More Culture than a Tub of Yoghurt

Yesterday was looking like a London day we had been told to expect, cold and rainy. So Marg had the great idea that we should head into the British Museum for a look around at some old stuff. Wes has always wanted to go to the British Museum where he knew they had the biggest display of Egyptian artifacts outside Cairo not to mention the Greek and Roman ones.

We thought the view from the front was special but the view from the newly refurbished interior was breathtaking.

We pretty much headed straight for the Egypt section and were quickly rewarded, as soon as we walked into the hall holding the Egyptian art we were stopped by a tight knot of people gathered around a large glass case. The Rosetta stone must be the most popular exhibit at the Museum and we quickly found this out whilst trying to see it ourselves. A group of very rude Japanese tourists arrived at the stone just as we did and literally pushed us out of the way to get pictures. After a bit of reciprocal elbowing from Wes we were able to get a shot ourselves.
Click here to find out about the Rosetta Stone (if, like Marg and Jodes you don't know what it is ;).

(1)The Shabako Stone. (2)Statue of Ramesses II in Egyptian Hall

Next we saw more beautiful Egyptian artifacts including the The Shabako Stone (1) and a huge portion of a statue of Ramesses II (2). The Shabako Stone is amazing as it was written about 500BC and tells a creation story very similar to the one from the bible. The hole and radial markings were the result of an ancient farmer who thought this would make a good grind stone, which is a shame as it has ruined most of the hieroglyphics.

Carving of Assyrian King Ashurbanipal on a Lion hunt

We saw many, many more amazing things in our trip including Greek vases and busts of Augustus (Wes' favorite Roman Emperor) we were utterly exhausted in only a few hours and have vowed to return to see more treasures soon.

On the way home we stopped at the amazing Covent Gardens to wander around the markets and enjoy a coldie at the Punch and Judy. We returned home completely exhausted and decided to have a quiet night at home watching Finding Neverland and eating pizza with Jodes.

What a day!