Most Important Museum on the Planet

 

British Museum - wikipedia.com

The British Museum is the big one – the most important museum on the planet. It's an incomparably rich treasure-chest, brimming with things of world historical importance. The Rosetta Stone, the Egyptian antiquities and mummies, the Assyrian lion-hunt reliefs, the Parthenon Sculptures, the Black Obelisk, the Enlightenment Gallery, 4,500-year-old "Ginger" (the "pre-dynastic" red head!), the Sutton Hoo treasure, the Portland Vase, Roman gold, Celtic gold, ivories and enamels, tiles and pottery, an astonishing display of instruments for measuring time – here is civilisation, manifest. Here the past turns on its pivots to face the 21st century. The snag is that you can't see for looking – both because of the embarrassment of riches and the sheer size of the place (the building covers 13.5 acres – set off in the wrong direction and you have to walk three times too far). Indeed, how you see it is almost as important as what you see. "The best commentary on the revolution of Greek art and the quality of its achievement is...simply to come direct to the Elgin room from the Egyptian and Assyrian ones, as if into an explosion of life, even, as in the frieze, of gaiety." Which is by way of saying, to see these things with a great guide – well, you'll never be quite the same again. In short, the secret is to use your time at the British Museum well.