HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM
There is nowhere quite like the British Museum, which is often hailed as a museum of the World and for the World.
Its collection is, quite simply, breathtaking in the diversity of the cultures and epochs that it covers and on this tour, which lasts a little over two hours, your qualified Blue Badge Guide will lead on a true voyage of discovery that will take you around the Globe and back in time.
The Mysteries of Ancient Egypt
Revealed by a Stone
Beginning in the spectacular Great Court, where you will be treated to an historical introduction to the British Museum, the tour will move on to view one of the most important, and most visited, artefacts in the entire collection – the Rosetta Stone. This nondescript piece of grey granite was our key to understanding Egyptian Hieroglyphics and unlocking the secrets of ancient Egypt. Its discovery and deciphering is a truly gripping tale with which your guide will keep you spellbound as you are taken through the twists and turns of the plot.
Winged Bulls and Lion Hunts
We then move on to see first hand how Assyrian Kings decorated, and guarded their palaces, as we come face to face with the ferocious Winged Bulls of Khorsabad. If these colossal creatures instil feelings of awe and terror, then, as your guide will explain, they’re still performing their intended task!
Having explained the physical attributes of the bulls, your guide will lead you into a side room to attend the savage spectacle of an Assyrian lion hunt. Not only did the long ago sculptor responsible for this intricate frieze create a true, though gruesome, masterpiece, he also demonstrated a genuine and poignant empathy for the poor lions whose plights we witness in varying forms of pain and distress.
The Parthenon Marbles –
A Highlight of the Collection
Then we move on to ancient Greece to view one of the true glories of the British Museum, the Parthenon Marbles. Never is the skill of a guide more tested than getting an audience to see, and we mean see as opposed to just look at, these exquisite reliefs.
Fortunately, the training and research that a Blue Badge Guide undertakes includes a detailed study of these treasure, so you will leave them with an in depth knowledge of and a new found enthusiasm for them.
Back to Ancient Egypt – Pharaohs and Mummies
We’re off then to the sands of ancient Egypt to gaze in wonder at another colossus, the statue to the great and mighty Ozymandias – or, as he’s more commonly known, Ramesses. You will hear how the figure was discovered and how it was finally bough to England where, his arrival caused such excitement that, no lesser person than the poet Shelley hailed it with the following verse:-
My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings:
Look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!’
Versifying over, our tour of the British Museum then heads back to the Predynastic period of Egyptian history where we’ll make the acquaintance of one of the museums best-loved red-heads, Ginger.
He will be your introduction to the ancient art of mummification as your guide takes you, in narrative at least, on a tour of the various stages of this Egyptian method of preservation. A little gruesome in parts, it will, none the less, prove a fascinating and gripping insight.
Celtic, Roman and Medieval Artefacts
The latter section speeds us through Celtic, Roman and Medieval times. You will gaze in wonder at exquisite and finely worked Celtic gold; look with envy upon intricately shaped pieces of Roman silverware; treasure and jewels; gold cups and ivory chessmen – all will be paraded before you on an in depth tour of the British Museum that will help you get to grips with its historically and culturally diverse collection.
Enjoy An In Depth Tour of the British Museum
So, if you want to visit the British Museum, and you want to explore it in a way that will hep you make sense of the artefacts displayed and the periods of the past to which they belong, then join your Blue Badge Guide for an intriguing, gripping and thoroughly informed British Museum Tour.
