William Hogarth, Hogarth, Paul Sandby, Sandby, J. M. W. Turner, Turner, Thomas Girtin, Girtin, John Constable, Constable, John Sell Cotman, Cotman, David Cox (artist), Cox, James Gillray, Gillray, Thomas Rowlandson, Rowlandson, Francis Towne, Towne and George Cruikshank, Cruikshank, as well as all the great Victorian era, Victorians. The collection contains the unique set of watercolours by the pioneering colonist John White (colonist and artist), John White, the first British artist in America and first European to paint Native Americans. There are about a million British prints including more than 20,000 satires and outstanding collections of works by William Blake and Thomas Bewick.. The great eleven volume Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum compiled between 1870 and 1954 is the definitive reference work for the study of British Satirical prints. Over 500,000 objects from the department are now on the online collection database, many with high-quality images. A 2011 donation of £1 million enabled the museum to acquire a complete set of Pablo Picasso's ''Vollard Suite''.
File:Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of an unknown young woman - British Museum 180945001.jpg, Rogier van der Weyden - ''Portrait of a Young Woman (van der Weyden), Portrait of a Young Woman'', c. 1440
File:A fool, seated on a basket, about to be shaved by a nun holding a wafer iron by Hieronymus Bosch.jpg, Hieronymus Bosch - A comical barber scene, c. 1477-1516
File:Botticelli, allegoria dell'abbondanza, disegno.jpg, Sandro Botticelli - ''Allegory of Abundance'', 1480-1485
File:Leonardo da vinci, Study for the Burlington House Cartoon.jpg, Leonardo da Vinci – The Islamic views of Mary, Virgin and Jesus in Islam, Child with Saint Anne and the Infant Saint John the Baptist (prep for 'The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist, The Burlington House Cartoon'), c. 1499–1500
File:Adam study - Michelangelo.jpg, Michelangelo – Studies of a reclining male nude: Adam in the fresco ''The Creation of Adam, The Creation of Man'' on the vault of the Sistine Chapel, c. 1511
File:Raffaello, studio di testa di madonna e bambino.jpg, Raphael – ''Study of Heads, Mother and Child'', c. 1509-1511
File:Titian - Drowning of the Pharaoh's Host in the Red Sea - WGA22989.jpg, Titian – ''Crossing the Red Sea, Drowning of the Pharaoh's Host in the Red Sea'', 1515–1517
File:Albrecht Dürer - Walrus - WGA07101.jpg, Albrecht Dürer - Drawing of a walrus, 1521
File:A Lady, called Anne Boleyn, by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpg, Hans Holbein the Younger - ''Portrait of Anne Boleyn'', 1536
File:Peter Paul Rubens, Portrait of Isabella Brant -British Museum 1482535001.jpg, Peter Paul Rubens - Drawing of Isabella Brant, his first wife, 1621
File:Head of a monk, 1625-64, Francisco de Zurbarán. Drawing, 277 x 196 mm. British Museum.jpg, Francisco de Zurbarán - Head of a monk, 1625–1664
File:Drawing of mules by Claude Lorrain.jpg, Claude Lorrain - Drawing of mules, including one full-length, 1630-1640
File:The Lamentation at the Foot of the Cross by Rembrandt van Rijn.jpg, Rembrandt – ''Lamentation of Christ, The Lamentation at the Foot of the Cross'', 1634–35
File:A woman with a rose drawn by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg, Thomas Gainsborough - Drawing of a woman with a rose, 1763-1765
File:Newport Castle by JMW Turner.jpg, J. M. W. Turner - Watercolour of Newport Castle, 1796
File:The happy effects of that grand systom of shutting ports against the English!!.jpg, Isaac Cruikshank - 'The happy effects of that grand system of shutting ports against the English!!', 1808
File:Hampstead Heath by John Constable watercolour.jpg, John Constable - ''London from Hampstead Heath in a Storm'', (watercolour), 1831
File:Notes Nocturne lithograph by James McNeill Whistler 1878.jpg, James McNeill Whistler - ''View of the Battersea side of Chelsea Reach'', London, (lithograph), 1878
File:Van Gogh - In the Orchard - 1883.jpg, Vincent van Gogh - Man Digging in the Orchard (print), 1883
File:Studies for a statue by Peter Van Dievoet.jpg, Peter Van Dievoet, Peter van Dievoet - ''Studies for a statue of a figure in Roman dress'', most likely for the Statue of James II, Trafalgar Square, statue of James II.
Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory
The Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory is responsible for collections that cover a vast expanse of time and geography. It includes some of the earliest objects made by humans in east Africa over 2 million years ago, as well as Prehistoric and neolithic objects from other parts of the world; and the art and archaeology of Europe from the earliest times to the present day. Archeological excavation of prehistoric material took off and expanded considerably in the twentieth century and the department now has literally millions of objects from the Paleolithic and Mesolithic
The Mesolithic (Greek: μέσος, ''mesos'' 'middle' + λίθος, ''lithos'' 'stone') or Middle Stone Age is the Old World archaeological period between the Upper Paleolithic and the Neolithic. The term Epipaleolithic is often used synonymous ...
periods throughout the world, as well as from the Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
, Bronze Age
The Bronze Age is a historic period, lasting approximately from 3300 BC to 1200 BC, characterized by the use of bronze, the presence of writing in some areas, and other early features of urban civilization. The Bronze Age is the second pri ...
and Iron Age in Europe. Stone Age material from Africa has been donated by famous archaeologists such as Louis Leakey, Louis and Mary Leakey, and Gertrude Caton–Thompson. Paleolithic objects from the William Allen Sturge, Sturge, Henry Christy, Christy and Édouard Lartet, Lartet collections include some of the earliest works of art from Europe. Many Bronze Age objects from across Europe were added during the nineteenth century, often from large collections built up by excavators and scholars such as William Greenwell, Greenwell in Britain, Thomas Tobin, Tobin and Cooke in Ireland, William Collings Lukis, Lukis and de la Grancière in Brittany, Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae, Worsaae in Denmark, Luis Siret, Siret at El Argar in Spain, and Gustav Klemm, Klemm and Edelmann in Germany. A representative selection of Iron Age artefacts from Hallstatt were acquired as a result of the Sir John Evans, Evans/Sir John Lubbock, Lubbock excavations and from Giubiasco in Ticino through the Swiss National Museum.
In addition, the British Museum's collections covering the period AD 300 to 1100 are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world, extending from Spain to the Black Sea and from North Africa to Scandinavia; a representative selection of these has recently been redisplayed in a newly refurbished gallery. Important collections include Latvian, Norwegian, Gotlandic and Merovingian material from Johann Karl Bähr, Alfred Heneage Cocks, Sir James Curle and Philippe Delamain respectively. However, the undoubted highlight from the early mediaeval period is the magnificent items from the Sutton Hoo royal grave, generously donated to the nation by the landowner Edith Pretty. The late mediaeval collection includes a large number of Seal (emblem), seal-dies from across Europe, the most famous of which include those from the Town of Boppard in Germany, Isabella of Hainault from her tomb in Notre Dame Cathedral, Paris, Inchaffray Abbey in Scotland and Robert Fitzwalter, one of the Barons who led the revolt against John, King of England, King John in England. There is also a large collection of medieval signet rings, prominent among them is the gold signet ring belonging to Jean III de Grailly who fought in the Hundred Years' War, as well as those of Mary, Queen of Scots and Richard I of England. Other groups of artefacts represented in the department include the national collection of (c.100) Icon, icon paintings, most of which originate from the Byzantine Empire and Russia, and over 40 mediaeval astrolabes from across Europe and the Middle East. The department also includes the national collection of horology with one of the most wide-ranging assemblage of clocks, watches and other timepieces in Europe, with masterpieces from every period in the development of time-keeping. Choice horological pieces came from the Octavius Morgan, Morgan and Courtenay Adrian Ilbert, Ilbert collections. The department is also responsible for the curation of Romano-British objects – the museum has by far the most extensive such collection in Britain and one of the most representative regional collections in Europe outside Italy. It is particularly famous for the large number of late Roman silver treasures, many of which were found in East Anglia, the most important of which is the Mildenhall Treasure. The museum purchased many Roman-British objects from the antiquarian Charles Roach Smith in 1856. These quickly formed the nucleus of the collection. The department also includes ethnographic material from across Europe including a collection of Bulgarian costumes and shadow puppets from Greece and Turkey. A particular highlight are the three Sami drum, Sámi drums from northern Sweden of which only about 70 are extant.
Objects from the Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory are mostly found on the upper floor of the museum, with a suite of galleries numbered from 38 to 51. Most of the collection is stored in its archive facilities, where it is available for research and study.
