Ancient Near East

On the Main floor you will find extensive collections, including relief carvings of state ceremonies, hunting and warfare from the palaces of the Assyrian kings at Nimrud, Khorsabad and Nineveh from the 9th-7th centuries ВС (6-10). The Raymond and Beverly Sackler Galleries on the Upper floors (53-59) contain objects from Anatolia, Mesopotamia and the Levant. They include the Royal Cemetery at Ur and finds from Jericho. Ancient Iran is in 52, where the Oxus Treasure is displayed. Sculptures from Palmyra and Southern Arabia are in 51.

Asia

Room 33 holds the richest collections of Chinese antiquities in Europe with a display of Chinese jade in 33b. The Chinese collections range from the 4th century ВС to the 19th century AD. Room 34 has some of the finest Islamic pottery outside the Islamic world. The sculpture collections from the Indian sub-continent are the most representative in the west. The Korea Foundation Gallery is off the North stairs (67) and features a scholar's house (sarangbang). One of Europe's finest collections of Japanese decorative arts and painting is displayed in a series of changing temporary exhibitions in 91-94 to protect them from exposure to light and humidity.

Britain and Europe

There are important collections covering the cultures and long history of Britain and other parts of Europe. Important prehistoric objects are in 36-7. Iron Age and Roman objects are in 49-50 including the Mildenhall, Hoxne and Snettisham hoards, along with the 2000-year-old bog body known as Lindow Man (50). Rooms 41 to 43 feature Medieval objects including the Sutton Hoo Ship Burial (41) and the Lewis Chessmen (42). Renaissance to Modern displays, including clocks and watches and the Waddesdon Bequest, are in 44-48.

Egypt and Sudan

The British Museum houses one of the great ancient Egyptian and Sudanese collections, illustrating every aspect of ancient Nile Valley culture from Neolithic times (from about 10,000 ВС) (64) down to the Coptic (Christian) period in the 12th century AD (66). The major sculptures can be found on the Main floor (4) and the mummy displays in The Roxie Walker Galleries of Egyptian funerary archaeology on the Upper floors (62-63). Room 61 is an introduction to ancient Egypt. Nubia and the Sudan are featured in 65.

Greece and Rome

The Greek and Roman galleries contain objects from the Greek world, Italy and Rome from the beginning of the Bronze Age, and from the whole of the Roman Empire except for Britain (see Britain and Europe). The Parthenon sculptures (sometimes called the Elgin Marbles) are in 18 and sculptures from the Mausoleum of Halikarnassos in 21. Room 69 displays objects from daily life in Greece and Rome.

Money and Medals

The magnificent collection of over 750,000 coins covers the history of coinage from its origins to the present day. The Museum also holds the national collection of paper money and an unparalleled collection of commemorative and art medals from the Italian Renaissance to the 21st century. The HSBC Money Gallery (68) offers changing displays and handling sessions in addition to its permanent exhibits. Items from the coins and medals collections are also on view in other galleries throughout the Museum.

Prints and Drawings

This is one of the world's finest collections, containing almost three million works on paper from the 15th century to the present day. The greatest strengths of the collections lie in the fields of Old Master prints and drawings from all schools, satires of the 18th and 19th centuries, and British material of all periods. For conservation reasons, the prints and drawings are exhibited by means of a series of changing displays in 90 and general tours are not available.

Дата добавления: 2015-10-26