The British Museum is one of the world's most famous and important museums, and is a must for anyone visiting London. It was the first public national museum in the world, and it can boast one of the largest and most comprehensive permanent collections anywhere, with around 8 million items documenting the history of human culture from its beginning through to the present day. A highly-experienced expert guide will ensure that you see the main highlights of the museum, such as the Rosetta Stone, for example. This relic was crucial to historians' understanding of the hieroglyphic system, and as a result shed a great deal of light on the history of ancient Egypt. Indeed, the museum's Egyptian collection is one of the finest and most extensive in the world, and also includes an awe-inspiring statue of Ramses II in pink and grey granite, as well as numerous mummies. The Department of Greece and Rome is also a must-see, with its 100,000 exhibits making it one of the largest collections of antiquities from the classical world anywhere on the planet. The spectacular Athens Parthenon Sculptures constitute one of the department's main attractions. For those of you fascinated by British history, there is plenty for you too. Perhaps the most famous exhibits here are those from the Anglo-Saxon ship burial at Sutton Hoo in Suffolk, England. It was a vitally important discovery as it enabled historians to better understand a period when lines between historical documentation, myth, and legend, were particularly blurred.