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Seated statue of Pharaoh Sety II
- The Seated statue of Pharaoh Sety II, c.1200-1194 BCE, a grandson of Ramses II, is the most complete sculpture of a pharaoh in the British Museum’s collection to survive from ancient Egypt, offering audiences a rare chance to experience the exceptional craftsmanship of Egyptian sculptors.
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The largest Egyptian sculpture in the British Museum represents one of Egypt's greatest kings: Ramesses II, 'ruler of rulers', who reigned through most of the 13th century BC. The Egyptian sculpture gallery is also home to the sarcophagus of Nectanebo II, Egypt's last true pharaoh.
- Eternal Telephone
Eternal Telephone is an original Applied Stories concept for...
- statue
Quartzite sandstone naophorous statue of Sety II: seated on...
- Eternal Telephone
- Statue of Amenhotep III. Statue of Amenhotep III (Room 4) The reign of Tutankhamun's grandfather Amenhotep III (around 1390–1352 BC) marked the peak of ancient Egypt's prosperity and reflected long-held traditions of kingship and religious belief.
- Lion with a Tutankhamun inscription. Lion with a Tutankhamun inscription (Room 4) This lion statue was set up in a temple erected by Amenhotep III in Nubia, and reflects the extent of the pharaoh's authority, which was recognised in Sudan as well as in Syria-Palestine and the eastern Mediterranean.
- A list of Egyptian kings. A list of Egyptian kings (Room 4) This inscription was set up by Ramesses II in a temple at Abydos about fifty years after Tutankhamun's death.
- Stela of Akhenaten. Stela of Akhenaten (Room 4) This image shows King Akhenaten, the son of Amenhotep III. Along with Tutankhamun, he was one of the four rulers omitted from the King-list.
Quartzite sandstone naophorous statue of Sety II: seated on a throne, holding on his knees a shrine surmounted by a ram's head, emblem of the god Amun-Ra. Despite damage on the face of the ram and the head of the uraeus, this is one of the most complete sculptures from ancient Egypt.
- Ancient Egyptian Must-Sees at The British Museum
- Ancient Assyrian Must-Sees at The British Museum
- Ancient Greecian Must-Sees at The British Museum
- Ready to Explore Your Must-Sees at The British Museum?
Rosetta Stone
This relatively small stone is not so famous for the subject matter written on it, but rather for the fact that it was written in three different languages: hieroglyphics, which were used mainly by priests; Demotic, a simpler script used for everyday; and ancient Greek. Linguists were able to crack the code of the long-forgotten hieroglyphs by comparing the other two known languages. These days you’ll find the Rosetta Stone in the middle of the long Egyptian Gallery — although, like some of o...
King Ramesses II
Weighing an impressive 7.25 tons, the partial statue of King Ramesses II is one of the largest pieces of Egyptian sculpture at the British Museum. King Ramesses II ruled Egypt from 1279–1213 BC. Some claim that he is the Pharaoh from the Biblical account of Moses and the Israelite enslavement in Egypt, though there is ongoing debate about this.
Egyptian Funeral Rooms
There are two rooms at the British Museum dedicated to Egyptian funeral practices. In these rooms you find what you’d expect: mummies, coffins, tomb paintings, statuettes. But there are also plenty of lesser-known, fascinating objects to discover here. One of the most famous residents of the Egyptian Funeral rooms is Gebelein Man, nicknamed “Ginger” in honor of his red hair. More than 5,500 years old, he’s one of the best-preserved humans from ancient Egypt, and has been one of the must-sees...
Two Human-Headed Winged Lions
Assyria, located in what is now northern Iraq, was the superpower of the Middle East from 900 to 600 B.C. These massive winged human-headed lions flanked an entrance to the royal palace of Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) at Nimrud and it’s believed they were meant to guard the Assyrian king from evil spirits.
The Nimrud Gallery
In the Nimrud Gallery, you’ll find another must-see at the British Museum — relief panels that once lined King Ashurnasirpal II’s throne room at the Palace of Nimrud. Syrian King from 883–859 BC, Ashurnasirpal II was known for his brutality. This long room’s well-preserved and detailed relief panels chronicle his reign and depict fascinating Assyrian battle scenes.
Two Winged Bulls from Khorsabad, the Palace of Sargon
These 30-ton bulls were cut from a single block of marble, tipped on their side and dragged into their guard position by enslaved prisoners of war. Interesting note: when they were moved to the British Museum, even with all the more modern equipment and know-how, they still had to be cut in half to be transported. If you look close, you can see the horizontal cracks through their chests.
Nereid Monument from Xanthos
The Nereid Monument gets its name from the Nereid statues placed between the columns. According to Greek mythology, the Nereids were sea nymphs who helped sailors when they faced fierce storms on the sea. What’s particularly remarkable about these carved Nereids is how the sculptor captured their graceful movement and the wind-blown look of their wet clothing as it also clings to their body in some places. You can totally picture them in a raging storm on the sea!
The Parthenon Galleries
The Parthenon temple was built for Athena, the goddess of wisdom and the patroness of Athens. One of the most significant buildings of its time, it is still a marvel to behold and a major draw for visitors to Athens. However, for 200 years, most of its best sculptures have been displayed at the British Museum, not in Athens. There’s some controversy behind how the Parthenon sculptures made their way to Britain. In the early 1800s, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to Greece, had (with permis...
The Pediment Sculptures
The Pediment Sculptures were originally tucked inside the triangular pediment above the columns at the Parthenon’s main entrance. This scene celebrates the birth of the city of Athens with a depiction of the birth of the goddess Athena. Fun fact: one of the techniques the ancient Greek sculptors used to create such lifelike masterpieces was to first build nude models of their work, put real clothes on them, and then study how the real fabric hung before sculpting them in stone. Talk about com...
These are just 10 of my favorites at the British Museum, but this place has so many more treasures for you to discover in its other galleries. You can see a Sutton Hoo Helmet, part of one of the most spectacular and important discoveries in British archaeology; the Lewis Chessmen, the most famous chess set in the world dating from the 12th century;...
- Great Sphinx of Giza. The Great Sphinx of Giza is a limestone statue of a mythical creature with a lion’s body and a human head that stands on the Giza Plateau, located on the west bank of the Nile River, in Egypt.
- Colossi of Memnon. The Colossi of Memnon are two massive stone statues of the Pharaoh Amenhotep III that stand on the west bank of the Nile River in Luxor, Egypt.
- Nefertiti Bust. The Nefertiti bust is a painted limestone bust of Queen Nefertiti, the wife of the Pharaoh Akhenaten, who ruled Egypt during the 18th Dynasty (1353-1336 BCE).
- The Seated Scribe. The Seated Scribe is a painted limestone statue of a scribe or a writer, dating back to the Fourth or Fifth Dynasty of ancient Egypt, around 2620-2500 BCE.
The Statue of Ramesses II is a 3,200-year-old figure of Ramesses II, depicting him standing. It was discovered in 1820 by Giovanni Battista Caviglia at the Great Temple of Ptah near Memphis, Egypt. It is made from limestone and weighs 83 tons.
The British Museum is a public museum dedicated to human history, art and culture located in the Bloomsbury area of London. Its permanent collection of eight million works is the largest in the world. It documents the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present.
