Museum Visit #1 (British Museum)--Day Nine

Despite the name, the British Museum has much more than British artifacts. Most famously, it is home to the Elgin Marbles, the Rosetta Stone, an a large collection of Egyptian mummies (both human and animal, including a goldfish!) Today we toured this interesting and very large museum, which is located in an extremely busy (and touristy) part of London.

Our first order of business was the Rosetta Stone. For those who don't know, the Rosetta Stone was instrumental in cracking the code of Egyptian hieroglyphics because the words on the Stone appear in three (well, really two) different languages: the hieroglyphs, ancient Greek, and a phonetic version of the hieroglyphs (i.e., words instead of pictures). The Stone was found by a Frenchman in the service of Napolean and was given to the English by the Egyptians as a thanks for getting the French out of Egypt. Apparently, the Stone was once part of a wall defending a fort. It was very cool to see the Rosetta Stone in person because of how important it was in unlocking the secrets of Ancient Egyptian society.

Second on our list were the Elgin Marbles, once part of the great Parthenon in Athens. The French (what is it with the French?) stocked gunpowder in the temple, which exploded when the temple was attacked. Most of the marble statues or "marbles" were pulled from the wreckage, most with their heads missing. Three types of sculptures found in the temple were free-standing, frieze, and metobe (not quite free-standing but almost). These sculptures are richly detailed with stylized hair and "wet-drape" clothing. The vein-y marble makes the sculptures come virtually to life.

Our next order of business was a collection of buried Roman treasure from the early 2nd century when England was under Roman rule. Items like coins and bracelets have been very well restored, and they are a joy to behold. Near the Roman treasure was Lindow Man, a peat-bog mummy from the time of the Celts. I'll spare you the uncomfortable details of Lindow Man's murder (it involves poison and a pick-ax, among other things), but I found it fascinating how much you can learn about a civilization from one person's body (his fingernails, the contents of his stomach, his hair, etc).

We didn't have much time for the mummies, but I did notice some very nice Egyptian jewelry in a room off to the side. It was amazing how well preserved the beautiful and colorful necklaces and bracelets were even after thousands of years.

Part of my schoolwork this term involves a presentation in British Art History about one of the sections of the British Museum. My group was assigned Greece, so I spent the rest of my time at the museum looking at more Greek sculptures as well as Greek vases, Helenistic jewelry and coins, and architecture. I enjoyed focusing on one section because I felt like I had given the other sections of the museum the short-shift due to time constraints. With the Greek section, I could learn a little more and appreciate the collection more.

I apologize if you found the preceding discussion a little dry. I just enjoy teaching people things that I have learned.

On a completely different note, I feel like I haven't been giving you very much of my own insights about London. I have been so busy telling you stories that I haven't given you general observations. I have really enjoyed watching Brits and their pets. Their dogs seem much smaller than American dogs, and much better behaved. They hardly ever bark or go out of their way to greet passersby. Brits also seem to enjoy bringing their dogs EVERYWHERE, even to sidewalk cafes, where the most privileged of pooches get to sit on their owners' laps and observe the world. Another thing I have noticed is the sheer variety of the vegetation. To be sure, it is different from the vegetation in America, but there are so many more kinds of plants than we have in any one place in the United States. It would be cool to have an explanation if there is one, but I have just noticed it while walking through the neighborhood. Speaking of which, the sidewalks are very well kept here. I suppose I've only seen the small selection in The City and Kensington/Chelsea, but I think Londoners are generally very neat about such things, much more so than Americans tend to be. Finally, I learned something very interesting about why the British choose to drive on the left side of the road instead of the right. It is a relic (and there seem to be very many of these still in existence for the ever-traditional Brits) of medieval times when men would ride their horses along the roads between towns. Most men were right-handed, so they would carry their swords with them in their right hands as they rode. Obviously, riding on the left side of the road keeps the right hand free should a confrontation arise from someone coming in the opposite direction. I don't know about you, but I love gaining insight into little quirks like this.

This evening, my floormates and I went out after dinner. It was nice time of laughter and frozen yogurt from Snog again. I'm really starting to like that place a lot. And I can hardly feel guilty because it's yogurt sweetened with agave nectar and made with organic dairy products. If you're ever in the London area, do stop in because it's super quirky but totally fun. It's a great atmosphere, and they're open late if you're a night owl (oh, and you should appreciate it because most places close here around 7:30 PM, which is actually pretty late by European standards). Anyway, please excuse my random rambling. I am more tired that I would like to admit, but don't worry. I'll get some good sleep tonight and be ready for another day of excitement and blogging tomorrow. Actually, tomorrow should be pretty low-key. Most of my friends are going on a trip to Camden/Little Venice, but the tour was full before I could sign up, so I guess I have a free day (although we may do something later). Either way, good night and thanks for reading! :)

A collection of some of the free-standing Elgin Marbles. Photo courtesy of wikipedia.org.

Lindow Man. Photo courtesy of the British Museum website.

The Rosetta Stone (from top to bottom: hieroglyphs, the phonetic equivalent, and ancient Greek). Photo courtesy of mrdowling.com.

The King's Road branch of Snog (local frozen yogurt shop). Mmmm. It makes me hungry just looking at it. Photo courtesy of cinimodstudio.com.