# British Museum

> national museum in London, United Kingdom

**Wikidata**: [Q6373](https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q6373)  
**Wikipedia**: [English](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Museum)  
**Source**: https://4ort.xyz/entity/british-museum

## Summary
The British Museum is a national museum and non-departmental public body located in London, United Kingdom. Established in 1753, it operates as a charitable organization and a cultural heritage institution dedicated to holding artifacts of scientific, artistic, cultural, and historical importance. Managed by the Board of Trustees of the British Museum, the institution is situated in the London Borough of Camden and serves as both an art museum and a general repository of global significance.

## Key Facts
- **Inception:** January 1, 1753
- **Location:** London Borough of Camden, London, United Kingdom
- **Coordinates:** 51.519444444444446, -0.12694444444444444
- **Legal Status:** Non-departmental public body, charitable organization
- **Classifications:** Art museum, museum, cultural heritage institution
- **Governing Body:** Board of Trustees of the British Museum
- **Government Department:** Department for Culture, Media and Sport
- **Website:** https://www.britishmuseum.org/
- **Aliases:** BM, the British Museum
- **Architect:** Robert Smirke
- **Key Facilities:** British Museum Reading Room (est. 1857), Secretum (est. 1865)
- **Transport:** Formerly served by British Museum tube station
- **Notable Collections:** Elgin Marbles, Rosetta Stone, Lycurgus Cup, Sutton Hoo helmet, Lewis chessmen
- **Departments:** British Museum Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan

## FAQs
**What type of institution is the British Museum?**
It is a national museum in the United Kingdom that functions as a non-departmental public body and a charitable organization. It is classified as both an art museum and a general museum dedicated to cultural heritage.

**Where is the British Museum located?**
The museum is located in the London Borough of Camden in London, United Kingdom. Its specific coordinates are 51.519444444444446, -0.12694444444444444.

**What are some of the most famous artifacts held by the museum?**
The museum holds significant collections including the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles, the Lycurgus Cup, the Sutton Hoo helmet, the Standard of Ur, and the Lewis chessmen.

**Who founded the British Museum?**
The museum's origins are linked to Hans Sloane, an Irish botanist, doctor, and collector (1660–1753), whose collection formed the basis of the institution.

**What government department oversees the British Museum?**
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport is the United Kingdom government ministerial department affiliated with the museum.

## Why It Matters
The British Museum serves as a critical custodian of global cultural heritage, preserving physical artifacts and intangible attributes inherited from past generations. As a non-departmental public body and charitable organization, it plays a unique role in the public sphere, providing access to a collection that spans human history, art, and culture. Its vast holdings, ranging from the Rosetta Stone to the Sutton Hoo helmet, are essential for historical research and education. The institution also supports a wide array of scholarly disciplines, from zoology and botany to Egyptology and art history, influencing academic and scientific understanding worldwide.

## Notable For
- **Historical Foundation:** Founded in 1753, making it one of the oldest national museums in the world.
- **Architectural Significance:** Features architecture designed by Robert Smirke.
- **Unique Collections:** Houses distinct collections such as the Waddesdon Bequest (Renaissance art) and the King's Library.
- **Specialized Facilities:** Includes the British Museum Reading Room, the former main reading room of the British Library, and the Secretum, a former restricted section.
- **Algorithmic Naming:** The "British Museum algorithm" is a computational concept named after the institution.
- **Transport History:** Had a dedicated London Underground station, the British Museum tube station, which is now mostly demolished.

## Body

### History and Governance
The British Museum was established on January 1, 1753, originating from the collection of Hans Sloane, an Irish botanist, doctor, and collector. It operates as a non-departmental public body and a charitable organization under the jurisdiction of the United Kingdom. The museum is governed by the Board of Trustees of the British Museum, which acts as its publisher and managing body. It falls under the oversight of the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, a UK government ministerial department created in 1997.

Throughout its history, the museum has been led by a succession of directors and principal librarians who have shaped its development. Early leadership figures include Gowin Knight (British physicist), Matthew Maty (Dutch physician), and Joseph Planta (British librarian). The 19th and 20th centuries saw leadership from figures such as Henry Ellis, Anthony Panizzi (Italian librarian), John Winter Jones, Edward Augustus Bond, and Edward Maunde Thompson (the first Director). Subsequent directors include Frederic G. Kenyon, George Francis Hill, T. D. Kendrick, John Pope-Hennessy, David M. Wilson, Robert G. W. Anderson, and Hartwig Fischer (German art historian). Neil MacGregor, a British art historian, also served as a notable director.

