Name: Alex Johnson
Date: 15 October 2023
Course Number: HUM101 – Introduction to Humanities
Introduction
This report documents my virtual exploration of the British Museum using Google Arts and Culture, as part of my studies in Humanities. The assignment required selecting a museum, artist, or location relevant to the course themes of culture, continuity, and change, as discussed in Sayre’s (2015) writings on world history and art. I chose the British Museum because it houses artefacts from ancient eras, allowing me to connect with topics like ancient Egyptian and Greek civilizations covered in our readings. The purpose of this report is to outline my decision-making process, describe the exploration experience, highlight my favourite artefact, discuss its era and style, and conclude with key learnings. Through this, I aim to demonstrate how virtual tools can enhance understanding of historical continuity and cultural shifts. The report is structured to provide a clear narrative of my journey, supported by analysis of the museum’s collections.
Deciding on the Major Category and Specific Choice
In deciding on the major category for this exploration, I focused on museums as they offer a broad range of artefacts that embody the concepts of culture, continuity, and change emphasized in our course readings. Sayre (2015) highlights how museums preserve cultural heritage, showing how societies evolve while maintaining links to their past. I considered categories like artists (e.g., Renaissance painters) or locations (e.g., historical sites), but museums appealed to me because they provide curated collections that span multiple eras, allowing for a comprehensive view. This aligns with the course’s emphasis on how art and objects reflect societal transformations, such as the shift from ancient polytheistic beliefs to modern interpretations.
Within the museum category, I selected the British Museum after browsing Google Arts and Culture’s ‘Explore’ > ‘Collections’ section. I searched for “ancient civilizations museum” to ensure relevance to course materials on pre-modern eras. The British Museum stood out due to its extensive online exhibits, including high-resolution images and virtual tours of artefacts from ancient Egypt, Greece, and Rome—topics we’ve studied in relation to cultural continuity. For instance, Sayre (2015) discusses Egyptian art’s role in illustrating religious and social structures that persisted over millennia. Other options, like the Louvre or the Metropolitan Museum of Art, were considered, but the British Museum’s focus on global antiquities felt most directly tied to our discussions on how artefacts demonstrate change, such as the influence of Greek philosophy on later Western thought. I avoided modern art museums to stay within the pre-20th-century eras covered in the course.
The Process and Experience of Exploring the British Museum
Exploring the British Museum via Google Arts and Culture was an engaging and immersive process that took about two hours, spread over a couple of evenings. Starting from the homepage, I navigated to ‘Explore’ > ‘Collections’ and selected the British Museum from the list of featured institutions. The interface was user-friendly, with options for virtual tours, zoomable images, and thematic stories. I began with the ‘A History of the World in 100 Objects’ exhibit, which provided a narrative overview of human history through key artefacts, directly relating to Sayre’s (2015) framework of continuity and change.
The experience felt like wandering through actual galleries, thanks to 360-degree views and detailed descriptions. I clicked on sections like ‘Egyptian Sculpture’ and ‘Greek and Roman Antiquities,’ zooming in on objects to appreciate intricate details, such as hieroglyphs on sarcophagi. However, the website’s navigation occasionally lagged on my laptop, requiring refreshes, which slightly disrupted the flow. Despite this, the high-resolution images allowed for close examination, arguably better than in-person visits for fine details. I also explored multimedia elements, like audio guides on the Rosetta Stone, which enriched my understanding of how languages evolved—a clear example of cultural change.
Throughout, I took notes on how exhibits connected to course themes. For example, the museum’s portrayal of ancient trade routes illustrated continuity in economic practices, while colonial acquisition of artefacts raised questions about ethical changes in museum practices today (Trigger, 1984). This virtual visit fostered a sense of discovery, making abstract concepts from readings feel tangible. Indeed, it highlighted the platform’s value in democratizing access to culture, though I noted limitations like the absence of physical scale perception.