Highlights of the collections include:
Stone Age (c. 3.4 million years BC – c. 2000 BC)
* Palaeolithic
The Paleolithic or Palaeolithic (), also called the Old Stone Age (from Greek: παλαιός ''palaios'', "old" and λίθος '' lithos'', "stone"), is a period in human prehistory that is distinguished by the original development of stone to ...
material from across Africa, particularly Olduvai Gorge, Olduvai, Kalambo Falls, Olorgesailie and Cape Flats, (1.8 million BC onwards)
* One of the 11 Solutrean, leaf-shaped points found near Volgu, Saône-et-Loire, France and estimated to be 16,000 years old
* Ice Age art from France including the Wolverine pendant of Les Eyzies, Montastruc decorated stone (Palart 518), Montastruc decorated stone and Baton fragment (Palart 310), Baton fragment, (c. 12–11,000 BC)
* Ice Age art from Britain including the Kendrick's Cave Decorated Horse Jaw, decorated jaw from Kendrick and Robin Hood Cave Horse, (11,500–10,000 BC)
* Rare mesolithic artefacts from the site of Star Carr in Yorkshire, northern England, (8770–8460 BC)
* Terracotta figurine from Vinča-Belo Brdo, Vinča, Serbia, (5200–4900 BC)
* Callaïs bead jewellery from Lannec-er-Ro'h, intact schist bracelet from Le Lizo, Carnac and triangular pendant from :de:Mané-er-Hroëk, Mané-er-Hroëk, Morbihan, Brittany, western France, (5000–4300 BC)
* Polished jade axe produced in the Italian Alps and found in Canterbury, Kent, southeast England, (4500–4000 BC)
* Section of the Sweet Track, an ancient timber causeway from the Somerset Levels, England, (3807/6 BC)
* Small collection of Neolithic
The Neolithic period, or New Stone Age, is an Old World archaeological period and the final division of the Stone Age. It saw the Neolithic Revolution, a wide-ranging set of developments that appear to have arisen independently in several parts ...
finds including a necklace of flat bone beads from Skara Brae, Orkneys, northern Scotland, (3180–2500 BC)
* Representative sample of artefacts (sherds, vessels, etc.) from the megalithic site of Tarxien Temples, Tarxien, Malta, (3150–2500 BC)
* A number of carved stone balls from Scotland, Ireland and northern England, (3200–2500 BC)
* The three Folkton Drums, made from chalk and found in Yorkshire, northern England, (2600–2100 BC)
Bronze Age (c. 3300 BC – c. 600 BC)
* Jet beaded necklace from Melfort in Argyll, Scotland, (c. 3000 BC)
* Gold lunula from Blessington, Ireland, one of twelve from Ireland, Wales and Cornwall, (2400–2000 BC)
* Early Bronze Age hoards from Barnack, Driffield, Sewell, Bedfordshire, Sewell and Snowshill in England, Arraiolos and Vendas Novas in Iberia and Auvernier, Biecz and Neunheilingen in central Europe (2280–1500 BC)
*Mold cape, unique cape made of gold sheet from Mold, Flintshire, Mold, Wales (1900–1600 BC)
* Contents of the Rillaton Barrow including a gold cup, and the related Ringlemere Cup, England, (1700–1500 BC)
* Bronze Age hoards from Forró, Northern Hungary, Forró, Paks-Dunaföldvár, Szőny and Zsujta in Hungary, (1600–1000 BC)
* Large ceremonial swords or dirks from Oxborough Dirk, Oxborough and Beaune, western Europe, (1450–1300 BC)
* Eight bronze shields including those from Moel Hebog and Rhyd-y-gors, Wales and Athenry, County Galway, Ireland, (12th–10th centuries BC)
* Gold hoards from Morvah and Towednack in Cornwall, Milton Keynes Hoard, Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire and Mooghaun North Hoard, Mooghaun in Ireland, (1150–750 BC)
* Gold bowl with intricate repoussé decoration from Leer, Lower Saxony, Leer, Lower Saxony, northern Germany, (1100–800 BC)
* Dunaverney flesh-hook found near Ballymoney, Northern Ireland and part of the Dowris Hoard from County Offaly, Ireland, (1050–900 BC & 900–600 BC)
* Late Bronze Age gold hoards from Abia de la Obispalía and Mérida, Spain, Mérida, Spain and an intricate Sintra Collar, gold collar from Sintra, Portugal, (10th–8th centuries BC)
*Shropshire bulla, gold pendant decorated with intricately carved geometric designs, (1000–750 BC)
* Part of a copper alloy lur from Årslev on the island of Funen, Denmark, one of only about 40 extant and the Dunmanway Horn from County Cork, Ireland (900–750 BC)
* Gold bowl with embossed ornament and fluted wire handle from Angyalföld, Budapest, Hungary, (800–600 BC)
Iron Age (c. 600 BC – c. 1st century AD)
* Basse Yutz Flagons, a pair of bronze drinking vessels from Moselle, eastern France, (5th century BC)
* Morel collection of La Tène material from eastern France, including the Somme-Bionne chariot burial and the Prunay Vase, (450-300BC)
* Important finds from the River Thames including the Battersea Shield, Battersea, Chertsey and Wandsworth Shield, Wandsworth shields and Waterloo Helmet, as well as the Witham Shield from Lincolnshire, eastern England, (350–50 BC)
* Bronze scabbard with La Tène culture, La Tène engraved decoration, found at Lisnacrogher bog, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, (300–200 BC)
* Pair of gold collars called the Orense Torcs from northwest Spain, (300–150 BC)
* Arras culture items from chariot burials in the Lady's Barrow near Market Weighton and Wetwang Slack, Yorkshire, (300 BC – 100 BC)
* Other gold neck collars including the Ipswich Hoard and the Sedgeford Torc, England, (200–50 BC)
* Winchester Hoard of gold jewellery from southern England and the Great Torc from Snettisham in Norfolk, East Anglia, (100 BC)
* Eight out of about thirty extant intact Celtic art, Celtic bronze mirrors with La Tène culture, La Tène decoration including those from Aston, Hertfordshire, Aston, Chettle, Desborough, Holcombe, Teignbridge, Holcombe and St Keverne in England, (100 BC – 100 AD)
* Cordoba Treasure, Cordoba and Arcillera Treasures, two silver Celtic hoards from Spain, (100–20 BC)
* Grave find of ornately decorated bronze bucket with human shaped handles, a pan, jug, three brooches and at least four pottery vessels from Aylesford, Kent, (75 BC – 25 BC)
* Lindow Man found by accident in a peat bog in Cheshire, England, (1st century AD)
* Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications, Stanwick Hoard of horse and chariot fittings and the Meyrick Helmet, northern England, (1st century AD)
* La Tène culture, La Tène silver hinged brooch from Székesfehérvár, Hungary, (1–100 AD)
* Lochar Moss Torc and two pairs of massive bronze armlets from Muthill and Strathdon, Scotland, (50–200 AD)
Romano-British (43 AD – 410 AD)
* Tombstone of Roman procurator Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus from London, (1st century)
* Ribbed glass bowl found in a grave at Radnage, Buckinghamshire, (1st century)
* Large milestone marker with inscription from the reign of the emperor Hadrian from Llanfairfechan, Gwynedd in North Wales, (120–121 AD)
* Ribchester Helmet, Ribchester, Guisborough Helmet, Guisborough and Witcham helmets once worn by Roman cavalry in Britain, (1st–2nd centuries)
* Elaborate gold bracelets and ring found near Rhayader, central Wales, (1st–2nd centuries)
* Hoard of gold jewellery found at Dolaucothi mine in Carmarthenshire, Wales, (1st–2nd centuries)
* Bronze heads of the Roman emperors Hadrian and Claudius, found in London and Suffolk, (1st–2nd centuries)
* Vindolanda Tablets, important historical documents found near Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, (1st–2nd centuries)
* Head of Mercury (god), Mercury from Roman-Celtic Temple at Uley, Gloucestershire and limestone head from Towcester, Northamptonshire (2nd–4th centuries)
* Wall-paintings and sculptures from the Lullingstone Roman villa, Roman Villa at Lullingstone, Kent, south east England, 1st–4th centuries)
* Capheaton Treasure, Capheaton and Backworth treasures, remnants of two important hoards from northern England, (2nd–3rd centuries)
* Milton Keynes hoards, Stony Stratford Hoard of copper headdresses, fibulae and silver votive plaques, central England, (3rd century)
* Square silver Platter (dishware), dish from Mileham in Norfolk, (4th century)
* Gold jewellery deposited at the site of Newgrange, Ireland, (4th century)
* Thetford Hoard, late Roman jewellery from eastern England, (4th century)
Early Mediaeval (c. 4th century AD – c. 1000 AD)
* One of five Generosity, Largitio silver dishes of the emperor Licinius found at Niš, Serbia and a hexagonal gold coin-set pendant of Constantine the Great, (Early 4th century AD)
*Two wooden ship Figurehead (object), figureheads dredged from the River Scheldt at Moerzeke and Appels, Belgium, (4th–6th centuries)
