The centre of the museum was redeveloped in 2001 to become the Great Court , surrounding the original Reading Room .
ലണ്ടനിലെ ബ്ലൂംസ് ബെറിയിൽ Bloomsbury -സ്ഥിതിചെയ്യുന്ന മനുഷ്യചരിത്രത്തിനും കലയ്ക്കും സംസ്കാരത്തിനുമായി സമർപ്പിക്കപ്പെട്ടിട്ടുള്ള ഒരു പൊതു സ്ഥാപനമാണ് ബ്രിട്ടീഷ് മ്യൂസിയം - The British Museum . ഇവിടുത്തെ സ്ഥിരം ശേഖരം തന്നെ ഏതാണ്ട് 80 ലക്ഷത്തിൽ അധികം എണ്ണം വരും.[ 3] ഏറ്റവും വലിയ മ്യൂസിയങ്ങളിൽ ഒന്നാണിത്[ 3]
ചരിത്രം
Hans Sloane
Sir Hans Sloane
Foundation (1753)
Montagu House , c. 1715
Cabinet of curiosities (1753–78)
The Rosetta Stone on display in the British Museum in 1874
Indolence and energy (1778–1800)
Entrance ticket to the British Museum, London 3 March 1790
Growth and change (1800–25)
Left to Right: Montagu House , Townley Gallery and Sir Robert Smirke 's west wing under construction, July 1828
The Mausoleum of Halicarnassus Room, 1920s
The largest building site in Europe (1825–50)
The Grenville Library, 1875
Collecting from the wider world (1850–75)
Scholarship and legacies (1875–1900)
New century, new building (1900–25)
Opening of The North Wing, King Edward VII's Galleries, 1914
Sir Leonard Woolley holding the excavated Sumerian Queen's Lyre , 1922
Disruption and reconstruction (1925–50)
A new public face (1950–75)
The re-opened Duveen Gallery, 1980
The Great Court emerges (1975–2000)
The British Museum today
Governance
Building
The main entrance to the museum, with Greek temple style portico , 2007
The Enlightenment Gallery at museum, which formerly held the King's Library , 2007
Proposed British Museum Extension, 1906
The Reading Room and Great Court roof, 2005
External view of the World Conservation and Exhibition Centre at the museum, 2015
Departments
Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan
Room 4 – Colossal red granite statue of Amenhotep III , 1350 BC
Key highlights of the collections include:
Room 61 – The famous false fresco 'Pond in a Garden' from the Tomb of Nebamun , c. 1350 BC
Room 4 – The Rosetta Stone , key to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, 196 BC
Predynastic and Early Dynastic period (c. 6000 BC – c. 2690 BC)
Old Kingdom (2690–2181 BC)
Middle Kingdom (2134–1690 BC)
Inner and outer coffin of Sebekhetepi, Beni Hasan , (about 2125–1795 BC)
Limestone stela of Heqaib, Abydos , Egypt, 12th Dynasty, (1990–1750 BC)
Block statue and stela of Sahathor, 12th Dynasty, reign of Amenemhat II , (about 1922–1878 BC)
New Kingdom (1549–1069 BC)
Third Intermediate Period (1069–664 BC)
Mummy case and coffin of Nesperennub, Thebes , (c.800 BC)
Statue of Amun in the form of a ram protecting King Taharqa, (683 BC)
Inner and outer coffins of the priest Hor, Deir el-Bahari, Thebes, 25th Dynasty, (about 680 BC)
Late Period (664–332 BC)
Saite Sarcophagus of Satsobek, the vizier (prime minister) of the northern part of Egypt in the reign of Psammetichus I , (664–610 BC)
Bronze figure of Isis and Horus, North Saqqara , Egypt, (600 BC)
Obelisks and sarcophagus of Pharaoh Nectanebo II , (360–343 BC)
Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BC)
The famous Rosetta Stone , trilingual stela that unlocked the ancient Egyptian civilisation, (196 BC)
Giant sculpture of a scarab beetle , (32–30 BC)
Mummy of Hornedjitef (inner coffin), Thebes, (3rd century BC)
Roman Period (30 BC-641 AD)
The Meriotic Hamadab Stela from the Kingdom of Kush found near the ancient site of Meroë in Sudan, 24 BC
Lid of the coffin of Soter and Cleopatra from Qurna, Thebes, (early 2nd century AD)
Mummy of a youth with a portrait of the deceased, Hawara , (100–200 AD)
Room 64 - Egyptian grave containing a
Gebelein predynastic mummy , late
predynastic , 3400 BC
Room 4 – Three black granite statues of the pharaoh
Senusret III , c. 1850 BC
Room 4 – Three black granite statues of the goddess
Sakhmet , c. 1400 BC
Room 4 – Colossal statue of Amenhotep III, c. 1370 BC
