Have you ever wanted to take a tour of the British Museum and just look at the weirdest objects? Read ahead to learn more about the strangest things on a DIY tour of the British Museum’s Oddities.
The Crystal Skull - Room 24
We’ll start our tour with the Crystal Skull in Room 24, purchased from Tiffany of New York in the late 1890s. At the time, Crystal Skulls were thought to be originally from pre-Hispanic Mexico and used for ancient rituals and magic. Some people also thought it might be from Central Asia or Japan, but by the 1890s people were pretty convinced it was Mexican.
But is it?
The museum has tried to use technology and subject matter expertise to verify its origins, and they haven’t been successful. The skull’s features do line up with genuine Aztec or Mixtec carvings, but the overall appearance just isn’t that of any Mesoamerican art style.
The last time the British Museum Research Laboratory examined the skull, they said it appeared that the teeth were cut with a jeweller's wheel, and not technology available to Aztecs.
The actual rock crystal itself likely comes from Brazil, which makes its pre-Hispanic date unlikely, as this type of mining is more recent. The actual craftsmanship was likely done in the late 19th century, probably in Germany.
It seems that the European fascination with Mesoamerican crystal skulls may be a long, long con.
This is an example of a common trope in pop culture - stretching the truth and really playing into the ‘mystical’ nature of Native American and Mesoamerican people - even though these are often more European and settler ideas rather than based in fact.
The British Museum and the Smithsonian have both conducted electron microscope analyses of this skull and others like it. They discovered that the markings could have only been made with modern carving implements.
Therefore, the museums date their skulls to the mid/late 19th century. Remember - this is when public interest in ancient cultures was at a fever pitch. Museums have always been about entertainment, as we’ll soon see again and again.
These recent studies and tests found led the British Museum to state that all of the Crystal Skulls are likely fakes. After all, where do you usually see Crystal Skulls? Nancy Drew, Indiana Jones, and comic books.
2. The FeeJee Mermaid - Room 1
The FeeJee Mermaid in all her glory.
For the second item of our tour, we’re talking about another object of dubious origin - The FeeJee Mermaid.
This strange mermaid is far from being the only one in the world – there are many in the world’s museums, and many more in circus sideshow collections.
In fact, they are one of the most common circus sideshow ‘gaffs’, originally made famous by the legendary circus man PT Barnum. FeeJee Mermaids owe their existence to Japanese folklore, specifically the Ningyo, which translates to a human fish. They bring bad weather and death, so if a fisherman catches one, he needs to throw it back in the sea.
Now, let’s talk about PT Barnum. Did you know that befre starting in circuses, he was a museum owner? That’s right - the connection between museums and entertainment runs deep.
His American Museum in New York housed all kinds of oddities, including his so-called FeeJee mermaid, which he said was found in the Polynesian tropics and depicted a real-life mermaid.
As people streamed into the museum, they were treated not to a beautiful young maiden, but to a desiccated chimaera.
A hired naturalist was not able to determine how the fake was made, so he was forced to say that it was inconclusive. This was even better for Barnum than a certificate of authenticity because now everybody in New York wanted to come in and have a look.
He’s often credited with the saying, “there’s a sucker born every minute,” but he didn’t actually say this. However, he did say, "I don't believe in duping the public, but I believe in first attracting and then pleasing them.
He would go on to start rumours that loads of his other items were fakes, even many legitimately real objects. The controversy was just too profitable.
This particular Feejee Mermaid was donated by HRH Prince Arthur of Connaught (1883–1938), grandson of Queen Victoria, and was said to have been ‘caught’ in Japan during the 18th century.
According to the museum, “The merman is displayed in the Enlightenment Gallery… In this context, it helps to show how museums changed during the 18th century from cabinets of curiosity to the type of museums we are more familiar with today.”
This mermaid is likely made of fish’s tail sewn onto a block of wood and embellished with leather and plaster, with sharp fish teeth added.
