What is the most famous piece in the British Museum?

The Rosetta Stone (replica within Room 1) The key that unlocked the hieroglyphic language of ancient Egypt, the Rosetta Stone is the Museum's most popular exhibit and one of the cornerstones of modern Egyptology.

What is the most famous item in the British Museum?

Rosetta Stone

Egypt, 196 BC. The key that unlocked ancient Egyptian hieroglyphs, the Rosetta Stone is one of the Museum's most famous objects. Find out more about the Rosetta Stone.

What are the most controversial pieces in the British Museum?

1. The Rosetta Stone. One of the most famous objects in the British Museum is, in fact, part of a bigger stone slab. It was erected at an Egyptian temple in 196 BC, during the reign of Ptolemy V, but has been in the hands of the British Museum since 1802.

What is the oldest piece in the British Museum?

The oldest item is the Olduvai stone chopping tool, which is some 1.8 million years old, found in an early campsite in Tanzania. The British Museum has long recognised that some of the items it houses are contested – a reminder of Britain's colonial exploits. Below are some of the museum's most famous items.

What is the most valuable item in a museum?

The Top Ten Treasures in the British Museum - An In-Depth Museum Tour

What's the most expensive thing in the British Museum?

What is the most expensive artwork ever sold?

What is the oldest thing on Earth that is still alive?

Methuselah, a Bristlecone Pine is Thought to be the Oldest Living Organism on Earth. The Inyo National Forest is home to many bristlecone pines, thought to be the oldest living organisms on Earth.

What was stolen from the British Museum?

On 16 August 2023, the Museum announced that a number of items of jewellery from the collection had been found to be stolen, missing or damaged (Opens in new window), and that this was the subject of an ongoing investigation by the Metropolitan Police Service.

What is the biggest attraction at the British Museum?

The Rosetta Stone is the Museum's most popular exhibit, so don't leave without seeing it for yourself.

What is the scandal at the British Museum?

The scandal began on 16 August 2023, when the British Museum released a statement substantiating that it had identified objects missing from its collection. Ten days later, former Chancellor, George Osborne - chair of the British Museum since June 2021 - confirmed to the BBC that around 2,000 objects were missing.

Where is the lonely sister in the British Museum?

Today, the sister stands alone in the British Museum, suffering in the windowless gallery while global historians and government officials protest to bring her to her homeland in Greece. While the museum claims they have the right to legally own her, growing decolonization in museum movements beg to differ.

Why won't the British Museum return stolen artifacts?

Several British laws also prevent the museums from outright returning these artifacts to Ghana: the British Museum Act of 1963 bans the museum from removing an artifact from its collection unless it is a duplicate, is damaged or is deemed “unfit” for the collection.

Which room is the Rosetta Stone in?

Room 4. See the Rosetta Stone and other objects in the Egyptian sculpture gallery. For products inspired by the Rosetta Stone, visit the British Museum Shop (Opens in new window).

Is Kohinoor in the British Museum?

Today, the diamond is on public display in the Jewel House at the Tower of London.

What is the most famous artifact in the world?

Who owns Mona Lisa?

King Francis I of France acquired the Mona Lisa after Leonardo's death in 1519, and it is now the property of the French Republic. It has normally been on display at the Louvre in Paris since 1797.

What is the richest art of all time?

The record payment for a work is approximately US $450.3 million (which includes commission) for the work Salvator Mundi ( c. 1500) generally considered to be by Leonardo da Vinci, though this is disputed.

Where is the Scream painting?

The National Museum in Oslo holds one of the world's most important collections of paintings by Edvard Munch, including such iconic works as "The Scream". These works are available for the public in The National Museum.

What is the British Museum $1 billion gift?

The Sir Percival David Foundation will permanently donate its £1 billion ($1.27 billion) Chinese ceramics collection to the British Museum, following regulatory approval to amend its governing document under the U.K. Charities Act.

What is the secret museum in the British Museum?

Cupboard 55 of the British Museum contains what remains of its Secretum – the secret museum of artifacts once deemed too sexually explicit for public display. A large part of the Secretum derived from a “Collection Illustrative of Phallic Worship” donated by George Witt in 1865–6.

What is the most valuable thing in a museum?

The Mona Lisa

It's the most iconic work of art in the world, and it's the most expensive. In 1962, the Mona Lisa was assessed by insurers at $100,000,000. In today's prices, that's around $860,000,000. In reality, The Louvre would never part with this artwork, making it truly priceless.

What is the most controversial item in the British Museum?

The Elgin Marbles (Parthenon Sculptures)

The Elgin Marbles, or Parthenon Sculptures, come from the temple of Athena on the Acropolis in Athens, Greece – and continue to represent one of the longest-running controversies concerning the British Museum's collection.

Is the Rosetta Stone stolen?

When the British defeated the French, they took the stone to London under the terms of the Capitulation of Alexandria in 1801. Since 1802, it has been on public display at the British Museum almost continuously and it is the most visited object there.

What is the controversy with the British Museum?

In addition to being petitioned by the Greeks, the British Museum is being challenged for its holding of bronzes looted in the late nineteenth century by British forces from the royal palace of the Kingdom of Benin, in what is now southern Nigeria.