Room 4 - Limestone
statue of a husband and wife , 1300-1250 BC
Room 63 - Gilded outer coffins from the tomb of
Henutmehyt , Thebes, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, 1250 BC
Book of the Dead of
Hunefer , sheet 5, 19th Dynasty, 1250 BC
Room 4 - Ancient Egyptian bronze statue of a
cat from the Late Period, about 664–332 BC
Room 4 - Green siltstone head of a Pharaoh, 26th-30th Dynasty, 600-340 BC
Great Court - Black siltstone
obelisk of King Nectanebo II of Egypt, Thirtieth dynasty, about 350 BC
Room 62 - Detail from the mummy case of Artemidorus the Younger, a Greek who had settled in
Thebes , Egypt, during Roman times, 100-200 AD
Department of Greece and Rome
Room 17 – Reconstruction of the Nereid Monument , c. 390 BC
Room 18 – Parthenon marbles from the Acropolis of Athens , 447 BC
Room 21 – Mausoleum at Halicarnassus , one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World , mid-4th century BC
Key highlights of the collections include:
Parthenon
Erechtheion
A surviving column, (420–415 BC)
One of six remaining Caryatids , (415 BC)
Temple of Athena Nike
Surviving frieze slabs, (427–424 BC)
Temple of Bassae
Twenty-three surviving blocks of the frieze from the interior of the temple, (420–400 BC)
Mausoleum at Halicarnassus
Two colossal free-standing figures identified as Maussollos and his wife Artemisia , (c. 350 BC)
Part of an impressive horse from the chariot group adorning the summit of the Mausoleum , (c. 350 BC)
The Amazonomachy frieze – A long section of relief frieze showing the battle between Greeks and Amazons , (c. 350 BC)
Temple of Artemis in Ephesus
One of the sculptured column bases, (340–320 BC)
Part of the Ionic frieze situated above the colonnade, (330–300 BC)
Knidos in Asia Minor
Xanthos in Asia Minor
Lion Tomb, (550–500 BC)
Harpy Tomb , (480–470 BC)
Nereid Monument , partial reconstruction of a large and elaborate Lykian tomb, (390–380 BC)
Tomb of Merehi, (390–350 BC)
Tomb of Payava , (375–350 BC)
Wider collection
Prehistoric Greece and Italy (3300 BC – 8th century BC)
Over thirty Cycladic figures from islands in the Aegean Sea, many collected by James Theodore Bent , Greece, (3300–2000 BC)
Material from the Palace of Knossos including a huge pottery storage jar, some donated by Sir Arthur Evans , Crete, Greece, (1900–1100 BC)
The Minoan gold treasure from Aegina , northern Aegean, Greece, (1850–1550 BC)
Segments of the columns and architraves from the Treasury of Atreus , Peloponnese, Greece, (1350–1250 BC)
Elgin Amphora, highly decorated pottery vase attributed to the Dipylon Master , Athens, Greece, (8th century BC)
Bronze Statuette of Athletic Spartan Girl
Etruscan (8th century BC – 1st century BC)
Ancient Greece (8th century BC – 4th century AD)
Ancient Rome (1st century BC – 4th century AD)
Cameo glass Portland Vase , the most famous glass vessel from ancient Rome, (1–25 AD)
Silver Warren Cup with homoerotic scenes, found near Jerusalem, (5–15 AD)
Discus-thrower (Discobolos) [ 4] and Bronze Head of Hypnos from Civitella d'Arna , Italy, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
Capitals from some of the pilasters of the Pantheon , Rome, (126 AD)
Jennings Dog , a statue of a Molossian guard dog, central Italy, (2nd century AD)
Department of the Middle East
Room 9 – Assyrian palace reliefs , Nineveh , 701–681 BC
Room 6 – Pair of Human Headed Winged Lions and reliefs from Nimrud with the Balawat Gates , c. 860 BC
Room 52 – Ancient Iran with the Cyrus Cylinder , considered to be the world's first charter of human rights , 559–530 BC
Key highlights of the collections include:
Nimrud :
Assyrian palace reliefs from:
The North-West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II , (883–859 BC)
Palace of Adad-nirari III , (811–783 BC)
The Sharrat-Niphi Temple, (c. 9th century BC)
Temple of Ninurta , (c. 9th century BC)