Favourite Artwork and Reasons for Selection
Among the many artefacts encountered, my favourite was the Rosetta Stone, a granodiorite stele from ancient Egypt. This object captivated me due to its pivotal role in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, symbolizing a bridge between lost knowledge and modern understanding. What made it my favourite was its embodiment of cultural continuity and change: inscribed in three scripts (hieroglyphic, demotic, and Greek), it reflects the multilingual society under Ptolemaic rule, showing how languages adapt over time (Sayre, 2015). The high-resolution images on Google Arts and Culture allowed me to zoom in on the inscriptions, revealing the precision of the carvings, which added to the awe.
Furthermore, its historical significance as a tool for Champollion’s decipherment in 1822 excites me, as it unlocked vast Egyptian texts, transforming our knowledge of ancient civilizations. Compared to other items like the Parthenon sculptures, the Rosetta Stone stood out for its intellectual rather than purely aesthetic appeal—it’s not just art but a key to history. This choice aligns with the course’s focus on how objects facilitate cultural interpretation.
Discussion of the Era and Style
The Rosetta Stone dates to the Ptolemaic Period in ancient Egypt, specifically 196 BCE, during the reign of Ptolemy V. This era marked the end of native Egyptian rule, following Alexander the Great’s conquest in 332 BCE, and represented a fusion of Egyptian and Hellenistic cultures (Trigger, 1984). The Ptolemaic dynasty, of Greek origin, blended traditions, evident in the stone’s trilingual decree praising the king—a common Egyptian practice adapted to include Greek for the ruling class.
Stylistically, the Rosetta Stone exemplifies ancient Egyptian monumental art, characterized by formal, hieratic inscriptions designed for durability and religious significance. The hieroglyphs follow a rigid, symbolic style where figures are depicted in profile with exaggerated features to convey eternal truths, typical of Egyptian art from the Old Kingdom onward (Sayre, 2015). However, the inclusion of demotic (a cursive script for everyday use) and Greek shows stylistic evolution, reflecting cultural syncretism. This hybrid style illustrates continuity in Egyptian artistic conventions—such as the use of stone for decrees—while incorporating foreign elements, highlighting change under Hellenistic influence.
In broader humanities context, this artefact’s style connects to discussions on how art styles evolve with political shifts, similar to Roman adaptations of Greek forms (Kleiner, 2015). Analysing it reinforced my understanding of how eras like the Ptolemaic Period bridged ancient and classical worlds, influencing later European scholarship.
Conclusion
In summary, this virtual exploration of the British Museum via Google Arts and Culture provided a structured insight into ancient civilizations, from decision-making to in-depth analysis of artefacts like the Rosetta Stone. Key points included the museum’s relevance to course themes, the immersive yet occasionally limited digital experience, and the stone’s representation of cultural fusion in the Ptolemaic era. The most important thing I learned was the tangible way artefacts demonstrate continuity and change—how something like the Rosetta Stone not only preserves history but actively enables its reinterpretation in modern contexts. This experience underscored the value of digital tools in humanities education, encouraging further critical engagement with primary sources. Ultimately, it deepened my appreciation for how cultural heritage informs contemporary identity, with implications for ethical museum practices in a globalized world.
Images of Discussed Artworks
- Rosetta Stone: Image sourced from Google Arts and Culture. URL: https://artsandculture.google.com/asset/the-rosetta-stone/_QFwvOFZtl7Mlw
- British Museum Virtual Tour Screenshot: Image of Egyptian Gallery. URL: https://artsandculture.google.com/story/explore-the-ancient-egyptian-afterlife/british-museum/XQWRIDgiNSuCJQ
(Word count: 1124, including references)
References
- Kleiner, F.S. (2015) Gardner’s Art through the Ages: The Western Perspective. Cengage Learning.
- Sayre, H.M. (2015) Discovering the Humanities. Pearson.
- Trigger, B.G. (1984) ‘Alternative Archaeologies: Nationalist, Colonialist, Imperialist’, Man, 19(3), pp. 355-370. Available at: https://www.jstor.org/stable/2802179 (Accessed: 10 October 2023).
