The British Museum cares for around 90,000 contemporary, historical and archaeological objects that reflect the spectacular diversity of culture spanning more than 12,000 years across a third of the world's landmass. 

From a ceremonial mask of the indigenous peoples of the Northwest Coast of America to an ancient Maya hieroglyphic stairway recreated in Lancashire limestone, the objects within the collection have a rich and complex story to tell.

Explore the stories, blog posts and videos below and be inspired by the Americas.

Read the stories and watch the videos below or search Collection online to uncover the compelling histories of people and objects that came before us. 

The Rosetta Stone is one of the most visited objects in the Museum and is equally popular online. Discover everything you ever wanted to know about the tablet that unlocked the secret of Egyptian hieroglyphs.

Plus, find out more about Egypt, ancient and modern, through video, blog and collection highlights below.

Explore the stories of Africa at the Museum.

Exhibition route
The more than seven million objects in the collection are sorted according to their place of origin. The museum is so large that to visit it calmly you need to dedicate more than one day but, in any case, even just a morning is enough to see the most important pieces.

One of the most interesting areas is the Great Atrium located in the center of the museum, a huge space with a glass roof, where the reading room of the British Library is located.

Walking through its rooms you come across any type of object, from Chinese porcelain, to prehistoric and medieval artefacts, to coins and medals from various eras. The areas of the museum that most attract visitors' attention are the section dedicated to Ancient Egypt (the largest in existence after that of the Egyptian Museum in Cairo) and that of Ancient Greece.