South-East Palace ('Burnt Palace'), (8th–7th century BC)
Central- Palace of Tiglath-Pileser III , (745–727 BC)
South-West Palace of Esarhaddon , (681–669 BC)
The Nabu Temple (Ezida), (c. 7th century BC)
Sculptures:
Pair of Human Headed Lamassu Lions, (883–859 BC)
Human Headed Lamassu Bull, sister piece in The Metropolitan Museum of Art , (883–859 BC)
Human Headed Lamassu Lion, sister piece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art, (883–859 BC)
Colossal Statue of a Lion, (883–859 BC)
Stela and Statue of King Ashurnasirpal II , (883–859 BC)
The Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III , (858–824 BC)
Stela of Shamshi-Adad V , (824–811 BC)
Rare Head of Human Headed 'Lamassu', recovered from the South-West Palace of Esarhaddon , (811–783 BC)
Bilingual Assyrian lion weights with both cuneiform and Phoenician inscriptions, (800–700 BC)
Nineveh :
Wider collection:
Plastered human skull from Jericho, a very early form of portraiture, Palestine, (7000–6000 BC)
Tell Brak Head , one of the oldest portrait busts from the Middle East, north east Syria, (3500–3300 BC)
Uruk Trough , one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief sculpture from the Middle East, southern Iraq, (3300–3000 BC)
Statue of Idrimi from the ancient city of Alalakh, southern Turkey, (1600 BC)
A fine collection of Urartian bronzes, which now form the core of the Anatolian collection, eastern Turkey, (9th–6th centuries BC)
Tablet of Shamash , depicting the sun-god Shamash, from Sippar, Iraq, (early 9th century BC)
Two large Assyrian stelae from Kurkh, southern Turkey, (850 BC)
Shebna Inscription from Siloam near Jerusalem, Israel, (7th century BC)
East India House Inscription from Babylon , Iraq, (604–562 BC)
Lachish Letters , group of ostraka written in alphabetic Hebrew from Lachish , Israel, (586 BC)
Cylinder of Nabonidus , foundation cylinder of King Nabonidus , Sippar, Iraq, (555–540 BC)
The famous Oxus Treasure , the largest ancient Persian hoard of gold artefacts, (550–330 BC)
The Punic-Libyan Inscription from the Mausoleum of Ateban, Dougga , Tunisia, (146 BC)
Amran Tablets found near Sana'a, Yemen, (1st century BC)
Two limestone ossuaries from caves in Jerusalem, (1st century AD)
Room 56 – The '
Ram in a Thicket ' figure, one of a pair, from
Ur , Southern Iraq, c. 2600 BC
Room 56 – The famous '
Standard of Ur ', a hollow wooden box with scenes of war and peace, from
Ur , c. 2600 BC
Room 56 -
Sculpture of the god Imdugud , lion-headed eagle surmounting a lintel made from sheets of copper, Temple of Ninhursag at
Tell al-`Ubaid , Iraq, c. 2500 BC
Room 56 - Statue of Kurlil, from the Temple of
Ninhursag in Tell al-`Ubaid, southern Iraq, c. 2500 BC
Room 56 – The famous Babylonian '
Queen of the Night relief ' of the goddess
Ishtar , Iraq, c. 1790 BC
Room 57 - Carved ivory object from the
Nimrud Ivories , Phoenician, Nimrud, Iraq, 9th–8th century BC
Room 6 – Depiction of the hypocrite,
Jehu , King of Israel on the
Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III ,
Nimrud , c. 827 BC
Room 10 –
Human Headed Winged Bulls from
Khorsabad , companion pieces in the
Musée du Louvre , Iraq, 710–705 BC
Room 55 – Cuneiform Collection, including the
Epic of Gilgamesh , Iraq, c. 669-631 BC
Room 55 –
Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal (detail),
Nineveh , Neo-Assyrian, Iraq, c. 645 BC
Room 55 - Panel with striding lion made from glazed bricks, Neo-Babylonian,
Nebuchadnezzar II , Southern Iraq, 604–562 BC
Room 52 – A chariot from the
Oxus Treasure , the most important surviving collection of
Achaemenid Persian metalwork, c. 5th to 4th centuries BC
Room 53 - Stela said to come from Tamma' cemetery,
Yemen , 1st century AD
Room 53 -
Alabaster statue of a standing female figure, Yemen, 1st-2nd centuries AD
Room 34 - Cylindrical lidded box with an Arabic inscription recording its manufacture for the ruler of Mosul,
