Ask the expert
The Museum is full of experts who know all about objects from
Roman coins to Egyptian mummies. Do you have a question you want
answered about the Museum and its objects?
Email your question to us at the British Museum: web@britishmuseum.org
Your questions:
Chloe (aged 10) asked:
What did the Aztec priests do? Did they have their own leader?
What happened at the Aztec temple?
Carolyn Howitt, E-Learning Editor, replies:
The Aztecs thought that the gods needed constant presents in
order to keep them happy. The chief priest was called the Tlatoani.
It was his job to keep these presents coming. People would
leave offerings for the gods at the temples such as food, flowers
and ornaments. But to keep the sun moving across the sky, these
presents were not considered to be enough. Blood was required, the
blood of sacrificial victims. So either an animal would be
sacrificed, or even a person. Prisoners taken in battle would be
killed, occasionally in their thousands. They were thrown over the
stone altar at the top of the Great Temple in Tenochtitlan, their
hearts were pierced with a special knife, then their bodies thrown
down the steep temple steps.
Ellie asked:
Why did the Egyptians write different from us?
The Schools team replies:
Many people from different cultures around the world have
developed ways of writing down spoken language. This could be to
record important events, wars, leaders, trade and everyday
life.
The ancient Egyptians developed hieroglyphs. The name
hieroglyph comes from the Greek word meaning 'sacred
carvings' because they were first of all used on temples, tombs and
monuments in ancient Egypt. Hieroglyphs look like a series of
simple symbols - you can see animals, everyday objects and parts of
the body. But it actually developed into a complicated system where
one hieroglyph could mean a whole word or just one sound (just like
our letters of the alphabet today).
Writing hieroglyphs was so slow that gradually the ancient
Egyptians developed a faster way of writing called
hieratic. Today, we still have many different forms of
writing around the world, too, from Arabic to Japanese.
George asked:
What is the strangest coin in the British Museum
collection?
Andrew Burnett, Deputy Director replies:
There is a very bizarre bronze coin that has a pig's leg coming
out at the bottom. On one side of the coin you can see
Augustus, the first Roman emperor (31 BC - AD 14) with his general,
Agrippa. On the other side is a picture of a crocodile chained
to a palm tree which symbolises Rome's occupation of Egypt.
Megan asked:
What happened when someone from the Romans died?
The Web Team replies:
After death corpses were laid out in their houses for a week. This
meant that they could get very smelly, especially in hot weather.
In early Roman times the dead were cremated and their ashes buried
in an urn. Later they were buried in graves in cemeteries, which
were usually located along roads leading out of towns. The Romans
believed in a life after death, and often placed a coin in a dead
person's mouth so that they could pay the ferryman to take their
soul across the river to the Underworld.
Jack asked:
Who were the samurai?
Our Department of Asia replies:
The Japanese word 'samurai' means 'one who serves'. They were
fiercely loyal fighters who led a simple life, full of self
control. They had a constant readiness for death. The warriors were
often part of the strict Zen Buddhist sect.
Mark asked:
Did the ancient Babylonians use papyrus to write on, or did
they just carve symbols into rock?
Jon Taylor from our Middle East Department
replies:
The Babylonians wrote in cuneiform script, which dates back to
around 3000 BC. It was written by pressing a wedge-shaped stylus
(usually a reed) into soft clay. In later times, Aramaic replaced
cuneiform. This was written onto parchment or stretched animal
skin.
Francesco asked:
What is the oldest thing you have in the British Museum and
where did you find it?
The Department
of Prehistory and Europe replies:
The oldest objects we have are pebble tools from Tanzania. They are
dated to between 1,600,000 and 700,000 years BC. They were
collected by the East Africa Archaeological Expedition which was
led by Louis Leakey in 1931.
Milli asked:
What do British people have to do if they find a thing that is
made of silver or gold?
Dan Pett from
the Portable Antiquities Scheme replies:
'Treasure' means that an object must be at least one tenth silver
or gold and be more than 300 years old. Finds over 2,100 years old
are 'treasure', whatever they are made of.
If you have found a piece of treasure then you must report it to
your local Finds Liaison Officer (usually based at your local
museum) or Coroner. You may be given a reward for reporting it.
© George's question from
ReMus magazine for the Young Friends of the British Museum.