The History of Looting

About this tour

Uncover the stories the British Museum rarely foregrounds. This tour traces the journeys of looted objects, revealing how empire shaped the collection—and London itself. A sharp, clear-eyed walk through Britain’s untold histories.

What you'll hear

1. 1

   Stop 1: Welcome to the British Museum

   Start this tour once you’re inside the British Museum’s central glass atrium. ⏯️ Great Court — Central Atrium

2. 2

   Stop 2: The Benin Bronzes

   How a 19th-century British military raid turned royal palace art into imperial trophies — and why restitution remains unfinished. ⏯️ Sainsbury Africa Galleries — Benin Brass Plaques

3. 3

   Stop 3: The Rosetta Stone

   A single carved slab caught between France and Britain, claimed “for science” but taken by treaty, and still contested today. ⏯️ Egyptian Sculpture Gallery — Rosetta Stone

4. 4

   Stop 4: The Parthenon Sculptures

   Lost paperwork and the best intent helped these sculptures get here. ⏯️ Greece Galleries — the Parthenon Sculptures

5. 5

   Stop 5: The Lamassu

   Victorian excavators framed removal as “rescue,” turning ancient Assyria into an argument for Britain’s civilisational inheritance. ⏯️ Assyrian Galleries — Lamassu & Reliefs

6. 6

   Stop 6: Hoa Hakananai’a

   Cook’s voyages, missionary collecting, and the “colonisation of memory” — the removal of taonga and ritual objects across the Pacific. ⏯️ Oceania Gallery — Canoe Prow, Navigational Instruments, and Carvings

7. 7

   Stop 7: The Museum Itself

   From Sloane’s slavery-financed collections to the classical façade: the British Museum as an imperial project, still shaping debates today. ⏯️ Great Court — Central Atrium