Roy Takes His Class to the British Museum

The British Museum is maybe the best in the world. It was started in the 18th century and benefitted from the fact that the British Empire soon covered most of the world. So, the Brits carted off a whole lot of treasures from other people's countries. The Great Hall is an interesting combination of the old buildings and the modern top that covers the courtyard.

One of the major treasures is the Rosetta Stone, which enabled people in the 19th century finally to read Egyptian hieroglyphics. It's hard to get a good picture, and it's one of those things that always has a crowd around it.

I love the massive Egyptian monuments. you really do have to stand there and see them to get the full effect. This one is Rameses II.

They also have a number of these gigantic Assyrian and Babylonian statues that guarded ancient gateways.

Some hieroglyphics on a tomb. I think it says, "This guy is really, really important, and you will be cursed if you touch his tomb." I touched it, and the guy next to me dropped dead. It's a very old curse and probably the aim was off.

This one is very cool. They swiped an entire Greek temple.

Maybe the greatest of the treasures is the Elgin marbles, the sculptures from the original Parthenon in Athens. they are a marvel to see.

The Egyptian collection is enormous. You want mummies? They got mummies. They have mummies like this out of their mummy cases.

They have mummies in their cases.

They have mummies of cats.

They have mummies of birds, including on the left two packaged together.

They even have mummies of little crockodiles.

These are ancient harps, not mummies.

Romans, you say? Roman headgear.

A Roman pump. Pretty impressive technology for the ancient world.

A very cool medieval drinking cup.

A very famous helmet from the Sutton Hoo treasure in England. They dug up a burial mound with all the gear of an old Anglo-Saxon warrior.

Celtic treasure. These are all either solid gold or a mixture of gold and silver. They are called torcs and are worn on the neck.

This torc weighs over two pounds.

Rings from the Roman occupation of Britain.