You have to hone in on certain things when you visit here as the place is so vast. On this occasion we made a point of seeking out the Rosetta Stone and the Elgin Marbles. On my previous visit I ventured into the Egyptology section alone, and here's my blog link to that:
The queueing system here nowadays is horrendous. There is one queue for pre-booked (free) tickets and another- around the corner from the main entrance- for those who haven't booked. What's that all about? Either make it pre-booked only, or unbooked only; not both. Also, the way the security guard conducting bag searches spoke to the SuperDean was truly horrendous. I know that anyone can have a bad day, and that dealing with the general public can be stressful, but he was just obnoxious (hence the two star review I put on Tripadvisor- one point each for the Stone and the Marbles).
Back to the job at hand, and here is the Rosetta Stone, with an explanation next to it.
The Rosetta Stone is a stone of black granodiorite (coarse grained igneous rock) bearing three inscriptions which are key to deciphering the Egyptian scripts. The stone itself is known as a stele (a stone or wooden slab generally longer than it is wide) and the top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and Demotic scripts. Hieroglyphics were the formal writing system used in Ancient Egypt, and consist of syllabic and alphabetic elements, and contain more than 1,000 distinct characters. Demotic is derived from northern types of heiratic (abridged heiroglyphics adhering to early methods as laid down by religious tradition) used in the Nile Delta. The bottom section is written in Ancient Greek, which was used from 1500 BC to 300 BC.
The stone was carved during the Hellenistic period (this period in history is after Classic Greece, and sits between the death of Alexander the Great, in 323 BC and before the death of Cleopatra VII in 30 BC.
The three versions of text are called the Rosetta Stone decree, or the Decree of Memphis. The decree was issued in 196 BC during the Ptolemaic dynasty (the longest and last dynasty of ancient Egypt).
It was found in the town of Rashid (Rosetta) by the French in 1799. When the British defeated the French, in 1801, they took possession of the stone and, since 1802, it has been on display in the British Museum. It is the most visited object here.
We then headed a couple of galleries further in to view the Elgin Marbles. They are a collection of Ancient Greek sculptures from the Parthenon and other stuctures in the Acropolis of Athens.
Heres a view of the friezes- high relief Pentelic (fine grained calcitic marble from the quarries at Penteli, north of Athens) marble sculptures- down the main gallery. Metopes (carved plaques) and pediments (3D statues) sit on their own at each end.
Agents of Thomas Bruce, the 7th Earl of Elgin, removed the marbles and placed them in the British Museum between 1801 to 1812.
There are a couple of information boards and no, the Elgin Marbles is not a game played by boys way up on the east coast of Scotland...😉
The Parthenon is a former temple, and the marbles are held in various collections, but mostly here in the British Museum and the Acropolis Museum in Athens.
Elgin stated that he had permission to remove the sculptures from the Ottoman officials, but the legality of his actions has since been disputed.
Elgin sold the sculptures to the British government in 1816. Although, that year, it was decreed that he had acquired them legally, his actions have been described as vandalism or looting.
In 1983 the Greek government formally asked that the British government to return them to Greece...
Metopes in the end room...
A closer view, and here's a man with... I'm not sure if he's a satyr (half man half goat) or a centaur (half man half horse)...
This is likely to be a satyr, as they're often represented as being lecherous, and this one appears to have an erection...
The pediments consist of humans and beasts...
This was my favourite part of this collection...
Honing in, and there were seats where you could rest awhile. This whole gallery is spacious and quiet, and I found the peace and subdued lighting very therapeutic.
The view from one end of the pedestal, and the dispute regarding where the Parthenon Marbles belong is ongoing.
More pediments at the other end of the main room...
The Parthenon was built on the Acropolis of Athens, from 447 BC, as a temple to the goddess Athena.
Before leaving the museum I just had to take a photo of their wonderful library; which contains between 170 and 200 million items from around the world. It is a major research library.
Ceiling view, and the British Museum was established in 1753.
We chilled out for a while in nearby Russell Square. It's such a shame that this traffic cone is marring my photograph, but I've no one to blame but myself!
This precarious-looking sculpture is called Echo, and is by Joe Duggan. It is recent-2024- and, according to the accompanying plaque "invites us to contemplate the fleeing nature of idealogies and the unseen forces shaping our world."
I do hope the British Museum manages to sort out it's ticketing system by the time I next care to visit. I also hope they teach their security guards how to deal with the general public properly- that particular guy is lucky he did not end up with a punch on the snout.
Anyway, I'm sure I'll return.
Until then...
TTFN
Miss Elaineous
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