* Part of the Asyut Treasure, Asyut, Domagnano Treasure, Domagnano, Artres Treasure, Artres, Sutri Treasure, Sutri, Bergamo Treasure, Bergamo and Belluno Treasure, Belluno Treasures, (4th–7th centuries)
* Lycurgus Cup, a unique figurative glass cage cup, and the Byzantine Archangel ivory panel, (4th–6th centuries)
* Three large Ogham stones from the Roofs More Ringfort, Rath, County Cork, Ireland, (5th–7th centuries)
* The Sutton Hoo treasure, Taplow burial and Crundale, Kent, Crundale grave objects with some of the greatest finds from the early Middle Ages in Europe, England, (6th–7th centuries)
* One of the Burghead Fort, Burghead Bulls, Picts, Pictish stone relief from northeast Scotland, (7th–8th centuries)
* Three Viking hoards from Norway known as the Lilleberge Viking Burial, Tromsø Burial and Villa Farm barrow burial in Vestnes and the Borve, Barra, Ardvouray, List of hoards in the Isle of Man#Viking hoards, Ballaquayle, Cuerdale Hoard, Cuerdale, Goldsborough, Harrogate, Goldsborough and Vale of York Hoard, Vale of York hoards from Britain, (7th–10th centuries)
* Irish reliquaries such as the Kells Crozier, Bell Shrine of St. Cuileáin and St Conall Cael's Bell from Inishkeel, (7th–11th centuries)
* Early Anglo Saxon Franks Casket, a unique ivory container from northern England, (8th century)
* T-shaped Carolingian art, Carolingian antler container with carved geometric interlace and zigzag decoration, found near Grüneck Castle, Ilanz, Switzerland, (8th–9th centuries)
* A number of luxurious penannular brooches such as the Londesborough Brooch, Breadalbane Brooch and those from the Penrith Hoard, British Isles, (8th–9th centuries)
* Three of the twenty extant Carolingian crystal Engraved gem, intaglios including the Lothair Crystal, the Metz engraved gem with crucifixion and Saint-Denis Crystal, central Europe, (9th century)
* Anglo-Saxon Fuller Brooch, Fuller and Strickland Brooch, Strickland Brooches with their complex, niello-inlaid design, England, (9th century)
* Seax of Beagnoth, iron sword with long Anglo-Saxon runes, Anglo-Saxon Runic inscription, London, England, (10th century)
Mediaeval (c. 1000 AD – c. 1500 AD)
* A number of mediaeval ivory panels including the Borradaile Triptych, Borradaile, Wernher Triptych, Wernher and John Grandisson Triptych, John Grandisson Triptychs, (10th–14th centuries)
* Several Olifant (instrument), elephant ivory horns including the :es:Olifante de Borradaile, Borradaile Horn, Clephane Horn and Savernake Horn, (11th–12th centuries)
* The famous Lewis chessmen found in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, (12th century)
* Reliquary of St. Eustace from the treasury of Basel Munster, Switzerland and fragments of a rare Romanesque art, Romanesque crucifix from Church of All Hallows, South Cerney, South Cerney, England, (12th century)
* Armenian stone-cross or Khachkar from the Noratus cemetery in Armenia, (1225 AD)
* Items from the tomb of Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor at Palermo Cathedral, Sicily, including his mitre, silk Pall (funeral), pall and shoe, (late 12th century)
* The unique Warwick Castle Citole, an early form of guitar, central England, (1280–1330)
* Set of 10 wooden door panels engraved with Christian scenes from the Hanging Church in Old Cairo, Egypt, (1300)
* Asante Jug, mysteriously found at the Ashanti Empire, Asante Court in the late 19th century, England, (1390–1400)
* Holy Thorn Reliquary
The Holy Thorn Reliquary was probably created in the 1390s in Paris for John, Duke of Berry, to house a relic of the Crown of Thorns. The reliquary was bequeathed to the British Museum in 1898 by Ferdinand de Rothschild as part of the Wad ...
bequeathed by Ferdinand de Rothschild as part of the Waddesdon Bequest
In 1898, Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild bequeathed to the British Museum as the Waddesdon Bequest the contents from his New Smoking Room at Waddesdon Manor. This consisted of a wide-ranging collection of almost 300 ''objets d'art et de vertu ...
, Paris, France, (14th century)
* Dunstable Swan Jewel, a gold and enamel brooch in the form of a swan, England, (14th century)
* A silver Canterbury Astrolabe Quadrant, astrolabe quadrant from Canterbury, southeastern England, (14th century)
* Chalcis treasure of jewellery, dress accessories and silver plate from the island of Euboea, Greece, (14th–15th centuries)
* Magnificent cups made from precious metal such as the Royal Gold Cup and the Lacock Cup, western Europe, (14th–15th centuries)
* Complete church altar set from Medina de Pomar near Burgos, Spain (1455 AD)
Renaissance to Modern (c. 1500 AD – present)
* Two luxurious silver brooches set with precious stones from Glen Lyon and Lochbuie, Mull, Lochbuie, Scotland (early 16th century)
* Intricately decorated Ghisi Shield, parade shield made by Giorgio Ghisi from Mantua, Italy, (1554 AD)
* The Armada Service, 26 silver dishes found in Devon, south west England, (late 16th to early 17th centuries)
* Early Renaissance ''Lyte Jewel'', presented to Thomas Lyte of Lytes Cary, Somerset by James VI and I, King James I of England, (1610)
* Huguenot silver from the Peter Wilding bequest, England, (18th century)
* Pair of so-called ''Cleopatra Vases'' from the Chelsea porcelain factory, London, England, (1763)
* Jaspar ware vase known as the ''Pegasus Vase'' made by Josiah Wedgwood, England, (1786)
* Two of Charles Darwin's Ship's chronometer from HMS Beagle, chronometers used on the voyage of HMS Beagle, (1795–1805)
* The Hull Grundy Gift of jewellery, Europe and North America, (19th century)
* Oak clock with mother-of-pearl engraving designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh, (1919)
* :de:Tee-Extraktkännchen MT 49, Silver tea-infuser designed by Marianne Brandt from the Bauhaus art school, Germany, (1924)
* The ''Rosetta Vase'', earthenware pottery vase designed by the contemporary British artist Grayson Perry, (2011)
The many hoards of treasure include those of Esquiline Treasure, Esquiline, Carthage Treasure, Carthage, First Cyprus Treasure, First Cyprus, Hockwold cum Wilton, Hockwold, Hoxne Hoard, Hoxne, Lampsacus Treasure, Lampsacus, Mildenhall, Vale of York Hoard, Vale of York and Water Newton Treasure, Water Newton, (4th–10th centuries AD)
File:British Museum Olduvai handaxe.jpg, Room 2 – Handaxe, Lower Palaeolithic, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania, c. 1.2 million years BC
File:Sleeping Reindeer 4512630872 d31dcb1207 o.jpg, Room 3 – Swimming Reindeer carving, France, c. 13,000 years BC
File:Lovers 9000BC british museum.jpg, Room 2 – Ain Sakhri lovers, from the cave of Ain Sakhri, near Bethlehem, c. 9000 BC
File:British Museum gold thing 501594 fh000035.jpg, Room 51 – Mold cape, Mold gold cape, North Wales, Bronze Age, c. 1900–1600 BC
File:Wandsworth Shield.png, Room 50 – Wandsworth Shield, Iron Age shield boss in La Tène style, England, 2nd century BC
File:IronAgeTorcBritishMuseum.JPG, Room 50 – Gold torc found in Needwood Forest, central England, 75 BC
File:Roman emperor head.jpg, Room 49 - Bronze head of a Roman emperor Claudius, from Rendham in Suffolk, eastern England, 1st century AD
File:Mosaic2 - plw.jpg, Room 49 – Hinton St Mary Mosaic with face of Christ in the centre, from Dorset, southern England, 4th century AD
File:Corbridge lanx.jpg, Room 49 – Corbridge Lanx, silver tray depicting a shrine to Apollo, northern England, 4th century AD
File:British Museum Coleraine Hoard.jpg, Room 41 – Silver objects from the Roman Coleraine Hoard, Northern Ireland, 4th-5th centuries AD
File:Sutton Hoo helmet 2016.png, Room 41 – Sutton Hoo helmet, Anglo-Saxon, England, early 7th century AD
File:Virgin and Child BM PE1978-05.02-3.jpg, Room 40 – Ivory statue of Virgin and Child, who is crushing a dragon under her left foot from Paris, France, 1310-1330 AD
File:Chaucer Astrolabe BM 1909.6-17.1.jpg, Room 40 – Chaucer Astrolabe, the oldest dated in Europe, 1326 AD
File:British Museum Royal Gold Cup.jpg, Room 40 – Royal Gold Cup or Saint Agnes Cup, made in Paris, France, 1370–80 AD
File:Front View of Thorn Reliquary.jpg, Room 2a – Holy Thorn Reliquary
The Holy Thorn Reliquary was probably created in the 1390s in Paris for John, Duke of Berry, to house a relic of the Crown of Thorns. The reliquary was bequeathed to the British Museum in 1898 by Ferdinand de Rothschild as part of the Wad ...
