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{{Short description|National museum in London, England}}
{{Other uses}}
{{Use British English|date=June 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2024}}
{{Infobox museum
| name            = British Museum
| logo            = British Museum logo.svg
| logo_upright    = .8
| image           = British Museum (aerial).jpg
| image_upright   = 1.15
| caption         = Aerial view of the British Museum in 2015
| pushpin_map     = Central London
| established     = {{Start date and age|1753|6|7|df=yes}}
| collection      = Approx. 8 million objects<ref>{{cite web| url= https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/management/about_us.aspx| title= Collection size| work= British Museum| access-date= 22 July 2016| archive-date= 12 August 2017| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170812061205/https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/management/about_us.aspx| url-status= live}}</ref>
| location        = [[Great Russell Street]], London, England
| leader_type     = Chair
| leader          = [[George Osborne]]
| director        = [[Nicholas Cullinan]]
| visitors        = 6,440,120 in 2025<ref name=ALVA>{{cite web |title=LATEST VISITOR FIGURES |website=ALVA|url=https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=423 |access-date=17 March 2026}}</ref>
* [[Most visited museums in the United Kingdom|Ranked first nationally]]
| publictransit   = {{rint|london|underground}} {{rint|london|crossrail}} {{lus|Tottenham Court Road}}<br/>{{rint|london|underground}} {{lus|Goodge Street}}; {{lus|Holborn}}; {{lus|Russell Square}}
| website         = {{Official URL}}
| embedded        = {{infobox |child=yes
| label1          = Area
| data1           = {{convert|807000|sqft|m2|-2|abbr=on}} in<br /> 94 galleries}}
}}

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.<ref>{{Cite web |last=van Riel |first=Cees |date=30 October 2017 |title=Ranking The World's Most Admired Art Museums, And What Big Business Can Learn From Them |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/rsmdiscovery/2017/10/30/ranking-the-worlds-most-admired-art-museums-and-what-big-business-can-learn-from-them/?sh=1f0cee263b33 |access-date=18 May 2023 |website=Forbes |archive-date=18 May 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230518003932/https://www.forbes.com/sites/rsmdiscovery/2017/10/30/ranking-the-worlds-most-admired-art-museums-and-what-big-business-can-learn-from-them/?sh=1f0cee263b33 |url-status=live }}</ref> It documents the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present.<ref group="lower-alpha">Among the national museums in London, sculpture and [[decorative art|decorative]] and [[applied art]] are in the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]]; the British Museum houses earlier art, non-Western art, prints and drawings. The [[National Gallery]] holds the national collection of Western European art to about 1900, while art of the 20th century on is at [[Tate Modern]]. [[Tate Britain]] holds British Art from 1500 onwards. Books, manuscripts and many works on paper are in the [[British Library]]. There are significant overlaps between the coverage of the various collections.</ref> Established in 1753, the British Museum was the world's first public national museum.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/the_museums_story/general_history.aspx|title=History of the British Museum|website=The British Museum|access-date=12 July 2018|archive-date=9 October 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161009092417/http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/the_museums_story/general_history.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> In 2025, the museum received 6,440,120 visitors and was the second most visited attraction in the United Kingdom.<ref name=ALVA />

At its beginning, the museum was largely based on the collections of the Anglo-Irish physician and scientist Sir [[Hans Sloane]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bl.uk/events/the-life-and-curiosity-of-hans-sloane|title=The Life and Curiosity of Hans Sloane|website=The British Library|access-date=February 4, 2026|archive-date=19 November 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119150309/https://www.bl.uk/events/the-life-and-curiosity-of-hans-sloane|url-status=dead}}</ref> It opened to the public in 1759, in [[Montagu House, Bloomsbury|Montagu House]], on the site of the current building. The museum's expansion over the following 250 years was largely a result of British colonisation and resulted in the creation of several branch institutions, or independent spin-offs, the first being the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] in 1881. Some of its best-known acquisitions, such as the Greek [[Elgin Marbles]] and the Egyptian [[Rosetta Stone]], are subject to long-term disputes and [[Repatriation (cultural property)|repatriation]] claims.<ref name="rosetta stone">{{cite web |title=The Big Question: What is the Rosetta Stone, and should Britain return |url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-big-question-what-is-the-rosetta-stone-and-should-britain-return-it-to-egypt-1836610.html |website=The Independent |access-date=2 April 2020 |date=9 December 2009 |archive-date=11 March 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180311015133/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/the-big-question-what-is-the-rosetta-stone-and-should-britain-return-it-to-egypt-1836610.html |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="looted art">{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jun/29/museums-looting-art-artefacts-world-culture|title=Museums and looted art: the ethical dilemma of preserving world cultures|last=Tharoor|first=Kanishk|date=29 June 2015|newspaper=The Guardian|access-date=18 April 2018|archive-date=10 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200610134203/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2015/jun/29/museums-looting-art-artefacts-world-culture|url-status=live}}</ref>

In 1973, the British Library Act 1972<ref>{{Cite web |date=1972 |title=British Library Act 1972 |url=https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1972/54/contents |website=legislation.gov.uk |access-date=22 July 2022 |archive-date=8 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220808215058/https://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukpga/1972/54/contents |url-status=live }}</ref> detached the library department from the British Museum, but it continued to host the now separated [[British Library]] in the same [[British Museum Reading Room|Reading Room]] and building as the museum until 1997. The museum is a [[non-departmental public body]] sponsored by the [[Department for Culture, Media and Sport]]. Like all UK national museums, it charges no admission fee except for loan exhibitions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/admission_and_opening_times.aspx|title=Admission and opening times|work=British Museum|date=14 June 2010|access-date=4 July 2010|archive-date=8 July 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160708182945/http://www.britishmuseum.org/visiting/admission_and_opening_times.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>

==History==

===Sir Hans Sloane===
[[File:Sir Hans Sloane, an engraving from a portrait by T. Murray.jpg|thumb|upright|left|Sir [[Hans Sloane]]]]
Although today principally a museum of cultural art objects and [[Ancient history|antiquities]], the British Museum was founded as a "universal museum". Its foundations lie in the will of the [[Anglo-Irish]] [[physician]] and [[Natural history|naturalist]] Sir [[Hans Sloane]] (1660–1753), a London-based doctor and scientist from [[Ulster]]. During the course of his lifetime, and particularly after he married the widow of a wealthy Jamaican planter,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/building_britain_gallery_05.shtml|title=BBC – History – British History in depth: Slavery and the Building of Britain|website=www.bbc.co.uk|access-date=12 November 2019|archive-date=5 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191205004223/http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/abolition/building_britain_gallery_05.shtml|url-status=live}}</ref> Sloane gathered a large [[cabinet of curiosities|collection of curiosities]], and not wishing to see his collection broken up after death he bequeathed it to King [[George II of Great Britain|George II]], for the nation, for a sum of £20,000 ({{inflation|UK|20000|1753|r=0|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}) to be paid to his heirs by [[Parliament of Great Britain|Parliament]]<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.fathom.com/course/21701728/session1.html| title=Creating a Great Museum: Early Collectors and The British Museum| publisher=Fathom| access-date=4 July 2010| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100102202555/http://www.fathom.com/course/21701728/session1.html| archive-date=2 January 2010| df=dmy-all}}</ref>—intentionally far less than the estimated value of the artefacts, contemporarily estimated at £50,000 ({{inflation|UK|50000|1753|r=0|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}) or more according to some sources, and up to £80,000 ({{inflation|UK|80000|1753|r=0|fmt=eq|cursign=£}}) or more by others.<ref name="sloaneletters.com2">{{Cite web|url=https://sloaneletters.com/about-sir-hans-sloane/|title=Introducing Sir Hans Sloane – The Sloane Letters Project|website=sloaneletters.com}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=Sir Hans Sloane's Will of 1739 – The Sloane Letters Project |url=http://sloaneletters.com/will-sloane/ |website=sloaneletters.com}}</ref>

At that time, Sloane's collection consisted of around 71,000 objects of all kinds<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/history/general_history.aspx| title=General history| work=British Museum| date=14 June 2010| access-date=4 July 2010| archive-date=12 April 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120412162528/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/history/general_history.aspx| url-status=live}}</ref> including some 40,000 printed books, 7,000 manuscripts, extensive natural history specimens including 337 volumes of dried plants, [[Old master print|prints]] and drawings including those by [[Albrecht Dürer]] and antiquities from [[Kingdom of Kush|Sudan]], [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]], [[Ancient Greece|Greece]], [[Ancient Rome|Rome]], the [[Ancient Near East|Ancient Near]] and [[Far East]] and the [[History of the Americas|Americas]].<ref>[[Gavin de Beer|de Beer, Gavin R.]] (1953). ''Sir Hans Sloane and the British Museum''. London.</ref>

===Foundation (1753)===
On 7 June 1753, King [[George II of Great Britain and Ireland|George II]] gave his [[royal assent]] to the [[act of Parliament]] which established the British Museum.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|1=By the act of Parliament it received a name – the British Museum. The origin of the name is not known; the word 'British' had some resonance nationally at this period, so soon after the Jacobite rebellion of 1745; it must be assumed that the museum was christened in this light.<ref>The question of the use of the term 'British' at this period has recently received some attention, e.g. Colley (1992), 85ff. There never has been a serious attempt to change the museum's name.</ref>}} The [[British Museum Act 1753]] also added two other libraries to the Sloane collection, namely the [[Cotton library|Cottonian Library]], assembled by Sir [[Robert Bruce Cotton|Robert Cotton]], dating back to [[Elizabethan era|Elizabethan]] times, and the Harleian Library, the collection of [[Robert Harley, 1st Earl of Oxford and Mortimer]]. They were joined in 1757 by the "Old Royal Library", now the [[Royal manuscripts, British Library|Royal manuscripts]], assembled by various [[British monarchy|British monarchs]]. Together these four "foundation collections" included many of the most treasured books now in the [[British Library]]<ref>Letter to Charles Long (1823), BMCE115/3,10. Scrapbooks and illustrations of the Museum. Wilson, David M. (2002). ''The British Museum: A History''. London: The British Museum Press, p. 346.</ref> including the [[Lindisfarne Gospels]] and the sole surviving manuscript of ''[[Beowulf]]''.<ref group="lower-alpha">The estimated footage of the various libraries as reported to the trustees has been summarised by Harris (1998), 3,6: Sloane 4,600, Harley 1,700, Cotton 384, Edwards 576, The Royal Library 1,890.</ref>

The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public and aiming to collect everything. Sloane's collection, while including a vast miscellany of objects, tended to reflect his scientific interests.<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.bmimages.com/preview.asp?image=00032676001&imagex=90&searchnum=0001| title=The British Museum Images| publisher=Bmimages| access-date=4 July 2010| archive-date=11 May 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110511191549/http://www.bmimages.com/preview.asp?image=00032676001&imagex=90&searchnum=0001| url-status=live}}</ref> The addition of the Cotton and Harley manuscripts introduced a literary and [[antiquarian]] element, and meant that the British Museum now became both [[National Museum]] and library.<ref name="world and its people">{{cite book| last=Dunton| first=Larkin|title=The World and Its People| url=https://archive.org/details/worldanditspeop05duntgoog| publisher=Silver, Burdett|year=1896|page=[https://archive.org/details/worldanditspeop05duntgoog/page/n46 38]}}</ref>

===Cabinet of curiosities (1753–1778)===
[[File:The North Prospect of Mountague House JamesSimonc1715.jpg|thumb|right|[[Montagu House, Bloomsbury|Montagu House]], {{circa|1715}}]]
The body of trustees decided on a converted 17th-century mansion, [[Montagu House, Bloomsbury|Montagu House]], as a location for the museum, which it bought from the [[Ralph Montagu, 1st Duke of Montagu|Montagu family]] for £20,000. The trustees rejected Buckingham House, which was later converted into the present day [[Buckingham Palace]], on the grounds of cost and the unsuitability of its location.<ref>{{cite book|last=Wilson|first=David, M.|year=2002|title=The British Museum: A History|location=London|publisher=The British Museum Press|pages=25}}</ref><ref group="lower-alpha">This was perhaps rather unfortunate as the title to the house was complicated by the fact that part of the building had been erected on leasehold property (the Crown lease of which ran out in 1771); perhaps that is why [[George III]] paid such a modest price (nominally £28,000) for what was to become Buckingham Palace. See [[Howard Colvin]] ''et al.'' (1976), 134.</ref>

With the acquisition of Montagu House, the first exhibition galleries and [[Library|reading room]] for scholars opened on 15 January 1759.<ref>{{cite magazine|title=The British Museum opened on January 15th, 1759|url=http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/british-museum-opened|date=January 2009|volume=59|issue=1|magazine=[[History Today]]|last=Cavendish|first=Richard|access-date=15 January 2016|archive-date=17 January 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117213759/http://www.historytoday.com/richard-cavendish/british-museum-opened|url-status=live}}</ref> At this time, the largest parts of collection were the library, which took up the majority of the rooms on the ground floor and the natural history objects, which took up an entire wing on the first floor. In 1763, the trustees of the British Museum, under the influence of [[Peter Collinson (botanist)|Peter Collinson]] and [[William Watson (scientist)|William Watson]], employed the former student of [[Carl Linnaeus]], [[Daniel Solander]], to reclassify the natural history collection according to the [[Linnaean taxonomy|Linnaean system]], thereby making the museum a public centre of learning accessible to the full range of European natural historians.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Rose|first1=ED|title=Specimens, slips and systems: Daniel Solander and the classification of nature at the world's first public museum, 1753–1768.|journal=British Journal for the History of Science|volume=51|issue=2|date=15 April 2018|pages=205–237|doi=10.1017/S0007087418000249|pmid=29655387|url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/1810/275144/1/Edwin%20D.%20Rose%2c%20Specimens%2c%20Slips%20and%20Systems.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/bitstream/1810/275144/1/Edwin%20D.%20Rose%2c%20Specimens%2c%20Slips%20and%20Systems.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live}}</ref> In 1823, [[George IV]] gave the [[King's Library]] assembled by George III,<ref>{{cite web|title=Collection Guides – King's Library|url=https://www.bl.uk/collection-guides/the-kings-library|access-date=1 June 2020|archive-date=7 August 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190807055224/https://www.bl.uk/collection-guides/the-kings-library|url-status=live}}</ref> and Parliament gave the right to a copy of every book published in the country, thereby ensuring that the museum's library would expand indefinitely. During the few years after its foundation the British Museum received several further gifts, including the [[Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts]] and [[David Garrick]]'s library of 1,000 printed plays. The predominance of natural history, books and manuscripts began to lessen when in 1772 the museum acquired for £8,410 its first significant antiquities in Sir [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|William Hamilton]]'s "first" collection of [[Pottery of ancient Greece|Greek vases]].<ref name="Hoock2010">{{cite book|last1=Hoock|first1=Holger|title=Empires of the Imagination: Politics, War and the Arts in the British World, 1750–1850|date=2010|publisher=Profile Books|isbn=9781861978592|page=207|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=tuW554NdWk8C&q=%22william+hamilton%22%22british+museum%22+greek+vases&pg=PA207|access-date=21 July 2016|archive-date=15 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315094930/https://books.google.com/books?id=tuW554NdWk8C&q=%22william+hamilton%22%22british+museum%22+greek+vases&pg=PA207|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Indolence and energy (1778–1800)===
[[File:Entrance ticket to the British Museum, London March 3, 1790.jpg|thumb|Entrance ticket to the British Museum, London 3 March 1790]]
From 1778, a display of objects from the [[Pacific Ocean|South Seas]] brought back from the round-the-world voyages of Captain [[James Cook]] and the travels of other explorers fascinated visitors with a glimpse of previously unknown lands. The bequest of a collection of books, [[engraved gem]]s, coins, prints and drawings by [[Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode]] in 1800 did much to raise the museum's reputation; but Montagu House became increasingly crowded and decrepit and it was apparent that it would be unable to cope with further expansion.<ref>BMCE1/5, 1175 (13 May 1820). Minutes of General Meeting of the Trustees, 1754–63. Wilson, David M. (2002). ''The British Museum: A History'', p. 78.</ref>

The museum's first notable addition towards its collection of antiquities, since its foundation, was by Sir [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|William Hamilton]] (1730–1803), British Ambassador to [[Kingdom of Naples|Naples]], who sold his collection of Greek and Roman artefacts to the museum in 1784 together with a number of other antiquities and natural history specimens. A list of donations to the museum, dated 31 January 1784, refers to the Hamilton bequest of a "Colossal Foot of an [[Apollo]] in Marble". It was one of two antiquities of Hamilton's collection drawn for him by Francesco Progenie, a pupil of [[Pietro Fabris (painter)|Pietro Fabris]], who also contributed a number of drawings of Mount Vesuvius sent by Hamilton to the [[Royal Society]] in London.

===Growth and change (1800–1825)===
[[File:Rosetta Stone International Congress of Orientalists ILN 1874.jpg|thumb|The [[Rosetta Stone]] on display in the British Museum in 1874]]

In the early 19th century the foundations for the extensive collection of sculpture began to be laid and Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts dominated the antiquities displays. After the defeat of the [[Campaigns of 1799 in the French Revolutionary Wars|French campaign]] in the [[Battle of the Nile]], in 1801, the British Museum acquired more Egyptian sculptures and in 1802 King [[George III]] presented the [[Rosetta Stone]] – key to the deciphering of hieroglyphs.<ref>''Wondrous Curiosities – Ancient Egypt at the British Museum'', pp. 66–72 (Stephanie Moser, 2006, {{ISBN|0-226-54209-2}})</ref> Gifts and purchases from [[Henry Salt (Egyptologist)|Henry Salt]], British consul general in Egypt, beginning with the [[Younger Memnon|Colossal bust of Ramesses II]] in 1818, laid the foundations of the collection of Egyptian Monumental Sculpture.<ref>''The Story of the British Museum'', p. 24 (Marjorie Caygill, 2003, {{ISBN|0-7141-2772-8}})</ref> Many Greek sculptures followed, notably the first purpose-built exhibition space, the [[Charles Towneley]] collection, much of it Roman sculpture, in 1805. In 1806, [[Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin]], ambassador to the [[Ottoman Empire]] from 1799 to 1803 removed the large collection of marble sculptures from the [[Parthenon]], on the [[Acropolis of Athens]] and transferred them to the UK. In 1816 these masterpieces of western art were acquired by the British Museum by the [[British Museum Act 1816]] ([[56 Geo. 3]]. c. 99) and deposited in the museum thereafter.<ref>The British Museum – The Elgin Marbles, p. 85 (B.F.Cook, 2005, {{ISBN|0-7141-2134-7}}</ref> The collections were supplemented by the [[Bassae]] frieze from [[Phigalia|Phigaleia]], Greece in 1815. The Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of [[Assyria]]n and [[Babylonia]]n antiquities from Mary Mackintosh Rich, the widow of Assyriologist [[Claudius James Rich]].<ref>The British Museum – Assyrian Sculpture, pp. 6–7 (Julian Reade, 2004, {{ISBN|0-7141-2141-X}})</ref>

In 1802 a buildings committee was set up to plan for expansion of the museum, and further highlighted by the donation in 1822 of the [[King's Library]], personal library of King George III, comprising 65,000 volumes, 19,000 [[pamphlet]]s, maps, charts and [[Topographic map|topographical drawings]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/prbooks/georgeiiicoll/george3kingslibrary.html |title=King's Library |publisher=Bl |access-date=22 October 2011 |archive-date=13 August 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180813040241/http://www.bl.uk/reshelp/findhelprestype/prbooks/georgeiiicoll/george3kingslibrary.html |url-status=live }}</ref> The [[Neoclassical architecture|neoclassical]] architect, Sir [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]], was asked to draw up plans for an eastern extension to the museum "...&nbsp;for the reception of the [[Royal Library, Windsor|Royal Library]], and a Picture Gallery over it ..."<ref>Wilson, David, M. (2002). ''The British Museum: A History''. London: The British Museum Press, p. 79</ref> and put forward plans for today's quadrangular building, much of which can be seen today. The dilapidated Old [[Montagu House, Bloomsbury|Montagu House]] was demolished and work on the King's Library Gallery began in 1823. The extension, the East Wing, was completed by 1831. However, following the founding of the [[National Gallery]], London in 1824,<ref group="lower-alpha">Understanding of the foundation of the [[National Gallery]] is complicated by the fact that there is no documented history of the institution. At first the National Gallery functioned effectively as part of the British Museum, to which the [[trustee]]s transferred most of their most important pictures (ex. portraits). Full control was handed over to the National Gallery in 1868, after the [[National Gallery Act 1856]] established the gallery as an independent body.</ref> the proposed Picture Gallery was no longer needed, and the space on the upper floor was given over to the [[Natural history]] collections.<ref>Caygill, Marjorie (2003). ''The Story of the British Museum'', p. 25. {{ISBN|0-7141-2772-8}})</ref>

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.

===Largest building site in Europe (1825–1850)===
[[File:P8282318.1.JPG|thumb|right|Left to Right: [[Montagu House, Bloomsbury|Montagu House]], Townley Gallery and Sir [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]]'s west wing under construction, July 1828]]
As Sir [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]]'s grand [[Neoclassical architecture|neo-classical]] building gradually arose, the museum became a construction site. The [[King's Library]], on the ground floor of the East Wing, was handed over in 1827, and was described as one of the finest rooms in London. Although it was not fully open to the general public until 1857, special openings were arranged during [[The Great Exhibition]] of 1851.
[[File:Mauso03.JPG|thumb|left|The [[Mausoleum at Halicarnassus|Mausoleum of Halicarnassus]] Room, 1920s]]
In 1840, the museum became involved in its first overseas [[excavation (archeology)|excavation]]s, [[Charles Fellows]]'s expedition to [[Xanthos]], in [[Anatolia|Asia Minor]], whence came remains of the tombs of the rulers of ancient [[Lycia]], among them the [[Nereid Monument|Nereid]] and [[Tomb of Payava|Payava]] monuments. In 1857, [[Charles Thomas Newton|Charles Newton]] was to discover the 4th-century BC [[Mausoleum at Halicarnassus]], one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]]. In the 1840s and 1850s the museum supported excavations in [[Assyria]] by [[Austen Henry Layard|A.H. Layard]] and others at sites such as [[Nimrud]] and [[Nineveh]]. Of particular interest to curators was the eventual discovery of [[Ashurbanipal]]'s great library of [[Cuneiform script|cuneiform]] [[Clay tablet|tablets]], which helped to make the museum a focus for [[Assyriology|Assyrian studies]].<ref>Reade, Julian (2004). ''Assyrian Sculpture''. London: The British Museum Press, p. 16.</ref>
[[File:Image-The Grenville Library (1875).jpg|thumb|right|The Grenville Library, 1875]]
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, London|St Pancras]] in 1998.

===Collecting from the wider world (1850–1875)===
The opening of the forecourt in 1852 marked the completion of [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]]'s 1823 plan, but already adjustments were having to be made to cope with the unforeseen growth of the collections. Infill galleries were constructed for [[Assyria]]n sculptures and [[Sydney Smirke]]'s [[British Museum Reading Room|Round Reading Room]], with space for a million books, opened in 1857. Because of continued pressure on space the decision was taken to move natural history to a new building in [[South Kensington]], which would later become the [[Natural History Museum, London|British Museum of Natural History]].

Roughly contemporary with the construction of the new building was the career of a man sometimes called the "second founder" of the British Museum, the Italian librarian [[Anthony Panizzi]]. Under his supervision, the British Museum Library (now part of the [[British Library]]) quintupled in size and became a well-organised institution worthy of being called a national library, the largest library in the world after the [[National Library of Paris]].<ref name="world and its people"/> The [[Quadrangle (architecture)|quadrangle]] at the centre of Smirke's design proved to be a waste of valuable space and was filled at Panizzi's request by a circular Reading Room of cast iron, designed by Smirke's brother, Sydney Smirke.<ref>{{cite web|author=Dickens Charles Jr.|author-link=Charles Dickens Jr.|year=1879|title=Museum, British|work=[[Dickens's Dictionary of London]]|url=http://www.victorianlondon.org/dickens/dickens-mus.htm|access-date=22 August 2007|quote=Beyond the new Lycian room is the READING ROOM: [...]; circular structure; original suggestion of Thomas Watts, improved by A. (Sir A.) Panizzi, carried out by Mr. Sidney Smirke; [...]|archive-date=27 September 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070927203001/http://www.victorianlondon.org/dickens/dickens-mus.htm|url-status=live}}</ref>

Until the mid-19th century, the museum's collections were relatively circumscribed but, in 1851, with the appointment to the staff of [[Augustus Wollaston Franks]] to curate the collections, the museum began for the first time to collect British and European medieval antiquities, [[prehistory]], branching out into Asia and diversifying its holdings of [[ethnography]]. A real coup for the museum was the purchase in 1867, over French objections, of the [[Louis, Duke of Blacas|Duke of Blacas]]'s wide-ranging and valuable collection of antiquities. Overseas excavations continued and [[John Turtle Wood]] discovered the remains of the 4th&nbsp;century&nbsp;BC [[Temple of Artemis]] at [[Ephesus]], another [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World|Wonder of the Ancient World]].<ref>South from Ephesus – An Escape From The Tyranny of Western Art, pp. 33–34,(Brian Sewell, 2002, {{ISBN|1-903933-16-1}})</ref>

===Scholarship and legacies (1875–1900)===
The natural history collections were an integral part of the British Museum until their removal to the new British Museum of Natural History in 1887, nowadays the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] in [[South Kensington]]. With the departure and the completion of the new White Wing (fronting Montague Street) in 1884, more space was available for antiquities and [[ethnography]] and the library could further expand. This was a time of innovation as electric lighting was introduced in the Reading Room and exhibition galleries.<ref>{{cite news| title=The Electric Light in the British Museum| work=[[The New York Times]]| date=18 December 1879| url=https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1879/12/18/80703696.pdf |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20221009/https://timesmachine.nytimes.com/timesmachine/1879/12/18/80703696.pdf |archive-date=9 October 2022 |url-status=live| access-date=15 January 2016}}</ref>

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, [[Augustus Wollaston Franks|A. W. Franks]], was followed by an immense bequest of 3,300 [[Ring (finger)|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]].<ref>Caygill, Marjorie (2006). ''The British Museum: 250 Years''. London: The British Museum Press, p. 5.</ref>

In 1898 Baron [[Ferdinand de Rothschild]] bequeathed the [[Waddesdon Bequest]], the glittering contents from his New Smoking Room at [[Waddesdon Manor]]. This consisted of almost 300 pieces of ''[[objets d'art]] et de vertu'' which included exquisite examples of jewellery, plate, enamel, carvings, glass and [[maiolica]], among them the [[Holy Thorn Reliquary]], probably created in the 1390s in Paris for [[John, Duke of Berry]]. The collection was in the tradition of a ''[[Schatzkammer]]'' such as those formed by the [[Renaissance]] princes of Europe.<ref name="rothschild">{{cite web| title=Creating a Great Museum: Early Collectors and The British Museum| first=Marjorie| last=Caygill| publisher=Fathom| url=http://www.fathom.com/course/21701728/session4.html| access-date=13 November 2007| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071006091742/http://www.fathom.com/course/21701728/session4.html| archive-date=6 October 2007| df=dmy-all}}</ref> Baron Ferdinand's will was most specific, and failure to observe the terms would make it void, the collection should be
{{blockquote|placed in a special room to be called the Waddesdon Bequest Room separate and apart from the other contents of the Museum and thenceforth for ever thereafter, keep the same in such room or in some other room to be substituted for it.<ref name="rothschild"/>}} These terms are still observed, and the collection occupies room 2a.

