On the second day of our trip, we went to the British Museum. While we were thee we saw hand-written Beatles lyrics, sketches by Michelangelo and da Vinci, original sheet music by Bach, Beethoven , and other famous composers, maps that date back for centuries, depicting the way that the world was vastly in different during different periods of history, and hand-written bibles, Korans, and prayer books from Hinduism, Buddhism.
We found it to be interesting that the documents tell a fragmented version of world history as told through the eyes of the English and the civilizations that they colonized. Some of the oldest pieces on display were bibles written in the 800s, yet the exhibit also included more modern works such as letters penned by Winston Churchill and the hand-written Beatles lyrics from the 20th century. It's amazing that all if these pieces have been so well protected and so well preserved, despite the tumultuous events of England's past.
The question should be raised, however, that if England wasn't the colonizing power that it was, which is now kind of considered a dark shadow on the moral compass of England's leaders, would they have had the access or ability to obtain these documents? After seeing so many artifacts from across the globe artifacts in the collection, our consensus is no. There is a good and a bad side to this. While it is true that many other societies were compromised and England exploited the places that it conquered, without their greedy need for power and control, Western civilizations may not have been exposed to the new ideas and ways of the colonized lands, and today we recognize the importance of the role England played in the exchange of culture
We also found it interesting that even though all the items were from different parts of the world and different time periods, they all shared similar purposes. We realized that while we speak different languages, and have different ways of accomplishing our goals, we are all really moving towards the same purpose. Time and geography can make us feel isolated, but by visiting the British library and examining these very different, yet completely related documents, we found that the human experience isn't completely original, and we can certainly learn from the past for a better future.
Written by Jordan and Katie
We found it to be interesting that the documents tell a fragmented version of world history as told through the eyes of the English and the civilizations that they colonized. Some of the oldest pieces on display were bibles written in the 800s, yet the exhibit also included more modern works such as letters penned by Winston Churchill and the hand-written Beatles lyrics from the 20th century. It's amazing that all if these pieces have been so well protected and so well preserved, despite the tumultuous events of England's past.
The question should be raised, however, that if England wasn't the colonizing power that it was, which is now kind of considered a dark shadow on the moral compass of England's leaders, would they have had the access or ability to obtain these documents? After seeing so many artifacts from across the globe artifacts in the collection, our consensus is no. There is a good and a bad side to this. While it is true that many other societies were compromised and England exploited the places that it conquered, without their greedy need for power and control, Western civilizations may not have been exposed to the new ideas and ways of the colonized lands, and today we recognize the importance of the role England played in the exchange of culture
We also found it interesting that even though all the items were from different parts of the world and different time periods, they all shared similar purposes. We realized that while we speak different languages, and have different ways of accomplishing our goals, we are all really moving towards the same purpose. Time and geography can make us feel isolated, but by visiting the British library and examining these very different, yet completely related documents, we found that the human experience isn't completely original, and we can certainly learn from the past for a better future.
Written by Jordan and Katie