Our readers who visit London probably put the British Museum first on the list of places of interest to be visited, and rightly so, both because of the wealth of archaeological exhibits which are connected with Bible history and because of the publicity which is given in this magazine to the new material which is continually being added to the already remarkable collection testifying to the truth of the Biblical records.
The great buildings in Great Russell Street are not, however, the only part of the British Museum. To many the call of living things is more attractive than the living character of the ancient records of mankind. The Natural History section of the British Museum at South Kensington is full of interest to those who recognise in the world around us the handiwork of the great Creator.
A rapid tour of the Museum is sufficient to impress upon the mind the tremendous variety of living beings which exist, and have existed, upon the earth; from the giant saurians of the cretaceous era and mammoths of a later date, and the elephants and whales of our own times, through the mammals, birds, fishes and crustacea to the tiniest but perfectly formed insect that is scarcely visible to the naked eye.
In the vegetable kingdom likewise there is a staggering number of species; but plants and flowers do nbt lend themselves to spectacular display in a museum, because of their perishable Page 30 nature, and many people would consider the herbarium on the second floor of the museum to be as dry as dust.
No one should miss seeing the beautiful and extensive collection of minerals in the long eastern gallery on the first floor. These, though inanimate, have literally grown in the crust of the earth; for minerals are essentially crystalline, and crystals are formed by the regular arrangement of the ultimate particles of the material which goes to form the crystal. Here also there is almost infinite variety ranging from precious gem stones, such as the diamond, sapphire and emerald, and the noble metals, gold and platinum, to the common rock-forming minerals and those of economic importance, many of which, when their crystalline form is fully developed, are extremely beautiful.
In addition to the general interest of the Natural History Museum, there are several exhibits which are of special interest to the Bible student.
In one of the bays on the east side of the central hall is a large case containing specimens, models and pictures of plants of the Bible, which forms an excellent guide to those who are interested in this side of the natural history of the Bible, “from the cedar that is in Lebanon to the hyssop that springeth out of the wall.”
On the same side of the hall at the end furthest from the main entrance is a series of exhibits illustrating the extensive damage which is wrought by locusts.
A table case shows a fearsome magnified model of the desert locust, and below it a card bearing this extract from the Arabian Nights:—
“What is the beast that worketh not in cultivated fields, but lodgeth in waste places, and hateth the sons of Adam, and hath in him somewhat of the make of seven strong and violent beasts?
The locust, whose head is as the head of a bull, its wings as the wings of a vulture, its feet as the feet of a camel, its tail as the tail of a serpent, its belly as the belly of a scorpion, and its horns as the horns of a gazelle.”
The havoc which is caused by a swarm of locusts is illustrated by a very effective panorama of a cotton plantation in the Sudan. The foreground shows a cotton plant half-denuded by real locusts, on the edge of a great swarm seen in the distance, whilst a native worker is helpless against the invading army.
In the mineral gallery is a small case, under the archway at the end furthest from the entrance, with specimens illustrating the precious stones of the Bible.
Stones conspicuous for their colour, with or without transparency, and hard enough to be used as ornaments without being scratched, have always been valued by the human race. Before the days of scientific classification it was natural that stones of similar appearance but widely different in composition should he called by the same name. There is, therefore, much uncertainty as to the identification of the precious and semi precious stones mentioned in the Bible.
Perhaps some will be disappointed when they see specimens of what we would barely call semi-precious stones to illustrate stones whose names in our English translations are rendered by the names of some of our most highly prized gems, but it must be remembered that many of our criteria of valuation were not known in Biblical times.
A Perspective on how Archaeology can help us understand the Bible