Badr al-Din Lu'lu' , Iraq, c. 1233 – 1259 AD
Department of Prints and Drawings
Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of a Young Woman, c. 1440
Hieronymus Bosch - A comical barber scene, c. 1477-1516
Sandro Botticelli - Allegory of Abundance, 1480-1485
Michelangelo – Studies of a reclining male nude:
Adam in the fresco
'The Creation of Man' on the vault of the
Sistine Chapel , c. 1511
Raphael – Study of Heads, Mother and Child, c. 1509-11
Albrecht Dürer - Drawing of a walrus, 1521
Hans Holbein the Younger - Portrait of Anne Boleyn, 1536
Peter Paul Rubens - Drawing of a lioness, c. 1614-1615
Francisco de Zurbarán - Head of a monk, 1625–64
Claude Lorrain - Drawing of mules, including one full-length, 1630-1640
Thomas Gainsborough - Drawing of a woman with a rose, 1763-1765
JMW Turner - Watercolour of Newport Castle, 1796
Isaac Cruikshank - 'The happy effects of that grand system of shutting ports against the English!!', 1808
John Constable - London from Hampstead Heath in a Storm, (watercolour), 1831
James McNeill Whistler - View of the Battersea side of Chelsea Reach, London, (lithograph), 1878
Vincent Van Gogh - Man Digging in the Orchard (print), 1883
Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory
Display case of Renaissance metalware from the Waddesdon Bequest
Key highlights of the collections include:
Stone Age (c. 3.4 million years BC – c. 2000 BC)
Palaeolithic material from across Africa, particularly Olduvai , Kalambo Falls , Olorgesailie and Cape Flats , (1.8 million BC onwards)
One of the 11 leaf-shaped points found near Volgu, Saône-et-Loire , France and estimated to be 16,000 years old[ 5]
Ice Age art from France including the Wolverine pendant of Les Eyzies , Montastruc decorated stone and Baton fragment , (c. 12–11,000 BC)
Ice Age art from Britain including the decorated jaw from Kendrick and Robin Hood Cave Horse , (11,500–10,000 BC)
Rare mesolithic artefacts from the site of Star Carr in Yorkshire, northern England, (8770–8460 BC)
Terracotta figurine from Vinča , Serbia, (5200–4900 BC)
Callaïs bead jewellery from Lannec-er-Ro'h and triangular pendant from Mané-er-Hroëk , Morbihan , Brittany, western France, (4700–4300 BC)
Section of the Sweet Track , an ancient timber causeway from the Somerset Levels, England, (3807/6 BC)
A number of Carved Stone Balls from Scotland, Ireland and northern England, (3200–2500 BC)
The three Folkton Drums , made from chalk and found in Yorkshire, northern England, (2600–2100 BC)
Bronze Age (c. 3300 BC – c. 600 BC)
Jet beaded necklace from Melfort in Argyll , Scotland, (c.3000 BC)
Gold lunula from Blessington , Ireland, one of nine from Ireland, Wales and Cornwall, (2400–2000 BC)
Early Bronze Age hoards from Snowshill , Driffield and Barnack in England, Arraiolos and Vendas Novas in Iberia and Neunheilingen and Biecz in central Europe (2280–1500 BC)
Contents of the Rillaton Barrow including a gold cup, and the related Ringlemere Cup , England, (1700–1500 BC)
Bronze Age hoards from Zsujta , Forró and Paks -Dunaföldvár in Hungary, (1600–1000 BC)
Large ceremonial swords or dirks from Oxborough and Beaune , western Europe, (1450–1300 BC)
Bronze shields from Moel Hebog and Rhyd-y-gors , Wales, (12th–10th centuries BC)
Gold hoards from Morvah and Towednack in Cornwall, Milton Keynes in Buckinghamshire and Mooghaun in Ireland, (1150–750 BC)
Dunaverney flesh-hook found near Ballymoney, Northern Ireland and part of the Dowris Hoard from County Offaly, Ireland, (1050–900 BC & 900–600 BC)
Late Bronze Age gold hoard from Abia de la Obispalía , Spain and an intricate gold collar from Sintra, Portugal, (10th–8th centuries BC)
Iron Age (c. 600 BC – c. 1st century AD)
Basse Yutz Flagons , a pair of bronze drinking vessels from Moselle, eastern France, (5th century BC)