===New century, new building (1900–1925)===
[[File:England; London - The British Museum, Archive King Edward VII's Galleries ~ North Wing (1914).2.jpg|thumb|Opening of The North Wing, King [[Edward VII]]'s Galleries, 1914]]
By the last years of the 19th century, The British Museum's collections had increased to the extent that its building was no longer large enough. In 1895 the trustees purchased the 69 houses surrounding the museum with the intention of demolishing them and building around the west, north and east sides of the museum. The first stage was the construction of the northern wing beginning 1906.
[[File:Woolley holding the hardened plaster mold of a lyre.jpg|thumb|left|Sir [[Leonard Woolley]] holding a plaster cast of the [[Sumer]]ian [[Queen's Lyre]], 1922.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Treasures from the royal tombs of Ur |publisher=University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology |year=1998 |editor-last=Zettler |editor-first=Richard L. |pages=31 |editor-last2=Horne |editor-first2=Lee}}</ref>]]
All the while, the collections kept growing. [[Emil Torday]] collected in Central Africa, [[Marc Aurel Stein|Aurel Stein]] in Central Asia, [[David George Hogarth|D. G. Hogarth]], [[Leonard Woolley]] and [[T. E. Lawrence]] excavated at [[Carchemish]]. Around this time, the American collector and philanthropist [[J. Pierpont Morgan]] donated a substantial number of objects to the museum,<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?people=101677&peoA=101677-3-9| title=British Museum – Collection search: You searched for| work=British Museum| access-date=22 July 2016| archive-date=5 February 2016| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160205075813/http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/collection_online/search.aspx?people=101677&peoA=101677-3-9| url-status=live}}</ref> including [[William Greenwell]]'s collection of prehistoric artefacts from across Europe which he had purchased for £10,000 in 1908. Morgan had also acquired a major part of Sir [[John Evans (archaeologist)|John Evans]]'s coin collection, which was later sold to the museum by his son [[J. P. Morgan Jr.]] in 1915. In 1918, because of the threat of wartime bombing, some objects were evacuated via the [[London Post Office Railway]] to Holborn, the [[National Library of Wales]] (Aberystwyth) and a country house near [[Malvern, Worcestershire|Malvern]]. On the return of antiquities from wartime storage in 1919 some objects were found to have deteriorated. A conservation laboratory was set up in May 1920 and became a permanent department in 1931. It is today the oldest in continuous existence.<ref>Permanent establishment of the Research Laboratory (now the oldest such establishment in continuous existence) {{cite web| url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/conservation_and_scientific/history.aspx| title=History| work=British Museum| access-date=22 July 2016| archive-date=28 November 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111128131604/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/conservation_and_scientific/history.aspx| url-status=live}}</ref> In 1923, the British Museum welcomed over one million visitors.

===Disruption and reconstruction (1925–1950)===
New [[mezzanine]] floors were constructed and book stacks rebuilt in an attempt to cope with the flood of books. In 1931, the art dealer Sir [[Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen of Millbank|Joseph Duveen]] offered funds to build a gallery for the [[Elgin Marbles|Parthenon sculptures]]. Designed by the American architect [[John Russell Pope]], it was completed in 1938. The appearance of the exhibition galleries began to change as dark Victorian reds gave way to modern pastel shades.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|1=Ashmole, the Keeper of the Greek and Roman Antiquities appreciated the original top-lighting of these galleries and removed the Victorian colour scheme, commenting: <blockquote>The old Elgin Gallery was painted a deep terracotta red, which, though in some ways satisfactory, diminished its apparent size, and was apt to produce a depressing effect on the visitor. It was decided to experiment with lighter colours, and the walls of the large room were painted with what was, at its first application, a pure cold white, but which after a year's exposure had unfortunately yellowed. The small Elgin Room was painted with pure white tinted with prussian blue, and the Room of the metopes was painted with pure white tinted with cobalt blue and black; it was necessary, for practical reasons, to colour all the dadoes a darker colour<ref>Quoted Ashmole (1994), 125</ref></blockquote>}}

Following the retirement of George Francis Hill as Director and Principal Librarian in 1936, he was succeeded by [[John Forsdyke]].

As tensions with [[Nazi Germany]] developed and it appeared that war may be imminent Forsdyke came to the view that with the likelihood of far worse air-raids than [[German bombing of Britain, 1914–1918|that experienced in World War I]] that the museum had to make preparations to remove its most valuable items to secure locations. Following the [[Munich Agreement|Munich crisis]] Forsdyke ordered 3,300 No-Nail Boxes and stored them in the basement of the Duveen Gallery. At the same time he began identifying and securing suitable locations. As a result, the museum was able to quickly commence relocating selected items on 24 August 1939, (a mere day after the [[Home Secretary]] advised them to do so), to secure basements, [[English country house|country houses]], [[Aldwych tube station]] and the [[National Library of Wales]].<ref name=Shenton>{{cite book |last= Shenton |first= Caroline |year= 2021 |title= National Treasures: Saving the Nation's Art in World War II |location= London |publisher= John Murray |pages= 60–64, 233–238 |type= Hardback |isbn= 978-1-529-38743-8}}</ref> Many items were relocated in early 1942 from their initial dispersal locations to a newly developed facility at [[Westwood Quarry]] in [[Wiltshire]].<ref name= Shenton/>
The evacuation was timely, for in 1940 the Duveen Gallery was severely damaged by bombing.<ref>Cook, B. F. (2005). ''The Elgin Marbles''. London: The British Museum Press, p. 92.</ref> Meanwhile, prior to the war, the Nazis had sent a researcher to the British Museum for several years with the aim of "compiling an anti-Semitic history of Anglo-Jewry".<ref name="germanlibrariesaronsfeld">{{cite journal|last1=Aronsfeld|first1=C. C.|title=Judaica and Hebraica in German libraries: a review article|journal=Journal of Librarianship and Information Science|date=April 1984|volume=16|issue=2|pages=129–132|doi=10.1177/096100068401600204|s2cid=60789240|quote=The Nazis, in fact, went to great lengths in exploiting Jewish (as well as general) literature. For instance, they arranged for a German researcher to spend several years at the British Museum for the purpose of compiling an anti-Semitic history of Anglo-Jewry, which, at the time, with its 562 pages and a bibliography of some 600 items, was an effort more ambitious than hitherto attempted.}}</ref>

After the war, the museum continued to collect from all countries and all centuries: among the most spectacular additions were the 2600 BC [[Mesopotamia]]n treasure from [[Ur]], discovered during [[Leonard Woolley]]'s 1922–34 excavations. Gold, silver and [[garnet]] grave goods from the [[Anglo-Saxons|Anglo-Saxon]] ship burial at [[Sutton Hoo]] (1939) and late Roman silver tableware from [[Mildenhall Treasure|Mildenhall]], Suffolk (1946). The immediate [[post-war]] years were taken up with the return of the collections from protection and the restoration of the museum after [[the Blitz]]. Work also began on restoring the damaged Duveen Gallery.

===New public face (1950–1975)===
[[File:The Duveen Gallery (1980s).jpg|thumb|The re-opened [[Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen|Duveen]] Gallery, 1980]]
In 1953, the museum celebrated its [[200 (number)|bicentenary]]. Many changes followed: the first full-time in-house designer and publications officer were appointed in 1964, the [[The British Museum Friends|Friends]] organisation was set up in 1968, an Education Service established in 1970 and publishing house in 1973. The [[British Museum Act 1963]] introduced administrative reforms. It became easier to lend objects, the constitution of the [[board of trustees]] changed and the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] became fully independent. By 1959 the [[British Museum Department of Coins and Medals|Coins and Medals]] office suite, completely destroyed during the war, was rebuilt and re-opened, attention turned towards the gallery work with new tastes in design leading to the remodelling of [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke's]] Classical and Near Eastern galleries.<ref>Wilson, David M. (2002). ''The British Museum: A History''. London: The British Museum Press, p. 270.</ref> In 1962 the Duveen Gallery was finally restored and the Parthenon Sculptures were moved back into it, once again at the heart of the museum.{{refn|group=lower-alpha|1=Ashmole had never liked the Duveen Gallery:

<blockquote>It is, I suppose, not positively bad, but it could have been infinitely better. It is pretentious, in that it uses the ancient Marbles to decorate itself. This is a long outmoded idea, and the exact opposite of what a sculpture gallery should do. And, although it incorporates them, it is out of scale, and tends to dwarf them with its bogus Doric features, including those columns, supporting almost nothing which would have made an ancient Greek artist architect wince. The source of daylight is too high above the sculptures, a fault that is only concealed by the amount of reflection from the pinkish marble walls. These are too similar in colour to the marbles... These half-dozen elementary errors were pointed out by everyone in the Museum, and by many scholars outside, when the building was projected.<ref>Ashmole (1994), 126.</ref></blockquote>

It was not until the 1980s that the installation of a lighting scheme removed his greatest criticism of the building.}}

By the 1970s, the museum was again expanding. More services for the public were introduced; visitor numbers soared, with the temporary exhibition "Treasures of [[Tutankhamun]]" in 1972, attracting 1,694,117 visitors, the most successful in British history. In the same year the [[British Library Act 1972]] was passed, separating the collection of manuscripts and printed books from the British Museum. This left the museum with antiquities; coins, medals and paper money; prints and drawings; and [[ethnography]]. A pressing problem was finding space for additions to the library which now required an extra {{convert|1+1/4|mi}} of shelving each year. The government suggested a site at [[St Pancras, London|St Pancras]] for the new British Library but the books did not leave the museum until 1997.

===Great Court emerges (1975–2000)===
The departure of the British Library to a new site at St Pancras, finally achieved in 1998, provided the space needed for the books. It also created the opportunity to redevelop the vacant space in [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke's]] 19th-century central quadrangle into the [[Queen Elizabeth II Great Court]] – the largest covered square in Europe – which opened in 2000. The ethnography collections, which had been housed in the short-lived [[Museum of Mankind]] at [[6 Burlington Gardens]] from 1970, were returned to new purpose-built galleries in the museum in 2000.

The museum again readjusted its collecting policies as interest in "modern" objects: prints, drawings, medals and the decorative arts reawakened. Ethnographical fieldwork was carried out in places as diverse as [[New Guinea]], [[Madagascar]], [[Romania]], [[Guatemala]] and [[Indonesia]] and there were excavations in the [[Near East]], Egypt, Sudan and the UK. The [[Weston family|Weston]] Gallery of [[Roman Britain]], opened in 1997, displayed a number of recently discovered [[hoard]]s which demonstrated the richness of what had been considered an unimportant part of the [[Roman Empire]]. The museum turned increasingly towards private funds for buildings, acquisitions and other purposes.<ref>Wilson, David M. (2002). ''The British Museum: A History''. London: The British Museum Press, p. 327.</ref> In 2000, the British Museum was awarded National Heritage [[Museum of the Year]].<ref>{{citation |title=Awards and Winners |url=http://nationalheritage.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/MOYA-list1.pdf |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190628212635/http://nationalheritage.org.uk/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2018/07/MOYA-list1.pdf |archive-date=28 June 2019 |website=National Heritage |accessdate=28 June 2019}}</ref>

===British Museum today===
[[File:British Museum Great Court, London, UK - Diliff.jpg|thumb|upright=1.2|The [[Queen Elizabeth II Great Court|Great Court]] was developed in 2001 and surrounds the original [[British Museum Reading Room|Reading Room]].]]
Today the museum no longer houses collections of [[natural history]], and the books and manuscripts it once held now form part of the independent [[British Library]]. The museum nevertheless preserves its universality in its collections of artefacts representing the cultures of the world, ancient and modern. The original 1753 collection has grown to over 13&nbsp;million objects at the British Museum, 70&nbsp;million at the [[Natural History Museum, London|Natural History Museum]] and 150&nbsp;million at the British Library.

The [[British Museum Reading Room|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, London|St Pancras]]. Today it has been transformed into the Walter and Leonore [[Annenberg Foundation|Annenberg]] Centre.

With the bookstacks in the central courtyard of the museum empty, the demolition for [[Lord Foster]]'s glass-roofed [[Queen Elizabeth II Great Court|Great Court]] could begin. The Great Court, opened in 2000, while undoubtedly improving circulation around the museum, was criticised for having a lack of exhibition space at a time when the museum was in serious financial difficulties and many galleries were closed to the public. At the same time the African collections that had been temporarily housed in 6 Burlington Gardens were given a new gallery in the North Wing funded by the [[David Sainsbury, Baron Sainsbury of Turville|Sainsbury]] family – with the donation valued at £25&nbsp;million.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/africa/room_25_africa.aspx |title=Room 25: Africa |publisher=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=30 March 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100330130709/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/galleries/africa/room_25_africa.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

The museum's [[online database]] had nearly 4,500,000 individual object entries in 2,000,000 records at the start of 2023.<ref>{{cite web |title=Explore the collection |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection |website=British Museum |access-date=9 September 2023 |archive-date=24 September 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150924170437/http://www.britishmuseum.org/research/search_the_collection_database/term_details.aspx?searchTerm=bernard&orig=%2Fresearch%2Fsearch_the_collection_database%2Fsearch_results_provenance.aspx&personId=101004&personAssociation=&termDisplay=Grdseloff%2C+Bernard&sortby=Bernard |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2022&ndash;23 there were 27 million visits to the website.<ref>{{Cite book |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/governance |title=The British Museum Review: 2022-23 |date=2023 |publisher=The British Museum |chapter=At a glance }}</ref> This compares with 19.5&nbsp;millions website visits in 2013.<ref name="BBC_museum#">{{Cite news |date=14 January 2014 |title=British Museum gets record 6.7m visitors for 2013 |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-25729616 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140330134230/http://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-25729616 |archive-date=30 March 2014 |access-date=20 March 2014 |newspaper=BBC News}}</ref>

There were 5,820,860 visits to the museum in 2023, a 42% increase on 2022. The museum was the most visited tourist attraction in Britain in 2023. The number of visits, however, has not recovered to the level reached before the Covid pandemic.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Nanji |first=Noor |date=18 March 2024 |title=British Museum is the most-visited UK attraction again |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-london-68577122 |access-date=18 June 2024 |work=BBC News}}</ref>

A number of [[List of films shot at the British Museum|films have been shot at the British Museum]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness Filming Locations |url=https://findthatlocation.com/film-title/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness%20/location/951 |access-date=17 May 2022 |website=Find that Location |archive-date=25 June 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220625144626/https://findthatlocation.com/film-title/doctor-strange-in-the-multiverse-of-madness%20/location/951 |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Governance==

=== Director ===
The British Museum is a [[non-departmental public body]] sponsored by the [[Department for Culture, Media and Sport]] through a three-year funding agreement. Its head is the [[Director of the British Museum]]. The British Museum was run from its inception by a 'principal librarian' (when the book collections were still part of the museum), a role that was renamed 'director and principal librarian' in 1898, and 'director' in 1973 (on the separation of the British Library).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/about_us/management_and_governance/directors.aspx |title=Directors |publisher=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=1 July 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070701201603/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/about_us/management_and_governance/directors.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== Trustees ===
A board of [[List of trustees of the British Museum|25 trustees]] (with the director as their [[Chief accounting officer|accounting officer]] for the purposes of reporting to Government) is responsible for the general management and control of the museum, in accordance with the [[British Museum Act]] 1963 and the [[Museums and Galleries Act 1992]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/about_us/management_and_governance/museum_governance.aspx |title=Museum governance |publisher=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070823153928/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/about_us/management_and_governance/museum_governance.aspx |archive-date=23 August 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Prior to the 1963 Act, it was chaired by the [[Archbishop of Canterbury]], the [[Lord Chancellor]] and the [[Speaker of the House of Commons (United Kingdom)|Speaker of the House of Commons]]. Of the 25 trustees, 15 are appointed by the Prime Minister, one by the Crown, four by relevant industry bodies, with the remaining five appointed by other trustees.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 June 2025 |title=Sir Jony Ive appointed as new Trustee of the British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/press/press-releases/sir-jony-ive-appointed-new-trustee-british-museum |website=British Museum}}</ref> The board was formed on the museum's inception to [[trust law|hold its collections in trust]] for the nation without actually owning them themselves, and now fulfil a mainly advisory role. [[Trustee]] appointments are governed by the regulatory framework set out in the code of practice on public appointments issued by the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/management/trustees/becoming_a_trustee.aspx |title=Becoming a Trustee |publisher=British Museum |access-date=1 March 2014 |archive-date=4 January 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140104021037/http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/management/trustees/becoming_a_trustee.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Building==
[[File:British Museum from NE 2 (cropped).JPG|thumb|The museum's main entrance]]
The [[Greek Revival architecture|Greek Revival]] façade facing Great Russell Street is a characteristic building of Sir [[Robert Smirke (architect)|Robert Smirke]], with 43 columns in the [[Ionic order]] {{convert|45|ft|m|abbr=on}} high, closely based on those of the temple of [[Athena|Athena Polias]] at [[Priene]] in [[Asia Minor]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/architecture|title=Architecture &#124; British Museum |work=The British Museum }}</ref> The [[pediment]] over the main entrance is decorated by sculptures by Sir [[Richard Westmacott]] depicting ''The Progress of Civilisation'', consisting of fifteen [[Allegory|allegorical]] figures, installed in 1852.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Richard Westmacott's Pediment Sculptures for the British Museum |url=https://heni.com/talks/britishmuseum |access-date=2025-02-28 |website=HENI Talks}}</ref>

The construction commenced around the courtyard with the East Wing ([[King's Library]]) in 1823–1828, followed by the North Wing in 1833–1838, which originally housed among other galleries a reading room, now the Wellcome Gallery. Work was also progressing on the northern half of the West Wing (The Egyptian Sculpture Gallery) 1826–1831, with [[Montagu House, Bloomsbury|Montagu House]] demolished in 1842 to make room for the final part of the West Wing, completed in 1846, and the South Wing with its great colonnade, initiated in 1843 and completed in 1847, when the Front Hall and Great Staircase were opened to the public.<ref>Building the British Museum, Marjorie Caygill & Christopher Date 1999</ref> The museum is faced with [[Portland stone]], but the perimeter walls and other parts of the building were built using [[Haytor]] granite from Dartmoor in South Devon, transported via the unique [[Haytor Granite Tramway]].<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.es.ucl.ac.uk/department/collections/RockRoom/building.htm| title=Building London| publisher=[[University College London]]| access-date=4 July 2010| url-status=dead| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091207201115/http://www.es.ucl.ac.uk/department/collections/RockRoom/building.htm| archive-date=7 December 2009| df=dmy-all}}</ref>
[[File:BM; 'MF' RM1 - The King's Library, Enlightenment 1 'Discovering the world in the 18th Century ~ View South.jpg|The Enlightenment Gallery at museum, which formerly held the [[King's Library]], 2007|thumb|left]]
[[File:BM; Archives - Impression of the proposed extension.jpg|thumb|left|Proposed British Museum Extension, 1906]]
[[File:BM WCEC July 2015.JPG|thumb|left|External view of the World Conservation and Exhibition Centre at the museum, 2015]]

In 1846 Robert Smirke was replaced as the museum's architect by his brother [[Sydney Smirke]], whose major addition was the [[British Museum Reading Room|Round Reading Room]] 1854–1857; at {{convert|140|ft|m}} in diameter it was then the second widest [[dome]] in the world, the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]] in Rome being slightly wider.

The next major addition was the White Wing 1882–1884 added behind the eastern end of the South Front, the architect being Sir [[John Taylor (architect)|John Taylor]].

In 1895, Parliament gave the museum trustees a loan of £200,000 to purchase from the [[Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford|Duke of Bedford]] all 69 houses which backed onto the museum building in the five surrounding streets – [[Great Russell Street]], Montague Street, Montague Place, [[Bedford Square]] and [[Bloomsbury Street]].<ref>Title deed of the 'perimeter properties' of The British Museum, BM Archives CA TD</ref> The trustees planned to demolish these houses and to build around the west, north and east sides of the museum new galleries that would completely fill the block on which the museum stands. The architect Sir [[John James Burnet]] was petitioned to put forward ambitious long-term plans to extend the building on all three sides. Most of the houses in Montague Place were knocked down a few years after the sale. Of this grand plan only the Edward VII galleries in the centre of the North Front were ever constructed, these were built 1906–14 to the design by J.J. Burnet, and opened by King [[George V]] and Queen [[Mary of Teck|Mary]] in 1914. They now house the museum's collections of Prints and Drawings and Oriental Antiquities. There was not enough money to put up more new buildings, and so the houses in the other streets are nearly all still standing.

The [[Joseph Duveen, 1st Baron Duveen of Millbank|Duveen]] Gallery, sited to the west of the Egyptian, Greek & Assyrian sculpture galleries, was designed to house the Elgin Marbles by the American [[Beaux-Arts architecture|Beaux-Arts]] architect [[John Russell Pope]]. Although completed in 1938, it was hit by a bomb in 1940 and remained semi-derelict for 22 years, before reopening in 1962. Other areas damaged during [[World War II]] bombing included: in September 1940 two unexploded bombs hit the Edward VII galleries, the King's Library received a direct hit from a high explosive bomb, incendiaries fell on the dome of the Round Reading Room but did little damage; on the night of 10 to 11 May 1941 several incendiaries fell on the south-west corner of the museum, destroying the book stack and 150,000 books in the courtyard and the galleries around the top of the Great Staircase – this damage was not fully repaired until the early 1960s.<ref>pp. 65–66, Building the British Museum, Marjorie Caygill & Christopher Date 1999</ref>

[[File:British Museum Great Court roof.jpg|thumb|upright|The [[British Museum Reading Room|Reading Room]] and [[Queen Elizabeth II Great Court|Great Court]] roof, 2005]]
The Queen [[Elizabeth II]] Great Court is a covered square at the centre of the British Museum designed by the engineers [[Buro Happold]] and the architects [[Foster and Partners]].<ref>Norman Foster and the British Museum, Norman Foster, Deyan Sudjic & Spencer de Grey 2001</ref> The Great Court opened in December 2000 and is the largest covered square in Europe. The roof is a glass and steel construction, built by an Austrian steelwork company,<ref name="test">{{cite web| url=http://www.waagner-biro.at/references/#/period/from-2001/reference/the-british-museum/| title=British Museum Project| publisher=Waagner Biro| access-date=22 October 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110821155633/http://www.waagner-biro.at/references#/period/from-2001/reference/the-british-museum/| archive-date=21 August 2011| url-status=dead}}</ref> with 1,656 uniquely shaped panes of glass. At the centre of the Great Court is the Reading Room vacated by the British Library, its functions now moved to St Pancras.

Today, the British Museum has grown to become one of the largest museums in the world, covering an area of over 92,000&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup> (990,000 sq. ft).<ref name="britishmuseum.org">{{cite web |title=About us |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/management/about_us.aspx |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111213160703/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/management/about_us.aspx |archive-date=13 December 2011 |access-date=26 March 2013 |work=British Museum}}</ref>{{failed verification|date=April 2016}}<ref>[http://planningonline.camden.gov.uk/MULTIWAM/doc/Supporting%20Documents-2692368.pdf?extension=.pdf&id=2692368&location=VOLUME3&contentType=application/pdf&pageCount=1]{{dead link|date=January 2016}}</ref> In addition to 21,600&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup> (232,000 sq. ft)<ref name="museumsassociation.org">{{cite web |url=http://www.museumsassociation.org/news/26012011-cross-calls-for-new-debate-on-stored-collections |title=Cross calls for new debate on stored collections |publisher=Museums Association |date=26 January 2011 |access-date=26 June 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120526102156/http://www.museumsassociation.org/news/26012011-cross-calls-for-new-debate-on-stored-collections |archive-date=26 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> of on-site storage space, and 9,400&nbsp;m<sup>2</sup> (101,000 sq. ft)<ref name="museumsassociation.org" /> of external storage space. Altogether, the British Museum showcases on public display less than 1%<ref name="museumsassociation.org" /> of its entire collection, approximately 50,000 items.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=60974&CtNode=10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070928061744/http://www.taiwanheadlines.gov.tw/ct.asp?xItem=60974&CtNode=10 |url-status=dead |archive-date=28 September 2007 |title=British Museum feels privileged to put exhibition in Taiwan |first1=Jennifer |last1=Huang |first2=Deborah |last2=Kuo |date=31 January 2007 |work=Taiwan Headlines |publisher=Government Information Office, Republic of China (Taiwan) |access-date=13 September 2010 }}</ref>

There are nearly one hundred galleries open to the public, representing {{convert|2|mi|km}} of exhibition space, although the less popular ones have restricted opening times. However, the lack of a large temporary exhibition space led to the £135&nbsp;million World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre to provide one and to concentrate all the museum's conservation facilities into one centre. This project was announced in July 2007, with the architects [[Richard Rogers|Rogers Stirk Harbour and Partners]]. It was granted planning permission in December 2009 and was completed in time for the Viking exhibition in March 2014.<ref>{{cite news| first=Charlotte| last=Higgins| title=British Museum plans £100m complex for blockbusters| url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2007/jul/05/artnews.art| work=The Guardian| page=10| date=5 July 2007| access-date=5 July 2007| location=London| archive-date=25 August 2007| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070825193203/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/heritage/story/0,,2118794,00.html| url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.designweek.co.uk/news/british-museum-unveils-new-135-million-wing/3038064.article| title=British Museum unveils new £135 million wing| work=[[Design Week]]| date=7 March 2014| access-date=27 June 2014| archive-date=13 July 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140713025049/http://www.designweek.co.uk/news/british-museum-unveils-new-135-million-wing/3038064.article| url-status=live}}</ref> In 2017, the World Conservation and Exhibitions Centre was shortlisted for the [[Stirling Prize]] for excellence in architecture.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Wainwright|first1=Oliver|title=Stirling prize 2017 shortlist: from a cool crowdfunded pier to a giant hole in the ground|url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/jul/20/stirling-prize-2017-shortlist-glasgow-british-museum|access-date=22 September 2022|work=The Guardian|date=19 July 2017|archive-date=22 September 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220922093848/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2017/jul/20/stirling-prize-2017-shortlist-glasgow-british-museum|url-status=live}}</ref>

[[Blythe House]] in West Kensington was used by the museum for off-site storage of small and medium-sized artefacts until the British Museum Archeological Collection, a purpose-built storage facility near [[Reading, Berkshire|Reading]], was opened in 2024.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Hardaker |first=Alistair |date=2024-06-06 |title=British Museum to progress Masterplan with official opening of BM_ARC |url=https://museumsandheritage.com/advisor/posts/british-museum-progresses-masterplan-with-official-opening-of-bm-arc/ |access-date=2025-02-21 |website=Museums + Heritage}}</ref> Another site Franks House in East London is used for storage and work on the "Early Prehistory" – [[Palaeolithic]] and [[Mesolithic]] – and some other collections.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/prehistory_and_europe/contact_and_enquiries.aspx |title=Franks House |publisher=British Museum |access-date=15 January 2014 |archive-date=3 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203002256/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/prehistory_and_europe/contact_and_enquiries.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

==Departments==
===Department of Egypt and Sudan===
[[File:TombofNebamun-2.jpg|thumb|upright=0.8|Room 61 – The famous [[fresco-secco]] 'Pond in a Garden' from the [[Tomb of Nebamun]], {{circa|1350 BC}}]]
[[File:Rosetta Stone.JPG|thumb|upright=0.8|Room 4 – The [[Rosetta Stone]], key to the decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, 196 BC]]
The British Museum houses a collection of over 100,000 [[Art of Ancient Egypt|Egyptian antiquities]] from all periods and many sites of importance in [[Ancient Egypt|Egypt]] and the [[History of Sudan|Sudan]].<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/ancient_egypt_and_sudan/history_of_the_collection/development_of_the_collection/development_since_world_war_ii.aspx |title=Development since World War II (1945 – ) |work=British Museum |access-date=26 March 2013 |archive-date=3 February 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120203000546/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/ancient_egypt_and_sudan/history_of_the_collection/development_of_the_collection/development_since_world_war_ii.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> Together, they illustrate every aspect of the cultures of the [[Nile]] Valley (including [[Nubia]]), from the [[Predynastic Egypt|Predynastic]] [[Neolithic]] period ({{circa|10,000 [[Anno Domini|BC]]}}) through [[Coptic Orthodox Church|Coptic (Christian)]] times (12th century [[Anno Domini|AD]]), and up to the present day, a time-span over 11,000 years.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/departments/ancient_egypt_and_sudan.aspx |title=Department of Egypt and Sudan |work=British Museum |access-date=26 March 2019 |archive-date=26 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326112938/https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/departments/ancient_egypt_and_sudan.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

[[Art of Ancient Egypt|Egyptian antiquities]] have formed part of the British Museum collection ever since its foundation in 1753 after receiving 160 Egyptian objects<ref>Reported in the list of Sloane's collection given to his executors in 1753. Reproduced in MacGregor (1994a:29)</ref> from Sir [[Hans Sloane]]. After the defeat of the [[French invasion of Egypt and Syria|French forces]] under [[Napoleon]] at the [[Battle of the Nile]] in 1801, the Egyptian antiquities collected were confiscated by the [[British army]] and presented to the British Museum in 1803. These works, which included the famed [[Rosetta Stone]], were the first important group of large sculptures to be acquired by the museum. Thereafter, the UK appointed [[Henry Salt (Egyptologist)|Henry Salt]] as [[Consul general|consul]] in Egypt who amassed a huge collection of antiquities, some of which were assembled and transported with great ingenuity by the famous Italian explorer [[Giovanni Battista Belzoni|Giovanni Belzoni]]. Most of the antiquities Salt collected were purchased by the British Museum and the [[Musée du Louvre]].