There is another really famous Feejee Mermaid in London, located at the Horniman Museum. Do you want me to include it in a “strangest objects in London Museums” video and blog? Let me know in the comments!
3. John Dee’s Magical Discs and Shew Stone - Room 1
Dr John Dee
Next up on our British Museum tour, head to the other end of Room 1 to see the magical discs of a man called John Dee, which date to the mid-16th century. John Dee created these wax discs and this obsidian mirror, which he called a shew stone, to contact angels and spirits.
John Dee was one of the leading intellectuals of his time, and he is absolutely fascinating. I could do an entire video just about him! He was a mathematician, astronomer, occultist, and alchemist, as well as the court astronomer to Queen Elizabeth I.
He left her service in search of occult knowledge, was accused of being a spy, and eventually died in relative obscurity in 1608 or 1609.
Remember - at this time in European history, mathematics was akin to magic - people didn’t quite trust it. After all, think of how we still use the word ‘calculating’ to describe someone with dishonourable intentions…
In 1582, Dr Dee created this series of wax discs that would anchor his Holy Table, which was part of an elaborate magical ritual to contact the angels and the dead. The table was topped with the obsidian mirror, used for scrying or fortune-telling, which would have been his partner, Edward Kelley, who was a seer.
Each disc is inscribed with the Sigillum Dei, or the Sigil of God. A sigil is a symbol that is thought to have magical powers. This one is comprised of two circles, a pentagram, and three heptagons. They contain the names of the seven archangels: Cafziel, Satquiel, Amael, Raphael, Anael, Michael, and Gabriel. Around the edge of the disc you can see “the full name of God” which is comprised of 72 Latin letters.
By The .:X - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2743168
John Dee did not create the Sigillum Dei - it first appears in The Sworn Book of Honorius, a spellbook dating to before 1347. He likely owned a copy of this book. He also believed that angels spoke in a language called Enochian, and he and Kelley wrote a series of books in the language. It was all leading up to an elaborate ritual, but they had a scandalous falling out and it never happened.
There is also something about this that very much reminds me of the tale of Joseph Smith, the Golden Plates, and the Angel Moroni in the Book of Mormon. What do you think? Was John Lee communicating with angels and the dead?
4. Banksy - Peckham Rock - Room 49 (no longer there)
Photo courtesy of Marabou at the Museum, Megan Elevado
You’ve probably heard of a museum heist, but have you heard of someone sneaking something into a museum? That’s exactly what enigmatic British street artist Banksy did in 2005 with some guerilla museum work. He installed a piece in the Roman Britain Gallery, right here on the wall.
And believe it or not, it stayed here for THREE DAYS. It depicts a bison, a spikey person, and a grocery store cart. He called it “Peckham Rock,” and it even had an official label that included a title, description, and even a fake identification (accession) number!
Even the name includes a cheeky joke, as Peckham is a gentrifying part of South London known for its vibrant Nigerian community, street art, and hipsters.
Here’s what the plaque said:
“This finely preserved example of primitive art dates from the Post-Catatonic era and is thought to depict early man venturing towards the out-of-town hunting grounds. The artist responsible is known to have created a substantial body of work across the South East of England under the moniker Banksymus Maximus but little else is known about him. Most art of this type has unfortunately not survived. The majority is destroyed by zealous municipal officials who fail to recognize the artistic merit and historical value of daubing on walls.”
The museum staff didn’t notice it until they saw it listed on Banksy’s own website. Of course, it’s a good laugh, but this piece asks all kinds of questions about what is worth hanging in a museum? What has museum value?
The Museum clearly believes that the piece has value, as they brought it back on display as a part of “I Object,” a temporary exhibition about pieces that explore acts of dissent.
Of course, the strangest thing about all of this is that we don’t actually know who Banksy is! The Bristol street artist, director, and political activist has been active for more than 20 years, and rumours have swirled since he reached global fame in the late ‘00s. The most common theories are that he is Robert del Naja, Robin Gunningham, or even a collective of artists led by a woman. If you want to watch me guide some Banksy pieces, check out this video I did for Free Tours by Foot.