, made in Paris, c. 1390s AD
File:Ship Clock at British Museum.jpg, Room 38 – Mechanical Galleon clock, Augsburg, Germany, around 1585 AD
File:Carillon Clock with Automata, by Isaac Habrecht - British Museum.jpg, Room 38 – Carillon clock with automata by Isaac and Josias Habrecht, Isaac Habrecht, Switzerland, 1589 AD
File:Inside the British Museum, London - DSC04228.JPG, Room 39 – Ornate clock made by Thomas Tompion, England, 1690 AD
File:Romano-British crown and diadem.jpg, Room 49 – Romano-British crown and diadem found in Hockwold cum Wilton
Department of Asia
The scope of the Department of Asia is extremely broad; its collections of over 75,000 objects cover the material culture of the whole Asian continent (from East, South, Central and South-East Asia) and from the Neolithic up to the present day. Until recently, this department concentrated on collecting Oriental antiquities from urban or semi-urban societies across the Asian continent. Many of those objects were collected by colonial officers and explorers in former parts of the British Empire, especially the Indian subcontinent. Examples include the collections made by individuals such as James Wilkinson Breeks, Sir Alexander Cunningham, Sir Harold Arthur Deane, Harold Deane, Walter Elliot (Scottish naturalist), Sir Walter Elliot, James Prinsep, Charles Masson, Sir John Marshall (archaeologist), John Marshall and Charles Stuart (East India Company officer), Charles Stuart. A large number of Chinese antiquities were purchased from the Anglo-Greek banker George Eumorfopoulos in the 1930s. The large collection of some 1800 Japanese prints and paintings owned by Arthur Morrison was acquired in the early twentieth century. In the second half of the twentieth century, the museum greatly benefited from the bequest of the philanthropist PT Brooke Sewell, which allowed the department to purchase many objects and fill in gaps in the collection.
In 2004, the ethnographic collections from Asia were transferred to the department. These reflect the diverse environment of the largest continent in the world and range from India to China, the Middle East to Japan. Much of the ethnographic material comes from objects originally owned by tribal cultures and hunter-gatherers, many of whose way of life has disappeared in the last century. Particularly valuable collections are from the Andaman and Nicobar Islands (much assembled by the British naval officer Maurice Vidal Portman, Maurice Portman), Sri Lanka (especially through the colonial administrator Hugh Nevill), Northern Thailand, south-west China, the Ainu people, Ainu of Hokaidu in Japan (chief among them the collection of the Scottish zoologist John Anderson (zoologist), John Anderson), Siberia (with artefacts collected by the explorer Kate Marsden and Bassett Digby and is notable for its Yakuts, Sakha pieces, especially the ivory model of a summer festival at Yakutsk) and the islands of South-East Asia, especially Borneo. The latter benefited from the purchase in 1905 of the Sarawak collection put together by Dr Charles Hose, as well as from other colonial officers such as Edward A Jeffreys. In addition, a unique and valuable group of objects from Java, including shadow puppets and a gamelan musical set, was assembled by Sir Stamford Raffles.
The principal gallery devoted to Asian art in the museum is Gallery 33 with its comprehensive display of Chinese, Indian subcontinent and Southeast Asian objects. An adjacent gallery showcases the Amaravati sculptures and monuments. Other galleries on the upper floors are devoted to its Japanese, Korean, painting and calligraphy, and Chinese ceramics collections.
Highlights of the collections include:
* The most comprehensive collection of sculpture from the Indian subcontinent in the world, including the celebrated Buddhism, Buddhist limestone reliefs from Amaravati Marbles, Amaravati excavated by Sir Walter Elliot (Scottish naturalist), Walter Elliot
* An outstanding collection of Chinese antiquities, paintings, and porcelain, lacquer, bronze, jade, and other applied arts
* The :de:Georg Wegener, Frau Olga-Julia Wegener Collection of 147 Chinese paintings from the Tang to the Qing dynasties.
* The most comprehensive collection of Japanese art, Japanese pre-20th century art in the Western world, many of which originally belonged to the surgeon William Anderson (collector), William Anderson and diplomat Ernest Mason Satow
East Asia
* A large collection of Chinese ritual bronzes, including a wine vessel in the shape of two rams supporting a jar, (1500–200 BC)
* Bi (jade), Jade bi or disc with inscription from the Qianlong Emperor, (1500–1050 BC)
* Group of Oracle bones that were used for divination from the Shang dynasty, China, (1200–1050 BC)
* Intricately designed gold dagger handle from Zhou dynasty, Eastern Zhou period, China, (6th–5th centuries BC)
* Huixian Bronze Hu, an identical pair of bronze vessels from the Zhou dynasty, Eastern Zhou period, China, (5th century BC)
* Japanese antiquities from the Kofun period excavated by the pioneering archaeologist William Gowland, (3rd–6th centuries AD)
* Three ornate bronze Dōtaku or bells from the Yayoi period, Japan, (200 BC – 200 AD)
* Gilded and inscribed Han dynasty wine-cup made from lacquer and found in Pyongyang, Korea (4 AD)
* Gandharan architectural wood carvings, furniture and dress accessories from Loulan, Xinjiang, (4th century AD)
* The famous Admonitions Scroll by Chinese artist Gu Kaizhi, (344–406 AD)
* The colossal Amitābha Buddha from Hancui, China, (585 AD)
* A set of ceramic Tang dynasty tomb figures of Liu Tingxun, (c. 728 AD)
* Silk Princess painting from Dandan-oilik Buddhist sanctuary in Kingdom of Khotan, Khotan, Xinjiang, China, (7th–8th century AD)
* Seated Luohan from Yixian, one from a set of eight surviving statues, China, (907–1125 AD)
* Hoard of Tang dynasty silverware from Beihuangshan, Shaanxi, China, (9th–10th centuries AD)
* Seventeen examples of extremely rare Ru ware, the largest collection in the West, (1100 AD)
* A fine assemblage of Buddhist scroll paintings from Dunhuang, western China, collected by the British-Hungarian explorer Aurel Stein, (5th–11th centuries AD)
* Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art, Pericival David collection of Chinese ceramics, (10th–18th centuries AD)
* Ivory stand in the form of a seated lion, Chos-'khor-yan-rtse monastery in Tibet, (13th century AD)
* Copy of a hanging scroll painting of Minamoto no Yoritomo, first Shogun of Japan, (14th century AD)
* Handscroll silk painting called 'Fascination of Nature' by Xie Chufang depicting insects and plants, China, (1321 AD)
* Ornate Sino-Tibetan figure of Buddha Sakyamuni made of gilded bronze, China, (1403–1424 AD)
* Large Cloisonné jar with dragon made for the Ming dynasty Imperial Court, paired with another in the Rietberg Museum, Zürich, Beijing, China, (1426–35 AD)
* Pair of ceramic Kakiemon elephants from Japan, (17th century AD)
* Moon jar from the Joseon Dynasty collected by the potter Bernard Leach, Korea, (18th century AD)
* Japanese prints including The Great Wave off Kanagawa, (1829–32 AD)
* Illustrations for the Great Picture Book of Everything, rare album of drawings by the celebrated Japanese artist Hokusai, (1820–1840 AD)
South Asia
* Excavated objects from the Indus Valley civilisation, Indus Valley sites of Mohenjo-daro, and Harappa, Ancient India (now in Pakistan), (2500–2000 BC)
* Hoard of Copper Hoard Culture celts, plaques and disc from Gungeria, Madhya Pradesh, India, (2000–1000 BC)
* Assembly of Prehistory, prehistoric artefacts from the Nilgiri Mountains, Nilgiri Hills in southern India, (10th century BC – 2nd century AD)
* Hoard of Iron Age metal weapons excavated at the Wurreegaon barrow near Kamptee in Maharastra, India, (7th – 1st centuries BC)
* Sandstone fragment of a Pillars of Ashoka, Pillar of Ashoka with Brahmi inscription from Meerut, Uttar Pradesh, India, (238 BC)
* The Kulu Vase found near a monastery in Himachal Pradesh, one of the earliest examples of figurative art from the sub-continent, northern India, (1st century BC)
* Taxila copper plate, Copper plate from Taxila, with important Kharoshthi inscription, Ancient India (now in Pakistan), (1st century BC – 1st century AD)
