The British Museum
A world treasure trove!
The British Museum is located in London, England. The centerpiece of the British Museum is Queen Elizabeth II’s Great Court, the largest indoor public square in Europe. Built on the site of what was originally a library, the British Museum’s landmark Great Court looks up to the sky through a cool glass ceiling. It was here that India’s Mahatma Gandhi studied, as well as Darwin, Lenin, Charles Dickens, and others.
The British Museum is a national museum known for its vast collection of rare and valuable artifacts. It was the first national public museum in the world to offer free admission since its opening. Special exhibitions require a separate ticket purchase.
Overview :
The British Museum is the largest national public museum in the United Kingdom, located in Bloomsbury, London, England. The British Museum houses and exhibits a vast collection of artifacts from every continent of the world, dating back to Britain’s imperial past. The British Museum has approximately 8 million artifacts and collections relating to history, art, and culture from the beginning of humanity to the present day.
The museum holds more than 8 million artifacts and folk art, including treasures, antiques, jewelry, paintings, sculptures, and more, spanning the history and culture of every civilization in the world from the dawn of humanity to the present day. It would take about a week to see everything. The artifacts are organized by continent and country, making it one of the top three museums in the world, with about 6 million visitors a year.
The British Museum is spread over three floors. When you enter the museum, you’ll first encounter a large square called the Great Court.
This is the lobby with a cafe and bookshop.
There are eight zones, organized by thematic continents.
Zone 1 is dedicated to ancient Egypt and Sudan.
Area 2 is dedicated to Ancient Greece and Rome, and the rest of the exhibits are divided into continents such as Asia and Africa.
History:
The idea of a museum was first mooted when Sir Hans Sloane, a physician and traveling museologist, donated 45,000 volumes and 65,000 artifacts from his private collection to the nation. Later, thanks to the generosity of King George II, who donated the Papers of Parliament, the papers of the Earl of Oxford, 12,000 volumes of the Royal Library, and other materials collected since the Tudor dynasty in 1756, the British Museum was founded in 1759 as the world’s first public museum.
Although founded in 1753, Sir Hans Sloane’s private collection initially made up the bulk of the exhibits, and it opened to the public on January 15, 1759. It was housed in the Montague mansion in Bloomsbury, now the site of the museum. Expansion over the next two and a half centuries resulted in the creation of several affiliated institutions, including the South Kingston British Museum (Natural History) in 1887. It was later greatly expanded with the addition of a library, and it has remained one of Britain’s leading museums to this day.
Featured collections :
The British Museum is home to the largest collection of Egyptian antiquities in the world outside of the Cairo Museum.
More than 110,000 Egyptian and Sudanese artifacts
Colossal bust of Ramesses II, Page from the Book of the Dead of Hunefer, Fowling in the marshes’, fragment of wall painting from the tomb of Nebamun, Colossal winged bull from the Palace of Sargon II. Rosetta Stone, Kaš”stele”, Etc.
More than 100,000 Greek and Roman artifacts
Elgin Marbles, Part of the pediment of the Parthenon. Etc.
artifacts from the ancient Assyrian, Sumerian, and Babylonian civilizations.
More than 330,000 Mesopotamian artifacts
Lamassu, Assyrian relief wall painting, Nimrud lens, Etc.
prints and drawings Gallery
Thomas Rowlandson “The modern Pygmalion”
Albrecht Durer “The Rhinoceros”
Joseph Mallord William Turner, “Tempête”, Etc.
There are also many other artifacts and creations on display in the Asian, African, Oceania, and American galleries, as well as the British, European, and Prehistoric galleries.
For a detailed map of the museum, see the link below :
Visiting Detail:
Location : Great Russell Street London WC1B 3DG
Open : Tuesday – Sunday 08:15 – 18:30
Last entry: 16:45 (Fridays: 20:15)
Founded : 1759
Annual attendance : Approximately 6,000,000
Official Website : https://www.britishmuseum.org/