Morel collection of La Tène material from eastern France, including the Somme-Bionne chariot burial and the Prunay Vase, (450-300BC)
Important finds from the River Thames including the Wandsworth Shield , Battersea Shield and Waterloo Helmet , as well as the Witham Shield from Lincolnshire, eastern England, (350–50 BC)
Pair of gold collars called the Orense Torcs from northwest Spain, (300–150 BC)
Other gold neck collars including the Ipswich Hoard and the Sedgeford Torc , England, (200–50 BC)
Winchester Hoard of gold jewellery from southern England and the Great Torc from Snettisham in Norfolk, East Anglia, (100 BC)
Cordoba and Arcillera Treasures, two silver Celtic hoards from Spain, (100–20 BC)
Lindow Man found by accident in a peat bog in Cheshire, England, (1st century AD)
Stanwick Hoard of horse and chariot fittings and the Meyrick Helmet , northern England, (1st century AD)
Lochar Moss Torc and two massive pairs of bronze armlets from Muthill and Strathdon , Scotland, (50–200 AD)
Romano-British (43 AD – 410 AD)
Tombstone of Roman procurator Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus from London, (1st century AD)
Ribchester , Guisborough and Witcham helmets once worn by Roman cavalry in Britain, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
Elaborate gold bracelets and ring found near Rhayader , central Wales, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
Bronze heads of the Roman Emperors Hadrian and Claudius , found in London and Suffolk, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
Vindolanda Tablets , important historical documents found near Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
Wall-paintings and sculptures from the Roman Villa at Lullingstone, Kent, south east England,1st–4th centuries AD)
Capheaton and Backworth treasures, remnants of two important hoards from northern England, (2nd–3rd centuries AD)
Stony Stratford Hoard of copper headdresses, fibulae and silver votive plaques, central England, (3rd century AD)
Gold jewellery deposited at the site of Newgrange , Ireland, (4th century AD)
Thetford Hoard , late Roman jewellery from eastern England, (4th century AD)
Early Mediaeval (c. 4th century AD – c. 1000 AD)
Part of the Asyut , Domagnano , Artres , Sutri , Bergamo and Belluno Treasures, (4th–7th centuries AD)
Lycurgus Cup , a unique figurative glass cage cup, and the Byzantine Archangel ivory panel, (4th–6th centuries AD)
The Sutton Hoo treasure and Taplow burial , with some of the greatest finds from the early Middle Ages in Europe, England, (6th–7th centuries AD)
Two Viking hoards from Norway known as the Lilleberge Viking Burial and Tromsø Burial and the Cuerdale Hoard from England, (7th–10th centuries AD)
Irish reliquaries such as the Kells Crozier and Bell Shrine of St. Cuileáin , (7th–11th centuries AD)
Early Anglo Saxon Franks Casket , a unique ivory container from northern England, (8th century AD)
A number of important pseudo-penannular brooches including the Londesborough Brooch and the Breadalbane Brooch , Ireland and Scotland, (8th–9th centuries AD)
Carolingian cut gems known as the Lothair Crystal and Saint-Denis Crystal , central Europe, (9th century AD)
Anglo-Saxon Fuller and Strickland Brooches with their complex, niello-inlaid design, England, (9th century AD)
Seax of Beagnoth , iron sword with long Anglo-Saxon Runic inscription, London, England, (10th century AD)
The earlier of the River Witham swords
Mediaeval (c. 1000 AD – c. 1500 AD)
A number of mediaeval ivory panels including the Borradaile , Wernher and John Grandisson Triptychs, (10th–14th centuries AD)
The famous Lewis chessmen found in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, (12th century AD)
Reliquary of St. Eustace from the treasury of Basel Munster, Switzerland, (12th century AD)
The unique Warwick Castle Citole , an early form of guitar, central England, (1280–1330 AD)
