London's Top 10 : British Museum (part 2) - British Museum Collections

British Museum Collections

Classical colonnade, British Museum

Floorplan

Middle East

Some 6,000 years of history start with the spectacular carved reliefs from the Assyrian palace of Nineveh.
Ancient Egyptian and Sudanese

Mummies and sarcophagi are among 70,000 objects in one of the world’s greatest collections.
Greek and Roman Antiquities

Highlights
from the Classical world (c.3000 BC to c.AD 400) include the Parthenon
sculptures and exquisite Greek and Roman vases.
Japanese and Oriental Antiquities

Buddhist
limestone reliefs from India, Chinese antiquities, Islamic pottery and a
Japanese collection so large it has to be shown on a rotating basis.
Ethnography

An
incredible 350,000 objects from indigenous people around the world. The
Africa gallery holds a fine array of art and artifacts.
Prehistory and Europe

Covering
a long period from prehistoric cave dwellers to the modern day, this
collection includes Lindow Man, a 2,000-year-old body found preserved in
a peat bog, the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial and some fine decorative arts
including medieval jewellery and Renaissance clocks.
Coins and Medals

A comprehensive collection of more than 750,000 coins and medals dating from the 7th century BC to the present day.
Prints and Drawings

Priceless prints and drawings from the Renaissance form part of this rotating collection.
Enlightenment

This exhibition features the museum’s 18th-century collections from around the world.
The Joseph Hotung Great Court Gallery

This small gallery is used for temporary exhibitions.

The Great Court

A magnificent
glass-roofed addition encloses the heart of the British Museum. Opened
in December 2000, the Great Court was designed by architect Sir Norman
Foster. In the centre of the Court is the domed Reading Room, built in
1857. Holding one of the world’s most important collections of books and
manuscripts, the Reading Room has been the workplace of some of
London’s greatest writers. Having been used as temporary exhibition
space for major exhibitions, it reverted to its normal use in 2009. The
Great Court is the capital’s largest covered square and contains shops,
cafés and the British Museum’s main information desk, supplying visitors
with everything they need for an informed visit.

The Reading Room at the centre of the Great Court