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The museum is home to some six million objects covering the story of human culture from its first beginning to the present day. Many of the artifacts are stored underneath the museum, due to lack of space. The museum opened to the public on January 15, 1759.

1 The building and admission fee

The Queen Elizabeth II Great Court is a covered square at the centre of The British Museum designed by the architects Foster and Partners. The Great Court opened in December 2000 and is the largest covered square in Europe. The roof is a glass and steel construction with 1656 pairs of uniquely shaped glass panes. At the centre of the Great Court is the Reading Room vacated by the British Library. The Reading Room is open to any member of the public who wishes to read there.

The British Museum has never charged an admission fee, apart from a period of a few months in 1972, however some temporary special exhibitions within but separate from the main museum do charge. During 2002 it had been suffering serious financial difficulties and was even closed for a day when its staff protested about proposed redundancies. A few weeks later, the theft of a small Greek statue was blamed on lack of security staff.

The British Museum Reading Room used to be part of the British Library. Its functions have now been moved to the new British Library building.

2 Highlights of the collections

• The echo in the reading room, which Gerard Hoffnung recommended.
• The Elgin Marbles, carvings from the Athenian ParthenonThe Parthenon ( Greek: Παρθενων, the Temple of Athena the Virgin is the most famous surviving building of Ancient Greece and one of the most famous buildings in the world. The building has stood atop the Acropolis of, (which are Greek in origin and are wanted back by the Greek people)
• The Portland VaseThe Portland Vase is a first-century Roman glass vase, which served as an inspiration to many glass and porcelain makers from about the beginning of the 18th century onwards. Since 1945 the vase has belonged to the British Museum. The vase is about 25 cen
• The Rosetta StoneThe Rosetta Stone is a dark granite stone (often incorrectly identified as " basalt") which provided modern researchers with translations of ancient text in Egyptian demotic script, Greek, and Egyptian hieroglyphics. Because Greek was well known, the ston
• The Stein collectionSir M(arc) Aurel Stein ( 1862 1943), born in Budapest, was a Hungarian Jewish archaeologist who became a British citizen. He was also a professor at various Indian universities. Stein was inspired by Sven Hedin's work, Through Asia''. Stein took part in t from Central AsiaCentral Asia is a region of Asia. Various definitions of its exact composition exist. Definitions Under one definition, Central Asia covers about 9,029,000 km2, or 21% of the continent. Under this definition Central Asia includes the following countries:.
• The Clock Room
• Works by Albrecht DürerAlbrecht Durer ( May 21, 1471 April 6, 1528) was a German painter, wood carver and engraver. He is best known for his woodcuts in series, including the Apocalypse ( 1498), two series on the crucifixion of Christ, the Great Passion ( 1498- 1510) and the Li: 1 volume of sketches and 4 volumes of manuscripts.
• EgyptJumhuriyat Misr al-Arabiyah ( In Detail) Official language Arabic Capital Cairo Largest City Cairo President Hosni Mubarak Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif Area Total % water Ranked 29th 1,001,450 km² 0. 6% Population Total (2003) Density Ranked 15th 74,718,797ian Mummies
• The Benin Bronzes
• Artefacts from the Sutton Hoo burial