Savernake Horn, elephant ivory horn with silver gilt mounts, England and Scotland, (1325–1350 AD)
Asante Jug, mysteriously found at the Asante Court in the late 19th century, England, (1390–1400 AD)
Holy Thorn Reliquary bequeathed by Ferdinand de Rothschild as part of the Waddesdon Bequest , Paris, France, (14th century AD)
Dunstable Swan Jewel , a gold and enamel brooch in the form of a swan, England, (14th century AD)
A silver astrolabe quadrant from Canterbury, southeastern England, (14th century AD)
Magnificent cups made from precious metal such as the Royal Gold Cup and the Lacock Cup , western Europe, (14th–15th centuries AD)
The later of the River Witham swords
Renaissance to Modern (c. 1500 AD – present)
The Armada Service , 26 silver dishes found in Devon, south west England, late 16th to early 17th centuries AD
Early Renaissance Lyte Jewel , presented to Thomas Lyte of Lytes Cary , Somerset by King James I of England, (1610)
Huguenot silver from the Peter Wilding bequest, England, (18th century AD)
Pair of so-called Cleopatra Vases from the Chelsea porcelain factory , London, England, (1763)
Jaspar ware vase known as the Pegasus Vase made by Josiah Wedgwood , England, (1786)
Two of Charles Darwin 's chronometers used on the voyage of HMS Beagle , (1795–1805)
The Hull Grundy Gift of jewellery , Europe and North America, (19th century AD)
Oak clock with mother-of-pearl engraving designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh , (1919)
Silver tea-infuser designed by Marianne Brandt from the Bauhaus art school, Germany, (1924)
The Rosetta Vase , earthenware pottery vase designed by the contemporary British artist Grayson Perry , (2011)
The many hoards of treasure include those of Mildenhall , Esquiline , Carthage , First Cyprus , Lampsacus , Water Newton , Hoxne , and Vale of York , (4th–10th centuries AD)
Room 2 –
Handaxe ,
Lower Palaeolithic ,
Olduvai Gorge , Tanzania, c. 1.2 million years BC
Room 3 –
Swimming Reindeer carving, France, c. 13,000 years BC
[ 6]
Room 2 –
Ain Sakhri lovers , from the cave of
Ain Sakhri , near
Bethlehem , c. 9000 BC
[ 7]
Room 51 –
Mold gold cape , North Wales, Bronze Age, c. 1900–1600 BC
Room 50 -
Wandsworth Shield , Iron Age shield boss in La Tène style, England, 2nd century BC
Room 50 - Gold torc found in
Needwood Forest , central England, 75 BC
Room 49 - Bronze head of a Roman Emperor
Claudius , from Rendham in Suffolk, eastern England, 1st century AD
Room 49 –
Hinton St Mary Mosaic with face of Christ in the centre, from Dorset, southern England, 4th century AD
Room 49 -
Corbridge Lanx , silver tray depicting a shrine to Apollo, northern England, 4th century AD
Room 41 - Silver objects from the Roman
Coleraine Hoard, Northern Ireland, 4th-5th centuries AD
Room 41 –
Sutton Hoo helmet , Anglo-Saxon, England, early 7th century AD
Room 40 - Ivory statue of
Virgin and Child , who is crushing a dragon under her left foot from Paris, France, 1310-1330 AD
Room 40 - Chaucer
Astrolabe , the oldest dated in Europe, 1326 AD
Room 40 –
Royal Gold Cup or
Saint Agnes Cup , made in Paris, France, 1370–80 AD
Room 45 –
Holy Thorn Reliquary , made in Paris, c. 1390s AD
Room 38 –
Mechanical Galleon clock, Augsburg, Germany, around 1585 AD
Room 38 - Carillon clock with automata by
Isaac Habrecht , Switzerland, 1589 AD
Room 39 - Ornate clock made by
Thomas Tompion , England, 1690 AD
Department of Asia
Room 95 – The Sir Percival David collection of Chinese ceramics
East Asia
A large collection of Chinese ritual bronzes , (from c. 1500 BC onwards)
Huixian Bronze Hu , an identical pair of bronze vessels from the Eastern Zhou period , China, (5th century BC)
Japanese antiquities from the Kofun period excavated by the pioneering archaeologist William Gowland , (3rd–6th centuries AD)
The famous Admonitions Scroll by Chinese artist Gu Kaizhi , (344–406 AD)
The colossal Amitābha Buddha from Hancui , China, (585 AD)
