For art lovers, exploring art museums around the world is an unparalleled privilege. Throughout the vast history of humankind, countless artistic treasures have been left behind. Understanding the profound meaning behind a work of art and experiencing the beauty and emotion that transcends time and space is a must. Today, we'll take you on a virtual tour of four of the world's largest museums. Official website links are included to help you virtually explore the exhibitions!

Musée du Louvre

Established: 1793
Location：Musée du Louvre, Pavillon Mollien, 75058 PARIS CEDEX 01 - France
Admission:
General admission: €22.00
Under 18s and EEA residents under 26: Free
Opening hours:
9:00 AM-6:00 PM: Monday, Thursday, Saturday and Sunday
9:00 AM-6:00 PM: Wednesday and Friday
Closed: Tuesday
Last entry: 1 hour before closing
Public holidays: the Louvre is closed on 1 January, 1 May and 25 December. It remains open on all other public holidays unless they fall on a Tuesday, the museum’s day of closure.
Official Website: https://www.louvre.fr
Known as the "top of the world’s four great museums," the Louvre in France stands among the oldest, largest, and most renowned museums globally. Originally a French royal palace, it was not until the French Revolution of 1793 that it was officially transformed into a public museum under the impetus of the changing times.
The Louvre's collection is incredibly diverse: from ancient Egyptian, Greek, and Roman artifacts to medieval and Renaissance paintings and sculptures, as well as art from Asia and Africa. This rich assortment has earned it the title of "a treasure trove of human art." You're probably already familiar with the three crown jewels: the Venus de Milo, the headless and winged Winged Victory of Samothrace, and the enigmatic Mona Lisa. Today, let's focus on two other treasures that also carry the secrets of civilization.

The Code of Hammurabi: A Civilizational Contract Carved in Stone

In the long history of human legal civilization, there's one stone tablet shines with a unique radiance: the Code of Hammurabi. Born in the Babylonian Empire in the 18th century BC, Mesopotamia was experiencing a golden age of development. Under the rule of King Hammurabi, the ancient Babylonian Empire enjoyed political stability and economic prosperity. To maintain social order and combat crime, the Code of Hammurabi was created. It is not only one of the earliest written legal codes in human history but also a brilliant crystallization of ancient Babylonian civilization, embodying the wisdom and pursuit of order of that era.

Today, entering the Louvre, we can have a look at this ancient black basalt stele. It stands like a wise elder, silently telling stories from thoundsand years. The stele is approximately 2.25 meters high, with a top circumference of 1.65 meters and a base circumference of 1.90 meters. Its surface is covered with densely packed cuneiform script; its massive and solemn size inspires awe. On the top of the stele, there's a relief depicting the Babylonian King Hammurabi and the sun god Shamash, which is a symbol signifying that the code's authority derives from divine power, granting it supreme legitimacy. The main text comprises 282 articles, covering all aspects of social life: individual rights, family ethics, property disputes, commercial transactions, and criminal punishments. From trivial matters like lease agreements to death sentences in murder cases, everything is clearly regulated.
Besides shaping the social order of its native Babylon, the Code of Hammurabi has become an enduring cornerstone—casting a long shadow over the development of legal frameworks for centuries to come, its wisdom still resonating in laws far removed from their ancient origins. It provided important references for later legal institutions, and many legal principles and systems can be traced back to it. For instance, the principle of retribution, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth," although no longer universally applicable in modern law, reflects early humanity's simple pursuit of fairness and justice and has provided important inspiration for the development of later law. Furthermore, the Code's provisions on contracts, torts, marriage, and family laid the foundation for the improvement and development of later laws.

The Seated Scribe: A Portrait of an "Intellectual Elite" in Ancient Egypt

Also ranking among the artifacts of great archaeological value is the Seated Scribe—a painted limestone sculpture from ancient Egypt’s Old Kingdom. This sculpture depicts an ancient Egyptian scribe sitting cross-legged at work. Discovered in 1850 at the Saqqara necropolis in Egypt, it dates back to the Fourth Dynasty, around 2600 BC.

In the ancient Egyptian social system, scribes belonged to the "literati class," wielding administrative powers such as recording, calculating, measuring, inspecting, and judging. They were important pillars of the ancient Egyptian bureaucracy. In an era when over 90% of the population was illiterate, they were among the few professions requiring reading and writing skills, thus enjoying high prestige and generous compensation.
Even more astonishing is the sculpture's exquisite craftsmanship and remarkably well-preserved state. Despite the erosion of thousands of years, this statue still retains its original red pigment. Another striking feature is the statue's eyes, inlaid with crystal, ebony, magnesite (magnesium carbonate), and copper-arsenic alloy. Visitors can even see their own reflection in his smooth eyeballs. This extreme pursuit of detail fully demonstrates the superb level of ancient Egyptian sculptural art.