By 1866, the collection consisted of some 10,000 objects. Antiquities from excavations started to come to the museum in the latter part of the 19th century as a result of the work of the [[Egypt Exploration Society|Egypt Exploration Fund]] under the efforts of [[E. A. Wallis Budge]]. Over the years more than 11,000 objects came from this source, including pieces from [[Amarna]], [[Bubastis]] and [[Deir el-Bahari]]. Other organisations and individuals also excavated and donated objects to the British Museum, including [[Flinders Petrie]]'s Egypt Research Account and the British School of Archaeology in Egypt, as well as the [[University of Oxford]] Expedition to [[Kawa (Sudan)|Kawa]] and [[Faras]] in Sudan.
[[File:England; London - The British Museum, Egypt Egyptian Sculpture ~ Colossal granite head of Amenhotep III (Room 4).2.JPG|thumb|upright|Room 4 – [[Colossal red granite statue of Amenhotep III]], 1350 BC]]
Active support by the museum for excavations in Egypt continued to result in important acquisitions throughout the 20th century until changes in antiquities laws in Egypt led to the suspension of policies allowing finds to be exported, although divisions still continue in Sudan. The British Museum conducted its own excavations in Egypt where it received divisions of finds, including [[Asyut]] (1907), [[Mostagedda]] and Matmar (1920s), [[Ashmunein]] (1980s) and sites in Sudan such as [[Soba (city)|Soba]], Kawa and the Northern [[Dongola Reach]] (1990s). The size of the Egyptian collections now stand at over 110,000 objects.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/spencer.htm |title=A British Museum Egyptologist's View: The Return of Egyptian Antiquities is Not an Issue |publisher=Touregypt |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=28 October 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191028101814/http://www.touregypt.net/featurestories/spencer.htm |url-status=live }}</ref>

In autumn 2001, the eight million objects forming the museum's permanent collection were further expanded by the addition of six million objects from the Wendorf Collection of [[Predynastic Egypt|Egyptian]] and [[History of Sudan|Sudanese]] [[Prehistory]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/aes/aesnot.html |title=Ancient Egypt and Sudan |work=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070206000328/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/aes/aesnot.html |archive-date=6 February 2007 }}</ref> These were donated by Professor [[Fred Wendorf]] of [[Southern Methodist University]] in [[Texas]], and comprise the entire collection of artefacts and environmental remains from his excavations at Prehistoric sites in the [[Sahara Desert]] between 1963 and 1997. Other fieldwork collections have recently come from Dietrich and Rosemarie Klemm ([[University of Munich]]) and William Adams ([[University of Kentucky]]).

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 [[Mummy|mummies]] and coffins, the largest outside [[Egyptian Museum|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.

Highlights of the collections include:

'''Predynastic and Early Dynastic period ({{Circa|6000 BC|2690 BC}})'''
* Mummy of [[Gebelein predynastic mummies|Ginger]] and five other individuals from Gebelein ({{Circa|3400 BC}})
* Flint knife with an ivory handle (known as the ''Pit-Rivers Knife''), Sheikh Hamada, Egypt ({{Circa|3100 BC}})
* The [[Battlefield Palette]] and [[Hunters Palette]], two cosmetic palettes with complex decorative schemes ({{Circa|3100 BC}})
* Ivory statuette of a king, from the early temple at [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]], Egypt ({{Circa|3000 BC}})
* [[Den (pharaoh)|King Den]]'s [[MacGregor plaque|sandal label]] from Abydos, mid-1st Dynasty ({{Circa|2985 BC}})
* Stela of King [[Peribsen]], Abydos ({{Circa|2720–2710 BC}})

'''Old Kingdom (2690–2181 BC)'''
* Artefacts from the tomb of King [[Khasekhemwy]] from the 2nd Dynasty (2690 BC)
* Granite statue of Ankhwa, the shipbuilder, [[Saqqara]], Egypt, 3rd Dynasty (c. 2650 BC)
* Several of the original casing stones from the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]], one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]] (c. 2570 BC)
* Small [[dolerite]] ball and copper hook from the Queen's Chamber of the [[Great Pyramid of Giza]], 4th Dynasty (c. 2570 BC)
* Limestone false door of [[Ptahshepses]], Saqqara (2440 BC)
* [[Abusir Papyri]], some of the oldest papyri from ancient Egypt, Abusir (2400 BC)
* Wooden tomb statue of Tjeti, 5th to 6th Dynasty (c. 2345–2181 BC)
* Statue of [[Nenkhefetkai]] from [[Dishasha]], 6th Dynasty (c. 2200 BC)

'''Middle Kingdom (2134–1690 BC)'''
* Inner and outer coffin of Sebekhetepi, [[Beni Hasan]] (c. 2125–1795 BC)
* Quartzite statue of Ankhrekhu, 12th Dynasty (1985–1795 BC)
* Limestone stela of Heqaib, [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]], Egypt, 12th Dynasty (1990–1750 BC)
* Block statue and stela of Sahathor, 12th Dynasty, reign of [[Amenemhat II]] (1922–1878 BC)
* Limestone statue and stelae from the offering chapel of Inyotef, [[Abydos, Egypt|Abydos]], 12th Dynasty ({{circa|1920 BC}})
* Stela of Samontu, Abydos (1910 BC)
* Reliefs from the tomb of [[Djehutyhotep (chief of Teh-khet)|Djehutyhotep]], Deir-el-Bersha (1878–1855 BC)
* Three Granite statues of [[Senwosret III]], [[Deir el-Bahri]] (1850 BC)
* Statue of Rehuankh, Abydos (1850–1830 BC)
* Colossal head of [[Amenemhat III]], Bubastis (1800 BC)
* Stela of Nebipusenwosret, Abydos (1800 BC)

'''Second Intermediate Period''' (1650–1550 BC)
* Coffin of King [[Nubkheperre Intef]], Thebes (1570 BC)
* The famous [[Rhind Mathematical Papyrus]], an early example of [[Ancient Egyptian mathematics]], [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] (1550 BC)

'''New Kingdom (1549–1069 BC)'''
* Schist head of Pharaoh [[Hatshepsut]] or her successor [[Tuthmosis III]] (1480 BC)
* Statue of [[Senenmut]] with Princess [[Neferure]] on his lap, [[Karnak]] (1470 BC)
* Block statue of [[Sennefer]], Western Thebes (1430 BC)
* Twenty [[Sekhmet statues]] from the Temple of Mut, [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] (1400 BC)
* Fragment of the beard of the [[Great Sphinx of Giza]] (14th century BC)
* Pair of granite [[Prudhoe Lions|monumental lion]] statues from [[Soleb]] in Sudan, (1370 BC)
* Hoard of silver bullion from [[El-Amarna]] (1352–1336 BC)
* [[Colossal quartzite statue of Amenhotep III|Colossal head from a statue]] of Amenhotep III (1350 BC)
* Colossal limestone bust of [[Amenhotep III]] (1350 BC)
* [[Amarna letters|Amarna Tablets]], 99 out of 382 [[Clay tablet|tablets]] found, second largest collection in the world after the Vorderasiatisches Museum, [[Berlin]] (203 tablets) (1350 BC)
* Stela of [[Horemheb]] from his tomb at [[Saqqara]] (1330 BC)
* [[London Medical Papyrus]] with 61 medical and magical treatments (1300 BC)
* [[Papyrus of Ani]], one of the finest extant [[Book of the Dead]] from antiquity, [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] (1275 BC)
* [[List of pharaohs|List of the kings]] of Egypt from the [[Abydos, Egypt|Temple of Ramesses II]] (1250 BC)
* Statue of [[Khaemwaset]], son of [[Ramses II]], Abydos (1250 BC)
* The [[Papyrus Harris I|Great Harris Papyrus]], the longest surviving papyrus from antiquity, Thebes (1200 BC)
* [[Tale of Two Brothers|D'Orbiney Papyrus]] with the Tale of Two Brothers (1200–1194 BC)
* Seated statue of [[Seti II]], Temple of Mut, [[Karnak]] (1200–1194 BC)
* Face from the sarcophagus of [[Ramses VI]], Valley of the Kings (1140 BC)
* Book of the Dead of [[Nodjmet|Nedjmet]] with painted offering-vignettes and columns of [[Hieroglyphic]] text, Deir el-Bahari (1070 BC)

'''Third Intermediate Period (1069–664 BC)'''
* [[Greenfield papyrus]], [[Book of the Dead|funerary papyrus]] of Princess [[Nesitanebetashru]], daughter of [[Pinedjem II|Pinudjem II]] and [[Neskhons]], and priestess of Amen-Ra at Thebes (950–930 BC)
* Pair of gold bracelets that belonged to General [[Nimlot B|Nemareth]], son of [[Shoshenq I]], [[Sais, Egypt|Sais]] (940 BC)
* Colossal column capital of [[Hathor]] from [[Bubastis]], 22nd Dynasty (922–887 BC)
* Statue of the Nile god [[Hapi (Nile god)|Hapi]], Karnak ({{circa|900 BC}})
* Mummy case and coffin of Nesperennub, [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]] ({{circa|800 BC}})
* [[Shabaka Stone]] from Memphis, Egypt, 25th Dynasty ({{circa|700 BC}})
* Coffin of king [[Menkaure]], Giza (700–600 BC)
* One of the three [[Statues of Amun in the form of a ram protecting King Taharqa|statues of Amun]] in the form of a ram protecting King Taharqo, [[Kawa, Sudan|Kawa]] (683 BC)
* Inner and outer coffins of the priest Hor, Deir el-Bahari, Thebes, 25th Dynasty ({{circa|680 BC}})
* Granite statue of the [[Sphinx of Taharqo]] (680 BC)

'''Late Period (664–332 BC)'''
* Saite Sarcophagus of [[Sasobek]], the vizier (prime minister) of the northern part of Egypt in the reign of [[Psammetichus I]] (664–610 BC)
* Sarcophagus lid of Sasobek (630 BC)
* Bronze figure of Isis and Horus, North [[Saqqara]], Egypt (600 BC)
* Sarcophagus of Hapmen, Cairo, 26th Dynasty or later (600–300 BC)
* Kneeling statue of [[Wahibre]], from near [[Lake Mariout]] (530 BC)
* [[Sarcophagus]] of [[Ankhnesneferibre]] (525 BC)
* Torso of [[Nectanebo I]] (380–362 BC)
* [[Obelisks of Nectanebo II|Obelisks]] and sarcophagus of Pharaoh [[Nectanebo II]] (360–343 BC)
* Sarcophagus of [[Nectanebo II]], Alexandria (360–343 BC)

'''Ptolemaic dynasty (305–30 BC)'''
* The famous [[Rosetta Stone]], trilingual stela that unlocked the ancient Egyptian hieroglyphics (196 BC)
* [[Ancient Greek temple|Naos]] or temple shrine of [[Ptolemy VIII]] from [[Philae]] (150 BC)
* Giant sculpture of a [[Scarabaeus sacer|scarab beetle]] (32–30 BC)
* Fragment of a basalt Egyptian-style statue of [[Ptolemy I Soter]] (305–283 BC)
* Mummy of [[Hornedjitef]] (inner coffin), Thebes (3rd century BC)
* Wall from a chapel of Queen [[Shanakdakhete]], [[Meroë]] ({{circa|150 BC}})
* [[Shrine]] of [[Ptolemy VII]], Philae ({{circa|150 BC}})

'''Roman Period (30 BC – 641 AD)'''
* Schist head of a young man, [[Alexandria]] (after 30 BC)
* The Meriotic [[Hamadab Stela]] from the [[Kingdom of Kush]] found near the ancient site of Meroë in Sudan, 24 BC
* Lid of the coffin of Soter and Cleopatra from Qurna, Thebes (early 2nd century AD)
* Mummy of a youth with a portrait of the deceased, [[Hawara (archaeological site)|Hawara]] (100–200 AD)
* Over 30 [[Fayum mummy portraits]] from [[Hawara (archaeological site)|Hawara]] and other sites in [[Fayum]] (40–250 AD)
* Bronze lamp and patera from the X-group tombs, [[Qasr Ibrim]] (1st–6th centuries AD)
* Coptic wall painting of the [[martyrdom]] of saints, Wadi Sarga (6th century AD)

<gallery widths="190px" heights="190px">
File:Colossal bust of Ramesses II in the British Museum.jpg|Room 4 – Colossal bust of [[Ramesses II]], known as the ''[[Younger Memnon]]'', {{circa|1250 BC}}
File:BD Ani before Osiris.jpg|Ani before [[Osiris]], from the [[Book of the Dead of Ani]], {{circa|1300 BC}}
File:Bm-ginger.jpg|Room 64 – Egyptian grave containing a [[Gebelein predynastic mummies|Gebelein predynastic mummy]], late [[predynastic]], 3400 BC
File:London - British Museum - 2273.jpg|Room 4 – Three black granite statues of the pharaoh [[Senusret III]], {{circa|1850 BC}}
File:ThreeStatuesOfGoddessSakhmet-ProfileView-BritishMuseum-August19-08.jpg|Room 4 – Three black granite statues of the goddess [[Sakhmet]], {{circa|1400 BC}}
File:British Museum Egypt 086.JPG|Room 4 – Colossal statue of Amenhotep III, {{circa|1370 BC}}
File:Colossal quartzite head of Amenhotep III, British Museum EA7.jpg|Great Court – [[Colossal quartzite statue of Amenhotep III]], {{circa|1350 BC}}
File:Egyptian Couple BM (1).JPG|Room 4 – Limestone [[Statue of Horemheb and Amenia|statue of a husband and wife]], 1300–1250 BC
File:P1050700 (5022075232).jpg|Room 63 – Gilded outer coffins from the tomb of [[Henutmehyt]], Thebes, Egypt, 19th Dynasty, 1250 BC
File:Book of the Dead of Hunefer sheet 5.jpg|Book of the Dead of [[Hunefer]], sheet 5, 19th Dynasty, 1250 BC
File:British Museum Egypt 101.jpg|Room 4 – Ancient Egyptian bronze statue of a [[Gayer-Anderson cat|cat]] from the Late Period, {{circa|664}}–332 BC
File:British Museum Egypt 107.jpg|Room 4 – Green siltstone head of a Pharaoh, 26th–30th Dynasty, 600–340 BC
File:The black siltstone obelisk of Pharaoh Nectanebo II, c.350 BCE. From Cairo, Egypt. British Museum.jpg|Great Court – Black siltstone [[Obelisks of Nectanebo II|obelisk of King Nectanebo II]] of Egypt, Thirtieth dynasty, {{Circa|350 BC}}
File:Fayum-66.jpg|Room 62 – Detail from the mummy case of Artemidorus the Younger, a Greek who had settled in [[Thebes, Egypt|Thebes]], Egypt, during Roman times, 100–200 AD
</gallery>

===Department of Greece and Rome===
{{more citations needed|section|date=January 2019}}
[[File:Flickr - Nic's events - British Museum with Cory and Mary, 6 Sep 2007 - 167.jpg|thumb|Room 17 – Reconstruction of the [[Nereid Monument]], {{circa|390 BC}}]]
[[File:Elgin Marbles British Museum.jpg|thumb|Room 18 – [[Parthenon]] marbles from the [[Acropolis of Athens]], 447 BC]]
[[File:BM, GMR - RM21, Mausoleum of Halikarnassos.JPG|thumb|Room 21 – [[Mausoleum at Halicarnassus]], one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]], mid-4th century BC]]
The British Museum has one of the world's largest and most comprehensive collections of antiquities from the [[Classical antiquity|Classical world]], with over 100,000 objects.<ref name="GreeceRome">{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/departments/greece_and_rome.aspx |title=Department of Greece and Rome |work=British Museum |access-date=20 May 2019 |archive-date=26 March 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190326113025/https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/departments/greece_and_rome.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> These mostly range in date from the beginning of the [[Bronze Age|Greek Bronze Age]] (about 3200 BC) to the establishment of Christianity as the official religion of the Roman Empire, with the [[Edict of Milan]] under the reign of the [[Roman emperor]] [[Constantine I]] in 313 AD. Archaeology was in its infancy during the nineteenth century and many pioneering individuals began excavating sites across the Classical world, chief among them for the museum were [[Charles Thomas Newton|Charles Newton]], [[John Turtle Wood]], [[Robert Murdoch Smith]] and [[Charles Fellows]].

The Greek objects originate from across the Ancient Greek world, from the mainland of Greece and the Aegean Islands, to neighbouring lands in Asia Minor and Egypt in the eastern Mediterranean and as far as the western lands of [[Magna Graecia]] that include Sicily and southern Italy. The [[Cycladic culture|Cycladic]], [[Minoan civilization|Minoan]] and [[Mycenaean Greece|Mycenaean]] cultures are represented, and the Greek collection includes important sculpture from the [[Parthenon]] in Athens, as well as elements of two of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]], the [[Mausoleum at Halicarnassus]] and the [[Temple of Artemis]] at [[Ephesus]].<ref name="GreeceRome" />

Beginning from the early [[Bronze Age]], the department also houses one of the widest-ranging collections of [[Ancient Italic peoples|Italic]] and [[Etruscan civilization|Etruscan]] antiquities outside Italy, as well as extensive groups of material from [[Ancient history of Cyprus|Cyprus]] and non-Greek colonies in [[Lycia]] and [[Caria]] on Asia Minor. There is some material from the [[Roman Republic]], but the collection's strength is in its comprehensive array of objects from across the [[Roman Empire]], with the exception of Britain (which is the mainstay of the Department of Prehistory and Europe).

The collections of ancient jewellery and bronzes, [[Pottery of ancient Greece|Greek vases]] (many from graves in southern Italy that were once part of Sir [[William Hamilton (diplomat)|William Hamilton]]'s and [[Edmé-Antoine Durand|Chevalier Durand]]'s collections), [[Roman glass]] including the famous [[Cameo glass]] [[Portland Vase]], Roman [[gold glass]] (the second largest collection after the [[Vatican Museums]]), [[Roman mosaic]]s from [[Carthage]] and [[Utica, Tunisia|Utica]] in North Africa that were excavated by [[Nathan Davis (traveller)|Nathan Davis]], and silver hoards from [[Roman Gaul]] (some of which were bequeathed by the philanthropist and museum trustee [[Richard Payne Knight]]), are particularly important. Cypriot antiquities are strong too and have benefited from the purchase of Sir [[Robert Hamilton Lang]]'s collection as well as the bequest of Emma Turner in 1892, which funded many excavations on the island. Roman sculptures (many of which are copies of Greek originals) are particularly well represented by the [[Charles Townley#Townley Collection|Townley collection]] as well as residual sculptures from the famous [[Farnese collection]].

Objects from the Department of Greece and Rome are located throughout the museum, although many of the [[architectural]] monuments are to be found on the ground floor, with connecting galleries from Gallery 5 to Gallery 23. On the upper floor, there are galleries devoted to smaller material from ancient Italy, Greece, Cyprus and the Roman Empire.

The current collection includes:

*[[Temple of Hephaestus]]
** Marble [[coffer]] frame and coffer from the [[colonnade]], (449–415 BC)

*[[Parthenon]]
** The [[Elgin Marbles|Parthenon Marbles (Elgin Marbles)]], (447–438 BC)

*[[Propylaea (Acropolis of Athens)|Propylaea]]
** Capital and column drum, (437–432 BC)

*[[Erechtheion]]
** A surviving column and architectural fittings, (420–415 BC)
** One of six remaining [[Caryatid]]s, (415 BC)

*Temple of [[Athena Nike]]
** Surviving [[frieze]] slabs and capital, (427–424 BC)

*[[Choragic Monument of Thrasyllos]]
** Statue of Dionysos, (270 BC)

*[[Tower of the Winds]]
** Marble [[Corinthian order|Corinthian]] capital, (50 BC)

*[[Temple of Poseidon, Sounion|Temple of Poseidon]], Sounion
**Fluted column base, (444–440 BC)

*Temple of [[Nemesis]], [[Rhamnous|Rhamnus]]
** Head from the statue of Nemesis, (430–420 BC)

*Temple of [[Bassae]]
** Twenty-three surviving blocks of the [[Bassae Frieze|frieze]] from the interior of the temple, (420–400 BC)

*[[Daphni Monastery|Sanctuary of Apollo]] at Daphni
** Fluted columns, column bases and ionic capitals (399–301 BC)

*[[Temple of Athena Polias (Priene)|Temple of Athena Polias, Priene]]
** Sculptural [[coffer]]s from the temple ceiling (350–325 BC)
** Ionic capitals, architraves and [[Anta (architecture)|antae]] (350–325 BC)
** Marble torso of a [[chariot]]eer (320–300 BC)

*[[Mausoleum at Halicarnassus]]
** Two colossal free-standing figures identified as Maussollos and his wife [[Artemisia II of Caria|Artemisia]], ({{Circa|350 BC}})
** Part of horse from the [[chariot]] group adorning the summit of the [[Mausoleum]], ({{Circa|350 BC}})
** The [[Amazonomachy]] frieze – A long section of relief frieze showing the battle between Greeks and [[Amazons]], ({{Circa|350 BC}})

*[[Temple of Artemis in Ephesus]]
** One of the sculptured column bases, (340–320 BC)
** Part of the [[Ionic order|Ionic]] frieze situated above the colonnade, (330–300 BC)

*[[Knidos]] in Asia Minor
** [[Demeter of Knidos]], (350 BC)
** [[Lion of Knidos]], (350–200 BC)

*[[Xanthos]] in Asia Minor
** Lion Tomb, (550–500 BC)
** [[Harpy Tomb]], (480–470 BC)
** [[Nereid Monument]], partial reconstruction of a large and elaborate Lykian tomb, (390–380 BC)
** Tomb of Merehi, (390–350 BC)
** [[Tomb of Payava]], (375–350 BC)
** Bilingual Decree of [[Pixodaros]], (340 BC)

*Temple of Zeus, [[Salamis, Cyprus|Salamis]] in Cyprus 
** Marble capital with [[caryatid]]&nbsp;figure standing between winged&nbsp;bulls, (300–250 BC)

'''Wider collection'''

'''Prehistoric Greece and Italy (3300 BC – 8th century BC)'''
* Over thirty [[Cycladic art|Cycladic figures]] from islands in the Aegean Sea, many collected by [[James Theodore Bent]], Greece (3300–2000 BC)
* A large [[Gaudo culture]] [[Askos (pottery vessel)|askos]] from [[Paestum]], southern Italy (2800–2400 BC)
* [[Kythnos]] Hoard of wood working metal tools from the island of [[Naxos]], Greece (2700–2200 BC)
* Two pottery [[kernos]] from [[Phylakopi]] in [[Melos]], Greece (2300–2000 BC)
* Material from the Palace of [[Knossos]] including a huge pottery storage jar, some donated by Sir [[Arthur Evans]], Crete, Greece (1900–1100 BC)
* The Minoan gold treasure from [[Aegina Treasure|Aegina]], northern Aegean, Greece (1850–1550 BC)
* Artefacts from the [[Psychro Cave]] in Crete, including two serpentine libation tables (1700–1450 BC)
* Bronze [[Minoan Bull-leaper]] from Rethymnon, Crete (1600–1450 BC)
* Segments of the columns and architraves from the [[Treasury of Atreus]], Peloponnese, Greece (1350–1250 BC)
* Ivory game board found at [[Enkomi (archaeological site)|Enkomi]], Cyprus (12th century BC)
* [[Nuragic civilization|Nuragic]] hoard of bronze artefacts found at Santa Maria in Paulis, [[Cagliari]], Sardinia (1100–900 BC)
* [[Elgin Amphora]], highly decorated pottery vase attributed to the [[Dipylon Master]], Athens, Greece (8th century BC)
* Votive offerings from the [[Sanctuary of Artemis Orthia]] at Sparta (8th century BC)

'''Etruscan (8th century BC – 1st century BC)'''
* Gold jewellery and other rich artefacts from the Castellani and Galeassi Tombs in [[Palestrina]], central Italy (8th–6th centuries BC)
* Ornate gold [[Fibula (brooch)|fibula]] with granulated parade of animals from the Bernardini Tomb, [[Cerveteri]] (675–650 BC)
* Various objects including two small terracotta statues from the "Tomb of the five chairs" in Cerveteri (625–600 BC)
* [[Sant'Angelo Muxaro Patera|Gold libation bowl]] from Sant'Angelo Muxaro, Sicily (600 BC)
* Contents of the [[Isis Tomb, Vulci|Isis tomb]] and [[François Tomb]], Vulci (570–560 BC)
* Painted terracotta plaques (the so-called ''Boccanera Plaques'') from a tomb in [[Cerveteri]] (560–550 BC)
* Decorated silver panels from Castel San Marino, near [[Perugia]] (540–520 BC)
* Statuette of a [[Bronze votive figure from Pizzidimonte]], near [[Prato]], Italy (500–480 BC)
* Bronze helmet with inscription commemorating the [[Battle of Cumae (524 BC)|Battle of Cumae]], [[Olympia, Greece|Olympia]], Greece (480 BC)
* Bronze [[votive]] statuettes from the [[Lake of the Idols]], Monte Falterona (420–400 BC)
* Part of a [[symposium]] set of bronze vessels from the tomb of Larth Metie, [[Bolsena]], Italy (400–300 BC)
* Exquisite gold [[ear-ring]] with female head pendant, one of a pair from [[Perugia]] (300–200 BC)
* [[Oscan Tablet]], one of the most important inscriptions in the Oscan language (300–100 BC)
* Hoard of gold jewellery from [[Sant'Eufemia Lamezia]], southern Italy (340–330 BC)
* [[Latian]] bronze figure from the Sanctuary of Diana, [[Lake Nemi]], Latium (200–100 BC)
* [[Sarcophagus of Seianti Hanunia Tlesnasa]] from Chiusi (150–140 BC)

'''Ancient Greece (8th century BC – 4th century AD)'''
* Orientalising gold jewellery from the [[Camirus]] cemetery in Rhodes (700–600 BC)
* Foot from the colossal [[Kouros]] of Apollo, [[Delos]] (600–500 BC)
* Group of life-size [[Archaic Greece|archaic]] statues from the Sacred Way at [[Didyma]], western Turkey (600–580 BC)
* [[Armento Rider|Bronze statuette]] of a rider and horse from Armento, southern Italy (550 BC)
* Bronze head of an [[San Sosti Axe-Head|axe]] from [[San Sosti]], southern Italy (520 BC)
* Statue of a [[Kouros|nude standing youth]] from [[Marion, Cyprus]] (520–510 BC)
* Large terracotta sarcophagus and lid with painted scenes from [[Klazomenai]], western Turkey (510–480 BC)
* Two bronze tablets in the [[Locrian Greek]] dialect from [[Galaxidi]], central Greece (500–475 BC)
* Bronze [[Faulds (armour)|mitra]] inscribed on both sides in archaic [[Archaic Greek alphabets|Cretan script]] with the Spensithios Decree, [[Lyttos]]-Afrati region in Crete (c. 500 BC)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1969-0402-1|title=mitra &#124; British Museum |work=The British Museum }}</ref>
* Fragments from a large bronze [[Equestrian statue|equestrian]] statue of the [[Taranto]] Rider, southern Italy (480–460 BC)
* [[Chatsworth Head|Chatsworth Apollo]] Head, Tamassos, Cyprus (460 BC)
* Statue of recumbent bull from the [[Kerameikos|Dipylon Cemetery]], Athens (4th century BC)
* Hoard of gold jewellery from [[Avola]], Sicily (370–300 BC)
* [[Priene inscription of Alexander the Great|Dedicatory inscription by Alexander the Great]] from Priene in Turkey (330 BC)
* Head from the colossal statue of the [[Asclepius of Milos]], Greece (325–300 BC)
* [[Braganza Brooch]], Ornamental gold fibula reflecting Celtic and Greek influences (3rd century BC)
* Hoard of silver [[patera]] from [[Èze]], southeastern France (3rd century BC)
* [[Petelia Gold Tablet|Gold tablet]] from an Orphic sanctuary in southern Italy (3rd–2nd centuries BC)
* Marble relief of the [[Apotheosis of Homer]] from [[Bovillae]], central Italy (221–205 BC)
* Bronze sculpture of a Greek poet known as the [[Arundel Head]], western Turkey (2nd–1st centuries BC)
* Remains of the [[Scylla]] monument at [[Bargylia]], south west Anatolia, Turkey (200–150 BC)
* [[Satala Aphrodite|Bronze head and hand]] of the statue of Aphrodite of Satala (1st century BC)
* [[Paramythia Hoard|Bronze statuettes]] from Paramythia (2nd century AD)
* Large statue of [[Europa (consort of Zeus)|Europa]] sitting on the back of a bull from the amphitheatre at [[Gortyna]], Crete (100 BC)

