Located in the Bloomsbury area of London, British Museum is hugely devoted to the rich human art and history, this museum is nation’s most visited attractions. It’s a roof to more than eight million antique and artistic objects. The Museum is so old that it has layers of history hidden inside it; be it through some paintings, fossils or the must watch European exhibitions. It is a result of the physician and scientist Sir Hans Sloane’s struggle, that enabled us to know ancient human history, art, and culture. To know some more, go through these some amazing and interesting facts about this colossal Museum; The British Museum:
image: news.bbcimg.co.uk
1. Among The Largest And Finest
British Museum is a permanent collection of over 8 million works and among the largest and most comprehensive in existence and originates from all continents, illustrating and documenting the tale of human culture from its beginnings to the present.
source: Wikipedia, image: british.museumblog.org
2. In The Montagu House
The British museum in London first opened its doors on the 15th January 1759 in Montague House, a 17th-century mansion on the site of the current Museum.
source: metro.co.uk, image: Wikipedia
3. Controversies At Peak
The British Museum has recognized a lot of controversies for its refusal to return a few objects to their country of origin. It’s less known to people that the museum loans out more objects than any other global institution. In the year 2015, the number crossed 5,000 objects touring globally.
source: londonist.com
4. Daddy To Other Institutions!
The British Museum has given birth to many other institutions in London. For an instance, the Natural History museum was originally part of the British Museum. The Museum was also behind the British Library which separated from it in the year 1973.
source: londonist.com, image: traveldigg.com
5. Witness The Oxus Treasure!
The Oxus treasure is a compilation of about 180 ancient pieces of metalwork in gold and silver. The most pieces of the collection are smaller. The collection also includes about 200 coins, from the Achaemenid Persian period which were found near the Oxus River during the years 1877-1880.
source: justfunfacts.com, image: decodedpast.com, image: Wikipedia, image: s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com
6. Free Of Cost!
The entry to the British Museum is totally free of cost. The museum is kept up through charity donations and government funds.
source: londontopia.net
7. The Longest Dead Before Reanimation!
The world record for the longest period spent after being dead and before the reanimation goes in name of a snail donated to the museum in 1846.
source: londonist.com
8. Three Decades To Be Completed!
Smirke Building in the British Museum was named after its designer, Sir Robert Smirke. The building interestingly took around 30 years to get completed.
source: toptravellists.com, image: 1stcitizen.co.uk
9. The Precious Rosetta Stone
The Rosetta stone is one of the most important objects in the British Museum. It has some Egyptian importance attached to it. Rosetta Stone is inscribed with three versions of a decree issued at Memphis, Egypt in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty on behalf of King Ptolemy V.The Stone has been exhibited in the British Museum since 1802.
source: khanacademy.org, image: media3.mic.com
10. Skeletons Before You
The National History Museum collection houses over 55 million animals, 9 million fossils, and 6 million plant specimens involving those from the extinct, Dodo, meteorites from Mars and a full-size scary blue whale skeleton.
source: thinkingbob.co.uk, image: nhmshop.co.uk, image: nhm.ac.uk
11. Let Me Know About Sir Hans Slone
The foundations of this Museum lie in the hands of the Irish-born British physician and naturalist Sir Hans Sloane. Sir Hans Sloane was an Irish-born British physician, naturalist, and collector, notable for bequeathing his collection to the nation, thus laying the foundation of the British Museum.
source: triposo.com, image: Wikipedia
12. Mausoleum Of Halicarnassus!
The Museum’s collection has expanded and continues to get bigger with the following years. New and more buildings were added to hold the new objects. Important discoveries by people working for the British Museum included the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus by Charles Newton in 1857 and the Temple of Artemis in the year 1869.
source: wiki.kidzsearch.com, image: s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com
13. Three Human Figurines
Among all the far-fetched and skillful displays of cultural and artistic power and wealth in the British Museum, it’s nice to see such humble objects as these clay figures from Bab edh-Dhra, near the Dead Sea. Although they’re 5,000 years old, you can see the kids making them today all over the world.
source: timeout.com, image: c1.staticflickr.com
14. Filming At The Museum
Whether you are looking to make films, documentaries, adverts, radio programs or to develop research, the British Museum helps all with the place and the objects related in the whole shooting process.
source: britishmuseum.org
15. Fifth Most Visited Museum In The World
The British museum is 1st most visited museum nationally and 5th most visited globally. In 2015, it received around 7 million visitors.
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