4 Cool Things to Check Out at the British Museum
It is easy to believe that a place as British as the British Museum is all about stuff from the country’s history, and little more than that. As it turns out though, it is, in fact, a museum about people and cultures everywhere. Thanks to the fact that the British Empire once spanned a good portion of the globe. A lot of the stuff in here is very old. With over 8 million objects on display, the place can have you strapped for time checking out the most prominent exhibits and items. If you do find yourself in such a situation while on one of your British Museum tours, know that there are the following cool things you really need to check out.
Parthenon Sculptures
There is a whole room housing many of the sculptures carried over from the Parthenon in Athens. In fact, close to half of the sculptures that were used to be in the ancient city at the height of its pride are now displayed here. The remaining sculptures are back where it was, as well as in other museums scattered through Europe. You can catch a good look at how many have weathered the two and a half centuries or so since they were first completed.
Roman and Greek Sculptures
More than one room in the museum is dedicated to displaying Roman and Greek sculptures. The most popular exhibit here is the famous Nereid Monument featuring dancing sea nymphs (which have unfortunately lost their heads). Many visitors claim this part of the museum to be their favorite.
Lion Hunt Reliefs from Assyria
The Assyrians were apparently big on reliefs featuring hunting scenes and the like. The British Museum has a whole hallway sided with some of the best ones to have survived since those times. Carved around 645 BC, it shows the King Ashurbanipal chasing and killing lions for sport. Just be aware because some of those scenes can be too violent for some in your group.
The Ramesses II Statue
The room full of Egyptian sculptures is the one that you will not want to miss on your British museum tours. The art gallery has many artifacts from the ancient civilization, but none more famous than the enormous bust of Pharoah Ramesses II. This part of the statue alone weighs upward of seven tons. So you can guess the hard time they surely had moving it in.
The above are just small bits of the cool stuffs strewn around the British Museum. If you are visiting in a group, make sure to check out more than one. After all, each person has different tastes when it comes to museum artifacts unless you are all hardcore history buffs.