5. The “Cleopatra” Propaganda Lamp
This terracotta oil lamp, which dates to around 35 BCE, is a pretty spicy object, so it might not be the most appropriate for kids! It depicts a crocodile, the emblem of Egypt, with a large phallus instead of a tail. Straddled on top of the - ahem, tail - is a naked female form.
It is likely depicting Cleopatra, and let’s just say it’s not a compliment.
While the lamp’s origins are not fully clear, it was most likely created as part of one of history’s most successful propaganda campaigns. This was a massive attempt by supporters of Octavian (later known as the Emperor Augustus) against Mark Antony and Cleopatra.At this time in Rome, rumours were swirling about Antony and Cleopatra’s decadent way of life. In contrast, Octavian claimed that he was the moral alternative to their supposedly debauched ways.
This lamp would have been a harsh dig at Cleopatra, designed to strengthen Octavian’s claim that he was Julius Caesar’s rightful successor. As a powerful woman, Cleopatra was forever defined by her romantic relationships, and it was her personal life, not her leadership capabilities, that attracted gossip and propaganda. Hmmmm… not at all similar to today!
This lamp was once in the Secretum, also known as the porn room, because it was definitely too spicy for Victorian tastes. However, remember that this was not an object of titillation. Instead, it was state-sanctioned propaganda designed to sully Cleopatra’s reputation.
6. Mummified Cats
One of millions.
When I think of mummies, I think of these humans. However, there are literally millions of mummified animals that have been found in Egypt! Just like we do today, Ancient Egyptians kept beloved pets. These included cats, dogs, monkeys, birds, gazelles, and even mongooses. While cats were worshipped and venerated in ancient Egypt, that’s not the only reason they were mummified.
They were pets! And people believed that mummifying them ensured they would join their owners in the afterlife.
However, they were also considered good offerings to various gods. Cats especially were thought to be the incarnation of the cat god Bastet, as she had the head of a cat and a woman’s body. Finally, some animals were mummified so they could serve as food in the afterlife.
Looking at them, they almost remind me of the FeeJee mermaids…
These animal mummies are not as old as human mummies. After all, important individuals had been mummified for more than 5000 years before the first animal. For instance, this cat mummy dates to around 30 BCE.
Animal offerings had previously been made of bronze, but by this era, it was cheaper to actually mummify real animals. Therefore, they become much more common around this time period.
Before being mummified, an animal’s body would be dried out and then filled with soil or sand. They would be arranged in a lifelike position, and then wrapped up with linen.
Animal mummification mass production starts to occur, and archaeologists find millions upon millions of them in cemeteries specifically dedicated to animal mummies. The most famous is next to the pyramids in Saqqara.
And here is an insane fact - so many cat mummies were excavated in Middle Egypt in the 19th century that they were shipped to Liverpool to be crushed up and used as fertiliser in the fields!
By the way, did you know that in the medieval and early modern periods, people in Europe used to eat human mummies by crushing them up and putting them in tinctures and medicines? I’m going to come back to that in a few stops!
7. Gebelein Man - Ancient True Crime? Room 64
Photo Courtesy of: Fæ, CC BY-SA 3.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0>, via Wikimedia Commons
People love true crime because it allows them to externalise their fears and then consume them as entertainment.
Back in 2012, one of the museum’s oldest humans was taken off-site for an autopsy using some of the latest CT scan technologies to perform a digital autopsy.
The Gebelein man is a naturally preserved mummy on display in the Early Egypt gallery. He was buried around 3500 BCE, (if not earlier) - that’s more than 5500 years ago! at the site of Gebelein in Upper Egypt. He’s sometimes called Ginger because of the tuft of preserved Ginger hair that pokes up from his scalp.
Normally when we think of an Egyptian mummy we think of a manmade preservation ritual, just like we saw with the cats. However, this happened naturally. Since the air is so hot and dry, he was mummified by the sand.
