The British Museum

London, England

“What are three things that you should never ask? A woman her age, a man his salary, and the British Museum, how they got all of their artifacts.”

I saw a Reddit post years ago that asked the question, “What is something that you would expect to be British but actually isn’t? “And the top response was “The items in the British Museum.” The artifacts arrived in London in different ways, and some were involved in questionable practices during the colonial era; however, the British Museum’s collection rivals that of any museum in the world.

Many jokes have been made at the British Museum’s expense for its insatiable desire to collect many of the world’s great treasures. It is fitting that the cosmopolitan city of London is the current home to these curated treasures. We visited here twice, first on our honeymoon in 2003 and once again in 2015. The British Museum is home to the Rosetta Stone, the most popular and arguably most important artifact in its collection. The Rosetta Stone is why we have been able to translate Egyptian hieroglyphics. The Museum also contains the Elgin Marbles, the Winged Statues of Assyria, and millions of treasures of antiquity. 

Our first visit in 2003 was rushed as we arrived about an hour before the Museum closed. We spent our entire time on the first floor, where we saw the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles, and the Winged Statues. Our brief visit in 2003 showed us the immense size of the British Museum and how much there is to see.

We returned in 2015, this time with a few of my students. We knew we would not have the opportunity to see many of the highlights, so we hired a guide from the Museum to visit the most popular attractions. Today, you can still get an online tour of the main attractions in the Museum. With a little more time, we got to see the Lewis Chessmen, the Samurai Armor, and many other famous pieces from around the world.

Walking through the Museum, I commented that I could teach an entire course on ancient world civilizations just by going from artifact to artifact. The British Museum’s collection is vast and overwhelming. Someone could come to London, spend an entire week at the Museum, and still not see everything on display.

The British Museum is an incredible value as it is free to the public; however, you need a timed ticket for entry, which is different from when I last visited in 2015. If you visit, at the very least, plan to spend half a day at the Museum. The timing did not work out for us to go to the British Museum on our most recent trip to London, but I look forward to returning to this Museum in the future. For visitors to London, the British Museum is highly recommended.