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A Short Guide to the British Museum
The British Museum
Location -British Museum, Great Russell Street, WC1B 3DG
The British Museum in London is a museum dedicated to human history and culture. Its permanent collection, numbering some 8 million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence and originates from all around the world illustrating and documenting the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present.
The British Museum was founded in 1753, the first national public museum in the world. From the beginning it granted free admission to all ‘studious and curious persons’. Visitor numbers have grown from around 5,000 a year in the eighteenth century to nearly 6.7 million in 2013
The origins of the British Museum lie in the collection of the physician, naturalist and collector, Sir Hans Sloane which he bequeathed to King George II for the nation. The gift was accepted and on 7 June 1753, an Act of Parliament established the British Museum.
The founding collections largely consisted of books, manuscripts and natural specimens with some antiquities and ethnographic material. In 1757 King George II donated the ‘Old Royal Library’ of the sovereigns of England.
Montague House
The British Museum opened to the public on 15 January 1759 . It was first housed in a seventeenth-century mansion, Montagu House, in Bloomsbury on the site of today’s building. Entry was free and given to ‘all studious and curious Persons’.
In 1823 The Museum was rebuilt with a quadrangular building and a round Reading Room designed by Sir Robert Smirke .
In the 19th century the Museum became very popular attracting crowds of all ages and social classes, particularly on public holidays. It also greatly increased its educational and academic work with sponsorship of many excavation in many parts of the world. It also received a large number of donations which greatly increased the collections.
By the 20th century, the Museum built on its reputation as one of the great Museums of the world by refurbishing many of the galleries and setting up an education service and a publishing company.
In the late 20th century a decision was made to move the British Library which had been based at the British Museum to a new home at St Pancras.
The Great Court
The Queen Elizabeth II Great Court designed by Norman Foster, built in the space vacated by the library was the most ambitious modern expansion at the Museum. At two acres, it is the largest covered public space in Europe. In the centre is the restored Reading Room, while around and beneath it new galleries and an education centre were built. Some of the highlights of the collection are :
1. The Rosetta Stone
2. Assyrian Lion Hunt reliefs
3. Parthenon sculptures
4. Lewis Chessmen
5. Oxus Treasure
6. Royal Game of Ur
7. Mummy of Katebet
8. Samurai armour
9. King of Ife
10 Sutton Hoo Helmet
Opening Times
Free, open daily 10.00–17.30
The Museum is open until 20.30 on Fridays, except Good Friday (18 April 2014).
Cafés and Restaurants
Court Restaurant, Court Cafés, Gallery Café.
Museum shops
Bookshop, Family shop, Collections shop, Culture shop
Online research
You can search over two million collection objects online, and browse 5,000 highlights
Handling objects
The Museum also operates a unique opportunity to handle objects from the Museum’s collection. Volunteers will help you and answer your questions.
See Video Review here
For more information visit the British Museum website here
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Book Review : Vikings Life and Legend – edited by Gareth Williams,Peter Pentz,Mathais Wemhoff.
The Vikings Exhibition at British Museum is the first major UK Exhibition on the Vikings in over thirty years and presents a wide range of new information and artefacts from not just Britain and Scandinavia but also from Eastern Europe and beyond.
Anyone who has attended the exhibition cannot fail to be impressed, not least by the remains of the impressive ‘Roskilde 6’ the longest Viking Ship yet discovered.
However, one of the difficulties of the exhibition is providing enough information that complements the wonderful array of Viking material.
Vale of York Hoard, 10th century, North Yorkshire, England (Silver-gilt, silver and gold)
British Museum, London/Yorkshire Museum, York – © The Trustees of the British Museum
This is where the books that often accompany exhibitions are often invaluable and the Vikings life and legend book from the British Museum offers a wide range of information that attempts to explain some of the complexities of the Viking Age.
Not many books have a foreword written by Royalty, but Her Majesty Queen Margrethe of Denmark makes some very important points when she remarks “ The many new finds have given us further information about the people of the Viking age, their thoughts and deeds. Yet we certainly do know everything, and such information may throw light on the darkness. It is here, at the transition between knowledge and darkness, in the twilight, that the imagination steps in and dreams begin”
Anyone writing about the Vikings age is faced with the dilemma of people’s perception born of centuries of legends and propaganda of Vikings as raiders and killers, more recent research may have celebrated Vikings as traders, settlers, explorers and shipbuilders but the old perceptions show little sign of going away.
This book takes the sensible approach of considering all facets of Viking life and seeks to explain some of the complexities that will perhaps challenge many of our perceptions.
The book is built around four themes – Contacts & Exchange, Warfare & Military Expansion, Power & Aristocracy, and Belief and Ritual. Each theme explores the period between the late eighth and late eleventh centuries which saw an unprecedented movement of people out of the Scandinavian homelands.
Unsurprisingly the Vikings is seen purely as a Scandinavian tradition, however new evidence has shown that their reach was much wider and included areas of Eastern Europe. This often explains how the trading routes spread to the Baltic and the Byzantine empire.
The range and scale of trade is often illustrated when a hoard is found and they often include items from the Mediterranean and Islamic world.
Lewis Chessmen, late 12th century, Uig, Lewis, Scotland,Walrus Ivory.
© The Trustees of the British Museum
In the section on Warfare some of the myths of Vikings are explored, although a naked Berserker may spread panic and fear to isolated communities such as monks, there is evidence that the Vikings as an unbeatable fighting force may have been exaggerated and a number of Vikings graves have been found where they were massacred by the local tribes.
Most of the success of the raiders seemed to be based on the speed of the attack and retreat rather than outright conquest. This itself reflected on the power structure of the early Viking age when a multitude of Warlords dominated with relatively small fighting forces. It was only when the Kingdoms were unified that larger expeditions were undertaken.
The section on Belief and Ritual explores how the ‘heathen’ Vikings eventually became part of the Christian world, the finds from Viking ritual sites and graves marked the gradually spread of Christianity.
The Vikings life and legend book is a well written, comprehensive and informative picture of how recent finds are slowly changing our perception of the Viking Age, the numerous lavish illustrations and references offer considerable insight into the Viking world.
If you are interested in this world and wish to understand some of the its complexities , this book would be a useful purchase. Although it is seen as a companion piece to the Exhibition, it is equally useful as a informative guide to one of the most intriguing periods of European history.
Visiting London Guide Rating – Highly Recommended
If you would like to buy a copy of the book press here
Related Posts
Exhibition : Vikings Life and Legend at the British Museum – 6th March to 22nd June
London Visitors 