'''Ancient Rome (1st century BC – 4th century AD)'''
* Pair of engraved oval [[agate]] plaques depicting [[Livia]] as [[Diana (mythology)|Diana]] and [[Octavian]] as [[Mercury (mythology)|Mercury]] (Rome, 30–25 BC)
* [[Guildford Puteal]] from Corinth, Greece (30–10 BC)
* [[Meroë Head|Bronze head of Augustus]] from Meroë in Sudan (27–25 BC)
* Cameo glass [[Portland Vase]], the most famous glass vessel from ancient Rome (1–25 AD)
* Silver [[Warren Cup]] with homoerotic scenes, found near Jerusalem (5–15 AD)
* [[Mainz Gladius|Gladius of Mainz]] (or "Sword of Tiberius") and [[Blacas Cameo]], depicting Roman emperors in triumph (15 AD)
* [[Xanten Horse-Phalerae|Horse trappings]] in decorated silver-plated bronze from Xanten, Germany (1st century AD)
* Pair of carved fluorite cups known as the [[Barber Cup and Crawford Cup]] (100 AD)
* Athlete statue, "[[Vaison Diadumenos]]", from an ancient Roman city in southern France (118–138 AD)
* A hoard of silver votive plaques dedicated to the Roman God [[Jupiter Dolichenus]], discovered in [[Heddernheim]], near Frankfurt, Germany (1st–2nd centuries AD)
* [[Discobolus|Discus-thrower (Discobolos)]]<ref>Tony Kitto, "The celebrated connoisseur: Charles Townley, 1737–1805" ''Minerva Magazine'' May/June 2005, in connection with a British Museum exhibition celebrating the bicentennial of the Townley purchase. [http://www.burnley.gov.uk/towneley/whatson/charles_towneley/Townley_Marbles_v1.pdf Townley marbles] Burnley {{dead link|date=June 2016|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref> and [[Bronze Head of Hypnos from Civitella d'Arna]], Italy (1st–2nd centuries AD)
* Part of a large wooden wheel for draining a copper mine in [[Huelva]], southern Spain (1st–2nd centuries AD)
* Capitals from some of the [[pilasters]] of the [[Pantheon, Rome|Pantheon]], Rome (126 AD)
* Colossal marble head of [[Faustina the Elder]], wife of the Roman emperor [[Antoninus Pius]] from [[Sardis]], western Turkey (140 AD)
* Marble throne from the prohedria of the [[Panathenaic Stadium]], Athens (140–143 AD)
* Hoard of jewellery from a tomb in the vicinity of [[Miletopolis]], Turkey (175–180 AD)
* Inscribed marble base of the Roman Consul [[Tiberius Claudius Candidus]], unearthed in [[Tarragona]], Spain (195–199 AD)
* [[Jennings Dog]], a statue of a [[Molossian]] guard dog, central Italy (2nd century AD)
* Segment of a decorated marble [[balustrade]] from the [[Colosseum]], Rome, Italy (2nd century AD)
* [[Politarch]] inscription from the Vardar Gate, [[Thessaloniki]], Greece (2nd century AD)
* Two [[Roman cavalry]] bronze parade masks from [[Nola]], Italy and [[Gaziantep]], Turkey,<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/search?keyword=Bronze&keyword=parade&keyword=mask |title=British Museum collection |work=The British Museum |access-date=16 January 2024 |archive-date=16 January 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240116154851/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/search?keyword=Bronze&keyword=parade&keyword=mask |url-status=live }}</ref> (2nd century AD)
* Bronze tablet dedicated to Sextus Pompeius Maximus from the [[Mithraeum]] at [[Ostia Antica|Ostia]], Italy (200 AD)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/G_1873-0820-260|title=tablet &#124; British Museum |work=The British Museum }}</ref>
* Various silver treasures found at [[Arcisate Treasure|Arcisate]], [[Beaurains Treasure|Beaurains]], [[Boscoreale Treasure|Boscoreale]], [[Bursa Treasure|Bursa]], [[Chaourse Treasure|Chaourse]], [[Caubiac Treasure|Caubiac]], [[Chatuzange Treasure|Chatuzange]], [[Conimbriga]], [[Mâcon Treasure|Mâcon]] and [[Tourdan Situla|Revel-Tourdan]] (1st–3rd century AD)
* Votive statue of [[Apollo of Cyrene]], Libya (2nd century AD)
* [[Uerdingen Hoard]] found near Düsseldorf in Germany (2nd–3rd centuries AD)
The collection encompasses architectural, sculptural and epigraphic items from many other sites across the classical world including [[Amathus]], [[Atripalda]], [[Aphrodisias]], [[Delos]], [[Iasos]], [[Idalion]], [[Lindus]], [[Kalymnos]], [[Kerch]], [[Rhamnous]], [[Salamis, Cyprus|Salamis]], [[Sestos]], [[Sounion]], [[Constanța|Tomis]] and [[Thessaloniki]].

<gallery widths="190" heights="190">
File:Aegina treasure 01.jpg|Room 12 – A gold earring from the [[Aegina Treasure]], Greece, 1700–1500 BC
File:BM; RM18 - GR, The Parthenon Galleries 1 Temple of Athena Parthenos (447-438 B.C) + North Slip Room, -Full Elevation & Viewing North-.JPG|Room 18 – Parthenon statuary from the east pediment and [[Metopes of the Parthenon|Metopes]] from the south wall, Athens, Greece, 447–438 BC
File:BM, GNR; The Acropolis & The late 5th C BC ~ Erechtheum Caryatid + Ionic Column (Room 19).jpg|Room 19 – [[Caryatid]] and [[Ionian order|Ionian]] column from the [[Erechtheion]], [[Acropolis of Athens]], Greece, 420–415 BC
File:Tomb of Payava 2.jpg|Room 20 – [[Tomb of Payava]], Lycia, Turkey, 360 BC
File:Fragmentary horse from the colossal four-horses chariot group which topped the podium of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, Mausoleum at Halicarnassus, British Museum (8245662728).jpg|Room 21 – Fragmentary horse from the colossal chariot group which topped the podium of the [[Mausoleum at Halicarnassus]], one of the [[Seven Wonders of the Ancient World]], Turkey, {{Circa|350 BC}}
File:Gold wreath BM 1908.4-14.1.jpg|Room 22 – Gold oak wreath with a bee and two cicadas, western Turkey, {{Circa|350–300 BC}}
File:Column drum Ephesus.JPG|Room 22 – Column from the [[Temple of Artemis]] in Ephesus, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World, Turkey, early 4th century BC
File:Asklepios Melos BM Sc550.jpg|Room 22 – Colossal [[Asclepius of Milos|head of Asclepius]] wearing a metal crown (now lost), from a cult statue on [[Melos]], Greece, 325–300 BC
File:Head and left hand from a bronze cult statue of Anahita, a local goddess shown here in the guide of Aphrodite, 200-100 BC, British Museum (8167358544).jpg|Room 22 –  Bronze head and hand of an ancient [[Satala Aphrodite|Hellenistic statue]] discovered in [[Satala]], Turkey, 200–100 BC
File:SFEC BritMus Roman 011.JPG|Room 1 – Farnese [[Hermes]] in the Enlightenment Gallery, Italy, 1st century AD
File:GladiatorHelmetBM.jpg|Room 69 – Roman gladiator helmet from [[Pompeii]], Italy, 1st century AD
File:Lely Venus BM 1963.jpg|Room 23 – The famous version of the '[[Crouching Venus]]', Roman, {{Circa|1st century AD}}
File:Spinario-British Museum.jpg|Room 22 – Roman marble copy of the famous '[[Boy with Thorn|Spinario (Boy with Thorn)]]', Italy, {{Circa|1st century AD}}
File:Apollo Kitharoidos BM 1380.jpg|Room 22 – [[Apollo of Cyrene]] (holding a [[lyre]]), Libya, {{Circa|2nd century AD}}
</gallery>

{{anchor|Islamic art}}

===Department of the Middle East===
[[File:BM; RM7 - ANE, Nineveh Palace Reliefs Southwest Palace of Sennacherib (701-681 B.C) ~ Full Elevation + Viewing South.4.JPG|thumb|Room 9 – [[Assyrian palace reliefs]], [[Nineveh]], 701–681 BC]]
[[File:A pair of lamassus from the Throne Room, Room B, of the North-West Palace at Nimrud, Iraq, 9th century BC. The British Museum.jpg|thumb|Room 6 – Pair of [[Lamassu|Human Headed Winged Lions]] and reliefs from [[Nimrud]] with the [[Balawat Gates]], {{Circa|860 BC}}]]
[[File:London 307.JPG|thumb|Room 52 – Ancient Iran with the [[Cyrus Cylinder]], 559–530 BC]]
With a collection numbering some 330,000 works,<ref>{{cite web| url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/middle_east/research.aspx| title=British Museum – Research| work=britishmuseum.org| access-date=22 July 2016| archive-date=20 March 2012| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120320041819/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/middle_east/research.aspx| url-status=live}}</ref> the British Museum possesses the world's largest and most important collection of [[Mesopotamia]]n antiquities outside Iraq. A collection of immense importance, the holdings of [[Assyrian sculpture]], [[Babylonia]]n and [[Sumer]]ian antiquities are among the most comprehensive in the world with entire suites of rooms panelled in alabaster [[Assyrian palace reliefs]] from [[Nimrud]], [[Nineveh]] and [[Khorsabad]].

The collections represent the civilisations of the [[ancient Near East]] and its adjacent areas. These cover Mesopotamia, [[Iran|Persia]], the [[Arabian Peninsula]], [[Anatolia]], the [[Caucasus]], parts of [[Central Asia]], [[Syria]], the [[Holy Land]] and [[Phoenicia]]n settlements in the western [[Mediterranean Sea|Mediterranean]] from the [[Prehistory|prehistoric period]] and include objects from the 7th century.

The first significant addition of Mesopotamian objects was from the collection of [[Claudius James Rich]] in 1825. The collection was later dramatically enlarged by the excavations of [[Austen Henry Layard|A. H. Layard]] at the [[Assyria]]n sites of Nimrud and Nineveh between 1845 and 1851. At Nimrud, Layard discovered the North-West Palace of [[Ashurnasirpal II]], as well as three other palaces and various temples. He later uncovered the Palace of [[Sennacherib]] at Nineveh with 'no less than seventy-one halls'. As a result, a large numbers of [[Lamassu]]s, palace reliefs, [[Stele|stelae]], including the [[Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III]], were brought to the British Museum.

Layard's work was continued by his assistant, [[Hormuzd Rassam]] and in 1852–1854 he went on to discover the North Palace of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh with many magnificent reliefs, including the famous [[Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal]] and [[Lachish relief]]s. He also discovered the Royal [[Library of Ashurbanipal]], a large collection of [[Cuneiform script|cuneiform]] [[Clay tablet|tablets]] of enormous importance that today number around 130,000 pieces. [[William Loftus (archaeologist)|W. K. Loftus]] excavated in Nimrud between 1850 and 1855 and found a remarkable hoard of [[Nimrud ivories|ivories]] in the Burnt Palace. Between 1878 and 1882 Rassam greatly improved the museum's holdings with exquisite objects including the [[Cyrus Cylinder]] from [[Babylon]], the bronze gates from [[Balawat]], important objects from [[Sippar]], and a fine collection of [[Urartu|Urartian]] bronzes from [[Toprakkale (castle)|Toprakkale]] including a copper figurine of a winged, human-headed bull.

In the early 20th century excavations were carried out at [[Carchemish]], Turkey by [[David George Hogarth|D. G. Hogarth]] and [[Leonard Woolley]], the latter assisted by [[T. E. Lawrence]]. The Mesopotamian collections were greatly augmented by excavations in southern Iraq after [[World War I]]. From [[Ubaid period|Tell al-Ubaid]] came the bronze furnishings of a [[Sumer]]ian temple, including life-sized lions and a panel featuring the lion-headed eagle Indugud found by [[Henry Hall (Egyptologist)|H. R. Hall]] in 1919–24. Woolley went on to excavate [[Ur]] between 1922 and 1934, discovering the Royal Cemeteries of the 3rd millennium BC. Some of the masterpieces include the [[Standard of Ur]], the [[Ram in a Thicket]], the [[Royal Game of Ur]], and two bull-headed [[lyres]]. The department also has three [[diorite]] statues of the ruler [[Statues of Gudea|Gudea]] from the ancient state of [[Lagash]] and a series of limestone [[kudurru]] or boundary stones from different locations across ancient Mesopotamia.

Although the collections centre on Mesopotamia, most of the surrounding areas are well represented. The [[Achaemenid]] collection was enhanced with the addition of the [[Oxus Treasure]] in 1897 and objects excavated by the German scholar [[Ernst Herzfeld]] and the Hungarian-British explorer Sir [[Marc Aurel Stein|Aurel Stein]]. Reliefs and sculptures from the site of [[Persepolis]] were donated by Sir [[Gore Ouseley]] in 1825 and the [[George Hamilton-Gordon, 5th Earl of Aberdeen|5th Earl of Aberdeen]] in 1861 and the museum received part of a pot-hoard of jewellery from [[Pasargadae]] as the division of finds in 1963 and part of the [[Ziwiye hoard]] in 1971. A large column base from the [[Persepolis#The Throne Hall|One Hundred Column Hall]] at Persepolis was acquired in exchange from the [[Oriental Institute (Chicago)|Oriental Institute]], Chicago. Moreover, the museum has been able to acquire one of the greatest assemblages of Achaemenid [[Household silver|silverware]] in the world. The later [[Sasanian Empire]] is also well represented by ornate silver plates and cups, many representing ruling monarchs hunting lions and deer. Phoenician antiquities come from across the region, but the [[Tharros]] collection from [[Sardinia]], the hoard of about 150 [[Phoenician metal bowls|metal bowls]] and hundreds of [[Nimrud ivories|ivories from Nimrud]], Phœnician inscriptions from Carthage including the [[Son of Baalshillek marble base]], the [[Carthage Tariff]] and the [[Carthage tower model]] and the many punic stelae from [[Carthage]] and [[Maghrawa]] in Tunisia (such as the {{ill|Ghorafa stelae|fr|Stèles de La Ghorfa}}) are outstanding. The number of [[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] inscriptions from sites across [[Cyprus]] is also considerable, and include artefacts found at the [[Kition Necropolis Phoenician inscriptions|Kition necropolis]] (with the two [[Kition Tariffs]] having the longest Phoenician inscription discovered on the island), the [[Idalion Temple inscriptions|Idalion temple site]] and [[Tamassos bilinguals|two bilingual pedestals]] found at [[Tamassos]]. Another often overlooked highlight is [[Ancient history of Yemen|Yemeni]] antiquities, the finest collection outside that country. Furthermore, the museum has a representative collection of [[Dilmun]] and [[Parthian Empire|Parthian]] material excavated from various burial mounds at the ancient sites of [[A'ali]] and [[Shakhura]] (that included a Roman ribbed glass bowl) in Bahrain.

From the modern state of [[Syria]] come almost forty funerary busts from [[Palmyra]] and a group of stone [[reliefs]] from the excavations of [[Max von Oppenheim]] at [[Tell Halaf]] that was purchased in 1920. More material followed from the excavations of [[Max Mallowan]] at [[Chagar Bazar]] and [[Tell Brak]] in 1935–1938 and from Woolley at [[Alalakh]] in the years just before and after [[World War II]]. Mallowan returned with his wife [[Agatha Christie]] to carry out further digs at Nimrud in the postwar period which secured many important artefacts, such as the Nimrud Ivories, for the museum. The collection of [[Palestinian people|Palestinian]] material was strengthened by the work of [[Kathleen Kenyon]] at [[Tell es-Sultan]] (Jericho) in the 1950s and the acquisition in 1980 of around 17,000 objects found at [[Lachish]] by the Wellcome-Marston expedition of 1932–1938. Archaeological digs are still taking place where permitted in the Middle East, and, depending on the country, the museum continues to receive a share of the finds from sites such as {{ill|Tell es Sa'idiyeh|de|Tell es-Sa'idiyeh}} in Jordan.

The museum's collection of [[Islamic art]], including archaeological material, numbers about 40,000 objects,<ref>{{cite web| url=http://www.discoverislamicart.org/pm_partner.php?id=Mus01;uk&type=museum&theme=ISL&| title=Museum With No Frontiers| publisher=Discover Islamic Art| access-date=4 July 2010| archive-date=10 May 2011| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110510083927/http://www.discoverislamicart.org/pm_partner.php?id=Mus01;uk&type=museum&theme=ISL&| url-status=live}}</ref> one of the largest of its kind in the world. As such, it contains a broad range of pottery, paintings, tiles, metalwork, glass, seals, and inscriptions from across the Islamic world, from Spain in the west to India in the east. It is particularly famous for its collection of [[İznik pottery|Iznik]] ceramics (the largest in the world), its large number of [[mosque lamp]]s including one from the [[Dome of the Rock]], mediaeval metalwork such as the Vaso Vescovali with its depictions of the [[Zodiac]], a fine selection of [[astrolabes]], and [[Mughal paintings]] and precious artwork including a large [[Jade Terrapin from Allahabad|jade terrapin]] made for the emperor [[Jahangir]]. Thousands of objects were excavated after the war by professional archaeologists at Iranian sites such as [[Siraf]] by [[David Whitehouse]] and [[Alamut Castle]] by Peter Willey. The collection was augmented in 1983 by the [[Frederick DuCane Godman|Godman]] bequest of Iznik, [[Hispano-Moresque]] and early Iranian pottery. Artefacts from the Islamic world are on display in Gallery 34 of the museum.

A representative selection from the Department of Middle East, including the most important pieces, are on display in 13 galleries throughout the museum and total some 4,500 objects. A whole suite of rooms on the ground floor display the sculptured reliefs from the Assyrian palaces at Nineveh, Nimrud and Khorsabad, while 8 galleries on the upper floor hold smaller material from ancient sites across the Middle East. The remainder form the study collection which ranges in size from beads to large sculptures. They include approximately 130,000 cuneiform [[Clay tablet|tablets]] from Mesopotamia.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/middle_east/history_of_the_collection.aspx |title=History of the Collection: Middle East |work=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=15 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215200239/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/middle_east/history_of_the_collection.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

Highlights of the collections include:

==== [[Nimrud]] ====

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'''[[Assyrian palace reliefs]] from:'''
* The North-West Palace of [[Ashur-nasir-pal II|Ashurnasirpal II]] (883–859 BC)
* Palace of [[Adad-nirari III]] (811–783 BC)
* The Sharrat-Niphi Temple ({{circa|9th century BC}})
* Temple of [[Ninurta]] ({{circa|9th century BC}})
* South-East Palace ('Burnt Palace') (8th–7th century BC)
* Central- Palace of [[Tiglath-Pileser III]] (745–727 BC)
* South-West Palace of [[Esarhaddon]] (681–669 BC)
* The [[Nabu]] Temple (Ezida) ({{circa|7th century BC}})
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'''Sculptures and inscriptions:'''
* Pair of Human Headed [[Lamassu]] Lions (883–859 BC)
* Human Headed Lamassu Bull, sister piece in [[Metropolitan Museum of Art|The Metropolitan Museum of Art]] (883–859 BC)
* Human Headed Lamassu Lion, sister piece in the Metropolitan Museum of Art (883–859 BC)
* Colossal Statue of a Lion (883–859 BC)
* Foundation tablet of [[Ashurnasirpal II]] from the Temple of [[Ishtar]] (875–865 BC)
* Rassam Obelisk of [[Ashurnasirpal II]] (873–859 BC)
* [[Stela of Ashurnasirpal II|Stela]] and [[Statue of Ashurnasirpal II|Statue]] of King [[Ashurnasirpal II]] (883–859 BC)
* The [[Black Obelisk]] of [[Shalmaneser III]] (858–824 BC)
* [[Stela of Shamshi-Adad V]] (824–811 BC)
* Rare Head of Human Headed 'Lamassu', recovered from the North-West Palace (811–783 BC)
* Pair of statues of attendant god dedicated to [[Nabu]] by [[Adad-Nirari III]] and [[Sammuramat]] (810–800 BC)
* Bilingual [[Assyrian lion weights]] with both cuneiform and Phoenician inscriptions (800–700 BC)
* Large sculpture of a male bearded head from a [[Lamassu]] with inscription dedicated to [[Esarhaddon]] (670 BC)
{{col-end}}

==== [[Nineveh]] ====

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'''[[Assyrian palace reliefs]] and sculptures from:'''
* South-West Palace of [[Sennacherib]] (705–681 BC)
* North-Palace of [[Ashurbanipal]] ({{circa|645 BC}}), including the ''[[Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal]]'' and [[Lachish relief]]
* The famous ''Garden Party'' Relief (645 BC)
* Statue of a [[Assyrian statue (BM 124963)|nude woman]] (11th century BC)
* Broken Obelisk of [[Ashur-bel-kala]], the earliest known Assyrian [[obelisk]] (11th century BC)
* [[White Obelisk of Ashurnasirpal I]] (1050–1031 BC)
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'''[[Library of Ashurbanipal|Royal Library]] of [[Ashurbanipal]]:'''
* A large collection of [[Cuneiform script|cuneiform]] [[Clay tablet|tablets]] of enormous importance, approximately 22,000 inscribed clay tablets (7th century BC)
* The [[Gilgamesh flood myth|Flood Tablet]], relating part of the famous ''[[Epic of Gilgamesh]]'' (7th century BC)
* [[Sennacherib's Annals|Taylor Prism]], hexagonal clay foundation record (691 BC)
* [[Rassam cylinder]] with ten faces, that describes the military campaigns of king [[Ashurbanipal]] (643 BC)
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==== Other Mesopotamian sites ====

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'''[[Khorsabad]] and [[Balawat]]:'''
* Alabaster bas-reliefs from the Palace of [[Sargon II]] (710–705 BC)
* Pair of Human Headed Winged [[Lamassu]] Bulls (710–705 BC)
* The [[Balawat Gates]] of [[Shalmaneser III]] (860 BC)
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==== [[Ur]] ====
* The [[Standard of Ur]] with depictions of war and peace (2600 BC)
* [[Lyres of Ur|Queen's Lyre]] and gold drinking cup from Queen [[Puabi]]'s tomb (2600 BC)
* The [[Ram in a Thicket]], one of pair, the other is in [[University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology|Philadelphia]] (2600–2400 BC)
* [[Royal Game of Ur|The Royal Game of Ur]], an ancient game board (2600–2400 BC)
{{col-end}}

==== Wider collection ====

* [[Plastered human skull]] from Jericho, a very early form of portraiture, Palestine (7000–6000 BC)
* [[Tell Brak Head]], one of the oldest portrait busts from the Middle East, north east Syria (3500–3300 BC)
* [[Uruk Trough]], one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief sculpture from the Middle East, southern Iraq (3300–3000 BC)
* Pair of inscribed stone objects known as the [[Blau Monuments]] from [[Uruk]], Iraq (3100–2700 BC)
* [[Tell el-Ajjul gold hoards|Hoard]] of [[Bronze Age]] gold jewellery found at the [[Canaan]]ite site of [[Tell al-Ajjul|Tell el-Ajjul]] in [[Gaza Strip|Gaza]] (1750–1550 BC)
* [[Statue of Idrimi]] from the ancient city of Alalakh, southern Turkey (1600 BC)
* [[Bronze]] bowl and ivory cosmetic box in the shape of a fish from Tell es-Sa'idiyeh, Jordan (1250–1150 BC)
* Group of 16 stone reliefs from the palace of King [[Kapara]] at [[Tell Halaf]], northern Syria (10th century BC)
* [[Tablet of Shamash]], depicting the sun-god Shamash, from Sippar, Iraq (early 9th century BC)
* [[Hittites|Hittite]] lion head from the monument to King [[Katuwa]] at [[Carchemish]], southern Turkey (9th century BC)
* Two large [[Kurkh Monoliths|Assyrian stelae]] from Kurkh, southern Turkey (850 BC)
* Seated statue of Kidudu or guardian spirit from the Assyrian city of [[Assur]] under [[Shalmaneser III]], Iraq (835 BC)
* Basalt bowl with engraved inscription in [[Hieroglyphic Luwian]] found at [[Babylon]], southern Iraq (8th century BC)
* [[Babylonian Chronicles]], series of tablets recording major events in Babylonian history, [[Babylon]], Iraq (8th–3rd centuries BC) 
* [[Shebna Inscription]] from [[Siloam]] near Jerusalem (7th century BC)
* Group of 4 bronze shields with inscription of King [[Rusa III]] from the temple of [[Khaldi (god)|Khaldi]] at the [[Urartu|Urartian]] fortress of [[Toprakkale (castle)|Toprakkale]], eastern Turkey (650 BC)
* [[East India House Inscription]] from [[Babylon]], Iraq (604–562 BC)
* [[Lachish letters|Lachish Letters]], group of [[ostraka]] written in alphabetic Hebrew from [[Lachish]], Israel (586 BC)
* [[Cylinders of Nabonidus|Cylinder of Nabonidus]], foundation cylinder of King [[Nabonidus]], Sippar, Iraq (555–540 BC)
* The famous [[Oxus Treasure]], the largest ancient Persian hoard of gold artefacts (550–330 BC)
* [[Jar of Xerxes I]], alabaster [[alabastron]] with [[quadrilingual]] signature of [[Achaemenid]] ruler [[Xerxes I]], found in the ruins of the [[Mausoleum of Halicarnassus]], Turkey (486–465 BC)
* [[Idalion bilingual|Idalion Bilingual]], bilingual Cypriot-[[Phoenician language|Phoenician]] inscription, key to the decipherment of the&nbsp;[[Cypriot syllabary]], [[Idalion]], Cyprus (388 BC)
* [[Punic-Libyan Inscription]] from the [[Libyco-Punic Mausoleum of Dougga|Mausoleum of Ateban]], key to the [[decipherment]] of the [[Numidian language]], [[Dougga]], Tunisia (146 BC)
* [[Amran Tablets]] found near Sana'a, Yemen (1st century BC)
* One of the pottery storage jars containing the [[Dead Sea Scrolls]] found in a cave near [[List of manuscripts from Qumran Cave 1|Qumran]], Jordan (4 BC – 68 AD)
* Two limestone [[ossuary|ossuaries]] from [[Cave of Nicanor|caves]] in Jerusalem (1st century AD)
* Fragment of a carved basalt [[architrave]] depicting a lion's head from the [[Temple of Garni]], Armenia (1st century AD)
* Group of boulders with [[Safaitic]] inscriptions from Jordan/Syria, one of which was donated by [[Gertrude Bell]] (1st–2nd centuries AD)
* [[Parthian Empire|Parthian dynasty]] gold belt-buckle with central [[repoussé]] figure of eagle with outstretched wings from [[Nihavand]], Iran (1st–3rd centuries AD)
* Silver bowl from [[Khwarezm]] depicting a [[Nana (Kushan goddess)|four-armed goddess]] seated on a lion, Kazakhstan, (658 AD)
* One of the rare [[Hedwig glass]]es, originating from the Middle East or Norman Sicily (10th–12th centuries AD)
* Hoard of [[Seljuq dynasty|Seljuq]] artefacts from [[Hamadan]] including gold cup, silver gilt belt fittings and dress accessories, Iran (11th–12th centuries)
* [[Islamic]] brass ewers with engraved decoration and inlaid with silver and copper from [[Herat]], Afghanistan and [[Mosul]], Iraq (12th–13th centuries AD)