### Location and Facilities
The museum is situated in the London Borough of Camden, a borough in the London Region in England that was established in April 1965. The physical structure of the museum involved contributions from architect Robert Smirke. Historically, the museum was accessible via the British Museum tube station, a former station on the London Underground located in Holborn that is now mostly demolished.

Key internal facilities include the British Museum Reading Room, which opened in 1857 and served as the main reading room of the British Library. Another notable historical section is the Secretum, established in 1865, which was formerly a restricted part of the museum's collection.

### Collections and Artifacts
The British Museum holds a vast array of artifacts significant to human history. Its collections are organized into various departments, including the British Museum Department of Ancient Egypt and Sudan.

Notable artifacts owned or operated by the museum include:
- **Ancient Near East:** The Lion Hunt of Ashurbanipal (Assyrian palace relief), the Standard of Ur, the Balawat Gates (three sets of gates from Balawat or Imgur-Enlil), the Oxus Treasure (Achaemenid Persian gold and silver objects), and the Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III.
- **Egyptian Antiquities:** The Rosetta Stone (ancient stele with three scripts), the Colossal red granite statue of Amenhotep III, the Sphinx of Taharqo, and the Battlefield Palette.
- **Greek and Roman:** The Elgin Marbles (sculptures from the Athenian Acropolis), the Crouching Venus (sculpture by Doidalsa), the Lycurgus Cup (4th-century Roman cup), and the Younger Memnon (colossal granite head from the Ramesseum).
- **European and British:** The Sutton Hoo helmet (Anglo-Saxon), the Seax of Beagnoth (10th-century Anglo-Saxon seax), the Ringlemere Cup (Bronze Age vessel), the Mold gold cape (Bronze Age gold from Wales), the Lewis chessmen (carved chess pieces from the Isle of Lewis), and the Vindolanda tablets (Roman writing tablets).
- **Global and Ethnographic:** The Hoa Hakananai'a (statue from Easter Island), the Double-headed serpent (mosaic), the Statue of Tara (Sri Lankan sculpture), the Bronze Head from Ife, and the Akan Drum (African-made drum found in North America).
- **Art and Manuscripts:** The Ancient of Days (painting by William Blake) and the King's Library (assembled by George III).

### Affiliated Scholars and Staff
The museum has been associated with a vast network of scholars, curators, and scientists across various fields.

**Zoologists and Naturalists:**
The museum has employed numerous zoologists and naturalists, including William Elford Leach (zoologist and marine biologist), John Edward Gray (zoologist), George Robert Gray (ornithologist), Charles Hatchett (chemist), George Albert Boulenger (zoologist), James Douglas Ogilby (ichthyologist), Ronald Good (botanist), Daniel Solander (botanist), Michael Roger Oldfield Thomas (mammalogist), John George Children (chemist and zoologist), George Robert Waterhouse (scientist), John Joseph Bennett (botanist), Robert Brown (botanist), Joseph Banks (naturalist), George Shaw (botanist and zoologist), Richard Lydekker (naturalist), Karl Dietrich Eberhard König (naturalist), William Baird (physician and zoologist), Robert Charles Wroughton (biologist), Emilie Snethlage (naturalist), Richard Bowdler Sharpe (ornithologist), Arthur Gardiner Butler (entomologist), Albert Günther (zoologist), James Francis Stephens (ornithologist), Lilian Suzette Gibbs (botanist), William Carruthers (botanist), Adam White (zoologist), and Edward Doubleday (entomologist).

**Egyptologists and Archaeologists:**
Significant contributions to the study of ancient civilizations have been made by affiliated figures such as I. E. S. Edwards, Bernard Ashmole, Peter le Page Renouf, T. D. Kendrick, Charles Thomas Newton, William Loftus, Thomas Garnet Henry James, Reginald Stuart Poole, Leonard William King, Kenneth Oakley, Henry Hall, Renée Friedman, Alan Millard, Irving Finkel, Alexander Stuart Murray, George Smith (Assyriologist), Samuel Birch, Rupert Bruce-Mitford, Thomas Athol Joyce, Don Brothwell, Stanley Lane-Poole, Cecil Bendall, Warwick William Wroth, Arthur Mayger Hind, and Nicholas Reeves.

