The British Museum
British Museum
VO
Visited by nearly 5 million people last year, spanning 2 million years of human history and housing approximately 7 million objects, the British Museum is considered one of the greatest museums in the world and people are drawn from across the globe.
IV
Well the British Museum was founded in 1753 which makes it the oldest national public museum in the world we have a world collection, so a collection from all across the globe, from all time and all civilizations but some of the really key objects the things that people really want to see are things like the Rosetta Stone, the fantastic collection of mummies, the Greek and Roman material but we also have a lot of really fantastic material from Africa and from Mexico and from America pretty much everywhere is covered here at the Museum.
Well it covers every period after human beings have started making things so the earliest thing in the museum is about 2 million years old from the earliest prehistoric tools and some of the most modern are things made this year. You can see sculpture you can see pottery, you can see jewelery, in fact you can see anything people have produced except for paintings.
VO
The collection is housed in one of Britain’s largest architectural landmarks, has London’s largest covered public square and 94 galleries. But visitors shouldn’t feel daunted.
IV
There are many different ways of exploring the museum, we have a number of guided tours here some of which are free if you’re focusing on a particular civilization, other ones are sort of highlights tours that show you some of the key objects here at the Museum and they’re available every day for a minimal charge.
In the reading room in the Great Court there are interactive computer screens where you can go to find out about the objects in the museum and the collections and the civilizations that are represented here.
The Museum can provide a place where people can think more deeply about different religions, different cultures and think about their relations to themselves and indeed to the people themselves today.
It’s a fantastic opportunity to experience the world under one roof so you can come in the Museum it’s completely free you can wander round and visit every country in the world, but just in one building and it’s a great way to spend a day out.