* Indo-Scythian sandstone Mathura lion capital, Mathura Lion Capital and Sanchi Yakshi Figure, Bracket figure from one of the gateways to the Great Stupa at Sanchi, central India, (1st century AD)
* Bimaran casket, Bimaran Casket and Wardak Vase, reliquaries from ancient stupas in Afghanistan, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
* Hoard of gold jewellery with precious stones found under the Enlightenment Throne at the Mahabodhi Temple, Bodh Gaya, eastern India, (2nd century AD)
* Relic deposits from stupas at Ahin Posh, Ali Masjid, Gudivada, Manikyala, Sonala Pind, Sanchi and Taxila, (1st–3rd centuries AD)
* Seated Hārītī and Seated Buddha from Gandhara, Buddha statues and other Gandhara sculptures from Kafir Kot, Jamal Garhi, Takht-i-Bahi and Yusufzai, Pakistan, (1st–3rd centuries AD)
* Hephthalite silver bowl with hunting scenes from the Swat District, Pakistan, (460–479 AD)
* Three sandstone carved sculptures of the Buddha in Gupta Empire, Gupta style from Sarnath, eastern India, (5th–6th centuries AD)
* The Buddhapad Hoard of bronze images from southern India, (6th–8th centuries AD)
* Small bronze figure of Buddha Shakyamuni, Bihar, eastern India, (7th century AD)
* Stone statue of Buddha from the Sultanganj Buddha, Sultanganj hoard, Bihar, eastern India, (7th–8th centuries AD)
* Earliest known figure of the dancing four-armed god Shiva Nataraja, Pallava dynasty, southern India (800 AD)
* Statue of Tara from Sri Lanka and the Thanjavur Shiva from Tamil Nadu, southern India, (8th century & 10th century AD)
* Standing Pala Empire, Pala statue of Buddha from Kurkihar hoard, Kurkihar, Bihar, India, (9th century AD)
* Several wooden architectural panels from the Kashmir Smast caves, northern Pakistan, (9th–10th centuries AD)
* Hoard of Buddhist terracotta sealings from the Pala Empire, Pala period found at the Nālandā Monastery, Bihar, eastern India, (10th century AD)
* Ambika Statue from Dhar, Statue of the Ambika (Jainism), goddess Ambika found at Dhar in central India, (1034 AD)
* Foundation inscription of the Ananta Vasudeva Temple in Bhubaneswar, Odisha, eastern India, (1278 AD)
* Jade dragon cup that once belonged to Sultan Ulugh Beg from Samarkand, Uzbekistan, (1420–1449 AD)
* Foundation inscription with Arabic inscription in Naskh script in the name of Sultan Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah, Yusufshah from Gauda (city), Gauda, Bengal, eastern India, (1477 AD)
* Large standing gilded copper figure of the Bodhisattva Avalokiteśvara, Nepal, (15th–16th centuries AD)
South-east Asia
* Earthenware tazza (cup), tazza from the Phùng Nguyên culture, northern Vietnam, (2000–1500 BC)
* Pottery vessels and sherds from the ancient site of Ban Chiang, Thailand, (10th–1st centuries BC)
* Bronze Klang Bell, bell from Klang (city), Klang and iron socketed axe (tulang mawas) from Perak, western Malaysia, (200 BC–200 AD)
* Group of six Buddhist clay votive plaques found in a cave in Patania, Penang, Malaysia, (6th–11th centuries AD)
* The famous Sambas Treasure of buddhist gold and silver figures from west Borneo, Indonesia, (8th–9th centuries AD)
* Three stone Buddha heads from the temple at Borobodur in Java, Indonesia, (9th century AD)
* Granite Kinnari figure in the shape of a bird from Candi Prambanan in Java, Indonesia, (9th century AD)
* Sandstone Champa figure of a rampant lion, Vietnam, (11th century AD)
* Gilded bronze figure of Śiva holding a rosary, Cambodia, (11th century AD)
* Stone figure representing the upper part of an eleven-headed Avalokiteśvara, Cambodia, (12th century AD)
* Bronze figure of a seated Buddha from Bagan, Burma, (12th–13th centuries AD)
* Hoard of Southern Song dynasty ceramic vessels excavated at Pinagbayanan, Taysan Municipality, Philippines, (12th–13th centuries AD)
* Statue of the Goddess Mamaki from Candi Jago, eastern Java, Indonesia, (13th–14th centuries AD)
* Glazed terracotta tiles from the Shwegugyi Temple erected by king Dhammazedi in Bago, Myanmar, Bago, Myanmar, (1476 AD)
* Inscribed bronze figure of a Buddha from Fang District, part of a large SE Asian collection amassed by the Norwegian explorer Carl Bock (explorer), Carl Bock, Thailand, (1540 AD)
* Large impression of the Buddha's foot made of gilded stone (known as Shwesettaw Footprints) donated by Captain Frederick Marryat, from Ponoodang near Yangon, Myanmar, (18th–19th centuries AD)
File:Poids cubiques harappéens - BM.jpg, Room 33 - Cubic weights made of chert from Mohenjo-daro, Pakistan, 2600-1900 BC
File:Periodo degli zhou dell'est, coppia di vasi rituali hu. V sec. ac. 01.JPG, Room 33 - One of the hu (vessel), hu from Huixian, China, 5th century BC
File:CrystalGoose.JPG, Room 33 - A hamsa (bird), hamsa sacred goose vessel made of crystal from Stupa 32, Taxila, Pakistan, 1st century AD
File:Death of the Buddha BM.jpg, Room 33 - Stone sculpture of the death of Buddha, Gandhara, Pakistan, 1st-3rd centuries AD
File:Ku K'ai-chih 001.jpg, Room 91a - Section of the Admonitions Scroll by Chinese artist Gu Kaizhi, China, c. 380 AD
File:Seated Buddha BM OA1969.7-25.1.jpg, Room 33 - Gilded bronze Dhaneswar Khera Buddha image inscription, statue of the Buddha, Dhaneswar Khera, India, 5th century AD
File:Amitabha BM OA 1938.7-15.1.jpg, The Amitābha Buddha from Hancui on display in the museum's stairwell, China, 6th century AD
File:Luóhàn at British Museum.jpg, Room 33 - The arhat, luohan from Yixian made of glazed stoneware, China, 907-1125 AD
File:Goddess Ambika from Dhar.JPG, Sculpture of Ambika (Jainism), Goddess Ambika found at Dhar, India, 1034 AD
File:Tirthankaras.jpg, Sculpture of the two Jain tirthankaras Rishabhanatha and Mahavira, Orissa, India, 11th-12th century AD
File:British Museum Kang Hou Gui Top.jpg, Room 33 - Western Zhou bronze ritual vessel known as the "Kang Hou Gui", China, 11th century BC
File:Seated Avalokiteshvara BM OA 1985.5-11.1.jpg, Room 33 - A crowned figure of the Bodhisattva Khasarpana Avalokiteśvara, India, 12th century AD
File:British Museum Asia 2 (cropped).jpg, Room 33 - Covered hanging jar with underglaze decoration, Si Satchanalai (Sawankalok), north-central Thailand, 14th-16th centuries AD
File:Hu-shaped altar vessel BM 1989.0309.1.jpg, Room 33 - Hu (vessel), Hu-shaped altar flower vessel, Ming dynasty, China, 15th -16th centuries AD
File:Judge assistant hell BM OA1917.11-16.1 n02.jpg, Room 33 - An assistant to the Judge of Hell, figure from a judgement group, Ming dynasty, China, 16th century AD
File:British Museum Asia 41-2.jpg, Room 33 - Statue of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, gilded bronze. Nepal, 16th century AD
File:Indischer Maler um 1615 (I) 001.jpg, Portrait of Ibrâhîm 'Âdil Shâh II (1580–1626), Mughal Empire of India, 1615 AD
File:Utagawa Toyoharu (attributed to), Courtesans of the Tamaya House.jpg, Room 90 - Courtesans of the Tamaya House, attributed to Utagawa Toyoharu, screen painting; Japan, Edo period, late 1770s or early 1780s AD
File:SFEC BritMus Asia 027.JPG, Room 33 - Large statue of Buddha made of lacquer from Burma, 18th-19th century AD
File:Seated.Lama-01-British.Museum.jpg, Room 33 - Figure of seated Lama; of painted and varnished papier-mâché, Ladakh, India, 19th century AD
Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
The British Museum houses one of the world's most comprehensive collections of Ethnographic material from Africa, Oceania and the Americas, representing the cultures of indigenous peoples throughout the world. Over 350,000 objects spanning thousands of years tells the history of mankind from three major continents and many rich and diverse cultures; the collecting of modern artefacts is ongoing. Many individuals have added to the department's collection over the years but those assembled by Henry Christy, Harry Geoffrey Beasley, Harry Beasley and William Ockelford Oldman, William Oldman are outstanding. Objects from this department are mostly on display in several galleries on the ground and lower floors. Gallery 24 displays ethnographic from every continent while adjacent galleries focus on North America and Mexico. A long suite of rooms (Gallery 25) on the lower floor display African art. There are plans in place to develop permanent galleries for showcasing art from Oceania and South America.