British Museum

Established: 1753
Location：Great Russell Street, London, WC1B 3DG, Britain
Admission: Free
Opening hours: Daily: 10.00–17.00 (Fridays: 20.30) Last entry: 16.45 (Fridays: 20.15)
The Museum is closed 24–26 December.
Official Website: https://www.britishmuseum.org

The British Museum was established in 1753 and officially opened to the public in 1759. It's the world's first museum accessible to general public. Its initial holdings covered artifacts, coins, badges, natural history specimens, and a huge number of ancient books—their richness and diversity were regarded as unparalleled worldwide even at that time. Today, the number of items in the museum has grown to over 8 million, spanning from stone tools used by early humans to 20th-century prints, and fully covering the developmental trajectories of different cultures across the globe. Sadly, limited exhibition space keeps 99% of the precious collection conserved in storage facilities waiting for their moment to shine before the public eye.

The Eternal Path on Papyrus: The Mysterious Book of the Dead of Ani from Ancient Egypt

Are you also curious about the mysterious resurrection rituals of ancient Egypt? Then the Book of the Dead, created around 1300 BC, is an absolute must-see.
For centuries since the birth of Egyptian archaeology, people have believed that these hieroglyphs found on Egyptian coffins and papyrus are fragments of the ancient Bible. Later, when scholars fully deciphered the hieroglyphs using the Rosetta Stone, they discovered that these characters were spells, magical "roadmaps" for the dead, used to guide the ancient Egyptians safely through the afterlife.

The Book of the Dead was originally reserved for the pharaohs and royalty of ancient Egypt. They inscribed these peculiar incantations on the inner walls of the pyramids, which became known as the Pyramid Inscriptions. During the New Kingdom period, anyone who could afford the Book of the Dead could obtain it, and its form changed to being copied onto papyrus.
The most famous papyrus version of the Book of the Dead is the Book of Ani, now housed in the British Museum.
Discovered in 1887 by collector Flinders Petrie in a tomb on the west bank of the Nile at Thebes (modern-day Luxor), it is the best-preserved and most artistically valuable version among all existing papyrus-based Books of the Dead.
One of the most famous scenes depicted on this papyrus is weighing the deceased's soul. In the image, the soul of the deceased Ani is placed on one side of a scale, while on the other side is a feather from the wing of the goddess of justice, Ma'at.
In ancient Egyptian religious beliefs, the pure soul was considered light, but it became heavy after committing evil deeds. Therefore, those who committed heinous crimes would not pass the judgment of Osiris. When the scales were balanced, it meant the heart was pure and good, and the soul of the deceased would be granted eternal life; conversely, if the scales were unbalanced, the soul would be devoured by the demon Amit, who guarded one side, thus preventing resurrection and reincarnation.
These documents were undoubtedly extremely important to the ancient Egyptians, as they concerned their afterlife. Furthermore, these artifacts reveal core aspects of the ancient Egyptian belief system, becoming one of the most important resources for Egyptologists seeking to understand Egyptian religion and the afterlife.

The Hand of the God: The Arabian Bronze Hand

The Arabian bronze hand originates from ancient Yemen, located in what is now the southwestern tip of the Arabian Peninsula, and dates back approximately 1700 years. It reflects the religious beliefs of the Arabian Peninsula at that time.

The bronze hand is right-handed, roughly the size of an adult's palm. Upon closer inspection, you will marvel at the exquisite craftsmanship: the bronze hand is remarkably lifelike, with the distribution of veins, the folds of the joints, and the natural contours of the palm all depicted with remarkable realism.
What is even more striking is that the back of the hand is densely inscribed with ancient Yemeni script.
Research has confirmed that the owner of this bronze hand was Wahhabi Tarab, a nobleman from a city-state in the ancient Kingdom of Yemen. He dedicated this meticulously crafted bronze hand to his deity, Talab al-Rim, in order to seek divine favor and protection. This is undoubtedly valuable material evidence for future generations to study Yemeni religious culture.

Due to space limitations, please see the next article: Must-Visit in This Lifetime: Four of the World's Greatest Art Temples (Part 2)