Uncovering the Top 10 Must-Sees at the British Museum

Last updated on January 15th, 2024

The first national free public museum in the world, the British Museum opened its doors in 1759. With such a massive collection — I mean, truly dizzying — it can be a daunting task to narrow down the must-sees at the British Museum. 

The original British Museum collection was around 80,000 “natural and artificial rarities.” In the over 260 years since its founding, the British Museum collection has grown to over eight million objects, spanning two million years of human history.

Although it’s no exaggeration that a person could spend days or even weeks combing through these treasures of antiquity — I also understand that most travelers don’t have that kind of time. With a customized itinerary, I can help you decide how to get the most out of these amazing places in order to maximize enjoyment and avoid exhaustion. 

So if you want to see this incredible place but know you can’t be there for days, here are my top 10 must-sees at the British Museum. Specifically focusing on the ancient civilizations of Greece, Assyria, and Egypt.  

Ancient Egyptian Must-Sees at the British Museum

Rosetta Stone

This relatively small stone is not so famous for the subject matter written on it, but rather for the fact that it was written in three different languages: hieroglyphics, which were used mainly by priests; Demotic, a simpler script used for everyday; and ancient Greek.

Linguists were able to crack the code of the long-forgotten hieroglyphs by comparing the other two known languages. 

These days you’ll find the Rosetta Stone in the middle of the long Egyptian Gallery — although, like some of our other must-sees at the British Museum, there are some who believe it should be returned to its country of origin. 

King Ramesses II

Weighing an impressive 7.25 tons, the partial statue of King Ramesses II is one of the largest pieces of Egyptian sculpture at the British Museum. 

King Ramesses II ruled Egypt from 1279–1213 BC. Some claim that he is the Pharaoh from the Biblical account of Moses and the Israelite enslavement in Egypt, though there is ongoing debate about this. 

Egyptian Funeral Rooms

There are two rooms at the British Museum dedicated to Egyptian funeral practices. In these rooms you find what you’d expect: mummies, coffins, tomb paintings, statuettes. But there are also plenty of lesser-known, fascinating objects to discover here. 

One of the most famous residents of the Egyptian Funeral rooms is Gebelein Man, nicknamed “Ginger” in honor of his red hair. 

More than 5,500 years old, he’s one of the best-preserved humans from ancient Egypt, and has been one of the must-sees at the British Museum for over 100 years, with a brief field trip for a CT scan in 2012. The CT scan revealed some interesting details about Gebelein Man, including the fact that he died after being stabbed in the back. 

The Goddess Sakhmet

Finally, before you leave Egypt, I recommend a stop at the statue of Goddess Sekhmet. Her name means ‘she who is powerful,’ and it’s theorized that she was given the head of a lion atop her human-like body because the lioness is the primary hunter. Sekhmet’s role was to protect the Pharaoh, and her weapon of choice was her flaming arrows. 

Ancient Assyrian Must-Sees at the British Museum 

Two Human-Headed Winged Lions

Assyria, located in what is now northern Iraq, was the superpower of the Middle East from 900 to 600 B.C. These massive winged human-headed lions flanked an entrance to the royal palace of Assyrian King Ashurnasirpal II (883–859 BC) at Nimrud and it’s believed they were meant to guard the Assyrian king from evil spirits. 

The Nimrud Gallery

In the Nimrud Gallery, you’ll find another must-see at the British Museum — relief panels that once lined King Ashurnasirpal II’s throne room at the Palace of Nimrud. Syrian King from 883–859 BC, Ashurnasirpal II was known for his brutality. This long room’s well-preserved and detailed relief panels chronicle his reign and depict fascinating Assyrian battle scenes.

Two Winged Bulls from Khorsabad, the Palace of Sargon

These 30-ton bulls were cut from a single block of marble, tipped on their side and dragged into their guard position by enslaved prisoners of war. 

