Day 11 - British Museum

Tuesday the LIS group went to the British Museum. We did not have a formal tour through the museum, so we went though at our leisure.

The museum was founded in 1753, was the first national public museum in the world, and offered free admission from the very beginning. When the 71,000 objects in Sir Hans Sloane collection were bequeathed to King George II, an Act of Parliament established the British Museum. The museum's attendance has risen from 5,000 per year in the eighteenth century to 6 million today.

The museum has a massive collection including artifacts from Egypt and Rome, from the ancient times to modern day. There is too much to see in one day, so we picked out what we wanted to see most and made our way around the museum.
We were able to see the Rosetta Stone and the Flood Tablet, a mummy from ancient Egypt, jewelry through the ages, and sculptures from the Parthenon. The jewelry exhibit was phenomenal. Rubies, pearls, and diamonds were showcased, as well as cameos, in all fashions and from various time periods.

I envisioned the Flood Tablet to be bigger than it actually was. The ancient Egypt exhibit was neat because they detailed how the mummification process occurred and displayed x-ray photos of the mummies. The sculptures and remnants from the Parthenon were exquisite and magnificent. Each sculpture stood for a different part of the Roman culture and religion. Each one told a story in it's own way, depicting the Roman world from the artist's perspective. Many were beaten and battered from time and human greed, but the history and integrity behind the sculptures could not be removed by the hands of time nor man. Pieces are divided between England and Athens, scattered from the land of their birth.
Though I could not see all that the museum has to offer, I enjoyed the time I did have. It was history at my fingertips.

Until next time.