The Brutish Museums: The Benin Bronzes, Colonial Violence and Cultural Restitution

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The seven permanent Egyptian galleries at the British Museum, which include its largest exhibition space (Room 4, for monumental sculpture), can display only 4% of its Egyptian holdings. The second-floor galleries have a selection of the museum's collection of 140 mummies and coffins, the largest outside Cairo. A high proportion of the collection comes from tombs or contexts associated with the cult of the dead, and it is these pieces, in particular the mummies, that remain among the most eagerly sought-after exhibits by visitors to the museum.

Sir Thomas Grenville (1755–1846), a trustee of the British Museum from 1830, assembled a library of 20,240 volumes, which he left to the museum in his will. The books arrived in January 1847 in twenty-one horse-drawn vans. The only vacant space for this large library was a room originally intended for manuscripts, between the Front Entrance Hall and the Manuscript Saloon. The books remained here until the British Library moved to St Pancras in 1998. Tours run once a week and are completely free, but do require signing up ahead of time. Oh, and they only have space for 20 people in each tour group, so you’ll definitely want to give yourself plenty of time to book ahead. Find out when the next tour is running and book your space here. Credit: British Museum Anything else I should know? Room 6 – Pair of Human Headed Winged Lions and reliefs from Nimrud with the Balawat Gates, c. 860 BC The first Synopsis of the British Museum was published in 1808. This described the contents of the museum, and the display of objects room by room, and updated editions were published every few years.Hoard of Copper Hoard Culture celts, plaques and disc from Gungeria, Madhya Pradesh, India, (2000–1000 BC)

A hoard of silver votive plaques dedicated to the Roman God Jupiter Dolichenus, discovered in Heddernheim, near Frankfurt, Germany, (1st–2nd centuries AD) One of the rare Hedwig glasses, originating from the Middle East or Norman Sicily, (10th–12th centuries AD) The William Burges collection of armoury was bequeathed to the museum in 1881. In 1882, the museum was involved in the establishment of the independent Egypt Exploration Fund (now Society) the first British body to carry out research in Egypt. A bequest from Miss Emma Turner in 1892 financed excavations in Cyprus. In 1897 the death of the great collector and curator, A. W. Franks, was followed by an immense bequest of 3,300 finger rings, 153 drinking vessels, 512 pieces of continental porcelain, 1,500 netsuke, 850 inro, over 30,000 bookplates and miscellaneous items of jewellery and plate, among them the Oxus Treasure. [36] The Round Reading Room, which was designed by the architect Sydney Smirke, opened in 1857. For almost 150 years researchers came here to consult the museum's vast library. The Reading Room closed in 1997 when the national library (the British Library) moved to a new building at St Pancras. Today it has been transformed into the Walter and Leonore Annenberg Centre.

Books

Illustrations for the Great Picture Book of Everything, rare album of drawings by the celebrated Japanese artist Hokusai, (1820–1840 AD)

Stone figure representing the upper part of an eleven-headed Avalokiteśvara, Cambodia, (12th century AD) Silk Princess painting from Dandan-oilik Buddhist sanctuary in Khotan, Xinjiang, China, (7th–8th century AD) Cassandre Greenberg considers Derek Jarman’s Blue as a celluloid artefact in an age of portable digital media

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Bronze scabbard with La Tène engraved decoration, found at Lisnacrogher bog, County Antrim, Northern Ireland, (300–200 BC) Bronze bowl and ivory cosmetic box in the shape of a fish from Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, Jordan, (1250–1150 BC)