A Week in London - Part Four

The British Museum

The Rosetta Stone is very first item seen beyond the main entrance of the British Museum. Created in Egypt in 196 BC, it was transported to England in 1802 and has been on public display ever since. It contains a decree from Ptolemy V in three translations: Egyptian demotic script, Egyptian hieroglypics, and classical Greek. Its discovery led to the ability - at last! - to decipher ancient hieroglyphics.

Egyptian mummy cases

 

An ancient falconRamesses II

Nebamun was an Egyptian scribe who died around 1350 BC. Fragments of his tomb-chapel were discovered around 1820. These rare paintings are detailed illustrations of the life and afterlife of an aristocrat in ancient Egypt.

Nebamun hunts in the marshes with his wife and daughter.

Farmers and officials inspect the fields.

Nebamun's cattle

Nebamun's geese

Nebamun views his property.

Nebamun's garden in the afterlife has a pool, flowers and fruit trees.

A feast in honor of Nebamun

Servants bring offerings of food.

A collection of offerings for Nebamun.

The "Elgin Marbles" were removed from the Parthenon in Athens, Greece, in the early 1800s and brought to England by Lord Elgin. Included are 56 relief panels celebrating the founding of Athens, a group of sculptures surrounding the birth of Athena, and several panels illustrating battles between centaurs and men.

 
 

Around Town

Details of the pediment above the entrance to the British Museum

The supporting columns are all that remain of the old railway bridge, constructed in 1864 and dismantled in 1984. Next to them, the new bridge, built in 1886, is still in use. (For many years the two bridges were in use side by side.)

Marble Arch, across the street from our hotel

Richard the Lion-Hearted, next to Parliament

I'm a tourist taking photos in crowded public places, so I know there are going to be people in my pictures. That's okay. But why, oh why, instead of a dignified elder in black or a beautiful youth in khaki, is it always this guy who pops into the middle of my shot?