<gallery widths="190px" heights="190px">
File:Raminathicket2.jpg|Room 56 – The '[[Ram in a Thicket]]' figure, one of a pair, from [[Ur]], Southern Iraq, {{circa|2600 BC}}
File:Standard of Ur - War.jpg|Room 56 – The famous '[[Standard of Ur]]', a hollow wooden box with scenes of war and peace, from [[Ur]], {{circa|2600 BC}}
File:British Museum Middle east 14022019 Panel Imdugud 2500 BC 3640.jpg|Room 56 – [[Tell al-'Ubaid Copper Lintel|Sculpture of the god Imdugud]], lion-headed eagle surmounting a lintel made from sheets of copper, Temple of Ninhursag at [[Tell al-'Ubaid]], Iraq, {{circa|2500 BC}}
File:Statue Kurlil BM WA114207.jpg|Room 56 – Statue of Kurlil, from the Temple of [[Ninhursag]] in Tell al-'Ubaid, southern Iraq, {{circa|2500 BC}}
File:Ishtar goddess.jpg|Room 56 – The famous Babylonian '[[Burney Relief|Queen of the Night relief]]' of the goddess [[Ishtar]], Iraq, {{circa|1790 BC}}
File:Carved ivory depicting a woman at a window.jpg|Room 57 – Carved ivory object from the [[Nimrud Ivories]], Phoenician, Nimrud, Iraq, 9th–8th century BC
File:Jehu-on-Obelisk-of-Shalmaneser.jpg|Room 6 – Depiction of the hypocrite, [[Jehu]], King of Israel on the [[Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III]], Nimrud, c. 827 BC
File:Winged Human-headed Bulls.JPG|Room 10 – [[Lamassu|Human Headed Winged Bulls]] from [[Khorsabad]], companion pieces in the [[Musée du Louvre]], Iraq, 710–705 BC
File:BM; ANE - RM 55, Cuneiform Tablets Display.1.JPG|Room 55 – Cuneiform Collection, including the [[Epic of Gilgamesh]], Iraq, {{circa|669}}–631 BC
File:Dying Lion.R.jpg|Room 55 – ''[[Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal]]'' (detail), [[Nineveh]], Neo-Assyrian, Iraq, {{circa|645 BC}}
File:BabylonLion-BM.JPG|Room 55 – Panel with striding lion made from glazed bricks, Neo-Babylonian, [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], Southern Iraq, 604–562 BC
File:Britishmuseumoxustreasuregoldchariotmodel.jpg|Room 52 – A chariot from the [[Oxus Treasure]], the most important surviving collection of [[Achaemenid Empire|Achaemenid Persian]] metalwork, c. 5th to 4th centuries BC
File:Decorated column base from Persepolis.jpg|Great Court – Decorated column base from Hundred Column Hall, [[Persepolis]], 470–450 BC
File:Bmane2002-1-114,1.jpg|Room 53 – Stela said to come from Tamma' cemetery, [[Yemen]], 1st century AD
File:British Museum Yemen 07d.jpg|Room 53 – [[Alabaster]] statue of a standing female figure, Yemen, 1st–2nd centuries AD
File:Brass box BM 1878 12-30 674.jpg|Room 34 – Cylindrical lidded box with an Arabic inscription recording its manufacture for the ruler of Mosul, [[Badr al-Din Lu'lu']], Iraq, {{Circa|1233}} – 1259 AD
</gallery>

===Department of Prints and Drawings===
The Department of [[Old master print|Prints]] and Drawings holds the national collection of [[Western art history|Western]] prints and drawings. It ranks as one of the largest and best [[print room]] collections in existence alongside the [[Albertina, Vienna|Albertina]] in Vienna, the Paris collections{{Vague|date=September 2025}} and the [[Hermitage Museum|Hermitage]]. The holdings are easily accessible to the general public in the Study Room, unlike many such collections.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/prints_and_drawings/facilities_and_services/study_room.aspx |title=Study room page |work=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=15 December 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101215202335/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/prints_and_drawings/facilities_and_services/study_room.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> The department also has its own exhibition gallery in Room 90, where the displays and exhibitions change several times a year.<ref name="bmgal">{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/prints_and_drawings/galleries.aspx |title=Prints and Drawings galleries |work=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=3 January 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120103201342/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/prints_and_drawings/galleries.aspx |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Since its foundation in 1808, the prints and drawings collection has grown to international renown as one of the richest and most representative collections in the world. There are approximately 50,000 drawings and over two million prints.<ref name="bmgal" /> The collection of drawings covers the period from the 14th century to the present, and includes many works of the highest quality by the leading artists of the [[Western art history|European schools]]. The collection of prints covers the tradition of fine [[printmaking]] from its beginnings in the 15th century up to the present, with near complete holdings of most of the great names before the 19th century. Key benefactors to the department have been [[Clayton Mordaunt Cracherode]], [[Richard Payne Knight]], John Malcolm, [[Campbell Dodgson]], [[César Mange de Hauke]] and [[Tomás Harris]]. Writer and author [[Louis Alexander Fagan]], who worked in the department 1869–1894 made significant contributions to the department in form of his ''Handbook to the Department'', as well as various other books about the museum in general.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Owen |first=W.B |title=Dictionary of National Biography, 1912 |publisher=[[Oxford University Press]] |year=1938 |volume=2}}</ref>

There are groups of drawings by [[Leonardo da Vinci]], [[Raphael]], [[Michelangelo]], (including [[Epifania (Michelangelo drawing)|his only surviving full-scale cartoon]]), [[Albrecht Dürer]] (a collection of 138 drawings is one of the finest in existence), [[Peter Paul Rubens]], [[Rembrandt]], [[Claude Lorrain]] and [[Antoine Watteau]], and largely complete collections of the works of all the great printmakers including Dürer (99 [[engraving]]s, 6 [[etching]]s and most of his 346 [[woodcut]]s), Rembrandt and [[Francisco Goya]]. More than 30,000 British drawings and [[Watercolor painting|watercolours]] include important examples of work by [[William Hogarth]], [[Paul Sandby]], [[J. M. W. Turner]], [[Thomas Girtin]], [[John Constable]], [[John Sell Cotman]], [[David Cox (artist)|David Cox]], [[James Gillray]], [[Thomas Rowlandson]], [[Francis Towne]] and [[George Cruikshank]], as well as all the great [[Victorian era|Victorians]]. The collection contains the unique set of [[watercolours]] by the pioneering colonist [[John White (colonist and artist)|John White]], the first British artist in America and first European to paint Native Americans. There are about a million British prints including more than 20,000 satires and outstanding collections of works by [[William Blake]] and [[Thomas Bewick]].{{Citation needed|date=April 2007}}. The great eleven volume [[Catalogue of Political and Personal Satires Preserved in the Department of Prints and Drawings in the British Museum]] compiled between 1870 and 1954 is the definitive reference work for the study of British Satirical prints. Over 500,000 objects from the department are now on the online collection database, many with high-quality images.<ref>Searches on 8 January 2012, return totals of 700,000, but many are in other departments</ref> A 2011 donation of £1&nbsp;million enabled the museum to acquire a complete set of [[Pablo Picasso]]'s ''[[Vollard Suite]]''.<ref name="TelegNov11">{{Cite news| url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8923722/City-fund-manager-in-1m-Picasso-giveaway.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8923722/City-fund-manager-in-1m-Picasso-giveaway.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live| title=City fund manager in £1m Picasso giveaway| work=[[The Daily Telegraph]]| first=Anita |last=Singh| access-date=19 May 2012| date=29 November 2011}}{{cbignore}}</ref>

<gallery widths="190" heights="190">
File:Rogier van der Weyden - Portrait of an unknown young woman - British Museum 180945001.jpg|[[Rogier van der Weyden]] – ''[[Portrait of a Young Woman (van der Weyden)|Portrait of a Young Woman]]'', {{circa|1440}}
File:A fool, seated on a basket, about to be shaved by a nun holding a wafer iron by Hieronymus Bosch.jpg|[[Hieronymus Bosch]] – A comical barber scene, {{circa|1477}}–1516
File:Botticelli, allegoria dell'abbondanza, disegno.jpg|[[Sandro Botticelli]] – ''[[Allegory of Abundance]]'', 1480–1485
File:Leonardo da vinci, Study for the Burlington House Cartoon.jpg|[[Leonardo da Vinci]] – The [[Islamic views of Mary|Virgin]] and [[Jesus in Islam|Child]] with [[Saint Anne]] and the Infant Saint [[John the Baptist]] (prep for '[[The Virgin and Child with St Anne and St John the Baptist|The Burlington House Cartoon]]'), {{circa|1499}}–1500
File:Adam study - Michelangelo.jpg|[[Michelangelo]] – Studies of a reclining male nude: [[Adam]] in the fresco ''[[The Creation of Adam|The Creation of Man]]'' on the vault of the [[Sistine Chapel]], {{circa|1511}}
File:Raffaello, studio di testa di madonna e bambino.jpg|[[Raphael]] – ''Study of Heads, Mother and Child'', {{circa|1509}}–1511
File:Titian - Drowning of the Pharaoh's Host in the Red Sea - WGA22989.jpg|[[Titian]] – ''[[Crossing the Red Sea|Drowning of the Pharaoh's Host in the Red Sea]]'', 1515–1517
File:Albrecht Dürer - Walrus - WGA07101.jpg|[[Albrecht Dürer]] – Drawing of a walrus, 1521
File:A Lady, called Anne Boleyn, by Hans Holbein the Younger.jpg|[[Hans Holbein the Younger]] – ''Portrait of Anne Boleyn'', 1536
File:Joris and Jacob Hoefnagel - Allegory on Life and Death.jpg|[[Joris Hoefnagel]] and [[Jacob Hoefnagel]] – ''Allegory on Life and Death'', circa 1598
File:Peter Paul Rubens - Study for the figure of Christ on the Cross (cropped).jpg|[[Peter Paul Rubens]] – ''Study for the figure of Christ on the Cross'', 1610
File:Head of a monk, 1625-64, Francisco de Zurbarán. Drawing, 277 x 196 mm. British Museum.jpg|[[Francisco de Zurbarán]] – ''Head of a monk'', 1625–1664
File:Drawing of mules by Claude Lorrain.jpg|[[Claude Lorrain]] – Drawing of mules, including one full-length, 1630–1640
File:The Lamentation at the Foot of the Cross by Rembrandt van Rijn.jpg|[[Rembrandt]] – ''[[Lamentation of Christ|The Lamentation at the Foot of the Cross]]'', 1634–35
File:A woman with a rose drawn by Thomas Gainsborough.jpg|[[Thomas Gainsborough]] – Drawing of a woman with a rose, 1763–1765
File:Newport Castle by JMW Turner.jpg|[[J. M. W. Turner]] – Watercolour of Newport Castle, 1796
File:The happy effects of that grand systom of shutting ports against the English!!.jpg|[[Isaac Cruikshank]] – 'The happy effects of that grand system of shutting ports against the English!!', 1808
File:Hampstead Heath by John Constable watercolour.jpg|[[John Constable]] – ''London from Hampstead Heath in a Storm'', (watercolour), 1831
File:Notes Nocturne lithograph by James McNeill Whistler 1878.jpg|[[James McNeill Whistler]] – ''View of the Battersea side of Chelsea Reach'', London, (lithograph), 1878
File:Van Gogh - In the Orchard - 1883.jpg|[[Vincent van Gogh]] – Man Digging in the Orchard (print), 1883
</gallery>

===Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory===
[[File:British Museum (6425125707).jpg|thumb|250px|Gallery 50 – View down the Roman Britain gallery]]
[[File:Waddesdon_Bequest_(2).JPG|thumb|upright=1.15|250px|Gallery 2a – Display case of Renaissance metalware from the [[Waddesdon Bequest]]]]
The Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory is responsible for collections that cover a vast expanse of time and geography. It includes some of the earliest objects made by humans in east Africa over 2&nbsp;million years ago, as well as [[Prehistoric]] and neolithic objects from other parts of the world; and the art and archaeology of Europe from the earliest times to the present day. Archeological excavation of prehistoric material took off and expanded considerably in the twentieth century and the department now has literally millions of objects from the [[Paleolithic]] and [[Mesolithic]] periods throughout the world, as well as from the [[Neolithic]], [[Bronze Age]] and [[Iron Age]] in Europe. Stone Age material from Africa has been donated by famous archaeologists such as [[Louis Leakey|Louis]] and [[Mary Leakey]], and [[Gertrude Caton–Thompson]]. Paleolithic objects from the [[William Allen Sturge|Sturge]], [[Henry Christy|Christy]] and [[Édouard Lartet|Lartet]] collections include some of the earliest works of art from Europe. Many Bronze Age objects from across Europe were added during the nineteenth century, often from large collections built up by excavators and scholars such as [[William Greenwell|Greenwell]] in Britain, [[Thomas Tobin|Tobin]] and Cooke in Ireland, [[William Collings Lukis|Lukis]] and de la Grancière in Brittany, [[Jens Jacob Asmussen Worsaae|Worsaae]] in Denmark, [[Luis Siret|Siret]] at [[El Argar]] in Spain, and [[Gustav Klemm|Klemm]] and Edelmann in Germany. A representative selection of Iron Age artefacts from [[Hallstatt]] were acquired as a result of the [[Sir John Evans|Evans]]/[[Sir John Lubbock|Lubbock]] excavations and from [[Giubiasco]] in [[Ticino]] through the [[Swiss National Museum]].

In addition, the British Museum's collections covering the period AD 300 to 1100 are among the largest and most comprehensive in the world, extending from Spain to the [[Black Sea]] and from North Africa to [[Scandinavia]]; a representative selection of these has recently been redisplayed in a newly refurbished gallery. Important collections include Latvian, Norwegian, [[Gotland]]ic and [[Merovingian]] material from [[Johann Karl Bähr]], Alfred Heneage Cocks, Sir James Curle and Philippe Delamain respectively. However, the undoubted highlight from the early mediaeval period is the magnificent items from the [[Sutton Hoo]] royal grave, generously donated to the nation by the landowner [[Edith Pretty]]. The late mediaeval collection includes a large number of [[Seal (emblem)|seal-dies]] from across Europe, the most famous of which include those from the Town of [[Boppard]] in Germany, [[Isabella of Hainault]] from her tomb in [[Notre Dame Cathedral]], Paris, [[Inchaffray Abbey]] in Scotland and [[Robert Fitzwalter]], one of the Barons who led [[First Barons' War|the revolt]] against King [[John, King of England|John]] in England. There is also a large collection of medieval signet rings, prominent among them is the gold [[signet ring]] belonging to [[Jean III de Grailly]] who fought in the [[Hundred Years' War]], as well as those of [[Mary, Queen of Scots]] and [[Richard I of England]]. Other groups of artefacts represented in the department include the national collection of (c.100) [[Icon|icon paintings]], most of which originate from the [[Byzantine Empire]] and Russia, and over 40 mediaeval [[astrolabe]]s from across Europe and the Middle East. The department also includes the national collection of [[horology]] with one of the most wide-ranging assemblage of clocks, watches and other timepieces in Europe, with masterpieces from every period in the development of time-keeping. Choice horological pieces came from the [[Octavius Morgan|Morgan]] and [[Courtenay Adrian Ilbert|Ilbert]] collections. The department is also responsible for the curation of [[Romano-British]] objects – the museum has by far the most extensive such collection in Britain and one of the most representative regional collections in Europe outside Italy. It is particularly famous for the large number of late Roman silver treasures, many of which were found in [[East Anglia]], the most important of which is the [[Mildenhall Treasure]]. The museum purchased many Roman-British objects from the antiquarian [[Charles Roach Smith]] in 1856. These quickly formed the nucleus of the collection. The department also includes [[ethnographic]] material from across Europe including a collection of Bulgarian costumes and [[shadow puppet]]s from Greece and Turkey. A particular highlight are the three [[Sami drum|Sámi drums]] from northern Sweden of which only about 70 are extant.

Objects from the Department of Britain, Europe and Prehistory are mostly found on the upper floor of the museum, with a suite of galleries numbered from 38 to 51. Most of the collection is stored in its archive facilities, where it is available for research and study.

Highlights of the collections include:

'''Stone Age (c. 3.4&nbsp;million years BC – c. 2000 BC)'''
* [[Palaeolithic]] material from across Africa, particularly [[Olduvai Gorge|Olduvai]], [[Kalambo Falls]], [[Olorgesailie]] and [[Cape Flats]], (1.8&nbsp;million BC onwards)
* One of the 11 [[Solutrean|leaf-shaped points]] found near Volgu, [[Saône-et-Loire]], France and estimated to be 16,000 years old<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/l/leaf-shaped_point.aspxs| title = British Museum Highlights| access-date = 22 July 2016| archive-date = 16 December 2014| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20141216035757/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/l/leaf-shaped_point.aspxs| url-status = live}}</ref>
* Ice Age art from France including the [[Wolverine pendant of Les Eyzies]], [[Montastruc decorated stone (Palart 518)|Montastruc decorated stone]] and [[Baton fragment (Palart 310)|Baton fragment]], ({{circa|12}}–11,000 BC)
* Ice Age art from Britain including the [[Kendrick's Cave Decorated Horse Jaw|decorated jaw]] from Kendrick and [[Robin Hood Cave Horse]], (11,500–10,000 BC)
* Rare [[mesolithic]] artefacts from the site of [[Star Carr]] in Yorkshire, northern England, (8770–8460 BC)
* Terracotta figurine from [[Vinča-Belo Brdo|Vinča]], Serbia, (5200–4900 BC)
* [[Callaïs]] bead jewellery from Lannec-er-Ro'h, intact schist bracelet from Le Lizo, [[Carnac]] and triangular pendant from {{ill|Mané-er-Hroëk|de|Mané-er-Hroëk|fr|Tumulus du Mané er Hroëck}}<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1875-0403-823 British Museum collection]</ref>, Morbihan, Brittany, western France, (5000–4300 BC)
* [[Mother Goddess]] figurine from Campo-Fiorello near [[Grossa]], southern Corsica (c.4500 BC)<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1927-0207-1|title=figurine &#124; British Museum |work=The British Museum }}</ref>
* Polished [[jade]] axe produced in the Italian Alps and found in [[Canterbury]], Kent, southeast England, (4500–4000 BC)
* Section of the [[Sweet Track]], an ancient timber causeway from the Somerset Levels, England, (3807/6 BC)
* Small collection of [[Neolithic]] finds including a necklace of flat bone beads from [[Skara Brae]], Orkneys, northern Scotland, (3180–2500 BC)
* Representative sample of artefacts (sherds, vessels, etc.) from the megalithic site of [[Tarxien Temples|Tarxien]], Malta, (3150–2500 BC)
* A number of [[carved stone balls]] from Scotland, Ireland and northern England, (3200–2500 BC)
* The three [[Folkton Drums]], made from chalk and found in Yorkshire, northern England, (2600–2100 BC)

'''Bronze Age ({{Circa|3300 BC|600 BC}})'''
* Jet beaded necklace from Melfort in [[Argyll]], Scotland, ({{Circa|3000 BC}})
* [[Gold lunula]] from [[Blessington]], Ireland, one of twelve from Ireland, England, [[Llanllyfni lunula|LLanllyfini, Wales]] and [[Gwithian]], Cornwall, (2400–2000 BC)
* Early Bronze Age hoards from [[Barnack]], [[Driffield]], [[Sewell, Bedfordshire|Sewell]] and [[Snowshill]] in England, [[Arraiolos]] and [[Vendas Novas]] in Iberia and [[Auvernier]], [[Biecz]] and [[Neunheilingen]] in central Europe (2280–1500 BC)
*[[Mold cape]], unique cape made of gold sheet from [[Mold, Flintshire|Mold]], Wales (1900–1600 BC)
* Contents of the [[Rillaton Barrow]] including a gold cup, and the related [[Ringlemere Cup]], England, (1700–1500 BC)
* Bronze Age hoards from [[Forró, Northern Hungary|Forró]], [[Paks]]-[[Dunaföldvár]], [[Szőny]] and [[Zsujta]] in Hungary, (1600–1000 BC)
* Large ceremonial swords or dirks from [[Oxborough Dirk|Oxborough]] and [[Beaune]], western Europe, (1450–1300 BC)
* Eight bronze shields including those from [[Moel Hebog shield|Moel Hebog]] and [[Rhos Rydd Shield|Rhyd-y-gors]], Wales and [[Athenry]], County Galway, Ireland, (12th–10th centuries BC)
* Gold hoards from [[Morvah]] and [[Towednack]] in Cornwall, [[Milton Keynes Hoard|Milton Keynes]] in Buckinghamshire and [[Mooghaun North Hoard|Mooghaun]] in Ireland, (1150–750 BC)
* Gold bowl with intricate [[repoussé]] decoration from [[Leer, Lower Saxony|Leer]], Lower Saxony, northern Germany, (1100–800 BC)
* [[Dunaverney flesh-hook]] found near Ballymoney, Northern Ireland and part of the [[Dowris Hoard]] from County Offaly, Ireland, (1050–900 BC & 900–600 BC)
* Late Bronze Age gold hoards from [[Abia de la Obispalía]] and [[Mérida, Spain|Mérida]], Spain and an intricate [[Sintra Collar|gold collar]] from Sintra, Portugal, (10th–8th centuries BC)
*[[Shropshire bulla]], gold pendant decorated with intricately carved geometric designs, (1000–750 BC)&nbsp;
* Part of a copper alloy [[lur]] from [[Årslev]] on the island of [[Funen]], Denmark, one of only about 40 extant and the [[Dunmanway]] Horn from County Cork, Ireland (900–750 BC)
* Gold bowl with embossed ornament and fluted wire [[handle]] from [[Angyalföld]], Budapest, Hungary, (800–600 BC)

'''Iron Age ({{circa|600 BC|1st century AD}})'''
* [[Basse Yutz Flagons]], a pair of bronze drinking vessels from Moselle, eastern France, (5th century BC)
* Morel collection of La Tène material from eastern France, including the [[Somme-Bionne]] chariot burial and the [[Prunay Vase]], (450–300BC)
* Important finds from the [[River Thames]] including the [[Battersea Shield|Battersea]], Chertsey and [[Wandsworth Shield|Wandsworth]] shields and [[Waterloo Helmet]], as well as the [[Witham Shield]] from Lincolnshire, eastern England, (350–50 BC)
* Bronze [[scabbard]] with [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] engraved decoration, found at Lisnacrogher [[bog]], County Antrim, Northern Ireland, (300–200 BC)
* Pair of gold collars called the [[Orense Torcs]] from northwest Spain, (300–150 BC)
* [[Arras culture]] items from [[chariot burial]]s in the Lady's Barrow near [[Market Weighton]] and [[Wetwang Slack]], Yorkshire, (300 BC – 100 BC)
* Other gold neck collars including the [[Ipswich Hoard]] and the [[Sedgeford Torc]], England, (200–50 BC)
* [[Winchester Hoard]] of gold jewellery from southern England and the [[Great Torc from Snettisham]] in Norfolk, East Anglia, (100 BC)
* Eight out of about thirty extant intact [[Celtic art|Celtic]] bronze mirrors with [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] decoration including those from [[Aston, Hertfordshire|Aston]], [[Chettle]], [[Desborough]], [[Holcombe, Teignbridge|Holcombe]] and [[St Keverne]] in England, (100 BC – 100 AD)
* [[Cordoba Treasure|Cordoba]] and [[Arcillera]] Treasures, two silver Celtic hoards from Spain, (100–20 BC)
* [[Grave]] find of ornately decorated bronze [[bucket]] with human shaped handles, a pan, jug, three brooches and at least four pottery vessels from [[Aylesford]], Kent, (75 BC – 25 BC)
* [[Lindow Man]] found by accident in a peat bog in Cheshire, England, (1st century AD)
* [[Stanwick Iron Age Fortifications|Stanwick]] Hoard of horse and chariot fittings and the [[Meyrick Helmet]], northern England, (1st century AD)
* [[La Tène culture|La Tène]] silver hinged brooch from [[Székesfehérvár]], Hungary, (1–100 AD)
* [[Lochar Moss Torc]] and two pairs of massive bronze armlets from [[Muthill]] and [[Strathdon]], Scotland, (50–200 AD)

'''Romano-British (43 AD – 410 AD)'''
* Tombstone of Roman procurator [[Gaius Julius Alpinus Classicianus]] from London, (1st century)
* Ribbed glass bowl found in a grave at [[Radnage]], Buckinghamshire, (1st century)
* Large [[milestone]] marker with inscription from the reign of the emperor [[Hadrian]] from [[Llanfairfechan]], Gwynedd in North Wales, (120–121 AD)&nbsp;
* [[Ribchester Helmet|Ribchester]], [[Guisborough Helmet|Guisborough]] and [[Witcham]] helmets once worn by Roman cavalry in Britain, (1st–2nd centuries)
* Elaborate gold bracelets and ring found near [[Rhayader]], central Wales, (1st–2nd centuries)
* Hoard of gold jewellery found at [[Dolaucothi]] mine in [[Carmarthenshire]], Wales, (1st–2nd centuries)
* Bronze heads of the Roman emperors [[Hadrian]] and [[Nero]], found in London and Suffolk, (1st–2nd centuries)
* [[Vindolanda Tablets]], important historical documents found near Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, (1st–2nd centuries)
* Head of [[Mercury (god)|Mercury]] from Roman-Celtic Temple at [[Uley]], Gloucestershire and limestone head from [[Towcester]], Northamptonshire (2nd–4th centuries)
* Wall-paintings and sculptures from the [[Lullingstone Roman villa|Roman Villa]] at Lullingstone, Kent, south east England, 1st–4th centuries)
* [[Capheaton Treasure|Capheaton]] and [[Backworth]] treasures, remnants of two important hoards from northern England, (2nd–3rd centuries)
* [[Milton Keynes hoards|Stony Stratford Hoard]] of copper headdresses, fibulae and silver votive plaques, central England, (3rd century)
* Square silver [[Platter (dishware)|dish]] from [[Mileham]] in Norfolk, (4th century)
* Gold jewellery deposited at the site of [[Newgrange]], Ireland, (4th century)
* [[Thetford Hoard]], late Roman jewellery from eastern England, (4th century)

'''Early Mediaeval ({{Circa|4th century AD|1000 AD}})'''
* One of five [[Generosity|Largitio]] silver dishes of the emperor [[Licinius]] found at [[Niš]], Serbia and a hexagonal gold coin-set pendant of [[Constantine the Great]], (Early 4th century AD)
*Two wooden ship [[Figurehead (object)|figureheads]] dredged from the [[River Scheldt]] at [[Moerzeke]] and [[Appels]], Belgium, (4th–6th centuries)
* Part of the [[Asyut Treasure|Asyut]], [[Domagnano Treasure|Domagnano]], [[Artres Treasure|Artres]], [[Sutri Treasure|Sutri]], [[Bergamo Treasure|Bergamo]] and [[Belluno Treasure|Belluno]] Treasures, (4th–7th centuries)
* [[Lycurgus Cup]], a unique figurative glass cage cup, and the Byzantine [[Archangel ivory]] panel, (4th–6th centuries)
* Three large [[Ogham]] stones from the Roofs More [[Ringfort|Rath]], County Cork, Ireland, (5th–7th centuries)
* The [[Sutton Hoo]] treasure, [[Taplow burial]] and [[Crundale, Kent|Crundale]] grave objects with some of the greatest finds from the early Middle Ages in Europe, England, (6th–7th centuries)
* One of the [[Burghead Fort|Burghead]] Bulls, [[Picts|Pictish]] stone relief from northeast Scotland, (7th–8th centuries)
* Three Viking hoards from Norway known as the [[Lilleberge Viking Burial]], [[Tromsø Burial]], and Villa Farm barrow burial (in [[Vestnes Municipality]]) plus the [[Borve, Barra|Ardvouray]], [[List of hoards in the Isle of Man#Viking hoards|Ballaquayle]], [[Cuerdale Hoard|Cuerdale]], [[Goldsborough, Harrogate|Goldsborough]] and [[Vale of York Hoard|Vale of York]] hoards from Britain, (7th–10th centuries)
* Irish reliquaries such as the [[Kells Crozier]], [[Bell Shrine of St. Cuileáin]] and [[Bell Shrine of Conall Cael|St Conall Cael's Shrine]] from [[Inishkeel]], (7th–11th centuries)
* Early Anglo Saxon [[Franks Casket]], a unique ivory container from northern England, (8th century)
* T-shaped [[Carolingian art|Carolingian]] antler container with carved geometric interlace and zigzag decoration, found near [[Grüneck Castle]], Ilanz, Switzerland, (8th–9th centuries)
* A number of luxurious penannular brooches such as the [[Londesborough Brooch]], [[Breadalbane Brooch]] and those from the [[Penrith Hoard]], British Isles, (8th–9th centuries)
* Three of the twenty extant Carolingian crystal [[Engraved gem|intaglios]] including the [[Lothair Crystal]], the [[Metz]] engraved gem with crucifixion and [[Saint-Denis Crystal]], central Europe, (9th century)
* Anglo-Saxon [[Fuller Brooch|Fuller]] and [[Strickland Brooch|Strickland]] Brooches with their complex, niello-inlaid design, England, (9th century)
* One of the [[Magdeburg Ivories]] from a set of 16 surviving [[ivory]] panels illustrating episodes of the [[Life of Jesus]], [[Magdeburg]], Germany, (968 AD)
* [[Seax of Beagnoth]], iron sword with long [[Anglo-Saxon runes|Anglo-Saxon Runic]] inscription, London, England, (10th century)

