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British Museum, London
Museum, Museums outside Egypt · also called British Museum Egyptian galleries, British Museum Room 4, Egyptian sculpture gallery
The British Museum has one of the largest Egyptian collections outside Egypt, and you can read its hieroglyphs from the Rosetta Stone to painted coffins. Room 4 alone holds the stone and a colossal Ramesses II.
The sculpture gallery on the ground floor holds big stone pieces, many of them inscribed, from early statues to Ptolemaic sarcophagi. Upstairs are the mummies and coffins, the tomb paintings of Nebamun and smaller objects, all with plenty of text to read.
Start with names. Cartouches are easy to spot and many repeat across the rooms. Ramesses II appears on his colossal bust, on the king list from Abydos and on smaller pieces. Once you can read his two cartouches, you will find him everywhere.
Much of the collection reached London in the nineteenth century, some through war and some through collectors. Egypt has asked for the Rosetta Stone back. Displays change, fragile papyri rest in storage between showings, and some pieces travel on loan.
At British Museum, London
Inscriptions to see
Rosetta Stone
The 196 BC decree in hieroglyphs, Demotic and Greek that opened the way to reading Egyptian. It stands in Room 4, usually behind a crowd.
Younger Memnon
The upper half of a colossal Ramesses II from the Ramesseum at Thebes. His cartouches are carved on the statue.
Abydos king list
A damaged wall from a temple of Ramesses II at Abydos with rows of earlier kings' cartouches. Several names can still be read.
Sarcophagus of Nectanebo II
A huge stone box made for the last native pharaoh, covered inside and out with texts about the sun's night journey.
Nebamun tomb paintings
Painted scenes from a Theban tomb, c. 1350 BC, with captions in small painted hieroglyphs. They are among the finest painted signs anywhere.
Shabaka Stone
A slab on which King Shabaka had an old religious text copied, later worn down as a millstone.
Names you can find here
Signs to look for
- Head and neck of a canine F12wsr The head of a canine (user) opens Usermaatre, the throne name of Ramesses II on the Younger Memnon.
- Adze U21stp The adze (setep) is in Ramesses II's throne name, 'chosen of Ra'.
- Recumbent lion E23rw The lion writes the L of Ptolemy in the cartouches of the Rosetta Stone.
- Bread on an offering mat R4ḥtp Bread on a mat (hotep) opens the offering formula on stelae and coffins upstairs.
- Cartouche V10 Rows of cartouches fill the Abydos king list.
Reading the hieroglyphs here
- Arrive at opening and go straight to Room 4 to see the Rosetta Stone before the crowd builds.
- Use the live camera on stone pieces in Room 4: it boxes the signs on a stela and names them as you move.
- Coffins and papyri sit behind glass in dim light; photograph straight on and trace a sign if the reading is unsure.
Point your camera at a wall Hiero Lens boxes the signs and names them, on your phone; nothing is uploaded. On worn stone, trace a sign over the photo.
Questions
Is the Rosetta Stone in the British Museum?
Yes, in Room 4, the Egyptian sculpture gallery on the ground floor.
Is the British Museum Egyptian collection free?
General entry to the permanent galleries has long been free, including the Egyptian rooms. Special exhibitions usually need a ticket.
Where are the mummies in the British Museum?
The mummies and coffins are in the upstairs Egyptian rooms. Displays change, so check the museum's map on the day.
Where it is
Open in OpenStreetMap · Written from published sources and not yet checked on site by our team: displays and open tombs change.