Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Other highlights include a splendid series of
Assyrian reliefs
from Nineveh, and several ex-
traordinary artefacts from
Mesopotamia
such as the enigmatic Ram in the Thicket (a goat
statuette in lapis lazuli and shell) and the remarkable hoard of goldwork known as the Oxus
Treasure.
The leathery half-corpse of the 2000-year-old
Lindow Man
, discovered in a Cheshire bog,
and the Anglo-Saxon treasure from the
Sutton Hoo
ship burial, by far the richest single ar-
cheological find made in Britain, are among the highlights of the
Europe
collection, which
ranges from the twelfth-century Lewis chessmen carved from walrus ivory to avant-garde
Russian ceramics celebrating the 1917 revolution.
The
King's Library
, in the east wing, displays some of the museum's earliest acquisitions,
brought back from the far reaches of the British Empire: everything from Javanese puppets
to a model gamelan orchestra, collected by Stamford Raffles. Don't miss the museum's ex-
panding
ethnographic collection
, including the superb African galleries in the basement.
And in the north wing of the museum, closest to the back entrance on Montague Place, there
are also fabulous
Asian
treasures including ancient Chinese porcelain, ornate snuffboxes,
miniature landscapes and a bewildering array of Buddhist and Hindu gods.
