One of the jewels of London is the British Museum. Set in the city in a purpose-built building, and free to enter, it houses thousands of unique and rare items.

Entering and access

It is free to enter, but you still need a ticket. You can get entry from the rear, but entrance from the front needs an online ‘purchase’ before you can get in. The website allows you to register and get tickets, but the free option is nestled below the “suggested donation” options.

We ‘purchased’ the free tickets online, but you need to wait for the email to arrive with your tickets. Instead, I showed security the online purchase of the timeslot, and they let me in. The email with the ‘ticket’ took over two hours to actually arrive.

Once in, we were free to explore the extensive rooms and halls of exquisite artefacts and historical items. For many objects, it was very easy to see Stuff the British Stole, and there were entire tombs and sacred objects on display from all over the world.

Bodies and treasures

Once you notice it, you can see that the museum is full of looted treasure and objects from graves, or even just full bodies.

It was wonderful to marvel at the detail and skill used by ancient peoples – sometimes as much as 2500 years old or more. Their skill to honour their dead and revered people is preserved from the weather and time in the museum.

However, it is hard to tell if the damage and loss of parts to the historical artefacts were caused during their removal and looting, or before they were removed from their original place around the world.

With the stolen artefacts on display, the museum is able to showcase the histories and stories of ancient civilisations and preserve the objects for future generations.

Elgin Marbles

Within the purpose-built museum, there is another wing that has been specifically built to house the Elgin Marbles. These controversial stone sculptures were removed from the Parthenon in Greece, transported to England, sunk at sea, rejected for sale and then eventually accomodated by the British Government.

The sculptures and friezes are magnificentlt displayed, however many are missing faces, as they were seperately removed in past eras, sold due to their quality. The Greeks have petioned for their return, and duplicaes could still be shown in these halls, as there are plaster casts in other British Museums that are on display.