Interesting note: when they were moved to the British Museum, even with all the more modern equipment and know-how, they still had to be cut in half to be transported. If you look close, you can see the horizontal cracks through their chests. 

Royal Lion Hunts from the Palace of Ashurbanipal

In keeping with their brutal reputation and desire to always appear the mightiest, lion hunting was the favorite sport of the Assyrian kings. The relief panels in the lion hunt rooms depict the evolution of lion hunting in Assyria. It arose from the king’s duty to protect the people and livestock from the lion population, but eventually became simply for sport, with staged hunts using bred-in-captivity lions. Not exactly sporting of them. 

Ancient Greecian Must-Sees at the British Museum

Nereid Monument from Xanthos

The Nereid Monument gets its name from the Nereid statues placed between the columns. According to Greek mythology, the Nereids were sea nymphs who helped sailors when they faced fierce storms on the sea. 

What’s particularly remarkable about these carved Nereids is how the sculptor captured their graceful movement and the wind-blown look of their wet clothing as it also clings to their body in some places. You can totally picture them in a raging storm on the sea! 

The Parthenon Galleries

The Parthenon temple was built for Athena, the goddess of wisdom and the patroness of Athens. One of the most significant buildings of its time, it is still a marvel to behold and a major draw for visitors to Athens. However, for 200 years, most of its best sculptures have been displayed at the British Museum, not in Athens.

There’s some controversy behind how the Parthenon sculptures made their way to Britain. In the early 1800s, Lord Elgin, the British ambassador to Greece, had (with permission at the time) the sculptures hammered, chiseled, and sawed off the Parthenon and shipped to London. He claimed it was done to preserve and protect them. Greece now wants them back.

So, at least for the foreseeable future, the Parthenon Galleries are one of the definitive must-sees at the British Museum. 

In addition to the relief panels that make up the Parthenon frieze, don’t miss:

The Pediment Sculptures

The Pediment Sculptures were originally tucked inside the triangular pediment above the columns at the Parthenon’s main entrance. This scene celebrates the birth of the city of Athens with a depiction of the birth of the goddess Athena. 

Fun fact: one of the techniques the ancient Greek sculptors used to create such lifelike masterpieces was to first build nude models of their work, put real clothes on them, and then study how the real fabric hung before sculpting them in stone. Talk about commitment to your art! 

The Metopes — The Battle of Lapiths and Centaurs

The metopes originally decorated the crossbeams above the Parthenon’s columns. The scene is of a fight between man and centaurs that broke out at a wedding. The centaurs are meant to be brutish barbarians who the men eventually conquer in this particular battle scene. Man’s triumph over the barbaric centaurs is thought to represent rational thought and order conquering animal urges and chaos.  

Ready to explore your must-sees at the British Museum? 

These are just 10 of my favorites at the British Museum, but this place has so many more treasures for you to discover in its other galleries. 

You can see a Sutton Hoo Helmet, part of one of the most spectacular and important discoveries in British archaeology; the Lewis Chessmen, the most famous chess set in the world dating from the 12th century; and the Double-Headed Serpent, an Aztec sculpture made of wood and covered with a mosaic of turquoise and red thorny oyster shells. There are so many wonderful things to see!

Whatever your desires and travel style, I can build you the perfect custom-designed itinerary to ensure you catch your favorites! 

Cassie Tetro
Itinerary Designer
& Certified Travel Expert
(Paris, London & Rome)

WHO AM I?

I’m Cassie Tetro, an Itinerary Designer and Certified Travel Expert for Paris, London, and Rome — my three favorite cities! 

I help independent travelers like you save time and eliminate confusion with customized point-to-point itineraries crafted to your interests, preferences, travel pace, and style. 

I take care of every aspect of your trip before you walk out your front door — tickets, reservations, tours, maps, transportation — so you can relax, soak in the magic, and enjoy a frustration-free vacation with a travel plan that’s as unique as you are.

Discover How

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