A set of ceramic Tang dynasty tomb figures of Liu Tingxun , (c.728 AD)
Seated Luohan from Yixian , one from a set of eight surviving statues, China, (907–1125 AD)
A fine assemblage of Buddhist paintings from Dunhuang , western China, collected by the British-Hungarian explorer Aurel Stein , (5th–11th centuries AD)
Pericival David collection of Chinese ceramics, (10th–18th centuries AD)
Ivory stand in the form of a seated lion, Chos-'khor-yan-rtse monastery in Tibet , (13th century AD)
Pair of ceramic Kakiemon elephants from Japan, (17th century AD)
Japanese prints including The Great Wave off Kanagawa , (1829–32)
South Asia
Excavated objects from the Indus Valley sites of Mohenjo-daro , and Harappa , Pakistan , (2500–2000 BC)
Sandstone fragment of a Pillar of Ashoka with Brahmi inscription from Meerut , Uttar Pradesh , India , (238 BC)
The Kulu Vase found near a monastery in Himachal Pradesh , one of the earliest examples of figurative art from the sub-continent, northern India, (1st century BC)
Copper plate from Taxila , with important Kharoshthi inscription, Pakistan , (1st century BC – 1st century AD)
Indo-Scythian sandstone Mathura Lion Capital and Bracket figure from one of the gateways to the Great Stupa at Sanchi , central India, (1st century AD)
Bimaran Casket and Wardak Vase , reliquaries from ancient stupas in Afghanistan, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
Relic deposits from the stupas at Manikyala , Ahin Posh , Sanchi and Gudivada , (1st–3rd centuries AD)
Seated Buddha from Gandhara , and other Gandhara objects from Kafir Kot , Jamal Garhi and Takht-i-Bahi , Pakistan , (1st–3rd centuries AD)
The Buddhapad Hoard of bronze images from southern India, (6th–8th centuries AD)
Stone statue of Buddha from the Sultanganj hoard, Bihar, eastern India. (7th–8th centuries AD)
Statue of Tara from Sri Lanka and the Thanjavur Shiva from Tamil Nadu, southern India, (8th century & 10th century AD)
Statue of the goddess Ambika found at Dhar in central India , (1034 AD)
Sculpture of the two Jain tirthankaras Rishabhanatha and Mahavira , Orissa, India , 11th–12th century AD
South-east Asia
Earthenware tazza from the Phùng Nguyên culture , northern Vietnam, (2000–1500 BC)
Pottery vessels and sherds from the ancient site of Ban Chiang , Thailand, (10th–1st centuries BC)
Bronze bell from Klang, Malaysia, (2nd century BC)
Group of six Buddhist clay votive plaques found in a cave in Patania, Penang , Malaysia (6th–11th centuries AD)
The famous Sambas Treasure of buddhist gold and silver figures from west Borneo, Indonesia, (8th–9th centuries AD)
Two stone Buddha heads from the temple at Borobodur in Java, Indonesia, (9th century AD)
Sandstone Champa figure of a rampant lion, Vietnam, (11th century AD)
Stone figure representing the upper part of an eleven-headed Avalokiteśvara , Cambodia, (12th century AD)
Bronze figure of a seated Buddha from Bagan , Burma, (12th–13th centuries AD)
Hoard of Southern Song dynasty ceramic vessels excavated at Pinagbayanan, Taysan Municipality, Philippines, (12th–13th centuries AD)
Statue of the Goddess Mamaki from Candi Jago , eastern Java, Indonesia, (13th–14th centuries AD)
Inscribed bronze figure of a Buddha from Fang District , part of a large SE Asian collection amassed by the Norwegian explorer Carl Bock , Thailand, (1540 AD)
Room 33 - One of the
hu from Huixian, China, 5th century BC
Room 33 - A
hamsa sacred goose vessel made of
crystal from Stupa 32,
Taxila ,
Pakistan , 1st century AD
Room 33 - Stone sculpture of the death of Buddha, Gandhara,
Pakistan , 1st-3rd centuries AD
Room 33a -
Amaravati Sculptures , southern India, 1st century BC and 3rd century AD
Room 91a - Section of the
Admonitions Scroll by Chinese artist
Gu Kaizhi , China, c. 380 AD
Room 33 - Gilded bronze
statue of the Buddha , Dhaneswar Khera, India, 5th century AD
