British Museum visit, 2006

The courtyard (640 x 427)

The courtyard is a new area, built during the most recent renovation; a colossal marble room, naturally lit through a domed glass ceiling.

The reading room (640 x 427)

In the centre of the courtyard is the reading room, a big circular library with bookshelves lining the walls. The Daguerreo theme from Final Fantasy IX ran through my mind while I stood in that room.

Bust of Ramesses II (427 x 640)

This is one of the first exhibits one sees in the gallery. Traditionally, it is this Ramesses (also romanized as Ramses) who is believed to have been the despotic pharaoh from whom the Israelites fled in the book of Exodus. Originally, this would have been a complete statue, but only the head and upper torso remain. The red granite construction is quite typical of Egyptian statues and ornaments; some non-granite ornaments were actually painted to look as if they were made from this stone.

Sahkmet, the lion-headed goddess (640 x 427)

These four statues represent Sahkmet. She was believed to be a goddess of destruction, bringing death to those who opposed Ra, the sun god.

Low shot of the head from an enormous pharaoh statue (427 x 640)

The original statue would have been gigantic. Those Egyptians didn't do anything by halves.

Little sphinx (640 x 427)

Made from gneiss, which is a type of rock formed volcanically at high temperature and pressure. Nice patterns; looks a lot more interesting than granite.

Funeral statue (427 x 640)

Much of the paint is still intact, giving us an idea of the way that some of the other statues might originally have looked.

Red granite sarcophagus (640 x 427)

No Egyptian exhibition would be complete without a sarcophagus. (Somewhere on it, there should be a hidden button or something that slowly opens the lid and brings the contents to life. Unfortunately, life is not an Indiana Jones movie).

Cat goddess Bastet (427 x 640)

Hmmmm, "Cat Goddess Bastet" sounds like a name for a second-rate anime...

Mummified cats (427 x 640)

The Egyptians revered cats, even sometimes going to the trouble of mummifying them, as can be seen in this slightly creepy photograph. Cats weren't the only creatures they mummified; the museum also had examples of other mummified creatures, including falcons, crocodiles, and even beetles.

Funeral mask (427 x 640)

Everyone likes gilded funeral masks.

Frieze (640 x 427)

An eye-catching example of Egyptian artwork.

Huaxtec goddesses (640 x 427)

By far the largest display in the Mexican gallery is this collection of Huaxtec goddess statues. They are carved in the same style as the Huaxtec artwork, and would originally have adorned temples. The rearmost statue is believed to be a depiction of Tlazolteotl, a fertility goddess. (Gotta love those Mesoamerican names. I'm not entirely sure how to pronounce that!)

Belt template (640 x 427)

The native Mexican cultures were quite a bloodthirsty bunch. Bloodletting and human sacrifice formed a large part of their belief systems. Several times, I found myself reading about an innocuous-looking artefact on display, only to find that it was involved in some gruesome practice or other. Take this harmless-looking stone object, for example. It's actually a template for a leather belt. A strip of leather would be moulded onto it in order to press the pattern onto the leather. Sounds fairly safe, until one learns that the belts formed part of the uniform for a ball game used to settle disputes. The winner got to sacrifice the loser...

Aztec "comic book" (640 x 427)

Made from deerskin parchment, a pictorial retelling of an epic story. The colours and detail really caught my eye; I think the colours actually look more vibrant than most real comic books printed before around 1990. I'm just glad I can't understand it, it's doubtless thoroughly gory.

Aztec pottery (427 x 640)

My brother asked me how I decide which artefacts to photograph. My answer was something along the lines of "I choose things that look suitably big, or interesting, or orange".

Doorway totem pole (427 x 640)

Moving on from the Mexican gallery, we had a quick snoop around the North American displays. Here's an interesting totem pole that originally stood astride a doorway.

Doorway totem pole, low shot (427 x 640)

It's not a proper day out unless at least one photograph requires me to lie on the floor!

Enormous totem pole (427 x 640)

I didn't realize they could be this big!

Brass statue of a Portuguese soldier (427 x 640)

The detail on the gun and uniform is quite striking, but the face is very stylized. It's interesting that the artist chose not to make the face realistic, despite clearly having the ability to. In fact, looking at art from lots of different cultures, one soom realizes that realistic faces are the exception rather than the rule. The Greeks and Romans did them, and we do them, but most other cultures prefer less realism in their art. I wonder why that is?

Tree of Life (427 x 640)

This sculpture of a tree was made recently in Mozambique. It's called the Tree of Life, and is constructed from recycled weapon parts. As far as I can tell, the brown colouration is due to natural rusting. Mozambique suffered many years of civil war; this display is the result of some artists taking destructive things and using them to create something instead. The smaller items around the base of the tree are also made from recycled weapons.

Tortoise made from Kalashnikov magazines (640 x 427)

So cute! Far nicer than the magazines' intended purpose.