Africa
The Sainsbury African Galleries display 600 objects from the greatest permanent collection of African arts and culture in the world. The three permanent galleries provide a substantial exhibition space for the museum's African collection comprising over 200,000 objects. A curatorial scope that encompasses both archaeological and contemporary material, including both unique masterpieces of artistry and objects of everyday life. A great addition was material amassed by Sir Henry Wellcome, which was donated by the Wellcome Collection, Wellcome Historical Medical Museum in 1954. Highlights of the African collection include objects found at Senegambian stone circles, megalithic circles in The Gambia, a dozen exquisite Kongo ivories#Afro-Portuguese ivories, Afro-Portuguese ivories, a series of soapstone figures from the Kissi people in Sierra Leone and Liberia, hoard of bronze Kru people, Kru currency rings from the Sinoe River in Greenville, Liberia, Liberia, Asante goldwork and regalia from Ghana including the Thomas Edward Bowdich, Bowdich collection, the rare Akan Drum from the same region in west Africa, pair of door panels and lintel from the palace at Ikere-Ekiti in Yorubaland, the Benin Bronzes, Benin and Igbo-Ukwu bronze sculptures, the beautiful Bronze Head of Queen Idia, a magnificent Bronze Head from Ife, brass head of a Yoruba ruler and quartz throne from Ife, a similar terracotta head from Iwinrin Grove near Ife, the Apapa Hoard from Lagos and other mediaeval bronze hoards from Allabia and the Forçados River in southern Nigeria, an Ikom monoliths, Ikom monolith from Cross River State, several ancestral screens from the Kalabari tribe in the Niger Delta, the Emil Torday, Torday collection of central African sculpture, textiles and weaponry from the Kuba Kingdom including three Ndop (Kuba), royal figures, the unique Luzira Head from Uganda, Ethiopian cross, processional crosses and other ecclesiastical and royal material from Gondar and Amba Mariam, Magdala, Ethiopia following the British Expedition to Abyssinia, excavated objects from Great Zimbabwe (that includes a unique soapstone, anthropomorphic figure) and satellite towns such as Mutare including a large hoard of Iron Age soapstone figures, a rare divining bowl from the Venda peoples and cave paintings and petroglyphs from Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre, South Africa.
Oceania
The British Museum's Oceanic collections originate from the vast area of the Pacific Ocean, stretching from Papua New Guinea to Easter Island, from New Zealand to Hawaii. The three main anthropological groups represented in the collection are Polynesia, Melanesia and Micronesia – Aboriginal art from Australia is considered separately in its own right. Metal working was not indigenous to Oceania before Europeans arrived, so many of the artefacts from the collection are made from stone, shell, bone and bamboo. Prehistoric objects from the region include a bird-shaped pestle and a group of stone Pestle and mortar, mortars from Papua New Guinea. The British Museum is fortunate in having some of the earliest Oceanic and Pacific collections, many of which were put together by members of James Cook, Cook's and George Vancouver, Vancouver's expeditions or by colonial administrators and explorers such as Sir George Grey, Sir Frederick Broome, Joseph Bradshaw (pastoralist), Joseph Bradshaw, Robert Christison (pastoralist), Robert Christison, Gregory Mathews, Frederick Meinertzhagen, Thomas Mitchell (explorer), Thomas Mitchell and Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore, Arthur Gordon, before Western culture significantly impacted on indigenous cultures. The department has also benefited greatly from the legacy of pioneering anthropology, anthropologists such as Alfred Cort Haddon, AC Haddon, Bronisław Malinowski and Katherine Routledge. A poignant artefact is the wooden Aboriginal Gweagal#The Gweagal Spears and Shield, shield probably dating from the late eighteenth century. There is some debate as to whether this shield was found at Botany Bay or, given the nature of the wood being red mangrove which grows abundantly only 500 km north of Botany Bay, possibly obtained through trade networks or at an entirely different location. The Henry Wilson (sailor), Wilson cabinet of curiosities from Palau is an example of pre-contact ware. Another outstanding exemplar is the mourner's dress from Tahiti given to Cook on his Second voyage of James Cook, second voyage, one of only ten in existence. In the collection is a large war canoe from the island of Vella Lavella in the Solomon Islands, one of the last ever to be built in the archipelago. In addition, the Māori culture, Māori collection is the finest outside New Zealand with many intricately carved wooden and Hei-tiki, jade objects and the Aboriginal art collection is distinguished by its wide range of bark paintings, including two very early bark etchings collected by John Hunter Kerr. A particularly important group of objects was purchased from the London Missionary Society in 1911, that includes the unique statue of A'a from Rurutu Island, the rare Mangareva Statue, idol from the isle of Mangareva and the Cook Islands Deity Figure from Rarotonga, deity figure. Other highlights include the huge Hawaiian statue of Kū, Kū-ka-ili-moku or god of war (one of three extant in the world) and the famous Easter Island statues Hoa Hakananai'a and Relocation of moai objects, Moai Hava.
Americas
The Americas collection mainly consists of 19th and 20th century items although the Paracas culture, Paracas, Moche culture, Moche, Inca, Maya civilization, Maya, Aztec, Taino and other early cultures are well represented. The Kayung totem pole, which was made in the late nineteenth century on Haida Gwaii, dominates the Great Court and provides a fitting introduction to this very wide-ranging collection that stretches from the very north of the North American continent where the Inuit population has lived for centuries, to the tip of South America where indigenous tribes have long thrived in Patagonia. Highlights of the collection include Aboriginal peoples in Canada, Aboriginal Canadian and Native American objects from North America collected by the Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, 5th Earl of Lonsdale, the John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll, Marquis of Lorne, the explorer David Haig-Thomas and Bryan Mullanphy, Mayor of St. Louis, the E. G. Squier, Squier and Edwin Hamilton Davis, Davis collection of prehistoric mound relics from North America, two carved stone bowls in the form of a seated human figure made by ancient Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast, North West Coast peoples from Cowichan Bay, British Columbia, the headdress of Chief Yellow Calf from the Arapaho tribe in Wyoming, a lidded rivercane basket from South Carolina and the earliest historic example of Cherokee basketery, a selection of pottery vessels found in prehistoric dwellings at Mesa Verde and Casas Grandes, one of the enigmatic Crystal Skull, crystal skulls of unknown origin, a collection of nine turquoise Aztec Double-headed serpent, mosaics from Mexico (the largest in Europe), important artefacts from Teotihuacan Ocelot, Teotihuacan and Isla de Sacrificios, several rare pre-Columbian manuscripts including the Codex Zouche-Nuttall and Codex Waecker-Gotter and post-colonial ones such as the Aubin Codex, Codex Aubin and Codex Kingsborough, a spectacular series of Mayan Yaxchilan Lintel 24, lintels from Yaxchilan excavated by the British Mayanist Alfred Maudslay, a very high quality Mayan collection that includes sculptures from Copán Bench Panel, Copan, Tikal Temple I, Tikal, Tulum Stela 1, Tulum, Pusilha, Naranjo and Nebaj (including the celebrated Fenton Vase), an ornate calcite vase with jaguar handles from the Ulua River, Ulua Valley in Honduras, the Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne, Lord Moyne collection from the Bay Islands Department, Bay Islands, Honduras and Frederick Boyle, Boyle collection from Nicarugua, over 20 stone metates with zoomorphic and anthropomorphic ornamentation from Costa Rica, a group of Zemi Figures from Vere, Jamaica, wooden Taino ritual seat, duhos from the Dominican Republic and The Bahamas, a collection of Pre-Columbian era, Pre-Columbian human mummies from sites across South America including Ancon (archaeological site), Ancon, Acarí District, Acari, Arica and Villa de Leyva, Leyva, a number of prestigious pre-Columbian gold and Lake Guatavita, votive objects from Colombia, three axe-shaped gold diadems found near Camaná from the Siguas culture in Peru, unique collection of Moche culture, Moche wooden figures and Staff of office, staffs from the :es:Islas Macabí, Macabi islands off Peru, ethnographic objects from across the Amazon region including the Robert Hermann Schomburgk, Schomburgk and David Maybury Lewis, Maybury Lewis collections and part of the Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius, von Martius and Johann Baptist von Spix, von Spix collection, two rare Tiwanaku pottery vessels from Lake Titicaca and important items from Tierra del Fuego donated by Commander Phillip Parker King.