The
Amitābha Buddha from Hancui on display in the museum's stairwell, China, 6th century AD
Room 33 - The
luohan from Yixian made of glazed stoneware, China, 907-1125 AD
Sculpture of
Goddess Ambika found at
Dhar ,
India , 1034 AD
Sculpture of the two Jain tirthankaras
Rishabhanatha and
Mahavira ,
Orissa, India , 11th-12th century AD
Room 33 - Western Zhou bronze ritual vessel known as the "
Kang Hou Gui ", China, 11th century BC
Room 33 - A crowned figure of the
Bodhisattva Khasarpana Avalokiteśvara, India, 12th century AD
Room 33 - Covered hanging jar with underglaze decoration, Si Satchanalai (Sawankalok), north-central
Thailand , 14th-16th centuries AD
Room 33 -
Hu -shaped altar flower vessel, Ming dynasty, China, 15th -16th centuries AD
Room 33 - An assistant to the Judge of Hell, figure from a judgement group,
Ming dynasty , China, 16th century AD
Room 33 - Statue of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, gilded bronze.
Nepal , 16th century AD
Portrait of Ibrâhîm 'Âdil Shâh II (1580–1626),
Mughal Empire of India, 1615 AD
Room 90 - Courtesans of the Tamaya House, attributed to Utagawa Toyoharu, screen painting; Japan,
Edo period , late 1770s or early 1780s AD
Room 33 - Statue of
Buddha from Burma, 18th-19th century AD
Room 33 - Figure of seated Lama; of painted and varnished papier-mâché,
Ladakh , Tibet, 19th century AD
Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas
Room 24 – The Wellcome Trust Gallery of Living and Dying, with Hoa Hakananai'a , a moai , in the centre
Africa
Room 25 – Collection of African throwing knives
Oceania
Americas
Department of Coins and Medals
Department of Conservation and Scientific Research
Libraries and archives
British Museum Press
Controversy
A few of the Elgin Marbles (also known as the Parthenon Marbles) from the East Pediment of the Parthenon in Athens.
Disputed items in the collection
Galleries
Building
Museum Galleries
Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan
Department of the Middle East
Department of Greece and Rome
Digital and online
The museum has a collaboration with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the collection online.[ 17]
Exhibitions
Forgotten Empire Exhibition (October 2005 – January 2006)
Notes
References
Further reading
Anderson, Robert (2005). The Great Court and the British Museum . London: The British Museum Press
Arrowsmith, Rupert Richard. Modernism and the Museum: Asian, African and Pacific Art and the London Avant Garde . Oxford University Press, 2011, pp. 103–164. ISBN 978-0-19-959369-9 .
Arrowsmith, Rupert Richard. "The Transcultural Roots of Modernism: Imagist Poetry, Japanese Visual Culture, and the Western Museum System" , Modernism/modernity Volume 18, Number 1, January 2011, pp. 27–42. ISSN 1071-6068 .
Caygill, Marjorie (2006). The British Museum: 250 Years . London: The British Museum Press
Caygill, Marjorie (2002). The Story of the British Museum . London: The British Museum Press
Cook, B. F. (2005). The Elgin Marbles . London: The British Museum Press
Esdaile, Arundell (1946) The British Museum Library: a Short History and Survey . London: Allen & Unwin
Jenkins, Ian (2006). Greek Architecture and its Sculpture in The British Museum . London: The British Museum Press
Francis, Frank , ed. (1971) Treasures of the British Museum . London: Thames & Hudson (rev. ed., 1975)
Moser, Stephanie (2006). Wondrous Curiosities: Ancient Egypt at The British Museum . Chicago: The University of Chicago Press
Reade, Julian (2004). Assyrian Sculpture . London: The British Museum Press
Reeve, John (2003). The British Museum: Visitor's Guide . London: The British Museum Press
Wilson, David M. (2002). The British Museum: a history . London: The British Museum Press
External links
Building Departments and objects
Other
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