The Awesomeness of the British Museum

The magnificent British Museum with a bit of construction on the right side, there.

Yesterday, I met Mike and Gillian at King's Cross / St. Pancras station. They were freshly arrived from Edinburgh and were up for some sightseeing—surprising, since they'd just got off an 8-hour train ride.

The poor souls followed me as I led them in entirely the wrong direction. Mike eventually realized he knew better than to let me lead the way, especially when I was using the position of the sun to try to navigate when it was, in fact, pretty much high noon on a cloudy day.

Misguided as they were, the three of us eventually made it to Russell Square where we broke before taking on the British Museum.

That's me, shortly after finding the mummies.

With it's enormity and rows of Ionic columns, the building is impressive to look at. Even the bit of construction doesn't draw too much from the overall impact. Walking into the main hall is equally stunning and you see that the building isn't all classical architecture: the roof of the building is a lattice of glass windows.

I asked the information desk where to find the mummies and in minutes we were in the exhibit. A few minutes more and I'd somehow lost Mike and Gillian. D'oh!

I tried in vain to find them amongst the hordes of others walking that special, slow, stunted walk that people only use in museums and galleries. Even the peeing principle (everybody's got to pee, eventually) was useless as Mike had just used the loo and I'd have to wait far too long before he'd show his face there again. After looking for them a bit more I finally gave up and just enjoyed the show.

The Egyptian Exhibit

Amenhotep's giant head. There were several large busts in this room.

The exhibit was huge. The British Museum had acquired tools, jewelry, papyrus, coffins, and even human remains. Photography was challenging because almost everything was behind glass but it didn't seem to stop anyone from taking pictures. Heck, I was surprised we were allowed to take pictures at all.

Once in a while I would recognize an object or a name from the Archaeology of Egypt course I took a few years back. Amenhotep III or the Valley of Kings. It definitely made the exhibit better—more personal in a way.

Otherwise I'd just be walking around thinking, "wow, that's big," and "gosh, that's old."

On the other hand, though, I often found myself taking photos of artefacts that were relatively unimpressive, just because I'd seen them in class.

The Egyptian exhibit gave the impression that their culture was obsessed with death, or at least the transition into the afterlife. I mean, the grandest treasures were the sarcophagi and vessels used for offerings. The awesome pyramids were the biggest structures in the world and they're tombs. Nobody lives in them, they just house the dead.

Maybe Egyptian culture wasn't actually so morbid but it makes me wonder what impression will be left by our monuments.

Ancient Greece

Well-endowed satyrs showing off their goods. I distinctly remember my Art History's snide remarks every time they appeared on an amphora or krater.

I loved the Ancient Greece exhibits. This is where I really felt the impact of seeing 2000-year old artefacts from the textbook and slideshows but in real life! Back in Art History class I was really interested in Greek art so I studied a lot and remembered a lot more as I walked around the exhibit.

It probably also helped that I took the course with my girlfriend at the time.

Still, it was exhilarating to recognize actual pieces of pottery: geometric amphoras, sculptures from the cyclades, paintings of well-endowed satyrs... all of it brought me back to ARTH 329. But here I could see the artefacts from different angles or even walk around them. (Circumambulation! Yeah!) The effect was even bigger for better-known items like the Elgin Marbles—especially since I'd forgotten these sculptures from the Parthenon pediments were in the British Museum!

Overall

Figures from the East Pediment of the Parthenon.

Afterwards, resting on the stairs outside the entrance before tackling more of the city, I was quickly interviewed for a feedback questionnaire. I tried to be useful but I was just so amazed with the museum and it was hard to think of things they might improve.

I managed to come up with a request to have more illustrations on the maps. The museum has so much to see that reading labels to decide where to go can take up precious touristing time.

Small price to pay for the sheer variety of displays, though. There was a section on South East Asia—mostly Vishnu and friends—and much of it covered in the intricate and ornate decoration associated with Hindu art.

But it's the frieze and pediment sculptures from the Parthenon that I think I'll remember most. The museum even had a good chunk of the Nereid monument which shares some space on the Athenian Acropolis. Now I really can't wait to go see the Acropolis in person next week. We leave Wednesday!