File:British Museum otter pipe.jpg, Room 26 - Stone pipe representing an otter from Hopewell Culture National Historical Park, Mound City, Ohio, USA, 200 BC - 400 AD
File:British Museum tomb guardian.jpg, Room 2 - Stone tomb guardian, part human part jaguar, from San Agustín, Huila, San Agustín, Colombia, c. 300-600 AD
File:Maya maize god statue.jpg, Room 1 - Maya maize god statue from Copán, Honduras, 600-800 AD
File:Gold Lime Flasks (poporos) Quimbaya Culture, Colombia AD 600-1100 - British Museum.jpg, Room 24 - Gold Lime Flasks (poporos), Quimbaya civilization, Quimbaya Culture, Colombia, 600-1100 AD
File:Maya, lintel 25, da yaxchilan, 725.JPG, Room 27 - Lintel 25 from Yaxchilan, Late Classic, Mexico, 600-900 AD
File:Bird pectoral, Popayan, gold alloy, AD900–1600..jpg, Room 24 - Bird pectoral made from gold alloy, Popayán, Colombia, 900-1600 AD
File:Hoa Hakananai'a - Moai in the British Museum.jpeg, Room 24 – Rapa Nui statue Hoa Hakananai'a, 1000 AD, Wellcome Trust Gallery
File:Denis Bourez - British Museum, London (8748174360).jpg, Room 27 - Double-headed serpent turquoise mosaic, Aztec, Mexico, 1400-1500 AD
File:Denis Bourez - British Museum, London (8747055335).jpg, Room 27 - Turquoise Mosaic Mask, Mixtec-Aztec, Mexico, 1400-1500 AD
File:Miniature gold llama figurine.jpg, Room 2 - Miniature gold llama figurine, Inca, Peru, about 1500 AD
File:Benin Bronzes at the British Museum 1.jpg, Room 25 - Part of the famous collection of Benin brass plaques, Nigeria, 1500-1600 AD
File:Benin brass plaque 01.jpg, Room 25 - Detail of one of the Benin Empire, Benin brass plaques in the museum, Nigeria, 1500-1600 AD
File:Idia mask BM Af1910 5-13 1.jpg, Room 25 - Benin ivory mask of Queen Idia, Nigeria, 16th century AD
File:Hawaiian feather helmet, British Museum 3.jpg, Room 24 - Hawaiian feather helmet or mahiole, late 1700s AD
File:Hawaiian bowl.jpg, Bowl decorated with pearl shell and boars' tusks, used to serve the intoxicating drink kava, Hawaii, late 1700s AD
File:British museum, totem.JPG, Great Court - Two house frontal Kayung totem pole, totem poles, Haida, British Columbia, Canada, about 1850 AD
File:Punu mask BM Af1904 11-22 1.jpg, Room 25 - Mask (wood and pigment); Punu people, Gabon, 19th century AD
File:Otobo masquerade.jpg, Room 25 - Otobo masquerade in the Africa Gallery, Nigeria, 20th century AD
File:El Anatsui - Man's Cloth.jpg, Room 25 - Modern interpretation of kente cloth from Ghana, late 20th century AD
Department of Coins and Medals
The British Museum is home to one of the world's finest Numismatics, numismatic collections, comprising about a million objects, including coins, medals, tokens and paper money. The collection spans the entire history of coinage from its origins in the 7th century BC to the present day and is representative of both the Eastern world, East and West. The Department of Coins and Medals was created in 1861 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2011.
Department of Conservation and Scientific Research
This department was founded in 1920. Conservation (cultural heritage), Conservation has six specialist areas: ceramics & glass; metals; organic material (including textiles); stone, wall paintings and mosaics; Eastern pictorial art and Western pictorial art. The science department has and continues to develop techniques to date artefacts, analyse and identify the materials used in their manufacture, to identify the place an artefact originated and the techniques used in their creation. The department also publishes its findings and discoveries.
Libraries and archives
This department covers all levels of education, from casual visitors, schools, degree level and beyond. The museum's various libraries hold in excess of 350,000 books, journals and pamphlets covering all areas of the museum's collection. Also the general museum archives which date from its foundation in 1753 are overseen by this department; the individual departments have their own separate archives and libraries covering their various areas of responsibility, which can be consulted by the public on application. The Anthropology Library is especially large, with 120,000 volumes. However, the Paul Hamlyn Library, which had become the central reference library of the British Museum and the only library there freely open to the general public, closed permanently in August 2011. The website and online database of the collection also provide increasing amounts of information.
British Museum Press
The British Museum Press (BMP) is the publishing business and a division of the British Museum Company Ltd., a company and a charity (established in 1973) wholly owned by the trustees of the British Museum.
The BMP publishes both popular and scholarly illustrated books to accompany the exhibition programme and explore aspects of the general collection. Profits from their sales goes to support the British Museum.
Scholarly titles are published in the Research Publications series, all of which are peer-reviewed. This series was started in 1978 and was originally called Occasional Papers. The series is designed to disseminate research on items in the collection. Between six and eight titles are published each year in this series.
Controversies
Artefacts taken from other countries
It is a point of controversy whether museums should be allowed to possess artefacts taken from other countries, and the British Museum is a notable target for criticism. The Elgin Marbles
The Elgin Marbles (), also known as the Parthenon Marbles ( el, Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα, lit. "sculptures of the Parthenon"), are a collection of Classical Greece, Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of th ...
, Benin Bronzes, Ethiopian Tabots and the Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancien ...
are among the most disputed objects in its collections, and organisations have been formed demanding the return of these artefacts to their native countries. The Parthenon Marbles (Elgin Marbles) claimed by Greece were also cited by UNESCO, among others, for restitution. From 1801 to 1812, Elgin's agents removed about half of the surviving sculptures from the Parthenon, as well as sculptures from the Propylaea and Erechtheion, Erechtheum. The former director of the museum has stated, "We are indebted to Elgin for having rescued the Parthenon sculptures and others from the Acropolis from the destruction they were suffering, as well as from the damage that the Acropolis monuments, including the sculptures that he did not remove, have suffered since."
There is also controversy over artefacts taken during the Old Summer Palace#Destruction, destruction of the Old Summer Palace in Beijing by an Anglo-French expeditionary force during the Second Opium War in 1860, an event which drew a protest from Victor Hugo. The British Museum and the Victoria and Albert Museum
The Victoria and Albert Museum (often abbreviated as the V&A) in London is the world's largest museum of applied arts, decorative arts and design, housing a permanent collection of over 2.27 million objects. It was founded in 1852 and nam ...
, among others, have been asked since 2009 to open their archives for investigation by a team of Chinese investigators as a part of an international mission to document Chinese national treasures in foreign collections. In 2010 Neil MacGregor, the former Director of the British Museum, said he hoped that both British and Chinese investigators would work together on the controversial collection. In 2020 the museum appointed a curator to research the history of its collections, including disputed items.
The British Museum has stated that the "restitutionist premise, that whatever was made in a country must return to an original geographical site, would empty both the British Museum and the other great museums of the world". The museum has also argued that the British Museum Act of 1963 prevents any object from leaving its collection once it has entered it. "The Museum owns its collections, but its Trustees are not empowered to dispose of them". Nevertheless, it has returned items such as Tasmanian Aboriginal burial remains when this was consistent with legislation regarding the disposal of items in the collections.
Disputed items in the collection
* Elgin Marbles
The Elgin Marbles (), also known as the Parthenon Marbles ( el, Γλυπτά του Παρθενώνα, lit. "sculptures of the Parthenon"), are a collection of Classical Greece, Classical Greek marble sculptures made under the supervision of th ...
– claimed by Greece and backed by UNESCO among others for restitution
* Benin Bronzes – claimed by Nigeria; the Nigerian government has passed a resolution demanding the return of all 700 bronze pieces. 30 pieces of the bronzes were sold by the British Museum privately from the 1950s until 1972, mostly back to the Nigerians.
* Ethiopian Tabots, Pre-Axumite Civilisation Coins – claimed by Ethiopia
* Four stolen drawings (Nazi plunder) – Compensation paid to Uri Peled for the amount of £175,000 by the British Museum
* Achaemenid
The Achaemenid Empire or Achaemenian Empire (; peo, wikt:𐎧𐏁𐏂𐎶, 𐎧𐏁𐏂, , ), also called the First Persian Empire, was an History of Iran#Classical antiquity, ancient Iranian empire founded by Cyrus the Great in 550 BC. Bas ...
empire gold and silver artefacts from the Oxus Treasure
The Oxus treasure (Persian: گنجینه آمودریا) is a collection of about 180 surviving pieces of metalwork in gold and silver, most relatively small, and around 200 coins, from the Achaemenid Persian period which were found by the Oxus ...
– in 2007 the President of Tajikistan ordered experts to look into making a claim.
* Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta Stone is a stele composed of granodiorite inscribed with three versions of a decree issued in Memphis, Egypt, in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V Epiphanes. The top and middle texts are in Ancien ...
– claimed by Egypt
* Dunhuang manuscripts, part of a cache of scrolls, manuscripts, paintings, scriptures, and relics from the Mogao Caves, including the Diamond Sutra – claimed by the People's Republic of China
* Aboriginal shield — claimed by Aboriginal people of Australia.
* Hoa Hakananai'a – claimed by Chile on behalf of Easter Island
* Repatriation and reburial of human remains is a controversial issue, and the British Museum has issued a policy on the subject.
