Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
collection, including numerous mummified corpses, embalmed bodies, and inner and
outer
co
ns
richly decorated with hieroglyphs. In cabinet 29, there are mummies of
animals, including cats, apes, crocodiles, falcons and an eel, along with their highly ornate
co
ns. Also on display, in cabinet 23, are colourful funerary
amulets
, which were wrapped
with the mummy, and
scarabs
, which were placed on the chest of the mummy to prevent
the deceased's heart from bearing witness against him or her after death. And don't miss
the diminutive, glazed turquoise hippo, one of the museum's most popular items (cabinet
23). In room 63, you can view the varied contents of Egyptian tombs: food, drink,
clothing, furniture, weapons and dozens of
shabti figures
(cabinet 16) designed
to perform
any task the gods might require in the afterlife. There are also miniature boats to provide
transport in the afterlife, beer brewers, butchers and even an entire model granary.
At this point, pop into room 66 to admire the joyful depiction of the Battle of Adwa
(1896), when
Ethiopia
trounced Italy, the nearby Falasha (Jewish) dolls and the
“chestlet” of beetle wings. Lastly, the five thousand-year-old sand-preserved corpse in
room 64 (cabinet 15) always comes in for ghoulish scrutiny, and there's a limestone
building block (cabinet 14) from the Great Pyramid of Khufu (Cheops), another of the
Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.
6
Europe
The BM fulfils its less controversial role as national treasure house of antiquities in the
Europe
section on the upper floor (rooms 40-51). Here, you'll find a vast range of
exhibits from Iron Age jewellery to twentieth-century objets d'art.
Prehistoric/Roman Britain
One of the BM's most sensational finds is the
Mold Gold Cape
, a remarkable paper-thin
gold garment from the Bronze Age, found in north Wales and now centre stage in room
51. Look out, too, for the well-preserved leathery half-corpse
Lindow Man
, in room 50,
thought to have been clubbed and garrotted during a Druid sacrificial ceremony. Several
impressive Iron Age treasure troves are also displayed in room 50, among them the
Snettisham Treasure
(cabinet 19) of gold and silver torcs (neck-rings). Room 49 displays
finds from
Roman Britain
, many, like the bronze head (and hand) of the Roman emperor
Hadrian (cabinet 14), dredged out of the Thames. The most impressive display is the
fourth-century AD
Mildenhall Treasure
(cabinet 22), a 28-piece silver tableware set,
whose Great Dish is decorated with Bacchic images in low relief.
Europe: Dark Ages to Medieval
Visitors entering room 40 are greeted by the incredible, fourteenth-century French
Royal Gold Cup
(cabinet 2), given by James I to the Constable of Castille, only to find
its way back to England in later life - the scenes enamelled on its surface depict the
gruesome story of St Agnes. Beyond lie the celebrated
Lewis chessmen
(cabinet 5),
wild-eyed, thick-set, twelfth-century Scandinavian figures carved from walrus ivory,
discovered in 1831 by a crofter in the Outer Hebrides. Room 41 houses the Anglo-
Saxon
Sutton Hoo Treasure
, which includes silver bowls, gold jewellery and an iron
helmet bejewelled with gilded bronze and garnets, all buried along with a forty-oar
open ship in East Anglia around 625 AD, and discovered by accident in 1939.
Europe: Renaissance to Modern
Room 47 kicks off the
European nineteenth-century
section, and reflects the era's
eclectic tastes, with everything from quasi-medieval jewellery to Neoclassical porcelain
vases, much of it inspired by the BM itself. Look out for the Arts and Crafts De Morgan
and Minton tiles (cabinet 12) and Christopher Dresser's outstanding geometric
metalwork (cabinet 15). In room 48, the best of the museum's
twentieth-century
exhibits
are displayed, including stunning examples of iridescent Tiffany glass, a copper