**Art Historians, Curators, and Librarians:**
The museum's curatorial and library functions have been supported by individuals including Hartwig Fischer, Neil MacGregor, John Pope-Hennessy, David M. Wilson, Robert G. W. Anderson, William Young Ottley, Herbert Maryon, Peter van Geersdaele, Barclay Vincent Head, William Alexander, George Francis Hill, Louis Alexander Fagan, Campbell Dodgson, Christopher White, Martin Price, William Henry Flower, Lionel Cust, Silke Ackermann, Nigel Williams, Lionel Giles, J. A. Baker, Sidney Colvin, Laurence Binyon, Henry Jenner, Austin Warren, Charles Pierre Henri Rieu, John Thomas Smith, Alfred James Wilmott, Edward Denison Ross, Alfred William Pollard, Henry Francis Cary, Antoni Jakubski, Francis Douce, Ormonde Maddock Dalton, Edward James Rapson, John Doubleday, Helen Wang, Richard G. Morris, Arthur Waley, Henry Hallam, Minakata Kumagusu, Gowin Knight, Matthew Maty, Joseph Planta, Henry Ellis, Anthony Panizzi, John Winter Jones, Edward Augustus Bond, Edward Maunde Thompson, Frederic G. Kenyon, Henry Octavius Coxe, Richard Garnett, William Cureton, Duncan Forbes, and G. Kenneth Jenkins.

**Other Specialists:**
The museum also lists affiliations with Emil Torday (anthropologist), Nigel Barley (anthropologist), George Thurland Prior (mineralogist), and Sybille Haynes (etruscologist).

## References

1. archINFORM
2. [Source](https://vocaleyes.co.uk/research/heritage-access-2022/benchmark/)
3. [Source](https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us)
4. [Source](https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/governance)
5. [Source](https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/architecture)
6. Q64742005
7. [Source](https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/british-museum-story/history)
8. BnF authorities
9. Japan Search
10. CiNii Research
11. OpenStreetMap
12. [Source](https://dpconline.org/about/members)
13. [George Osborne Is the New Chair of British Museum](https://www.artdependence.com/articles/george-osborne-is-the-new-chair-of-british-museum/)
14. [Source](https://warwick.ac.uk/insite/news/warwickpeople2013/lambert_muesum_chairman/)
15. The British Museum Report and Accounts for the Year Ended 31 March 2006
16. [Source](http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/1344435.stm)
17. [Source](https://go-gale-com.wikipedialibrary.idm.oclc.org/ps/i.do?p=AONE&u=wikipedia&id=GALE|A466801546&v=2.1&it=r&sid=ebsco)
18. [Source](https://www.britishmuseum.org/about-us/contact-us)
19. [REPORT OF THE SPOLIATION ADVISORY PANEL IN RESPECT OF FOUR DRAWINGS NOW IN THE POSSESSION OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM](https://www.lootedart.com/web_images/news/SAP%20BM%20Feldmann%202006.pdf)
20. [The British Museum Drops the Sackler Name From Its Galleries, Joining a Growing Flood of Institutions Cutting Ties With the Family. 2022](https://news.artnet.com/art-world/british-museum-ditches-the-sackler-name-2090153#:~:text=In%202019%2C%20the%20Louvre%20in,in%20Boston%20made%20similar%20moves.)
21. Virtual International Authority File
22. [Hartwig Fischer Appointed as Director of the British Museum. British Museum. 2015](http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/news_and_press/press_releases/2015/new_director_appointed.aspx)
23. [REPORT AND ACCOUNTS FOR THE YEAR ENDED 31 MARCH 2016. British Museum](https://www.britishmuseum.org/sites/default/files/2019-10/BM-report-and-accounts-2015-2016.pdf)
24. [Source](https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/business-highflyer-quits-from-top-job-at-the-british-museum-after-just-two-years-9163348.html)
25. Source
26. British Museum person-institution thesaurus
27. [Source](https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jan/14/british-museum-record-visitor-numbers)
28. Visits made in 2015 to visitor attractions in membership with ALVA
29. Visitor Figures 2015
30. Visits made in 2014 to visitor attractions in membership with ALVA
31. Visitor Figures 2016
32. Art's most popular : Exhibition and museum visitor figures 2018
33. Art's most popular : Exhibition and museum visitor figures 2019
34. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=603)
35. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=602)
36. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=601)
37. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=600)
38. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=599)
39. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=595)
40. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=596)
41. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=597)
42. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=598)
43. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=608)
44. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=615)
45. [Source](https://www.alva.org.uk/details.cfm?p=616)
46. Global attractions Attendance Report 2023
47. National Heritage List for England
48. [About us : Fast facts about the Museum. British Museum](https://www.britishmuseum.org/about_us/management/about_us.aspx)
49. Archaeological Atlas of Antiquity
50. GeoNames