In September 2012, the Gebelein Man was carefully taken to the Cromwell Hospital in London. They created detailed images and 3D models from high-resolution X-rays, allowing pathologists and forensic archaeologists to look around inside his body and learn more about his life and death. He was the first predynastic mummy to ever receive a CT scan!
Now, here’s where the strange true crime details come into play. The CT scan revealed that Ginger was very young when he died - only around 18-21 years old.
This wasn’t too shocking - but the researchers were surprised to find out that he was stabbed in the back!
He died a gruesome, violent death, with a gash on his back and damage to his shoulder blade and rib. These injuries point to a single, fatal wound.
And there is the mystery - who killed the Gebelein Man, and why? I feel like we need a new season of Serial to figure this out.
8. An Empty Mummy’s Coffin (and Corpse Medicine) - Room 1
The empty Mummy coffin in the Englightenment Gallery
We are back where we started - Room 1, The Enlightenment Gallery. This is another instance where I am going to show you the absence of something, rather than its presence. That’s because this mummy’s coffin is empty.
Now, in this instance, we know that the mummified remains of a man called Irtyru are in another part of the museum. But when it comes to other empty mummy coffins, we can take a darn good guess that what happened to them. It’s what happened to thousands of other mummies brought to Europe in the 16th and 17th centuries. We ate them.
You heard me correctly. We ate them! An unknown number of the mummies brought to Europe during this period were scraped, powdered, and included in tinctures and medicines called mummia. We also crushed them up and used them for painting - hence the paint colour ‘mummy brown,” and believe it or not, we used them for fertiliser for farming.
Now, it’s important that we don’t overstate this practice. When you see the term mummia, it actually has a few different meanings. It originally referred to Arabic mūmiyā, which was a "type of resinous bitumen found in Western Asia and used curatively." Fast forward to medieval Europe, and the term starts to mean both the “bituminous medicine from Persia" and "mummy."
Historians think this was a misunderstanding - seriously. They saw the word mummia, realised that the bitumen supplies were running low, and redefined the word to mean the “black resinous exudate scraped out from embalmed Egyptian mummies.”
I wish I were kidding.
Egyptian tomb raiders could earn a good living supplying Europeans with their desired mummies. By the 16th century, Egypt banned this practice, and that’s when Europeans really stepped up their game. Apothecaries began buying fresh corpses from grave robbers, embalming and desiccating them, and then selling them as mummia.
Did I already say I wish I was kidding?
Photo Courtesy of Bullenwächter - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=17852006
Of course, mummies were not the only human flesh we consumed. Throughout the 16th and 17th centuries, all manner of human bone, blood, and fat were used for their supposed healing properties.
The question was not “Should you eat human flesh?” says one historian, but, “What sort of flesh should you eat?”
Let’s talk about Charles II for a few seconds. When he was on his deathbed in 1685, he had a stroke. That’s when his doctors decided to administer King’s Drops. These innocuous-sounding drops contained a secret ingredient - five pounds of crushed human skulls.
And not just any skulls - those of an executed man were best. The idea was that a young healthy person who had suffered a violent death was better than an elderly person. In other instances, mossy skulls fermented in horse dung were considered good medicine. Now, does eating mummies sound a bit less weird?
Of course, this was the same time period in which Europeans were labelling people in South America as “savages” for their own cultural cannibalism practices… By the way, medicines made of mummies were in use until the early 20th century.
To clarify - I want to be really clear that these practices are not why mummies are ‘rare’ - in fact, they’re not rare at all! Archaeologists continue to find them all the time. We also need to remember that even though these are ancient people, they were still people.
Again, I have no way of knowing if this poor soul was ground up and shoved down the gob of some British aristocrat or used for a painting… but the chances are pretty good.
Take a Private Tour of the British Museum
Now that you’ve experienced a few of the strangest things in the British Museum, are you ready to experience it in person? Get in touch today and I’ll start crafting the perfect British Museum tour for you and your family.
Don’t forget to head over to YouTube, where you can watch a video version of this tour.