'''Mediaeval ({{circa|1000 AD|1500 AD}})'''
* A number of mediaeval ivory panels including the [[Borradaile Triptych|Borradaile]], [[Wernher Triptych|Wernher]] and [[John Grandisson Triptych|John Grandisson]] Triptychs, (10th–14th centuries)
* Several [[Olifant (instrument)|elephant ivory horns]] including the [[:es:Olifante de Borradaile|Borradaile Horn]], Clephane Horn and [[Savernake Horn]], (11th–12th centuries)
* The famous [[Lewis chessmen]] found in the Outer Hebrides, Scotland, (12th century)
* [[Reliquary of St. Eustace]] from the treasury of Basel Munster, Switzerland and fragments of a rare [[Romanesque art|Romanesque]] crucifix from [[Church of All Hallows, South Cerney|South Cerney]], England, (12th century)
* Armenian stone-cross or [[Khachkar]] from the [[Noratus cemetery]] in Armenia, (1225 AD)
* Items from the tomb of [[Henry VI, Holy Roman Emperor]] at [[Palermo Cathedral]], Sicily, including his [[mitre]], silk [[Pall (funeral)|pall]] and shoe, (late 12th century)
* The unique [[Warwick Castle]] [[Citole]], an early form of guitar, central England, (1280–1330)
* Set of 10 wooden door panels engraved with Christian scenes from the [[Hanging Church]] in [[Old Cairo]], Egypt, (1300)
* [[Asante Jug]], mysteriously found at the [[Ashanti Empire|Asante]] Court in the late 19th century, England, (1390–1400)
* [[Holy Thorn Reliquary]] bequeathed by Ferdinand de Rothschild as part of the [[Waddesdon Bequest]], Paris, France, (14th century)
* [[Dunstable Swan Jewel]], a gold and enamel brooch in the form of a swan, England, (14th century)
* A silver [[Canterbury Astrolabe Quadrant|astrolabe quadrant]] from Canterbury, southeastern England, (14th century)
* [[Chalcis]] treasure of jewellery, dress accessories and silver plate from the island of [[Euboea]], Greece, (14th–15th centuries)
* Magnificent cups made from precious metal such as the [[Royal Gold Cup]] and the [[Lacock Cup]], western Europe, (14th–15th centuries)
* Complete church altar set from [[Medina de Pomar]] near Burgos, Spain (1455 AD)

'''Renaissance to Modern ({{circa|1500 AD}} – present)'''
* Two luxurious silver brooches set with precious stones from [[Glen Lyon]] and [[Lochbuie, Mull|Lochbuie]], Scotland (early 16th century)
* Intricately decorated [[Ghisi Shield|parade shield]] made by [[Giorgio Ghisi]] from Mantua, Italy, (1554 AD)
* [[The Armada Service]], 26 silver dishes found in Devon, south west England, (late 16th to early 17th centuries)
* Early Renaissance ''Lyte Jewel'', presented to Thomas Lyte of [[Lytes Cary]], Somerset by [[James VI and I|King James I]] of England, (1610)
* [[Huguenot]] silver from the Peter Wilding bequest, England, (18th century)
* Pair of so-called ''Cleopatra Vases'' from the [[Chelsea porcelain factory]], London, England, (1763)
* Jaspar ware vase known as the ''Pegasus Vase'' made by [[Josiah Wedgwood]], England, (1786)
* Two of [[Charles Darwin]]'s [[Ship's chronometer from HMS Beagle|chronometers]] used on the voyage of [[HMS Beagle]], (1795–1805)
* The Hull Grundy Gift of jewellery, Europe and North America, (19th century)
* Oak clock with mother-of-pearl engraving designed by [[Charles Rennie Mackintosh]], (1919)
* [[:de:Tee-Extraktkännchen MT 49|Silver tea-infuser MT 49]] designed by [[Marianne Brandt]] from the [[Bauhaus]] art school, Germany, (1924)
* The ''Rosetta Vase'', earthenware pottery vase designed by the contemporary British artist [[Grayson Perry]], (2011)

The many hoards of treasure include those of [[Esquiline Treasure|Esquiline]], [[Carthage Treasure|Carthage]], [[First Cyprus Treasure|First Cyprus]], [[Hockwold cum Wilton|Hockwold]], [[Hoxne Hoard|Hoxne]], [[Lampsacus Treasure|Lampsacus]], [[Mildenhall Treasure|Mildenhall]], [[Vale of York Hoard|Vale of York]] and [[Water Newton Treasure|Water Newton]], (4th–10th centuries AD)

<gallery widths="190px" heights="190px">
File:British Museum Olduvai handaxe.jpg|Room 2 – [[Handaxe]], [[Lower Palaeolithic]], [[Olduvai Gorge]], Tanzania, {{circa|1.2&nbsp;million years BC}}
File:Sleeping Reindeer 4512630872 d31dcb1207 o.jpg|Room 3 – [[Swimming Reindeer]] carving, France, {{circa|13,000 years BC}}<ref>{{cite web |url=http://my.page-flip.co.uk/?userpath=00000013/00012513/00053413/&page=11 |title=BM Reindeer |website=page-flip.co.uk |access-date=20 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200301030041/http://my.page-flip.co.uk/?userpath=00000013%2F00012513%2F00053413%2F&page=11 |archive-date=1 March 2020 |url-status=dead}}</ref>
File:Ain Sakhri Lovers - British Museum - Joy of Museums.jpg|Room 2 – [[Ain Sakhri lovers]], from the cave of [[Ain Sakhri]], near [[Bethlehem]], {{circa|9000 BC}}<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/p/ain_sakhri_lovers_figurine.aspx|title=British Museum - Ain Sakhri lovers figurine|work=British Museum|access-date=22 July 2016|archive-date=21 October 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151021025025/http://www.britishmuseum.org/explore/highlights/highlight_objects/pe_prb/p/ain_sakhri_lovers_figurine.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref>
File:British Museum gold thing 501594 fh000035.jpg|Room 51 – [[Mold cape|Mold gold cape]], North Wales, Bronze Age, {{circa|1900}}–1600 BC
File:Wandsworth Shield.png|Room 50 – [[Wandsworth Shield]], Iron Age shield boss in La Tène style, England, 2nd century BC
File:IronAgeTorcBritishMuseum.JPG|Room 50 – Gold torc found in [[Needwood Forest]], central England, 75 BC
File:Roman emperor head.jpg|Room 49 – Bronze head of a Roman emperor, [[Claudius]] or [[Nero]],<ref>{{Cite news |title=figure {{!}} British Museum |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1965-1201-1 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240708040219/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/H_1965-1201-1 |archive-date=8 July 2024 |access-date=2025-03-10 |work=The British Museum |url-status=live }}</ref> from Rendham in Suffolk, eastern England, 1st century AD
File:Romano-British crown and diadem.jpg|Room 49 – Romano-British crown and diadem found in [[Hockwold cum Wilton]], England 1st century AD
File:Mosaic2 - plw.jpg|Room 49 – [[Hinton St Mary Mosaic]] with face of Christ in the centre, from Dorset, southern England, 4th century AD
File:Corbridge lanx.jpg|Room 49 – [[Corbridge Lanx]], silver tray depicting a shrine to Apollo, northern England, 4th century AD
File:British Museum Coleraine Hoard.jpg|Room 41 – Silver objects from the Roman [[Coleraine]] Hoard, Northern Ireland, 4th–5th centuries AD
File:Sutton Hoo helmet 2016.png|Room 41 – [[Sutton Hoo helmet]], Anglo-Saxon, England, early 7th century AD
File:Virgin and Child BM PE1978-05.02-3.jpg|Room 40 – Ivory statue of [[Virgin and Child]], who is crushing a dragon under her left foot from Paris, France, 1310–1330 AD
File:Chaucer Astrolabe BM 1909.6-17.1.jpg|Room 40 – Chaucer [[Astrolabe]], the oldest dated in Europe, 1326 AD
File:British Museum Royal Gold Cup.jpg|Room 40 – [[Royal Gold Cup]] or [[Saint Agnes Cup]], made in Paris, France, 1370–80 AD
File:Holy Thorn Reliquary front 2018 (cropped).JPG|Room 2a – [[Holy Thorn Reliquary]], made in Paris, {{circa|1390s AD}}
File:Ship Clock at British Museum.jpg|Room 38 – [[Mechanical Galleon]] clock, Augsburg, Germany, around 1585 AD
File:Carillon Clock with Automata, by Isaac Habrecht - British Museum.jpg|Room 38 – Carillon clock with automata by [[Isaac and Josias Habrecht|Isaac Habrecht]], Switzerland, 1589 AD
File:Inside the British Museum, London - DSC04228.JPG|Room 39 – Ornate clock made by [[Thomas Tompion]], England, 1690 AD
</gallery>

===Department of Asia===
[[File:BrMus Amravati.jpg|thumb|Room 33a – [[Amaravati Sculptures]], southern India, 1st century BC and 3rd century AD]]
[[File:Room 95-6752.JPG|thumb|Room 95 – The [[Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art|Percival David collection]] of Chinese ceramics]]

The scope of the Department of Asia is extremely broad; its collections of over 75,000 objects cover the material culture of the whole Asian continent and from the Neolithic up to the present day. Until recently, this department concentrated on collecting Oriental antiquities from urban or semi-urban societies across the Asian continent. Many of those objects were collected by colonial officers and explorers in former parts of the [[British Empire]], especially the Indian subcontinent.<ref name="auto">{{cite web|author=Babs.Guthrie|url=http://www.untoldlondon.org.uk/collections/SE000073.html|title=Collection page|publisher=Untold London|access-date=4 July 2010|url-status=dead|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090921153753/http://www.untoldlondon.org.uk/collections/SE000073.html|archive-date=21 September 2009}}</ref><ref name="auto2">{{cite web|url=http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/japaninfo/culture/britishmuseum.html|title=Embassy of Japan in the UK|publisher=Japan Embassy|access-date=4 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110427102637/http://www.uk.emb-japan.go.jp/en/japaninfo/culture/britishmuseum.html|archive-date=27 April 2011|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name="auto1">{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/asia.aspx|title=Department of Asia|work=British Museum|date=14 June 2010|access-date=4 July 2010|archive-date=6 July 2010|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100706200849/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/asia.aspx|url-status=live}}</ref> Examples include the collections made by individuals such as [[James Wilkinson Breeks]], Sir [[Alexander Cunningham]], Sir [[Harold Arthur Deane|Harold Deane]], Sir [[Walter Elliot (Scottish naturalist)|Walter Elliot]], [[James Prinsep]], [[Charles Masson]], Sir [[John Marshall (archaeologist)|John Marshall]] and [[Charles Stuart (East India Company officer)|Charles Stuart]].

A large number of Chinese antiquities were purchased from the Anglo-Greek banker [[George Eumorfopoulos]] in the 1930s. The large collection of some 1,800 Japanese prints and paintings owned by [[Arthur Morrison]] was acquired in the early twentieth century. In the second half of the twentieth century, the museum greatly benefited from the bequest of the philanthropist PT Brooke Sewell, which allowed the department to purchase many objects and fill in gaps in the collection.<ref name="auto"/><ref name="auto2"/><ref name="auto1"/>

In 2004, the ethnographic collections from Asia were transferred to the department. These reflect the diverse environment of the largest continent in the world and range from India to China, the Middle East to Japan. Much of the ethnographic material comes from objects originally owned by tribal cultures and [[hunter-gatherers]], many of whose way of life has disappeared in the last century. 

Particularly valuable collections are from the [[Andaman and Nicobar Islands]] (much assembled by the British naval officer [[Maurice Vidal Portman|Maurice Portman]]), Sri Lanka (especially through the colonial administrator [[Hugh Nevill]]), Northern Thailand, south-west China, the [[Ainu people|Ainu]] of [[Hokkaido]] in Japan (chief among them the collection of the Scottish zoologist [[John Anderson (zoologist)|John Anderson]]), Siberia (with artefacts collected by the explorer [[Kate Marsden]] and Bassett Digby and is notable for its [[Yakuts|Sakha]] pieces, especially the ivory model of a summer festival at [[Yakutsk]]) and the islands of South-East Asia, especially Borneo. The latter benefited from the purchase in 1905 of the [[Sarawak]] collection put together by Dr [[Charles Hose]], as well as from other colonial officers such as Edward A Jeffreys. A unique and valuable group of objects from Java, including shadow puppets and a [[gamelan]] musical set, was assembled by Sir [[Stamford Raffles]].

The principal gallery devoted to Asian art in the museum is Gallery 33 with its comprehensive display of Chinese, Indian subcontinent and South-east Asian objects. An adjacent gallery showcases the Amaravati sculptures and monuments. Other galleries on the upper floors are devoted to its Japanese, Korean, painting and [[calligraphy]], and Chinese ceramics collections.

Highlights of the collections include:<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/departments_all_relationships.aspx?Title=Asia&ContentType=Department&PageId=551 |title=Department of Asia – Related Highlight Objects |publisher=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=5 February 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100205075155/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/departments_all_relationships.aspx?Title=Asia&ContentType=Department&PageId=551 |url-status=live }}</ref>

* A small but comprehensive collection of sculpture from the Indian subcontinent, including some of the [[Amaravati Marbles]], [[Buddhism|Buddhist]] limestone reliefs excavated by Sir [[Walter Elliot (Scottish naturalist)|Walter Elliot]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/explore/galleries/asia/room_33a_amaravati.aspx |title=Room 33a: Amaravati |publisher=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=25 September 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070925073108/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/explore/galleries/asia/room_33a_amaravati.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>
* A collection of Chinese antiquities, paintings, and porcelain, lacquer, bronze, jade, and other applied arts.
* The {{ill|Frau Olga-Julia Wegener|de|Georg Wegener}} collection of 147 Chinese paintings from the Tang to the Qing dynasties.
* The most comprehensive collection of [[Japanese art|Japanese pre-20th century art]] in the Western world, many of which originally belonged to the surgeon [[William Anderson (collector)|William Anderson]] and diplomat [[Ernest Mason Satow]].

'''East Asia'''
* A large collection of [[Chinese ritual bronzes]], including a wine vessel in the shape of two rams supporting a jar, (1500–200 BC)
* [[Bi (jade)|Jade bi]] or disc with inscription from the [[Qianlong Emperor]], (1500–1050 BC)
* Group of [[oracle bones]] that were used for [[divination]] from the [[Shang dynasty]], China, (1200–1050 BC)
* Intricately designed gold dagger handle from [[Zhou dynasty|Eastern Zhou period]], China, (6th–5th centuries BC)
* [[Huixian Bronze Hu]], an identical pair of bronze vessels from the [[Zhou dynasty|Eastern Zhou period]], China, (5th century BC)
* Japanese antiquities from the [[Kofun period]] excavated by the pioneering archaeologist [[William Gowland]], (3rd–6th centuries AD)
* Three ornate bronze [[Dōtaku]] or bells from the [[Yayoi period]], Japan, (200 BC – 200 AD)
* Gilded and inscribed [[Han dynasty]] wine-cup made from [[lacquer]] and found in [[Pyongyang]], Korea (4 AD)
* [[Gandharan]] architectural wood carvings, furniture and dress accessories from [[Loulan]], Xinjiang, (4th century AD)
* The famous [[Admonitions Scroll]] by Chinese artist [[Gu Kaizhi]], (344–406 AD)
* The colossal [[Amitābha Buddha from Hancui]], China, (585 AD)
* A set of ceramic [[Tang dynasty tomb figures of Liu Tingxun]], ({{circa|728 AD}})
* Silk Princess painting from [[Dandan-oilik]] Buddhist sanctuary in [[Kingdom of Khotan|Khotan]], Xinjiang, China, (7th–8th century AD)
* [[Seated Luohan from Yixian]], one from a set of eight surviving statues, China, (907–1125 AD)
* Hoard of [[Tang dynasty]] silverware from Beihuangshan, [[Shaanxi]], China, (9th–10th centuries AD)
* Seventeen examples of extremely rare [[Ru ware]], the largest collection in the West, (1100 AD)
* A fine assemblage of Buddhist scroll paintings from [[Dunhuang]], western China, collected by the British-Hungarian explorer [[Aurel Stein]], (5th–11th centuries AD)
* [[Percival David Foundation of Chinese Art|Pericival David]] collection of Chinese ceramics, (10th–18th centuries AD)
* Ivory stand in the form of a seated lion, Chos-'khor-yan-rtse monastery in [[Tibet]], (13th century AD)
* Copy of a hanging scroll painting of [[Minamoto no Yoritomo]], first [[Shogun]] of Japan, (14th century AD)
* Handscroll silk painting called 'Fascination of Nature' by Xie Chufang depicting insects and plants, China, (1321 AD)
* Ornate Sino-Tibetan figure of Buddha [[Sakyamuni]] made of gilded bronze, China, (1403–1424 AD)
* Large [[Cloisonné]] jar with dragon made for the [[Ming dynasty]] Imperial Court, paired with another in the [[Rietberg Museum]], Zürich, Beijing, China, (1426–35 AD)
* Pair of ceramic [[Kakiemon elephants]] from Japan, (17th century AD)
* [[Moon jar]] from the [[Joseon Dynasty]] collected by the potter [[Bernard Leach]], Korea, (18th century AD)
* Japanese prints including 3 of the original impressions of [[The Great Wave off Kanagawa]], (1829–32 AD)
* Illustrations for the Great Picture Book of Everything, rare album of drawings by the celebrated Japanese artist [[Hokusai]], (1820–1840 AD)

'''South Asia'''
* Excavated objects from the [[Indus Valley civilisation|Indus Valley]] sites of [[Mohenjo-daro]], and [[Harappa]], [[Ancient India]] (now in [[Pakistan]]), (2500–2000 BC)
* Hoard of [[Copper Hoard Culture]] celts, plaques and disc from Gungeria, [[Madhya Pradesh]], India, (2000–1000 BC)
* Assembly of [[Prehistory|prehistoric]] artefacts from the [[Nilgiri Mountains|Nilgiri Hills]] in southern India, (10th century BC – 2nd century AD)
* Hoard of [[Iron Age]] metal weapons excavated at the Wurreegaon&nbsp;barrow&nbsp;near [[Kamptee]] in [[Maharastra]], India, (7th – 1st centuries BC)
* Sandstone fragment of a [[Pillars of Ashoka|Pillar of Ashoka]] with [[Brahmi]] inscription from [[Meerut]], Uttar Pradesh, India, (238 BC)
* The [[Kulu Vase]] found near a monastery in [[Himachal Pradesh]], one of the earliest examples of figurative art from the sub-continent, northern India, (1st century BC)
* [[Taxila copper plate|Copper plate]] from [[Taxila]], with important Kharoshthi inscription, [[Ancient India]] (now in [[Pakistan]]), (1st century BC – 1st century AD)
* Indo-Scythian sandstone [[Mathura lion capital|Mathura Lion Capital]] and [[Sanchi Yakshi Figure|Bracket figure]] from one of the gateways to the Great Stupa at [[Sanchi]], central India, (1st century AD)
* [[Bimaran casket|Bimaran Casket]] and [[Wardak Vase]], reliquaries from ancient stupas in Afghanistan, (1st–2nd centuries AD)
* Hoard of gold jewellery with precious stones found under the Enlightenment Throne at the [[Mahabodhi Temple]], Bodh Gaya, eastern India, (2nd century AD)
* Relic deposits from [[stupa]]s at [[Ahin Posh]], Ali Masjid, [[Gudivada]], [[Manikyala]], Sonala Pind, [[Sanchi]] and [[Taxila]], (1st–3rd centuries AD)
* Seated [[Hārītī]] and [[Seated Buddha from Gandhara|Buddha statues]] and other [[Gandhara]] sculptures from [[Kafir Kot]], [[Jamal Garhi]], [[Takht-i-Bahi]] and [[Yusufzai]], Pakistan, (1st–3rd centuries AD)
* [[Hephthalite silver bowl]] with hunting scenes from the [[Swat District]], Pakistan, (460–479 AD)
* Three sandstone carved sculptures of the Buddha in [[Gupta Empire|Gupta]] style from [[Sarnath]], eastern India, (5th–6th centuries AD)
* [[Aphsad inscription of Ādityasena]] with important record of the genealogy of the [[Later Gupta dynasty]] up to king Ādityasena, [[Ghosrawan]], Bihar, India, (675 AD)
* The [[Buddhapad Hoard]] of bronze images from southern India, (6th–8th centuries AD)
* Small bronze figure of [[Buddha Shakyamuni]], Bihar, eastern India, (7th century AD)
* Stone statue of Buddha from the [[Sultanganj Buddha|Sultanganj]] hoard, Bihar, eastern India, (7th–8th centuries AD)
* Earliest known figure of the dancing four-armed god [[Shiva Nataraja]], [[Pallava dynasty]], southern India (800 AD)
* [[Statue of Tara]] from Sri Lanka and the [[Thanjavur Shiva]] from Tamil Nadu, southern India, (8th century & 10th century AD)
* Standing [[Pala Empire|Pala]] statue of Buddha from [[Kurkihar hoard|Kurkihar]], Bihar, India, (9th century AD)
* Several wooden architectural panels from the [[Kashmir Smast]] caves, northern Pakistan, (9th–10th centuries AD)
* Hoard of Buddhist terracotta sealings from the [[Pala Empire|Pala period]] found at the [[Nālandā]] Monastery, Bihar, eastern India, (10th century AD)
* [[Ambika Statue from Dhar|Statue]] of the [[Ambika (Jainism)|goddess Ambika]] found at [[Dhar]] in central India, (1034 AD)
* Foundation inscription of the [[Ananta Vasudeva Temple]] in [[Bhubaneswar]], Odisha, eastern India, (1278 AD)
* [[Jade]] dragon cup that once belonged to Sultan [[Ulugh Beg]] from [[Samarkand]], Uzbekistan, (1420–1449 AD)
* Foundation inscription with Arabic inscription in [[Naskh script]] in the name of Sultan [[Shamsuddin Yusuf Shah|Yusufshah]] from [[Gauda (city)|Gauda]], Bengal, eastern India, (1477 AD)
* Large standing gilded copper figure of the [[Bodhisattva]] [[Avalokiteśvara]], Nepal, (15th–16th centuries AD)

'''Southeast Asia'''
* Earthenware [[tazza (cup)|tazza]] from the [[Phùng Nguyên culture]], northern Vietnam, (2000–1500 BC)
* Pottery vessels and sherds from the ancient site of [[Ban Chiang]], Thailand, (10th–1st centuries BC)
* Bronze [[Klang Bell|bell]] from [[Klang (city)|Klang]] and iron socketed axe (tulang mawas) from [[Perak]], western Malaysia, (200 BC–200 AD)
* Group of six [[Buddhist]] clay votive plaques found in a cave in Patania, [[Penang]], Malaysia, (6th–11th centuries AD)
* The famous [[Sambas Treasure]] of buddhist gold and silver figures from west Borneo, Indonesia, (8th–9th centuries AD)
* Three stone Buddha heads from the temple at [[Borobodur]] in Java, Indonesia, (9th century AD)
* Granite [[Kinnari]] figure in the shape of a bird from Candi [[Prambanan]] in Java, Indonesia, (9th century AD)
* Sandstone [[Champa]] figure of a rampant lion, Vietnam, (11th century AD)
* Gilded bronze figure of [[Śiva]] holding a rosary, Cambodia, (11th century AD)
* Stone figure representing the upper part of an eleven-headed [[Avalokiteśvara]], Cambodia, (12th century AD)
* Bronze figure of a seated Buddha from [[Bagan]], Burma, (12th–13th centuries AD)
* Hoard of [[Southern Song dynasty]] ceramic vessels excavated at Pinagbayanan, [[Taysan]] Municipality, Philippines, (12th–13th centuries AD)
* Statue of the Goddess Mamaki from [[Candi Jago]], eastern Java, Indonesia, (13th–14th centuries AD)
* Glazed terracotta tiles from the Shwegugyi Temple erected by king [[Dhammazedi]] in [[Bago, Myanmar|Bago]], Myanmar, (1476 AD)
* Inscribed bronze figure of a Buddha from [[Fang District]], part of a large SE Asian collection amassed by the Norwegian explorer [[Carl Bock (explorer)|Carl Bock]], Thailand, (1540 AD)
* Large impression of the Buddha's foot made of gilded stone (known as Shwesettaw Footprints) donated by Captain [[Frederick Marryat]], from Ponoodang near [[Yangon]], Myanmar, (18th–19th centuries AD)

<gallery widths="190" heights="190">
File:Poids cubiques harappéens - BM.jpg|Room 33 – Cubic weights made of [[chert]] from [[Mohenjo-daro]], Pakistan, 2600–1900 BC
File:Periodo degli zhou dell'est, coppia di vasi rituali hu. V sec. ac. 01.JPG|Room 33 – One of the [[hu (vessel)|hu]] from Huixian, China, 5th century BC
File:CrystalGoose.JPG|Room 33 – A [[hamsa (bird)|hamsa]] sacred goose vessel made of [[crystal]] from Stupa 32, [[Taxila]], Pakistan, 1st century AD
File:Death of the Buddha BM.jpg|Room 33 – Stone sculpture of the death of Buddha, Gandhara, [[Pakistan]], 1st–3rd centuries AD
File:Ku K'ai-chih 001.jpg|Room 91a – Section of the [[Admonitions Scroll]] by Chinese artist [[Gu Kaizhi]], China, c. 380 AD
File:Denesar Khera Buddha.JPG|Room 33 – Gilded bronze [[Dhaneswar Khera Buddha image inscription|statue of the Buddha]], Dhaneswar Khera, India, 5th century AD
File:Amitabha Buddha Statue, British Museum - panoramio.jpg|The [[Amitābha]] Buddha from Hancui on display in the museum's stairwell, China, 6th century AD
File:Luóhàn at British Museum.jpg|Room 33 – The [[arhat|luohan]] from Yixian made of glazed stoneware, China, 907–1125 AD
File:Goddess Ambika from Dhar.JPG|Sculpture of [[Ambika (Jainism)|Goddess Ambika]] found at [[Dhar]], India, 1034 AD
File:Tirthankaras.jpg|Sculpture of the two Jain tirthankaras [[Rishabhanatha]] and [[Mahavira]], [[Orissa, India]], 11th–12th century AD
File:British Museum Kang Hou Gui Top.jpg|Room 33 – Western Zhou bronze ritual vessel known as the "[[Kang Hou Gui]]", China, 11th century BC
File:Seated Avalokiteshvara BM OA 1985.5-11.1.jpg|Room 33 – A crowned figure of the [[Bodhisattva]] Khasarpana Avalokiteśvara, India, 12th century AD
File:British Museum Asia 2 (cropped).jpg|Room 33 – Covered hanging jar with underglaze decoration, Si Satchanalai (Sawankalok), north-central [[Thailand]], 14th–16th centuries AD
File:Hu-shaped altar vessel BM 1989.0309.1.jpg|Room 33 – [[Hu (vessel)|Hu]]-shaped altar flower vessel, Ming dynasty, China, 15th–16th centuries AD
File:Judge assistant hell BM OA1917.11-16.1 n02.jpg|Room 33 – An assistant to the Judge of Hell, figure from a judgement group, [[Ming dynasty]], China, 16th century AD
File:British Museum Asia 41-2.jpg|Room 33 – Statue of Bodhisattva Avalokiteshvara, gilded bronze. [[Nepal]], 16th century AD
File:Indischer Maler um 1615 (I) 001.jpg|Portrait of Ibrâhîm 'Âdil Shâh II (1580–1626), [[Mughal Empire]] of India, 1615 AD
File:Utagawa Toyoharu (attributed to), Courtesans of the Tamaya House.jpg|Room 90 – Courtesans of the Tamaya House, attributed to Utagawa Toyoharu, screen painting; Japan, [[Edo period]], late 1770s or early 1780s AD
File:SFEC BritMus Asia 027.JPG|Room 33 – Large statue of [[Buddha]] made of [[lacquer]] from Burma, 18th–19th century AD
File:Seated.Lama-01-British.Museum.jpg|Room 33 – Figure of seated Lama; of painted and varnished papier-mâché, [[Ladakh]], India, 19th century AD
</gallery>

===Department of Africa, Oceania and the Americas===
[[File:Wellcome Trust Gallery + Living & Dying (Room 24).jpg|thumb|250px|upright=1.15|Room 24 – The [[Wellcome Trust]] Gallery of Living and Dying, with [[Hoa Hakananai'a]], a ''[[moai]]'', in the centre]]
[[File:African_throwing_knives.jpg|thumb|250px|Room 25 – A collection of African [[Throwing knife|throwing knives]]]]
The British Museum houses one of the world's most comprehensive collections of [[ethnographic]] material from Africa, Oceania and the Americas, representing the cultures of [[indigenous peoples]] throughout the world. Over 350,000 objects<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/departments/africa,_oceania_and_americas.aspx |title=Africa, Oceania and the Americas |publisher=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=14 August 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070814030755/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/the_museum/departments/africa,_oceania_and_americas.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> spanning thousands of years tells the history of mankind from three major continents and many rich and diverse cultures; the collecting of modern artefacts is ongoing. Many individuals have added to the department's collection over the years but those assembled by [[Henry Christy]], [[Harry Geoffrey Beasley|Harry Beasley]] and [[William Ockelford Oldman|William Oldman]] are outstanding.

