Jul 30, 2013
Majority of the museums in London are FREE. Awesome right? Just
don't be too surprised at how many people will also be there with you. I
personally like going to museums alone only bc I can go at my own pace.
Sometimes I like reading the bits of info that's attached to a painting or
sculpture. Other times I just look at something and keep walking.
I went to the British Museum on the one day that it rained when
I was in London. Apparently it seemed like all the other tourists had the same
thing in mind. It was packed! I didn't get the audio guide (prolly should have)
so I went and got a map and headed to the gift shop. Don't judge me. I like to
look at gift shops (books!). I ended up buying 3 books and a tiny book on
ancient egypt. The 3 books are based on things in the museum: the Rosetta
Stone, Hoa Hakananai'a and The Discobolus. 
After standing in line for what felt like hours (there were a bunch of
Japanese students in front of me buying giant golden chocolates), I headed
straight for the Ancient Egypt collection. In 5th grade I went through this
massive phase about anything ancient Egypt. I was obsessed with learning EVERYTHING! So naturally that was the best place to start.
I had to walk past the giant Easter Island and Buddha statues to get to the Egypt area. These statues are HUGE. Sorta just stared at the massiveness of these two for a few moments thinking about how people made them.
Egypt
You can enter this exhibit through more than 1 door (more like an
arch). I unluckily chose to enter through the door where the Rosetta stone was
featured in. Really bad choice since there was a pileup of people trying to
see/photograph it. Being short, I got pulled into the crowd and just decided to
flow with it instead of against it. Eventually I made my way to the front, hurriedly
took a photo and left to see the other less crowded artifacts.
Sarcophagi, stone carvings, mummies galore! I felt like I was back in
5th grade! I don't remember how long I spent plastering my face against the
glass just looking at all the details from one case to the next. I was probably
one of those annoying tourists photo bombing people's photos because I was
oblivious to everything except to what I was looking at. Oh well... They even had
a mummified cow!
Found my way to the next exhibit: Middle East
The first thing that caught your eyes were these massive stone
sculptures that guarded palaces and temples of ancient Assyria (now northern
Iraq). There were 2 giant human-headed winged lions at the entrance to the
exhibit.
A little further down was another gigantic sculpture. It was of a lion
that guarded the Temple of Ishtar, the goddess of war.
All along the walls were these huge sculptures. One of them read: King
____ built his palace at Nimrud with a series of carved stone panels. These
panels showed the king and his people doing various activities.
I didn't spend a lot of time in this exhibit mainly because I know
almost nothing about ancient Mesopotamia. Definitely regret not getting an audio
guide. On to the next!
Ancient Greece and Rome
Ancient Greece and Rome
Now this was something I knew a moderate amount in. This exhibit was
fairly long. The Parthenon had its own room mainly because it was so big. It
was built as a temple for Athena on the Acropolis of Athens. It shows scenes
from Greek mythology and people doing religious activities.
Thracian goddess Bendis
Thracian goddess Bendis
This was interesting because it made me think of the Olympics. Back in
the day there was a big festival that involved Athenians and Thracians. The
festival included a horseback torch race at night. The sculpture shows 2
bearded men in drapes, 8 naked men wearing wreaths in their hair and the
goddess. The man in the front is carrying a torch. The naked men are probably
athletes for the horseback torch race. I don't know who the bearded men are
supposed to be...
Guess the philosophers, which one is Socrates? Socrates, Antisthenes,
Chrysippos,and Epikouros
Molossus Dog/Jenning's Dog/The Dog of Alcibiades
This extinct dog used to fight tigers, lions, elephants, and men in
battle. Jenning's was the first owner of this statue. There once was a man
named Alcibiades who owned a large dog. Alcibiades cut off the dog's tail to
invoke pity from the Athenians and to distract them from his bad deeds.
Nereid Monument - This is a sculpted tomb! Wouldn't have known
if I hadn't read the sign...
Africa
I saw the sun coming out from one of the windows so I decided that this
would be the last exhibit. The most interesting exhibit, I think. The
sculptures were made out of weapons as part of the Transforming Arms into Tools
(TAE) project and is made from decommissioned weapons.
The Tree of Life and Throne of Weapons was made by four
Mozambican artists. During Mozambique's civil war, millions of guns and other
weapons came into the country. Most of them are hidden or buried in the bush.
TAE attempts to eliminate the threat presented by the hidden weapons.
Mozambicans can exchange weapons for ploughs, bicycles and sewing machines. A
whole village gave up its weapons in exchange for a tractor. Once the weapons
are decommissioned, they are cut up and turned into sculptures. This process
has produced the Tree of Life and the Throne of Weapons. The throne has an
added significance in Africa where carved stools and chairs are symbols of
power and prestige.
