British Museum
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Revision as of 13:06, 31 October 2008 by Ostercy (talk | contribs) (New page: The British Museum '''The British Museum''' The origins of the British Museum lie in the will of the physician, naturalist and collector, Sir Hans Sloan...)
The British Museum
The origins of the British Museum lie in the will of the physician, naturalist and collector, Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753)[1]. Sloane wanted his collection of more than 71,000 objects, library and herbarium to be preserved intact after his death. He bequeathed it to King George II for the nation in return for payment of £20,000 to his heirs. The first famous antiquities, Sir William Hamilton's collection of Greek vases and other classical objects, were purchased in 1772. These were followed by such high profile acquisitions as the Rosetta Stone and other antiquities from Egypt (1802), the Townley collection of classical sculpture (1805), and the sculptures of the Parthenon, known as the Elgin Marbles (1816).
Tomb Raider
- In Tomb Raider 3 Lara visits an Egyptology exhibit, presumably in the British Museum.
Miscellaneous facts
- In Tomb Raider lore, including the various Tomb Raider 3 walkthroughs[2], the British Museum is often confused with the Natural History Museum, a museum solely devoted to the natural world. There are no Egyptology exhibits in the Natural History Museum, but rather exhibits such as the skeletons of giant dinosaurs and a stuffed dodo.
- There are a number of "disputed items" in the British Museum, presumably collected by colleagues of Lara Croft over the years. There include the Elgin Marbles (claimed by Greece), the Benin Bronzes (claimed by Nigeria), the Ethiopian Tabots (claimed by Ethiopia), 4 stolen drawings (Nazi plunder), Achaemenid empire gold and silver artefacts from the Oxus Treasure (claimed by Tajikistan), Aboriginal human remains (returned to Tasmania), Mold's Golden Cape (claimed by Wales) and last but not least the Rosetta Stone (claimed by Egypt) [3].