Objects from this department are mostly on display in several galleries on the ground and lower floors. Gallery 24 displays [[ethnographic]] from every continent while adjacent galleries focus on North America and Mexico. A long suite of rooms (Gallery 25) on the lower floor display African art. There are plans in place to develop permanent galleries for displaying art from Oceania and South America.

====Africa====
The Sainsbury African Galleries display 600 objects from the greatest permanent collection of African arts and culture in the world. The three permanent galleries provide a substantial exhibition space for the museum's African collection comprising over 200,000 objects. A curatorial scope that encompasses both archaeological and contemporary material, including both unique masterpieces of artistry and objects of everyday life. A great addition was material amassed by Sir [[Henry Wellcome]], which was donated by the [[Wellcome Collection|Wellcome Historical Medical Museum]] in 1954.

Highlights of the African collection include objects found at [[Senegambian stone circles|megalithic circles]] in The Gambia, a dozen exquisite [[Kongo ivories#Afro-Portuguese ivories|Afro-Portuguese ivories]], a series of soapstone figures from the [[Kissi people]] in Sierra Leone and Liberia, hoard of bronze [[Kru people|Kru]] currency rings from the [[Sinoe River]] in [[Greenville, Liberia|Liberia]], Asante goldwork and regalia from Ghana including the [[Thomas Edward Bowdich|Bowdich]] collection, the rare [[Akan Drum]] from the same region in west Africa, pair of door panels and lintel from the palace at [[Ikere-Ekiti]] in [[Yorubaland]], the [[Benin Bronzes|Benin]] and [[Igbo-Ukwu]] bronze sculptures, the beautiful [[Bronze Head of Queen Idia]], a magnificent [[Bronze Head from Ife|brass head]] of a Yoruba ruler and quartz throne from [[Ife]], a similar [[terracotta]] head from Iwinrin Grove near Ife, the [[Apapa Hoard]] from Lagos and other mediaeval bronze hoards from Allabia and the [[Forçados River]] in southern Nigeria.

Included is an [[Ikom monoliths|Ikom monolith]] from [[Cross River State]], several ancestral screens from the [[Kalabari tribe]] in the Niger Delta, the [[Emil Torday|Torday]] collection of central African sculpture, textiles and weaponry from the [[Kuba Kingdom]] including three [[Ndop (Kuba)|royal figures]], the unique [[Luzira Head]] from Uganda, [[Ethiopian cross|processional crosses]] and other ecclesiastical and royal material from [[Gondar]] and [[Amba Mariam|Magdala]], Ethiopia following the [[British Expedition to Abyssinia]], excavated objects from [[Great Zimbabwe]] (that includes a unique soapstone, [[anthropomorphic]] figure) and satellite towns such as [[Mutare]] including a large hoard of Iron Age soapstone figures, a rare [[divining]] bowl from the [[Venda (Bantustan)|Venda]] peoples and cave paintings and [[petroglyph]]s from [[Wildebeest Kuil Rock Art Centre|South Africa]].

====Oceania====
The British Museum's Oceanic collections originate from the vast area of the Pacific Ocean, stretching from Papua New Guinea to Easter Island, from New Zealand to Hawaii. The three main anthropological groups represented in the collection are [[Polynesia]], [[Melanesia]] and [[Micronesia]] – Aboriginal art from Australia is considered separately in its own right. Metal working was not indigenous to Oceania before Europeans arrived, so many of the artefacts from the collection are made from stone, shell, bone and bamboo. Prehistoric objects from the region include a bird-shaped [[pestle]] and a group of stone [[Pestle and mortar|mortars]] from [[Papua New Guinea]].

The British Museum is fortunate in having some of the earliest Oceanic and Pacific collections, many of which were put together by members of [[James Cook|Cook]]'s and [[George Vancouver|Vancouver]]'s expeditions or by colonial administrators and explorers such as Sir [[George Grey]], Sir [[Frederick Broome]], [[Joseph Bradshaw (pastoralist)|Joseph Bradshaw]], [[Robert Christison (pastoralist)|Robert Christison]], [[Gregory Mathews]], Frederick Meinertzhagen, [[Thomas Mitchell (explorer)|Thomas Mitchell]] and [[Arthur Hamilton-Gordon, 1st Baron Stanmore|Arthur Gordon]], before Western culture significantly impacted on indigenous cultures. The department has also benefited greatly from the legacy of pioneering [[anthropology|anthropologists]] such as [[Alfred Cort Haddon|AC Haddon]], [[Bronisław Malinowski]] and [[Katherine Routledge]]. An important artefact is a wooden Aboriginal [[Gweagal shield|shield]], probably dating from the late eighteenth century and one of the earliest precontact objects from Australia.<ref>{{Cite web|title=shield {{!}} British Museum|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Oc1978-Q-839|access-date=12 March 2021|website=The British Museum|archive-date=1 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210501145420/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Oc1978-Q-839|url-status=live}}</ref>

The [[Henry Wilson (sailor)|Wilson]] cabinet of curiosities from [[Palau]] is an example of pre-contact ware. Another outstanding exemplar is the [[Heva Tūpāpāʻu|mourner's dress]] from [[Tahiti]] given to Cook on his [[Second voyage of James Cook|second voyage]], one of only ten in existence. In the collection is a large [[war canoe]] from the island of [[Vella Lavella]] in the [[Solomon Islands]], one of the last ever to be built in the archipelago.<ref>{{cite web| url = https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Oc1927-1022-1-a-m| title = Museum Collection| work = The British Museum| access-date = 16 October 2020| archive-date = 16 January 2021| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210116083955/https://www.britishmuseum.org/collection/object/E_Oc1927-1022-1-a-m| url-status = live}}</ref>

The [[Māori culture|Māori]] collection is the finest outside New Zealand with many intricately carved wooden and [[Hei-tiki|jade objects]] and the [[Aboriginal art]] collection is distinguished by its wide range of [[bark paintings]], including two very early bark etchings collected by [[John Hunter Kerr]]. A particularly important group of objects was purchased from the [[London Missionary Society]] in 1911, that includes the unique [[statue of A'a from Rurutu]] Island, the rare [[Mangareva Statue|idol]] from the isle of Mangareva and the Cook Islands [[Deity Figure from Rarotonga|deity figure]]. Other highlights include the huge Hawaiian statue of [[Kū|Kū-ka-ili-moku]] or god of war (one of three extant in the world) and the famous Easter Island statues [[Hoa Hakananai'a]] and [[Relocation of moai objects|Moai Hava]].

====Americas====
The Americas collection mainly consists of 19th and 20th century items although the [[Paracas culture|Paracas]], [[Moche culture|Moche]], [[Inca]], [[Maya civilization|Maya]], [[Aztec]], [[Taino]] and other early cultures are well represented. The [[Kayung totem pole]], which was made in the late nineteenth century on [[Haida Gwaii]], dominates the Great Court and provides a fitting introduction to this very wide-ranging collection that stretches from the very north of the North American continent where the [[Inuit]] population has lived for centuries, to the tip of South America where indigenous tribes have long thrived in Patagonia.

Highlights of the collection include [[Aboriginal peoples in Canada|Aboriginal Canadian]] and Native American objects from North America collected by the [[Hugh Lowther, 5th Earl of Lonsdale|5th Earl of Lonsdale]], the [[John Campbell, 9th Duke of Argyll|Marquis of Lorne]], the explorer [[David Haig-Thomas]] and [[Bryan Mullanphy]], [[Mayor of St. Louis]], the [[E. G. Squier|Squier]] and [[Edwin Hamilton Davis|Davis]] collection of prehistoric mound relics from North America, two carved stone bowls in the form of a seated human figure made by ancient [[Indigenous peoples of the Pacific Northwest Coast|North West Coast peoples]] from [[Cowichan Bay|British Columbia]], the headdress of Chief Yellow Calf from the [[Arapaho]] tribe in [[Wyoming]], a lidded rivercane basket from [[South Carolina]] and the earliest historic example of [[Cherokee]] basketry, a selection of pottery vessels found in prehistoric dwellings at [[Mesa Verde]] and [[Casas Grandes]], one of the enigmatic [[Crystal Skull|crystal skulls]] of unknown origin, a collection of nine turquoise Aztec [[Double-headed serpent|mosaics]] from Mexico (the largest in Europe), important artefacts from [[Teotihuacan Ocelot|Teotihuacan]] and [[Isla de Sacrificios]].

There are several rare pre-Columbian manuscripts including the [[Codex Zouche-Nuttall]] and [[Codex Waecker-Gotter]] and post-colonial ones such as the [[Aubin Codex|Codex Aubin]] and [[Codex Kingsborough]], a spectacular series of Mayan [[Yaxchilan Lintel 24|lintels]] from [[Yaxchilan]] excavated by the British Mayanist [[Alfred Maudslay]], a very high quality Mayan collection that includes sculptures from [[Copán Bench Panel|Copan]], [[Tikal Temple I|Tikal]], [[Tulum Stela 1|Tulum]], [[Pusilha]], [[Naranjo]] and [[Nebaj]] (including the celebrated [[Fenton Vase]]), an ornate calcite vase with [[jaguar]] handles from the [[Ulua River|Ulua Valley]] in Honduras, the [[Walter Edward Guinness, 1st Baron Moyne|Lord Moyne]] collection from the [[Bay Islands Department|Bay Islands]], Honduras and [[Frederick Boyle|Boyle]] collection from [[Nicaragua]], over 20 stone [[metate]]s with [[zoomorphic]] and [[anthropomorphic]] ornamentation from Costa Rica, a group of [[Zemi Figures from Vere, Jamaica]], and wooden [[Taino ritual seat|duhos]] from the Dominican Republic and [[The Bahamas]].

There are a collection of [[Pre-Columbian era|Pre-Columbian]] human mummies from sites across South America including [[Ancon (archaeological site)|Ancon]], [[Acarí District|Acari]], [[Arica]] and [[Villa de Leyva|Leyva]], a number of prestigious pre-Columbian gold and [[Lake Guatavita|votive]] objects from Colombia, three axe-shaped gold [[diadem]]s found near [[Camaná]] from the Siguas culture in Peru, unique collection of [[Moche culture|Moche]] wooden figures and [[Staff of office|staffs]] from the {{ill|Macabi islands|es|Islas Macabí}} off Peru, ethnographic objects from across the Amazon region including the [[Robert Hermann Schomburgk|Schomburgk]] and [[David Maybury Lewis|Maybury Lewis]] collections and part of the [[Carl Friedrich Philipp von Martius|von Martius]] and [[Johann Baptist von Spix|von Spix]] collection, two rare [[Tiwanaku]] pottery vessels from [[Lake Titicaca]] and important items from [[Tierra del Fuego]] donated by Commander [[Phillip Parker King]].

<gallery widths="190px" heights="190px">
File:British Museum otter pipe.jpg|Room 26 – Stone pipe representing an otter from [[Hopewell Culture National Historical Park|Mound City]], Ohio, USA, 200 BC – 400 AD
File:British Museum tomb guardian.jpg|Room 2 – Stone tomb guardian, part human part jaguar, from [[San Agustín, Huila|San Agustín]], Colombia, c. 300–600 AD
File:Maya maize god statue.jpg|Room 1 – Maya maize god statue from [[Copán]], Honduras, 600–800 AD
File:Gold Lime Flasks (poporos) Quimbaya Culture, Colombia AD 600-1100 - British Museum.jpg|Room 24 – Gold Lime Flasks (poporos), [[Quimbaya civilization|Quimbaya Culture]], Colombia, 600–1100 AD
File:Maya, lintel 25, da yaxchilan, 725.JPG|Room 27 – Lintel 25 from [[Yaxchilan]], Late Classic, Mexico, 600–900 AD
File:Bird pectoral, Popayan, gold alloy, AD900–1600..jpg|Room 24 – Bird pectoral made from gold alloy, [[Popayán]], Colombia, 900–1600 AD
File:Hoa Hakananai'a, British Museum.jpg|Room 24 – Rapa Nui statue [[Hoa Hakananai'a]], 1000 AD, [[Wellcome Trust]] Gallery
File:Aztec double-headed serpent - Denis Bourez - British Museum, London.jpg|Room 27 – [[Double-headed serpent]] turquoise mosaic, Aztec, Mexico, 1400–1500 AD
File:Denis Bourez - British Museum, London (8747055335).jpg|Room 27 – Turquoise Mosaic Mask, [[Mixtec]]-[[Aztec]], Mexico, 1400–1500 AD
File:AHOTWgold lama.JPG|Room 2 – Miniature gold llama figurine, [[Inca]], Peru, about 1500 AD
File:Benin Bronzes at the British Museum 1.jpg|Room 25 – Part of the famous collection of Benin brass plaques, [[Nigeria]], 1500–1600 AD
File:Benin brass plaque 01.jpg|Room 25 – Detail of one of the [[Benin Empire|Benin]] brass plaques in the museum, Nigeria, 1500–1600 AD
File:Idia mask BM Af1910 5-13 1.jpg|Room 25 – [[Benin ivory mask]] of Queen Idia, Nigeria, 16th century AD
File:Hawaiian feather helmet, British Museum 3.jpg|Room 24 – Hawaiian feather helmet or [[mahiole]], late 1700s AD
File:Hawaiian bowl.jpg|Bowl decorated with pearl shell and boars' tusks, used to serve the intoxicating drink [[kava]], Hawaii, late 1700s AD
File:British museum, totem.JPG|Great Court – Two house frontal [[Kayung totem pole|totem poles]], Haida, British Columbia, Canada, about 1850 AD
File:Punu mask BM Af1904 11-22 1.jpg|Room 25 – Mask (wood and pigment); Punu people, [[Gabon]], 19th century AD
File:Otobo masquerade.jpg|Room 25 – Otobo masquerade in the Africa Gallery, Nigeria, 20th century AD
File:El Anatsui - Man's Cloth.jpg|Room 25 – Modern interpretation of [[kente cloth]] from [[Ghana]], late 20th century AD
</gallery>

===Department of Money and Medals===
{{main|British Museum Department of Coins and Medals}}

The British Museum is home to one of the world's finest [[Numismatics|numismatic]] collections, comprising about a million objects, including coins, medals, tokens and paper money. The collection spans the entire history of coinage from its origins in the 7th century BC to the present day and is representative of both the [[Eastern world|East]] and West. The Department of Coins and Medals was created in 1861 and celebrated its 150th anniversary in 2011.<ref>[https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/research_publications_series/2011/the_future_of_UK_numismatics.aspx ''The British Museum and the Future of UK Numismatics. Proceedings of a conference held to mark the 150th anniversary of the British Museum's Department of Coins and Medals, 2011''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190831051912/https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/research_publications_series/2011/the_future_of_UK_numismatics.aspx |date=31 August 2019 }}, edited by Barrie Cook (British Museum Research Publication 183, 2011) {{ISBN|978-086159-183-1}}.</ref>

===Department of Conservation and Scientific Research===
This department was founded in 1920. [[Conservation (cultural heritage)|Conservation]] has six specialist areas: ceramics & glass; metals; organic material (including textiles); stone, wall paintings and mosaics; Eastern pictorial art and Western pictorial art. The science department<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/science/index.html|title=British Museum – Conservation and Scientific Research|work=thebritishmuseum.ac.uk|access-date=27 April 2007|archive-date=2 May 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070502070453/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/science/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> has and continues to develop techniques to date artefacts, analyse and identify the materials used in their manufacture, to identify the place an artefact originated and the techniques used in their creation. The department also publishes its findings and discoveries.

===Libraries and archives===
This department covers all levels of education, from casual visitors, schools, degree level and beyond. The museum's various libraries hold in excess of 350,000 books, journals and pamphlets covering all areas of the museum's collection. Also the general museum archives which date from its foundation in 1753 are overseen by this department; the individual departments have their own separate archives and libraries covering their various areas of responsibility, which can be consulted by the public on application. The [[Anthropology]] Library is especially large, with 120,000 volumes.<ref>See the "Facilities and Services" tab on the home page for each department for details on each library; not all are kept at Bloomsbury. [https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/africa,_oceania,_americas/facilities_and_services.aspx Anthropology Library] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120202233334/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/departments/africa,_oceania,_americas/facilities_and_services.aspx |date=2 February 2012 }}</ref> However, the [[Paul Hamlyn]] Library, which had become the central reference library of the British Museum and the only library there freely open to the general public, closed permanently in August 2011.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/news_and_press/statements/paul_hamlyn_library.aspx |title=Paul Hamlyn Library |publisher=British Museum |access-date=22 October 2011 |archive-date=14 October 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111014234621/http://www.britishmuseum.org/the_museum/news_and_press/statements/paul_hamlyn_library.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> The website and online database of the collection also provide increasing amounts of information.

==British Museum Press==
The British Museum Press (BMP) is the publishing business and a division of the British Museum Company Ltd., a company and a charity (established in 1973) wholly owned by the trustees of the British Museum.<ref name="aboutbmp">{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/services/the_british_museum_press/about_the_british_museum_press.aspx |title=About the BMP |access-date=2 March 2014 |archive-date=2 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302180418/https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/services/the_british_museum_press/about_the_british_museum_press.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref>

The BMP publishes both popular and scholarly illustrated books to accompany the exhibition programme and explore aspects of the general collection. Profits from their sales goes to support the British Museum.<ref name="aboutbmp" />

Scholarly titles are published in the Research Publications series, all of which are [[peer-reviewed]]. This series was started in 1978 and was originally called Occasional Papers. The series is designed to disseminate research on items in the collection. To date, over 200 books have been published in this series. Between six and eight titles are published each year in this series.<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/research_publications_series.aspx |title=Research Publications |access-date=2 March 2014 |archive-date=2 March 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140302173434/https://www.britishmuseum.org/research/publications/research_publications_series.aspx |url-status=live }}</ref> They can be found on the [https://britishmuseum.iro.bl.uk/collections/40df3995-f6af-4278-a7c4-c0964f52c91d?locale=en British Museum Research Repository].

==Controversies and criticism==

=== Contested artefacts ===
[[File:Elgin Marbles east pediment.jpg|thumb|right|A few of the [[Elgin Marbles]] (also known as the Parthenon Marbles) from the East [[Pediment]] of the [[Parthenon]] in Athens.]]

It is a point of controversy whether museums should possess artefacts illegally taken from other countries,<ref name="looted art" /><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2016/02/well-travelled-artefacts|title=Where it is safe to do so, cultural artefacts should be repatriated|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=18 April 2018|date=23 February 2016|archive-date=1 July 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170701170409/http://www.economist.com/blogs/prospero/2016/02/well-travelled-artefacts|url-status=live}}</ref> and the British Museum is a notable target for criticism. The [[Elgin Marbles]], the [[Benin Bronzes]], Ethiopian [[Tabot]]s and the [[Rosetta Stone]] are among the most disputed objects in its collections, and organisations have been formed demanding the return of these artefacts to their native countries.

The Elgin Marbles or Parthenon Marbles claimed by Greece have been cited by [[UNESCO]], among others, for restitution. From 1801 to 1812, [[Thomas Bruce, 7th Earl of Elgin]]'s agents removed about half of the surviving sculptures from the Parthenon, as well as sculptures from the [[Propylaea (Acropolis of Athens)|Propylaea]] and [[Erechtheion]]. The former director of the museum has stated, "We are indebted to Elgin for having rescued the Parthenon sculptures and others from the Acropolis from the destruction they were suffering, as well as from the damage that the Acropolis monuments, including the sculptures that he did not remove, have suffered since."<ref name=":02">{{cite web |date=14 June 2010 |title=Greek and Roman Antiquities |url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/gr/andart.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060523194402/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/gr/andart.html |archive-date=23 May 2006 |access-date=4 July 2010 |publisher=British Museum}}</ref> The British Museum itself damaged some of the artefacts during restoration in the 1930s.<ref>[[William Andrew Oddy|Oddy, Andrew]], "The Conservation of Marble Sculptures in the British Museum before 1975", in ''Studies in Conservation'', vol. 47, no. 3, (2002), pp. 145–146, Quote: "However, for a short time in the late 1930s copper scrapers were used to remove areas of discolouration from the surface of the Elgin Marbles. New information is presented about this lamentable episode."</ref> In late 2022, the British Museum had entered into preliminary negotiations with the Greek government about the future of the sculptures.<ref>{{cite news |date=3 December 2022 |title=Greece in 'preliminary' talks with British Museum about Parthenon marbles |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/dec/03/greece-in-preliminary-talks-with-british-museum-about-parthenon-marbles |access-date=4 December 2022 |via=www.theguardian.com |archive-date=3 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203235318/https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/dec/03/greece-in-preliminary-talks-with-british-museum-about-parthenon-marbles |url-status=live }}</ref>

There is also controversy over artefacts taken during the destruction of the [[Old Summer Palace]] in Beijing by an Anglo-French expeditionary force during the [[Second Opium War]] in 1860, an event which drew protest from [[Victor Hugo]].<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30810596 |title=The palace of shame that makes China angry |date=2 February 2015 |access-date=3 January 2015 |work=BBC News |last=Bowlby |first=Chris |archive-date=24 June 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180624060218/https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-30810596 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |title=The Chinese expedition: Victor Hugo on the sack of the Summer Palace |url=http://www.napoleon.org/en/reading_room/articles/files/477511.asp |website=www.napoleon.org |access-date=3 January 2016 |archive-date=5 May 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160505022443/http://www.napoleon.org/en/reading_room/articles/files/477511.asp |url-status=live }}</ref> The British Museum and the [[Victoria and Albert Museum]], among others, have been asked since 2009 to open their archives for investigation by a team of Chinese investigators as a part of an international mission to document Chinese national treasures in foreign collections.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6374959/China-to-study-British-Museum-for-looted-artefacts.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/6374959/China-to-study-British-Museum-for-looted-artefacts.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=China to study British Museum for looted artefacts |date=19 October 2009 |access-date=3 January 2015 | work=The Telegraph |last=Foster |first=Peter}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2010 [[Neil MacGregor]], the former Director of the British Museum, said he hoped that both British and Chinese investigators would work together on the controversial collection.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8134254/British-Museum-welcomes-investigation-with-Chinese-over-artefacts.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220111/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/asia/china/8134254/British-Museum-welcomes-investigation-with-Chinese-over-artefacts.html |archive-date=11 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=British Museum 'welcomes investigation with Chinese over artefacts' |date=15 November 2010 |access-date=15 January 2016 |work=The Telegraph |last=Foster |first=Peter}}{{cbignore}}</ref> In 2020 the museum appointed a curator to research the history of its collections, including disputed items.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Bailey|first=Martin|date=15 February 2021|title=British Museum hires curator to research history of its collection, also covering contested objects such as the Parthenon Marbles|url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/collection-curator-joins-british-museum|url-status=live|access-date=9 August 2021|website=The Art Newspaper|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215113548/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/news/collection-curator-joins-british-museum |archive-date=15 February 2021 }}</ref>

The British Museum has stated that the "restitutionist premise, that whatever was made in a country must return to an original geographical site, would empty both the British Museum and the other great museums of the world".<ref name=":0">{{cite web |url=http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/gr/andart.html |title=Greek and Roman Antiquities |publisher=British Museum |date=14 June 2010 |access-date=4 July 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060523194402/http://www.thebritishmuseum.ac.uk/gr/andart.html |archive-date=23 May 2006 }}</ref> The museum has also argued that the British Museum Act of 1963 prevents any object from leaving its collection once it has entered it. "The Museum owns its collections, but its Trustees are not empowered to dispose of them".<ref name=":0" /><ref>British Museum Act 1963, s 5.</ref> Nevertheless, it has returned items such as Tasmanian Aboriginal burial remains when this was consistent with legislation regarding the disposal of items in the collections.<ref>{{Cite web|date=24 March 2006|title=Request for repatriation of human remains to Tasmania|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/our-work/departments/human-remains/request-repatriation-human-remains-tasmania|url-status=live|access-date=24 July 2021|website=The British Museum|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201202101443/https://www.britishmuseum.org/our-work/departments/human-remains/request-repatriation-human-remains-tasmania |archive-date=2 December 2020 }}</ref>

