Egyptian Collection

Another highlight of the British Museum is the extensive Egyptian collection. Besides many sarcophagi and statues, including an enormous one of Pharaoh Ramesses II, the collection is home to the famous Rosetta stone, used by Jean-François Champollion to decipher the hieroglyphic writing. The text on the stone,

Rosetta Stone

created in 196 BC after the end of the Egyptian dynasties, is written in three different writings: Greek, hieroglyphic and demotic (a symplified form of hieroglyphic). The British Museum is also known for its very large and popular collection of Egyptian mummies and coffins. You can even find animal mummies here.

Assyrian collection

The Assyrian collection features relief carvings from the palaces of the Assyrian kings at Nimrud, Khorsabad and Nineveh.

Assyrian winged bull

The enormous winged bulls from the palace of Sargon II are especially impressive.

Other departments

The many other departments in the museum include Africa, Oceania, and the Americas; Sudan; Asia; Coins and Medals; Conservation, Documentation and Science; Greek and Roman Antiquities; the Middle East; Portable Antiquities and Treasure; Prehistory and Europe; and Prints and Drawings.

Natural History Museum

What started as the private collection of a single individual evolved into one of the largest museums of natural history of the world. The museum is housed in a magnificent neo-Romanesque building, designed by Alfred Waterhouse.

Natural History Museum

History of the Museum

Originally part of the British Museum, the Museum of Natural History began with a donation to the country of the collection of Sir Hans Sloane in 1753. Sloane, who was a physician, is said to have collected "natural curiosities". When a second collection by botanist Joseph Banks (who traveled with Captain James Cook) was added to Sloane's collection, museum curators began to see a need for a separate location for these items.

Interior

A competition was held to determine the architect for the new building. The winner was Captain Francis Fowke who, unfortunately, died before he was able to complete his design. The honors then went to Alfred Waterhouse, who designed a German Romanesque structure that is now known as the Waterhouse Building.

The collections were moved to their new home in 1883, but it wasn't until 1963 that these and additional collections were considered a museum in their own right.

Detail of the facade

Waterhouse Building

Considered one of the best examples of Romanesque architecture in Britain, the Waterhouse Building has become a London landmark. Its high-spired towers soar above much of the skyline and its huge grand façade - inspired by the basalt columns at Fingal's Cave in western Scotland - is awe inspiring. The most modern Victorian techniques were used for its constuction resulting in an iron and steel framework. The framework is hidden by beautifully decorated terra cotta façades. This structure is famous for its many terra cotta features, and Waterhouse's use of terra cotta as a building material was groundbreaking in Great Britain.

Don't forget to look up at the intricately painted ceiling panels in the Central Hall. Decorated with plants from all over the world, these gilded tiles all tell their own story.

Large Mammals