The British Museum on Great Russell Street in Bloomsbury is England’s national museum of archaeology and ethnography. This may not sound very exciting, but for Christians this is one of the most significant collections of artifacts in the world. For over 200 years British archaeologists have been digging in the sites of ancient cities throughout the eastern Mediterranean, and many discoveries have been made confirming the people and events which appear in the biblical record.
Here are four samples:
- Pottery from Hazor, the chief city of the Canaanites which was destroyed by Joshua (Joshua 11: 10–11)
- Finely carved fragments from Ahab’s House of Ivory, condemned by the Prophet Amos (Amos 3:15)
- A picture of Jehu on an obelisk of Shalmaneser III, king of Assyria, earliest surviving depiction of an Israelite. Jehu slew Joram, Ahab’s second son and ordered the death of Jezebel (2 Kings 19)
- An extensive reference to Hezekiah and the siege of Jerusalem on a six-sided prism (the ‘Taylor Prism’) relating the annals of Sennacherib, king of Assyria (2 Kings 18).
All of these items and a great many others of biblical significance are to be found in the exhibits of the Department of Western Asiatic Antiquities (Assyrian, Babylonian civilizations, and so on). There are also a few in the Department of Egyptian Antiquities.
The British Museum also possesses some articles from New Testament times, including coins mentioned in the Bible. The Romano-British section has exhibits which, while not dating from Bible times, are very early. Most significant is the Lullingstone Pavement, a mosaic floor taken from a fourth-century Roman villa near Lullingstone, Kent. A portrait of a young man together with a chi-rho symbol is believed to be one of the earliest portraits of Christ in existence.
The British Museum originated in 1753 when the library, natural-history collection, antiquities and works of art of Sir Hans Soane were bequeathed to the nation. The Museum (and also the British Library) are entered from Great Russell Street by way of the magnificent colonnaded portico designed by Sir Robert Smirke and opened in 1852. There is a fine shop offering numerous books, posters, slides, replicas of art objects, postcards and so on. The building also has numerous food stands and restaurants. Christian Heritage London gives a tour of the Bible data in the collection, and the museum shop sells Through the British Museum with the Bible (Day One) by Clive Anderson and Brian Edwards.