The British Museum is a grand British institution, being one of the world’s finest museums and home to countless great artifacts and works of arts since the mid-18th century. It is also the best museum I’ve ever been to.
Whenever I visit major cities, whether it be Cape Town or Xian or Tokyo, history museums are always near the top of my list of places to visit. Obviously in London, the British Museum was a must-visit and it didn’t disappoint. The only thing I regret was not being able to spend more time there. The museum boasts splendid displays of ancient Egyptian, Middle Eastern, and Greek artifacts, as well as an extensive and fascinating sub-Saharan African collection.
Strangely, while the exterior of the museum is a grand but dowdy gray facade with multiple columns, inside is a completely different matter. The huge, central atrium or Great Court features a circular reading room (closed to the public) in the middle, several statues including a giant lion from the 2nd century BC, and a nice, overhead ceiling with an interlacing or tessellated design. The exhibition rooms are all large and spacious, massive even.
Besides the sheer quantity of the collections, it was impressive to be able to view giant pieces such as ancient Egyptian pharaonic statues and tombs and Assyrian lion statues up close. The Elgin Marbles, which were taken from the Parthenon in Athens, were in an entire hall. In the African section, there were entire walls of weapons, colorful cloths and the fascinating Benin Bronzes (see photo below). These were produced by the kingdom of Benin which was situated in Nigeria (the country of Benin is named after this kingdom but was not where it was located).
I managed to see some of the most famous pieces like the Rosetta Stone, Elgin Marbles, as well as Benin bronzes, from Nigeria. Incidentally all of these are claimed by their country of origin, which raises the point that many of the items in the museum, such as many Greek and Egyptian artifacts, were taken or bought from other countries, sometimes through surreptitious means.
Meanwhile, the British exhibits were alright, but not particularly memorable other than some Roman-era artifacts. I had hoped there might have been exhibits from the British Empire from the Commonwealth countries such as India and Pakistan, but then that is probably unrealistic because it would be like glorifying the empire.
Ideally many of the items should be returned to their countries if they had been illegally bought or taken. On the other hand, there is no certainty that they would be displayed and maintained in such secure and pristine environments in their home countries as those at the British Museum.
Also, the best archaeological techniques and knowledge of the day, when these artifacts were obtained, belonged to Western explorers and archaeologists, though of course, they honed this by roaming around the world and obtaining other cultures’ artifacts. While a bit self-serving, the availability of these pieces in one place in the British Museum allows visitors to enjoy and appreciate the history and past civilizations of almost the whole world.
Short of returning all their exhibits, which would be unrealistic, institutions like the British Museum and their governments should provide more funding to countries from where they got the exhibits from, to help them with their local museums, historical research and archaeological efforts and so on.
How to get there: The British Museum is smack in the center of four Underground (subway) stations – Goodge Street (Northern line), Russell Square (Piccadilly line), Tottenham Court Road (Northern and Central lines) and Holborn (Central and Piccadilly lines).
Easter Island moai or giant head statue, which even has its own name- Hoa Hakananai’a
African weapons (above) and beautifully-patterned cloth (below)
