The many rainy days in March gave me the occasion to discover the British Museum. I was glad -at last- to see the famous architecture we see everywhere, enhancing the domed ceiling and the Great Court designed by Lord Foster which opened in 2000. For sure, it’s impressive, full of light and space…
Today, DOYOUSPEAKLONDON takes you to “one of the world’s largest and most important museums of human history and culture”!

The British Museum

I was surprised by the number and the quality of the objects displayed in this -huge- museum. Starting with the Rosetta Stone…which caused a dispute between the British and the French, who fought to gain possession of it after its discovery in 1799 during Napoleon’s campaign in Egypt. This is easily understandable considering the importance of this discovery, as the stone provided the key to the understanding of the Egyptian hieroglyphs (thanks to the joint work of Jean-Francois Champollion and Thomas Young). Here below is the fragment of the stone, with the upper text being in ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the middle one in Demotic, and the lowest in ancient Greek. Personally, I was touched by this object, even surrounded by a large crowd!
I have to admit I came to the British Museum mainly to see the Egyptian collections. And I was very impressed by the quality of the mummies presented here…
It was as if the clothes were almost intact at some point, the colours still vibrant… The mummification process as well as the sarcophaguses were meant to preserve the dead and reflect their wealth. The result is for some of them very impressive. It was very striking to see some details of mummies so closely…
There were many other interesting archaeological remains from Egypt, like paintings from tombs or funerary objects …

Collections of objects from all over the world

Other parts of the world – Iran, Japan, the Easter Island, to mention just a few- are represented in the museum, and I have captured some objects I found aesthetically beautiful and very delicate.
This fired clay figurine from eastern Europe may have been a cult object, “possibly a household deity”.
This object is a silver lyre (with wood) discovered in the Royal Cemetery at Ur.
This is a feudal clock that measures hours of different lengths. As it was specified in the museum, “before 1873 in Japan, daylight and night-time were each divided into 6 units, so that the divisions varied according to the seasons. A servant would be given the job of adjusting weights on the top of the clock to vary the hours”. Much complicated …!

Other objects from Japan I appreciated because of their many details are the “Netsuke”, “these carved toggles that were worn by Japanese townsmen. They were often miniature masterpieces of sculpture and source of pride for the wearer”.
I love the watchful eye of this grandma, as well as the common smile of these characters.

I felt particularly small under this statue…And for a moment I just wished I could go and see the mythic island where it comes from…

Everything is to be seen at the British Museum. And it is endless! Being there is like traveling without jet lag. And travel shapes youth… So stay young!

I hope you’ve enjoyed this post and found inspiration here. If you are about to visit The British Museum soon, please share your experience and opinion on DOYOUSPEAKLONDON’s blog!

To go further:
The British Museum: Great Russell St, London WC1B 3DG
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