Day 71: British Museum

the Rosetta Stone

marbles of the Parthenon run the length of the room

the pediment of the Parthenon


head of the horse of Selene, the moon goddess, from the Parthenon pediment

the Nereid Monument, an entire tomb from southwest Turkey


statue from Easter Island


The first emporer of China's terracotta statues were on display at the museum but the showings were sold out for the day. These are representations made by school children stationed outside of the gallery.


a medieval chess board circa 1150

Every time I go to the British Museum, I think how totally great it was that the British went all over the world, nicking stuff and brought it all to one building where I can see it for free. This time it's a little different, because we just came from some of those places, but still, it's pretty great. Mummies, huge Egyptian statues, big hunks of the Parthenon, dug up graves and desecrated temples from the world over.

Most of this stuff has been here since the British had an empire, but there are some recent additions. The Lindow Man is thought to have been killed in a ritual Druidic sacrifice in the iron age but he was brought to the museum after being discovered by some commercial peat bog cutters back in the 80s. He was apparently fed poisonous mistletoe, hit on the head, sliced across the throat, and garroted. But after sitting in a bog for a couple of millennia, none of this abuse is very apparent anymore-he looks a lot like the sad remains of someone's Thanksgiving turkey.