British Museum

The British Museum in London, England, is among the oldest and most famous museums in the world. The museum strives to preserve human history and culture through its vast collection of art, artifacts, and antiquities. Among its prized treasures, the British Museum counts the Rosetta Stone, Egyptian mummies, and the Parthenon sculptures (the Elgin Marbles).

Founded in 1753, the British Museum houses a collection of eight million objects that traces two million years of world history. Its seven permanent galleries showcase the civilizations of Egypt, ancient Greece and Rome, the Middle East, Asia, Europe, Africa, and the Americas.

The museum has continued to expand. In 2000, the facility unveiled the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court, the largest covered public area in Europe. In 2014, the museum added the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre, its most significant expansion.

The British Museum has faced controversy over calls to give back some of its artifacts to their countries of origin. Egypt has demanded the return of the Rosetta Stone, while Greece has long sought to reclaim the Elgin Marbles.

Background

The British Museum's purpose is to make its extensive collection chronicling the rise of Western civilization accessible to the public. Since its inception, admission is free to "studious and curious persons."

The British Museum originated from a British physician's collection. Upon his death in 1753, Sir Hans Sloane bequeathed more than seventy thousand objects to King George II and the country of England in his will. Sloane's lifelong collection included natural history specimens, books, manuscripts, coins, medals, and more.

On June 7, 1753, the British Museum was established through an act of Parliament. The museum opened to the public on January 15, 1759, becoming the world's first public, nationally operated museum. The museum was originally located in a mansion called the Montagu House in the Bloomsbury area of London. The mansion was later torn down to build a bigger building on the same site.

As the British Empire expanded its boundaries, the British Museum further added to its collection of art and antiquities from around the world. The museum received its first Egyptian mummy in 1756 and its first trove of antiquities, a collection of Greek vases, in 1772.

A growing emphasis on antiquities influenced the British Museum's acquisitions during the 1800s. In 1802, the museum acquired the Rosetta Stone. The ancient granite tablet led to a breakthrough in decoding hieroglyphics, the Egyptians' symbol-based writing system. In 1816, the museum received the Parthenon sculptures. The sculptures included statues and reliefs from the Parthenon temple at the Acropolis in Athens, Greece.

The British Museum grew with the addition of the King's Library, a collection of more than sixty thousand books amassed by King George III. The king's son, King George IV, donated the library in 1823. To fit the library, the British Museum constructed a new building. The room housing the King's Library was built by 1827, the oldest room in the museum. The building also included the famed round Reading Room.

During the second half of the 1800s, the museum shifted to a national focus. In 1851, Sir Augustus Wollaston Franks expanded the museum's collections of British and medieval antiquities. Franks also increased the museum's offerings by adding European and Asian artifacts.

To meet the museum's growing needs, the natural history specimens were moved into what would become the Natural History Museum in South Kensington during the 1880s.

The British Museum started with seventy-five visitors a day in 1759. As the museum built its prolific collection, the number of visitors rose to five thousand a year in the nineteenth century. By 2013, the museum drew more than six million visitors a year.

Overview

The British Museum is a leading pillar of preserving history, boasting one of the world's largest collections of art and antiquities. The museum seeks to foster interest and appreciation of the cultures and civilizations whose stories are told through its many exhibits.

The museum continues to grow in the twenty-first century. However, the British Museum has come under scrutiny as countries seek to reclaim their lost treasures.

In 1997, the King's Library collection was moved to the British Library's building in St. Pancras. This presented the British Museum with an opportunity to open the courtyard space to the public. The two-acre area was covered with a steel and glass roof, made up of 3,312 panes of glass. In 2000, the space was reopened as the Queen Elizabeth II Great Court. Visitors could walk around the courtyard freely for the first time in 150 years. At the heart of the Great Court sits the famous Reading Room.

In 2003, the British Museum celebrated its 250th anniversary by restoring the King's Library room and opening a new exhibit. The Enlightenment Gallery features thousands of artifacts to show how people viewed the world during the Age of Enlightenment in the eighteenth century.

In the following decade, the British Museum embarked upon a massive expansion effort. Opened in 2014, the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre allowed conservation labs and exhibitions to exist side by side. The extension provides the museum with state-of-the-art facilities for conservation efforts, scientific research, and storage.

To reach a larger audience, the British Museum has loaned its historic treasures to several institutions. According to the museum, the facility lent out more than five thousand items to 335 venues across the United Kingdom and the world from 2013 to 2014.

The British Museum has come under fire by nations calling for the return of national artifacts. Egypt has asked for the Rosetta Stone, which the French turned over to the British in 1801. The 2,200-year-old stone is among the most visited items in the British Museum. Museum officials have resisted returning the Rosetta Stone to Egypt, believing the artifact is safer in the museum.

For decades, Greece has tried to reclaim the Parthenon sculptures, also known as the Elgin Marbles. Britain's former ambassador to the Ottoman Empire, Thomas Bruce, more popularly called Lord Elgin, started removing the 2,500-year-old statues from the Parthenon in 1801 and began transporting them to Britain in 1803. Historians have debated whether Elgin had permission to take the surviving sculptures from the fallen ruins to save them. The British Museum has repeatedly fended off Greece's requests to hand over the Elgin Marbles.

The British Museum serves as a long-standing monument to art and history. For nearly three centuries, the museum has protected pivotal artifacts of ancient and modern civilizations for future generations to enjoy. While the museum has evolved with the times, it continues to court controversy as countries seek the return of their historic treasures.

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