==== List of contested artefacts ====
* [[Elgin Marbles]] – claimed by Greece and backed by [[UNESCO]] among others for restitution<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.parthenonuk.com/article.php?id=79|title=Breal's Silver Cup to be displayed at the New Acropolis Museum for one-year period from September 2012|work=BCRPM|access-date=10 July 2007|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070727185209/http://www.parthenonuk.com/article.php?id=79|archive-date=27 July 2007|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |author1=Linda Theodorou |title=Greece (Cadogan Country Guides) |author2=Dana Facaros |publisher=Cadogan Guides |year=2003 |isbn=1-86011-898-4 |page=55}}</ref>
* [[Benin Bronzes]] – claimed by Nigeria; the Nigerian government has passed a resolution demanding the return of all 700 bronze pieces.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk_news/story/0,,675202,00.html| work=The Guardian| location=London| title=British Museum sold precious bronzes| first=Maev| last=Kennedy| date=28 March 2002| access-date=27 April 2010| archive-date=15 March 2023| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315094931/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2002/mar/28/education.museums| url-status=live}}</ref> 30 pieces of the bronzes were sold by the British Museum privately from the 1950s until 1972, mostly back to the Nigerians.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1896535.stm |title=Benin bronzes sold to Nigeria |work=BBC |date=27 March 2002 |access-date=16 August 2020 |archive-date=5 August 2017 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170805093449/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/1896535.stm |url-status=live }}</ref>
* [[Rosetta Stone]] – claimed by Egypt<ref>{{cite news| url=https://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/3084215.stm| work=BBC News| title=Egypt calls for return of Rosetta Stone| date=21 July 2003| access-date=27 April 2010| archive-date=11 January 2009| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090111114454/http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/entertainment/arts/3084215.stm| url-status=live}}</ref>
* Ethiopian [[Tabot]]s, Pre-[[Kingdom of Aksum|Axumite]] Civilisation Coins – claimed by Ethiopia<ref name="IndieNov2008">{{cite news|last1=Johnson|first1=Andrew|title=Ethiopia demands stolen crown back|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/ethiopia-demands-stolen-crown-back-1031229.html|access-date=24 August 2016|work=Independent|date=23 November 2008|archive-date=16 August 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160816115939/http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/ethiopia-demands-stolen-crown-back-1031229.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Hoffman2006">{{cite book|last1=Hoffman|first1=Barbara T.|title=Art and Cultural Heritage: Law, Policy and Practice|date=2006|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=9780521857642|page=5|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yvXTcGC5CwQC&q=magdala+loot&pg=PA5|access-date=9 November 2020|archive-date=15 March 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230315094941/https://books.google.com/books?id=yvXTcGC5CwQC&q=magdala+loot&pg=PA5|url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Amba Mariam|Maqdala]] Collection, various religious and artistic objects, claimed by Ethiopia<ref>{{Cite news |title=Maqdala collection |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/maqdala-collection |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240517150606/https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/maqdala-collection |archive-date=17 May 2024 |access-date=2025-01-01 |work=The British Museum |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2018-04-04 |title=V&A's Ethiopian treasures: A crown, a wedding dress and other loot |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/world-africa-43642265 |access-date=2025-01-01}}</ref>
* [[Asante people|Asante]] Gold Regalia, personal jewellery and royal insignia worn by the [[Asante Empire|Asante king/emperor]] – claimed by Ghana<ref>{{Cite news |title=Asante Gold Regalia |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/asante-gold-regalia |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240521125800/https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/asante-gold-regalia |archive-date=21 May 2024 |access-date=2025-01-01 |work=The British Museum |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=2023-05-16 |title=Ghanaian ruler pushes British Museum to return gold |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-65614490 |access-date=2025-01-01}}</ref>
* [[Oxus Treasure]] – in 2007 the President of Tajikistan ordered experts to look into making a claim for these [[Achaemenid Empire]] gold and silver artefacts.<ref>{{Cite news| url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/apr/10/artnews.art| work=The Guardian| location=London| title=Tajik president calls for return of treasure from British Museum| first=Luke| last=Harding| date=10 April 2007| access-date=27 April 2010| archive-date=16 February 2008| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080216201331/http://arts.guardian.co.uk/art/news/story/0,,2053344,00.html| url-status=live}}</ref>
* [[Dunhuang manuscripts]], part of a cache of scrolls, manuscripts, paintings, scriptures, and relics from the [[Mogao Caves]], including the [[Diamond Sutra]] – claimed by the People's Republic of China<ref>{{cite journal| last=Larmer| first=Brook| title=Caves of Faith| pages=136–138| journal=[[National Geographic (magazine)|National Geographic]]| date=June 2010| url=http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/06/dunhuang-caves/larmer-text| access-date=15 January 2015| archive-date=21 December 2014| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141221204159/http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2010/06/dunhuang-caves/larmer-text| url-status=dead}}</ref>
* Aboriginal shield – claimed by [[Aboriginal Australians|Aboriginal people of Australia]].<ref name=":12">{{Cite journal|last=Thomas|first=Nicholas|date=2018|title=A Case of Identity: The Artifacts of the 1770 Kamay (Botany Bay) Encounter|url=https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/293268|journal=Australian Historical Studies|volume=49|issue=1 |pages=4–27|doi=10.1080/1031461X.2017.1414862|s2cid=149069484|via=Taylor and Francis Online|access-date=17 January 2022|archive-date=9 December 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211209020856/https://www.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/293268|url-status=live|url-access=subscription}}</ref>
* [[Hoa Hakananai'a]], a [[Moai]] – claimed by Chile on behalf of Easter Island/Rapa Nui<ref>{{cite news| url=https://hyperallergic.com/466966/easter-islanders-ask-british-museum-to-return-sacred-statue-offering-replica-in-return/| work=Hyperallergic| title=Easter Islanders Ask British Museum to Return Sacred Statue, Offering Replica in Return| date=23 October 2018| access-date=13 November 2018| archive-date=13 November 2018| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181113210834/https://hyperallergic.com/466966/easter-islanders-ask-british-museum-to-return-sacred-statue-offering-replica-in-return/| url-status=live}}</ref>
*Irish artefacts — the [[Bell Shrine of St. Cuileáin]], [[Londesborough Brooch]], [[sword]]s, half of the [[Dowris Hoard]], part of the [[Mooghaun North Hoard]], the [[Dunaverney flesh-hook]], the [[Kells Crozier]], [[torc]]s, four [[crucifixion plaque]]s, [[armlets]], [[Seal (emblem)|seals]], religious plaques, and [[ring (jewellery)|rings]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.irishtimes.com/news/kells-s-request-for-loan-of-its-treasures-strikes-snags-1.254971|title=Kells's request for loan of its treasures strikes snags|newspaper=The Irish Times}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.limerickleader.ie/news/arts---entertainment/1530826/full-of-stolen-treasures-kneecap-mark-british-museum-with-stolen-from-ireland-stickers.html|title='Full of stolen treasures' - Kneecap mark British Museum with 'stolen from Ireland' stickers|date=16 June 2024|website=www.limerickleader.ie}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.irishexaminer.com/lifestyle/outdoors/arid-40943426.html|title=Islands of Ireland: Donegal's Inishkeel has murderous and murdered saints, blue seas, and ruined churches — but no bell|first=Dan|last=MacCarthy|date=26 August 2022|website=Irish Examiner}}</ref>
* [[Welsh artefacts in museums outside Wales|Welsh artefacts]] – the [[Mold gold cape]]<ref>{{Cite news |date=18 April 2022 |title=Mold Gold Cape: Artefact should be on display in Wales – academic |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-61082954 |access-date=21 April 2022 |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115193150/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-wales-61082954 |url-status=live }}</ref> the [[Rhos Rydd Shield]], the [[Moel Hebog shield]] and the [[Llanllyfni lunula]].<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 September 2021 |title=Buried treasure: calls for important Welsh artefacts to be brought back home |url=https://nation.cymru/news/buried-treasure-calls-for-important-welsh-artefacts-to-be-brought-back-home/ |access-date=10 February 2022 |website=Nation.Cymru |archive-date=15 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230115180806/https://nation.cymru/news/buried-treasure-calls-for-important-welsh-artefacts-to-be-brought-back-home/ |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite news |date=3 April 2016 |title=Yn ôl i Gymru? |language=cy |work=BBC Cymru Fyw |url=https://www.bbc.com/cymrufyw/35919530 |access-date=16 January 2023 |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116023105/https://www.bbc.com/cymrufyw/35919530 |url-status=live }}</ref>
* Four stolen drawings ([[Nazi plunder]]) – Compensation paid to Uri Peled for the amount of £175,000 by the British Museum<ref>{{cite news |url=http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/arts_entertainment/art/getting+the+nazi+stolen+art+back/339147 |title=News – Getting the Nazi stolen art back |work=[[Channel 4 News]] |date=27 March 2007 |access-date=4 July 2010 |archive-date=6 September 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090906072159/http://www.channel4.com/news/articles/arts_entertainment/art/getting+the+nazi+stolen+art+back/339147 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
* [[Repatriation and reburial of human remains]] is a controversial issue, and the British Museum has issued a policy on the subject.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/our-work/departments/human-remains/human-remains-policy-and-governance|publisher=British Museum|title=The British Museum policy on human remains|work=The British Museum |access-date=6 May 2019|archive-date=27 July 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200727045004/https://www.britishmuseum.org/our-work/departments/human-remains/human-remains-policy-and-governance|url-status=live}}</ref>

=== Nazi-looted art ===
In 2002 the heirs of Arthur Feldmann, an art collector murdered in [[the Holocaust]], requested that four old master drawings stolen by the [[Gestapo]] in 1939 be returned to the family. A [[High Court of Justice]] judge ruled in 2005 that it would be illegal for the British Museum to return artworks looted by the Nazis to a Jewish family, despite its willingness and moral obligation to do so.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Art stolen by Nazis 'cannot be returned' |url=https://www.lootedart.com/news.php?r=MLG5GO355021 |access-date=18 January 2023 |website=www.lootedart.com |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118051414/https://www.lootedart.com/news.php?r=MLG5GO355021 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |last=admin |date=14 July 2005 |title=Britain stuck on Nazi-looted art |url=https://www.jta.org/2005/07/14/lifestyle/britain-stuck-on-nazi-looted-art |access-date=18 January 2023 |website=Jewish Telegraphic Agency |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118052600/https://www.jta.org/2005/07/14/lifestyle/britain-stuck-on-nazi-looted-art |url-status=live }}</ref> The law was changed in 2009,<ref>{{Cite news |title=New British Law Lets Museums Return Works Stolen by Nazis |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/2009-11-15/ty-article/new-british-law-lets-museums-return-works-stolen-by-nazis/0000017f-db50-d856-a37f-ffd0b32b0000 |access-date=18 January 2023 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118052602/https://www.haaretz.com/2009-11-15/ty-article/new-british-law-lets-museums-return-works-stolen-by-nazis/0000017f-db50-d856-a37f-ffd0b32b0000 |url-status=live }}</ref> and again in 2022<ref>{{Cite web |last=Lawson-Tancred |first=Jo |date=27 September 2022 |title=A New U.K. Law Gives Museums Unprecedented Power to Deaccession Art and Repatriate Objects in Their Collections |url=https://news.artnet.com/art-world/charities-act-museums-repatriate-2182298 |access-date=18 January 2023 |website=Artnet News |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118052600/https://news.artnet.com/art-world/charities-act-museums-repatriate-2182298 |url-status=live }}</ref> giving museums additional powers to return looted art or provide compensation. Feldmann's heirs accepted a compensation payment for a looted drawing and stated that they were happy the drawing would remain in the British Museum collection.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Buganim |first=Eitan |date=17 October 2013 |title=British Museum Compensates Collector's Heirs for Art Looted by Nazis |work=Haaretz |url=https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2013-10-17/ty-article/.premium/british-museum-pays-out-for-nazi-looted-art/0000017f-f862-d318-afff-fb6358490000 |access-date=18 January 2023 |archive-date=10 February 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230210132403/https://www.haaretz.com/jewish/2013-10-17/ty-article/.premium/british-museum-pays-out-for-nazi-looted-art/0000017f-f862-d318-afff-fb6358490000 |url-status=live }}</ref>

According to the British Museum Spoliation report published by the [[Collections Trust]] in 2017, "Around 30% of some 21,350 continental and British drawings acquired since 1933 have an uncertain or incomplete provenance for the 1933–1945 period".<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Museum – Collections Trust |url=https://records.collectionstrust.org.uk/institution/british-museum/ |access-date=18 January 2023 |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118052602/https://records.collectionstrust.org.uk/institution/british-museum/ |url-status=live }}</ref> The museum lists these works on its website and investigates claims for restitution.<ref>{{Cite web |title=1933–45 provenance |url=https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/1933-45-provenance |access-date=18 January 2023 |website=The British Museum |archive-date=18 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230118065625/https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/contested-objects-collection/1933-45-provenance |url-status=live }}</ref>

===BP sponsorship===
Since 2016, there have been a number of protests by activist groups, trade unions and the public against the British Museum's relationship with the oil company [[BP]] which the protesters believe implicates the museum in global warming.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/16/campaigners-protest-against-bp-sponsorship-of-british-museum|title=Campaigners protest against BP sponsorship of British Museum|last=Busby|first=Mattha|date=16 February 2019|work=The Guardian|access-date=17 July 2019|issn=0261-3077|archive-date=17 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717095219/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/feb/16/campaigners-protest-against-bp-sponsorship-of-british-museum|url-status=live}}</ref> In July 2019, [[Ahdaf Soueif]] resigned from the British Museum's board of trustees in protest against the sponsorship.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49006976|title=Trustee resigns from British Museum over BP|date=16 July 2019|access-date=17 July 2019|archive-date=17 July 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190717092845/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-49006976|url-status=live}}</ref> In February 2020, 1,500 demonstrators, including British Museum staff, took part in a day of protest over the issue.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/feb/10/british-museum-staff-join-outcry-against-bp-sponsorship|title=British Museum staff join outcry against BP sponsorship|date=10 February 2020|website=The Guardian|access-date=5 March 2020|archive-date=8 March 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200308084230/https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2020/feb/10/british-museum-staff-join-outcry-against-bp-sponsorship|url-status=live}}</ref> In December 2023, it was announced that the British Museum had agreed to a new £50 million sponsorship deal with BP.<ref>{{Cite web |title=British Museum strikes £50mn sponsorship deal with BP |url=https://www.ft.com/content/00526e7f-7f29-4dd1-a286-c42cd02b8598 |access-date=19 December 2023 |website=www.ft.com |date=19 December 2023 |archive-date=19 December 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231219152225/https://www.ft.com/content/00526e7f-7f29-4dd1-a286-c42cd02b8598 |url-status=live |last1=Uddin |first1=Rafe }}</ref>

=== Chairman's Advisory Group ===
The Chairman's Advisory Group is an informal group of business leaders who provide advice to the chairman on various issues including the museum's relationship with the British government and policy on the museum's collections. Its existence was made public after a freedom of information request by a group campaigning against the museum's links with the fossil fuel industry. The museum has declined to name the members of the advisory group as they are acting in their personal capacity.<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|date=17 February 2022|title=Revealed: Secretive corporate group guiding British Museum|url=https://www.channel4.com/news/revealed-secretive-corporate-group-guiding-british-museum|access-date=18 February 2022|website=Channel 4 News|archive-date=17 February 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220217210757/https://www.channel4.com/news/revealed-secretive-corporate-group-guiding-british-museum|url-status=live}}</ref>

===Thefts===
Thefts from the museum include: several historic coins and medals in the 1970s;<ref name="bbcknow"/> a 17th-century Japanese [[Kakiemon]] figure in 1990; two [[Meiji era|Meiji]] figurines and a fragment of a gold ring in 1991; fifteen Roman coins and jewellery worth £250,000 in 1993; and a Japanese chest and two Persian books in 1996.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2000/10/01/question-in-parliament-uncovers-extensive-losses-regarding-thefts-from-uk-national-museums |title=Question in Parliament uncovers extensive losses regarding thefts from UK national museums |work=The Art Newspaper |author1=Martin Bailey |date=1 October 2000 |accessdate=17 August 2023 |archive-date=20 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231120165800/https://www.theartnewspaper.com/2000/10/01/question-in-parliament-uncovers-extensive-losses-regarding-thefts-from-uk-national-museums |url-status=live }}</ref>

In July 2002 a marble head, valued at £50,000, was stolen from the [[Archaic Greece|Archaic Greek]] gallery.<ref>{{cite news |url=https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/british-museum-struck-by-robbery-6326952.html |title=British Museum struck by robbery |date=31 July 2002 |work=Evening Standard |accessdate=17 August 2023 |archive-date=16 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231116205818/https://www.standard.co.uk/hp/front/british-museum-struck-by-robbery-6326952.html |url-status=live }}</ref> In 2004, 15 Chinese artefacts including jewels, ornate hairpins and fingernail guards were stolen. In 2017, it was revealed that a [[Cartier (jeweler)|Cartier]] diamond had been missing since 2011.<ref name="bbcknow"/>

In August 2023, a staff member was fired after it emerged that items including gold, jewellery and gems had been stolen over a "significant" period of time. The incident led to an investigation by the [[Metropolitan Police]] and an independent review by the museum.<ref>{{Cite web |date=16 August 2023 |title=British Museum worker sacked over missing treasures |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-66527422 |access-date=17 August 2023 |website=BBC |archive-date=20 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231020061601/https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-66527422 |url-status=live }}</ref> Some of the missing artefacts were later found to have been sold on [[eBay]] for considerably less than their estimated value.<ref name="bbcknow">{{Cite web |date=18 August 2023 |title=British Museum thefts: What we know so far |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66543589 |access-date=19 August 2023 |website=BBC |archive-date=23 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230823022235/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66543589 |url-status=live }}</ref> The museum had been warned of the thefts as early as 2021. The museum's director, [[Hartwig Fischer]], resigned because of the museum's inadequate response to the warnings of theft.<ref>{{Cite web |date=25 August 2023 |title=British Museum thefts: Director Hartwig Fischer quits over stolen treasures |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66621006 |access-date=25 August 2023 |website=BBC |archive-date=25 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230825150612/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66621006 |url-status=live }}</ref> The number of artefacts stolen was estimated to be about 2,000.<ref>{{Cite web |date=26 August 2023 |title=British Museum recovers some of 2,000 stolen items |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66626619 |access-date=26 August 2023 |website=BBC |archive-date=26 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230826081118/https://www.bbc.com/news/entertainment-arts-66626619 |url-status=live }}</ref> As a consequence of the thefts, the museum announced a five-year plan to digitise the complete collection and make it available to view online.<ref>{{cite news |last1=McIntosh |first1=Steve |title=British Museum to digitise collection following thefts |work=BBC News |date=18 October 2023 |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67144607 |access-date=18 October 2023 |archive-date=18 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231018092118/https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-67144607 |url-status=live }}</ref> By May 2024, 626 of the missing items had been recovered.<ref>{{cite web |last1=Razell |first1=Katie |last2=Graham |first2=Darin |last3=Kennelly |first3=Larissa |title=British Museum finds 268 more missing artefacts |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/crgy4w221z5o |website=BBC News |date=17 May 2024 |access-date=17 May 2024}}</ref>

=== Copyright settlement ===
In August 2023, the British Museum reached a settlement with the translator Yilin Wang over her translations of poetry by [[Qiu Jin]]. The museum had used her work without credit or permission in their exhibition ''China's Hidden Century'' which ran between May 2023 and October 2023.<ref>{{Cite web |date=9 August 2023 |title=The British Museum reaches settlement with translator whose work was used without permission |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/british-museum-reaches-settlement-translator-whose-work-was-used-permi-rcna98999 |access-date=28 August 2023 |website=NBC News |archive-date=28 August 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230828000552/https://www.nbcnews.com/news/asian-america/british-museum-reaches-settlement-translator-whose-work-was-used-permi-rcna98999 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Tibet naming conventions ===
In January 2025, the British Museum was criticized by [[Tibetans|Tibetan]] human rights groups for referring to [[Tibet]] as "Xizang," the current preferred term of the [[government of the People's Republic of China]].<ref>{{Cite news |last=Socktsang |first=Loboe |date=24 January 2025 |title=Tibetans demand apology from the British Museum for use of 'Xizang' |url=https://www.rfa.org/english/tibet/2024/12/24/tibet-british-museum-xizang/ |access-date=25 January 2025 |work=[[Radio Free Asia]]}}</ref>

===Revisions to Middle East gallery terminology===
In 2026, the British Museum revised the terminology used in certain ancient [[Middle East]] exhibits, particularly those concerning the [[southern Levant]] during the late [[2nd millennium BC]]. Labels on maps and display panels were changed from [[Palestine (region)|Palestine]] to the historical region of [[Canaan]] or the [[Kingdom of Israel (Samaria)|Kingdoms of Israel]] and [[Kingdom of Judah|Judah]], as appropriate to the period in question. The museum said the update was made for "historical accuracy," following concerns that the terms "Palestine" and "people of Palestinian descent" were being applied retroactively to periods when no such distinct entity existed in [[ancient Israel and Judah]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Simpson |first1=Craig |title=British Museum removes ‘Palestine’ from ancient Middle East displays |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2026/02/14/british-museum-removes-palestine-references-from-ancient-mi/ |access-date=1 March 2026 |work=The Telegraph |date=14 February 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Khomami |first1=Nadia |title=British Museum removes word ‘Palestine’ from some displays |url=https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2026/feb/16/british-museum-removes-word-palestine |access-date=1 March 2026 |work=The Guardian |date=16 February 2026}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Gallo |first1=Nathan |title=Has the British Museum really removed references to ‘Palestine’ from exhibits? |url=https://www.france24.com/en/europe/20260225-british-museum-remove-references-palestine-exhibits-confusion-questions-decision |access-date=1 March 2026 |work=France 24 |date=25 February 2026 |language=en}}</ref>

==Galleries==
;Building
<gallery>
File:BM, Main Floor Main Entrance Hall ~ South Stairs.6.JPG|Main Staircase, ''[[Discobolus]]'' of [[Myron]] (the Discus-Thrower)
File:British Museum Reading Room Panorama Feb 2006.jpg|[[British Museum Reading Room]]
File:British Museum 2010-06-04 B.jpg|Ceiling of the Great Court and the black siltstone obelisks of [[Nectanebo II]], {{Circa|350 BC}}
File:Flickr - Nic's events - British Museum with Cory and Mary, 6 Sep 2007 - 183.jpg|Detail of an [[Ionic order|Ionic]] capital on a pilaster in the Great Court
File:England; London - The British Museum, Facade South Front ~ -Main Entrance + West Wing- Colonnade + The Africa Garden.2.jpg|African Garden – created by [[BBC TV]] programme [[Ground Force]]
</gallery>

;Museum galleries
''Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan''
<gallery>
File:BM, AES Egyptian Sculpture (Room 4), View South + Towards Assyrian Sculpture Gallery (Room 6).JPG|Room 4 – Egyptian Sculpture, view towards the Assyrian Transept
File:BM, AES Egyptian Sculpture (Room 4), View North.3.JPG|Room 4
File:Egyptian Gallery.JPG|Room 4
</gallery>

''Department of the Middle East''
<gallery>
File:BM; RM6 - ANE, Assyrian Sculpture 32 -East (N), Centre Island + North Wall- ~ Assyrian Empire + -Lamassu, Stela's, Statue's, Obelisk's, Relief Panel's & Full Projection.1.jpg|The British Museum, Room 6 – Assyrian Sculpture
File:BM; RM8 - ANE, Nimrud Palace Reliefs 75 South + East Wall (S) ~ Central Palace of Tiglath-pileser III (744-727 B.C) + Full Elevation & Viewing South.1.JPG|Room 8 – Pair of [[Lamassu]] from [[Nimrud]] and reliefs from the palace of [[Tiglath-Pileser III]]
File:BM; RM7 - ANE, Nimrud Palace Reliefs 1 Northwest Palace of Ashurnasirpal II (883-859 B.C) ~ Full Elevation & Viewing South.JPG|Room 7 – Reliefs from the North-west palace of [[Ashurnasirpal II]], [[Nimrud]]
File:BM; ANE - RM 89, Assyrian Reliefs ~ Nineveh.JPG|Room 89 – [[Nimrud]] and Nineveh Palace Reliefs
File:BM; ANE - Nineveh, The Royal Lion Hunt (Room 10).JPG|Room 10 – Nineveh, The Royal Lion Hunt
</gallery>

''Department of Greece and Rome''
<gallery>
File:Parthenon Frieze.JPG|Room 18 – Ancient Greece
File:Tomb of Merehi 1.jpg|Room 20a – Tomb of Merehi and Greek vases, [[Lycia]], 360 BC
File:British Museum - Room 85, Roman Portrait Sculpture.JPG|Room 85 – Portrait Sculpture, Roman
File:Townley Sculptures.JPG|Room 84 – [[Charles Towneley|Towneley]] Roman Sculptures
File:SFEC BritMus Roman 022.JPG|Main Staircase – ''[[Discobolus]]'', Roman
File:The Townley Caryatid (anterior).jpg|Main Staircase – [[Townley Caryatid]], Roman, 140–160 AD
</gallery>

===Digital and online===
The museum has a collaboration with the Google Cultural Institute to bring the collection online.<ref name="gci">{{cite web|title=British Museum Online|url=https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/partner/the-british-museum|access-date=1 November 2017|archive-date=3 November 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171103081312/https://www.google.com/culturalinstitute/beta/partner/the-british-museum|url-status=dead}}</ref>

==Exhibitions==
* ''[https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/RP_Exhibitions_Chronology.pdf Chronology of Temporary Exhibitions at the British Museum]'', by Joanna Bowring (British Museum Research Paper 189, 2012) lists all temporary exhibitions from 1838 to 2012.
* Helen Wang, 2022. ‘Displays of money and medals at the British Museum, 1759 to 2022’, ''Numismatic Chronicle'' 182, pp.&nbsp;313–338.

''Forgotten Empire Exhibition'' (October 2005 – January 2006)
<gallery widths="140px" heights="140px" perrow="4">
File:Forgotten Empire Exhibition, (Room 5).1.JPG|Room 5 – Exhibitions Panorama
File:The British Museum, Room 5-Persepolis Bas-relief.jpg|Room 5 – The [[Persepolis]] Casts
File:BM; ANE - Forgotten Empire Exhibition, (Room 5).3.JPG|Room 5 – Exhibitions Relics
File:BM; ANE - Forgotten Empire Exhibition, The Cyrus Cylinder (Room 5).JPG|Room 5 – The [[Cyrus Cylinder]]
</gallery>

From January to April 2012 the museum presented ''[[Hajj: Journey to the Heart of Islam]]'', the first major exhibition on the topic of the [[Hajj]], the pilgrimage that is one of the [[five pillars of Islam]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Kennedy |first1=Maev |title=Hajj exhibition at British Museum |journal=The Guardian |date=25 January 2012 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jan/25/hajj-exhibition-british-museum |access-date=15 December 2022 |archive-date=15 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221215193919/https://www.theguardian.com/uk/2012/jan/25/hajj-exhibition-british-museum |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Berns |first1=Steph |title=Hajj journey to the heart of islam |journal=Material Religion |date=December 2012 |volume=8 |issue=4 |pages=543–544 |doi=10.2752/175183412X13522006995213|s2cid=192190977 }}</ref>

==See also==
*[[2016–17 all-female UK terror plot]] – involved a plan to attack the British Museum

==Notes==
{{notelist}}

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Refbegin|30em|indent=yes}}
* Anderson, Robert (2005). ''The Great Court and the British Museum''. London: [[The British Museum Press]]
* Arrowsmith, Rupert Richard. [https://books.google.com/books?id=MIBNXScRj3QC&lpg=PP1&dq=modernism%20and%20the%20museum&pg=PP1 ''Modernism and the Museum: Asian, African and Pacific Art and the London Avant Garde'']. [[Oxford University Press]], 2011, pp.&nbsp;103–164. {{ISBN|978-0-19-959369-9}}.
* Arrowsmith, Rupert Richard. [http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/modernism-modernity/summary/v018/18.1.arrowsmith.html "The Transcultural Roots of Modernism: Imagist Poetry, Japanese Visual Culture, and the Western Museum System"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304000000/http://muse.jhu.edu/journals/modernism-modernity/summary/v018/18.1.arrowsmith.html |date=4 March 2016 }}, ''[[Modernism/modernity]]'' Volume 18, Number 1, January 2011, pp.&nbsp;27–42. {{ISSN|1071-6068}}.
* Bowring, Joanna (2012). ''[https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/RP_Exhibitions_Chronology.pdf Chronology of Temporary Exhibitions at the British Museum] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181119160033/https://www.britishmuseum.org/pdf/RP_Exhibitions_Chronology.pdf |date=19 November 2018 }}'' London: British Museum Research Paper 189.
* Caygill, Marjorie (2006). ''The British Museum: 250 Years''. London: The British Museum Press
* Caygill, Marjorie (2002). ''The Story of the British Museum''. London: The British Museum Press
* --do.-- (2009) ''Treasures of the British Museum'' London: The British Museum Press {{ISBN|0714150622}} (1st ed. 1985; 2nd ed. 1992)
* Cook, B. F. (2005). ''The Elgin Marbles''. London: The British Museum Press
* Esdaile, Arundell (1946) ''[[The British Museum Library: a Short History and Survey]]''. London: [[Allen & Unwin]]
* Jacobs, Norman (2010) ''Behind the Colonnade''. Stroud: The History Press
* Jenkins, Ian (2006). ''Greek Architecture and its Sculpture in The British Museum''. London: The British Museum Press
* [[Frank Francis|Francis, Frank]], ed. (1971) ''Treasures of the British Museum''. London: Thames & Hudson (rev. ed., 1975)
* Miller, Edward (1973). ''That Noble Cabinet: A History of the British Museum''. London: Andre Deutsch
* [[Stephanie Moser|Moser, Stephanie]] (2006). ''Wondrous Curiosities: Ancient Egypt at The British Museum''. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press
* Reade, Julian (2004). ''Assyrian Sculpture''. London: The British Museum Press
* Reeve, John (2003). ''The British Museum: Visitor's Guide''. London: The British Museum Press
* Wilson, David M. (2002). ''The British Museum: a history''. London: The British Museum Press
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{sister project links||d=Q6373|c=Category:British Museum|n=no|q=no|b=no|v=no|voy=no|m=no|mw=no|s=Portal:British Museum|wikt=no|species=no}}
* {{Official website}}
* [http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=45210&strquery=museum The British Museum] from ''[[Survey of London|The Survey of London]]''
* [http://www.streetsensation.co.uk/sights/british_museum.htm British Museum elevation]
* {{EW charity|1140844|The British Museum Trust Ltd.|ref=none}}
* {{Gutenberg author | id=British+Museum | name=British Museum}}
* {{Internet Archive author |sname=British Museum}}
*[https://artsandculture.google.com/u/0/partner/the-british-museum?hl=en%3F%3F Virtual tour of the British Museum] provided by [[Google Arts & Culture]]
{{Coord|format=dms|display=title}} 
{{British Museum}}
{{London museums}}
{{Department for Culture, Media and Sport}}
{{London landmarks}}
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{{Bloomsbury}}
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