Friday, 6 December 2019
The British Library and British Museum is only a 15 minute walk between them, so it makes sense to do these on the same day. So, let's get going. We arrived at the library just after 11 AM. It was a bit rainy, so a good day to spend inside. Outside the library is a cool sculpture of Sir Issac Newton measuring the universe.
The first room we explored is the maps room. The room was filled with incredibly interesting maps from different periods of time. We must have spent at least an hour here.
Tim liked this map dating to 1506. It is the earliest know printed world map to show America, represented as an extension of Asia, stretching across the North Atlantic. Note this is just 12 years after Columbus' voyage.
I know...interesting...right? That's why we spent so much time in this room.
The next room was Sacred Texts, Art of Book, Printing, Magna Carta, Art and Science, Historical Documents, English Literature, Shakespeare, The Beatles, and Music...just as interesting as well. Here is some of the highlights:
The Gutenberg Bible (1454). The intricate lettering and drawings were done by hand. By the way, this is 1 of only 49 Gutenberg Bibles that exist.
The next room was Sacred Texts, Art of Book, Printing, Magna Carta, Art and Science, Historical Documents, English Literature, Shakespeare, The Beatles, and Music...just as interesting as well. Here is some of the highlights:
The Gutenberg Bible (1454). The intricate lettering and drawings were done by hand. By the way, this is 1 of only 49 Gutenberg Bibles that exist.
The Codex Sinaiticus from year 350. This is one of the oldest compete bible in existence and is written in Greek.
The Magna Carta (1215). This is not one of the four originals , but a copy dating from the same year as the Magna Carta. The British Library does have an original, but it was burned and impossible to read.
Shakespeare's First Foilo (1623). This book was put together after Shakespeare's death by friends. This folio includes 36 plays of which 18 would have probably been lost forever.
Johann Sebastian Bach's "Where should I flee" (1724). Pretty cool to see the actual sheet music written by Bach.
After 1.5 hours we had our share of documents and maps and such, so we headed out and walked to the British Museum. This place is huge. RIck Steves has a tour in the guidebook that he promises we will see the highlights in 2 hours. We arrived just after 1:30 PM so we should be done by 3:30 PM. Uhm...no. We actually left the museum at 6 PM...4.5 hours after we arrived. I told you this place was big. Tim took almost 80 photos, and here they are. Just joking...here are some of the highlights.
Pretty cool ceiling inside the British Museum.
WOW! The actual ROSETTA STONE!
Rosetta Stone (196 BCE)
Ancient Egypt:
 King Ramesses II, who freed the Jews from Egypt (1250 BCE) |  Hieroglyphics from side of sarcaphagus  Painting of Nebamun Hunting in the Marshes (a family portrait) (1350 BCE) |
 Mummy |  Mummies |
This is an actual beard piece of the Great Sphinx that stands with the Great Pyramids in Cairo.
Ancient Assyria:
This is the Two-headed Winged Lion. There is another one on the other side of the archway. When you walk through the arch, you enter Ashurnasirpal II's Palace at Nimrod. It is set up so you can picture what the actual palace looked like with panels of battle scenes along the walls.
 Human-Headed Winged Lion |  Ashurnasirpal II's Palace at Nimrod |
When you exit the palace, there are the Two-Winged Bulls from the Palace of Sargon, then you enter the North Palace of Ashurbanipal with panels depicting a royal lion hunt.
 Two-Winged Bulls |  North Palace of Ashurbanipal |
Ancient Greece:
 |  Grecian Urn  Red-Figured Wine Cooler. With lewdly behaving half-man/half-animals. |
There is a whole room set up to resemble Parthenon. While the actually Parthenon is standing in Athens, Greece, many of the Parthenon's best sculptures are here, in the British Museum.
 Nereld Monument |  Pediment Sculptures  The Frieze |
Miscellaneous:
This is Lindow Man (AKA the Bog Man). He was used as a Druid human-sacrifice and was preserved for 2,000 years in a peat bog. He was found in 1984.
Lindow Man (AKA the Bog Man)
This helmet is from the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial. The ship-burial probably dates to teh early 7th century and was excavated in 1939. The museum has a collection of things that were found in the ship-burial site, including this very cool helmet. As quoted from the Wikipedia article:
It [the helmet] is described as "the most iconic object" from "one of the most spectacular archaeological discoveries ever made," and perhaps the most important known Anglo-Saxon artifact.
Sutton Hoo helmet
Can you believe it is now 6 PM?!? 4.5 hours of walking around the British Museum. We are done. As we leave, we look back at this amazing museum.
The British Museum
We took the Underground back to the apartment and made dinner. This is our last night in this AirBnB. Tomorrow we move to another apartment for the rest of our time in London. Until then...
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