BP sponsorship
In recent years there have been several protests against the British Museum's relationship with the oil company BP. In May 2016, the British Museum was temporarily closed after a Greenpeace protest. In February 2019, hundreds of people occupied the museum in protest against the BP sponsorship. In July 2019, Ahdaf Soueif resigned from the British Museum's board of trustees in protest against the sponsorship. In February 2020, 1,500 demonstrators, including British Museum staff, took part in a day of protest over the issue, occupying 11 of the museum's rooms. The PCS union said the museum had a duty to recognise the escalating climate crisis and cut its ties with BP. In reply the museum said: “We are aware of the comments from the PCS union and will continue to liaise with the British Museum PCS branch and our staff more generally.”
Chairman's Advisory Group
The Chairman's Advisory Group is an informal group of business leaders who provide advice to the chairman on various issues including the museum's relationship with the British government and policy on the museum's collections. Its existence was made public after a freedom of information request by a group campaigning against the museum's links with the fossil fuel industry. The museum has declined to name the members of the advisory group as they are acting in their personal capacity.
Galleries
;''Building''
File:BM, Main Floor Main Entrance Hall ~ South Stairs.6.JPG, Main Staircase, Discobolus, Discobolus of Myron (the Discus-Thrower)
File:British Museum Reading Room Panorama Feb 2006.jpg, British Museum Reading Room
File:British Museum 2010-06-04 B.jpg, Ceiling of the Great Court and the black siltstone obelisks of Nectanebo II
Nectanebo II ( Egyptian: ; grc-gre, Νεκτανεβώς ) was the last native ruler of Ancient Egypt, as well as the third and last pharaoh from the Thirtieth Dynasty of Egypt. He reigned from 358 to 340 BC.
Under Nectanebo II, Egypt prosper ...
, c. 350 BC
File:Flickr - Nic's events - British Museum with Cory and Mary, 6 Sep 2007 - 183.jpg, Detail of an Ionic capital on a pilaster in the Great Court
File:England; London - The British Museum, Facade South Front ~ -Main Entrance + West Wing- Colonnade + The Africa Garden.2.jpg, African Garden – created by BBC TV programme Ground Force
;''Museum Galleries''
''Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan''
File:BM, AES Egyptian Sculpture (Room 4), View South + Towards Assyrian Sculpture Gallery (Room 6).JPG, Room 4 – Egyptian Sculpture, view towards the Assyrian Transept
File:BM, AES Egyptian Sculpture (Room 4), View North.3.JPG, Room 4
File:Egyptian Gallery.JPG, Room 4
''Department of the Middle East''
File:BM; RM6 - ANE, Assyrian Sculpture 32 -East (N), Centre Island + North Wall- ~ Assyrian Empire + -Lamassu, Stela's, Statue's, Obelisk's, Relief Panel's & Full Projection.1.jpg, The British Museum, Room 6 – Assyrian Sculpture
File:BM; RM8 - ANE, Nimrud Palace Reliefs 75 South + East Wall (S) ~ Central Palace of Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 B.C) + Full Elevation & Viewing South.1.JPG, Room 8 – Pair of Lamassu
''Lama'', ''Lamma'', or ''Lamassu'' (Cuneiform: , ; Sumerian: lammař; later in Akkadian: ''lamassu''; sometimes called a ''lamassus'') is an Assyrian protective deity.
Initially depicted as a goddess in Sumerian times, when it was called ''La ...
from Nimrud
Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
& reliefs from the palace of Tiglath-Pileser III
Tiglath-Pileser III (Neo-Assyrian cuneiform: , meaning "my trust belongs to the son of Ešarra"), was the king of the Neo-Assyrian Empire from 745 BC to his death in 727. One of the most prominent and historically significant Assyrian kings, Tig ...
File:BM; RM7 - ANE, Nimrud Palace Reliefs 1 Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 B.C) ~ Full Elevation & Viewing South.JPG, Room 7 – Reliefs from the North-west palace of Ashurnasirpal II, Nimrud
Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
File:BM; ANE - RM 89, Assyrian Reliefs ~ Nineveh.JPG, Room 89 – Nimrud
Nimrud (; syr, ܢܢܡܪܕ ar, النمرود) is an ancient Assyrian city located in Iraq, south of the city of Mosul, and south of the village of Selamiyah ( ar, السلامية), in the Nineveh Plains in Upper Mesopotamia. It was a m ...
& Nineveh Palace Reliefs
File:BM; ANE - Nineveh, The Royal Lion Hunt (Room 10).JPG, Room 10 – Nineveh, The Royal Lion Hunt
''Department of Greece and Rome''
File:Parthenon Frieze.JPG, Room 18 – Ancient Greece
File:Tomb of Merehi 1.jpg, Room 20a – Tomb of Merehi & Greek Vases, Lycia
Lycia (Lycian language, Lycian: 𐊗𐊕𐊐𐊎𐊆𐊖 ''Trm̃mis''; el, Λυκία, ; tr, Likya) was a state or nationality that flourished in Anatolia from 15–14th centuries BC (as Lukka) to 546 BC. It bordered the Mediterranean ...
, 360 BC
File:British Museum - Room 85, Roman Portrait Sculpture.JPG, Room 85 – Portrait Sculpture, Roman
File:BM; GMR - RM 83, Roman Sculpture.JPG, Room 83 – Roman Sculpture
File:Townley Sculptures.JPG, Room 84 – Charles Towneley, Towneley Roman Sculptures
File:SFEC BritMus Roman 022.JPG, Main Staircase – Discobolus, Roman
File:The Townley Caryatid (anterior).jpg, Main Staircase – Townley Caryatid, Roman, 140–160 AD
Digital and online
The museum has a collaboration with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the collection online.
Exhibitions
*
Chronology of Temporary Exhibitions at the British Museum
', by Joanna Bowring (British Museum Research Paper 189, 2012) lists all temporary exhibitions from 1838 to 2012.
''Forgotten Empire Exhibition'' (October 2005 – January 2006)
File:Forgotten Empire Exhibition, (Room 5).1.JPG, Room 5 – Exhibitions Panorama
File:The British Museum, Room 5-Persepolis Bas-relief.jpg, Room 5 – The Persepolis
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, image = Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.jpg
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, caption = Ruins of the Gate of All Nations, Persepolis.
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Casts
File:BM; ANE - Forgotten Empire Exhibition, (Room 5).3.JPG, Room 5 – Exhibitions Relics
File:BM; ANE - Forgotten Empire Exhibition, The Cyrus Cylinder (Room 5).JPG, Room 5 – The Cyrus Cylinder
The Cyrus Cylinder is an ancient clay cylinder, now broken into several pieces, on which is written a declaration in Akkadian cuneiform script in the name of Persia's Achaemenid king Cyrus the Great. Kuhrt (2007), p. 70, 72 It dates from the 6th c ...
From January to April 2012 the museum presented ''Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam'', the first major exhibition on the topic of the Hajj, the pilgrimage that is one of the five pillars of Islam.
See also
* List of most visited museums in the United Kingdom
* List of museums in London
* Repatriation (cultural heritage)
Notes
References
Further reading
* Anderson, Robert (2005). ''The Great Court and the British Museum''. London: The British Museum Press
* Arrowsmith, Rupert Richard
''Modernism and the Museum: Asian, African and Pacific Art and the London Avant Garde''
Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 103–164. .
* Arrowsmith, Rupert Richard
"The Transcultural Roots of Modernism: Imagist Poetry, Japanese Visual Culture, and the Western Museum System"
''Modernism/modernity'' Volume 18, Number 1, January 2011, pp. 27–42. .
* Bowring, Joanna (2012).
Chronology of Temporary Exhibitions at the British Museum
' London: British Museum Research Paper 189.
* Caygill, Marjorie (2006). ''The British Museum: 250 Years''. London: The British Museum Press
* Caygill, Marjorie (2002). ''The Story of the British Museum''. London: The British Museum Press
* --do.-- (2009) ''Treasures of the British Museum'' London: The British Museum Press (1st ed. 1985; 2nd ed. 1992)
* Cook, B. F. (2005). ''The Elgin Marbles''. London: The British Museum Press
* Esdaile, Arundell (1946) ''The British Museum Library: a Short History and Survey''. London: Allen & Unwin
* Jacobs, Norman (2010) ''Behind the Colonnade''. Stroud: The History Press
* Jenkins, Ian (2006). ''Greek Architecture and its Sculpture in The British Museum''. London: The British Museum Press
* Frank Francis, Francis, Frank, ed. (1971) ''Treasures of the British Museum''. London: Thames & Hudson (rev. ed., 1975)
* Stephanie Moser, Moser, Stephanie (2006). ''Wondrous Curiosities: Ancient Egypt at The British Museum''. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press
* Reade, Julian (2004). ''Assyrian Sculpture''. London: The British Museum Press
* Reeve, John (2003). ''The British Museum: Visitor's Guide''. London: The British Museum Press
* Wilson, David M. (2002). ''The British Museum: a history''. London: The British Museum Press
External links
*
The British Museum
from ''Survey of London, The Survey of London''
British Museum elevation
*
*
*
Virtual tour of the British Museum
provided by Google Arts & Culture
{{Authority control
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