An Arbitrary London Timeline

1) ~2000 BC : Remains of seven individuals and grave objects, ancient Jericho. (British Museum)

2) 1300 BC: Bowl and cosmetic box, found strapped with linen over the genitals of an adult male in the cemetery at Tell Es-Sa'idiyeh (the biblical city known as Zarethan) in the central Jordan Valley; this and other Egyptian burial customs at the site are evidence of the Egyptian control of Canaan at the time. (British Museum)

3) ~700 BC : Relief panel from ancient Iran. (British Museum)

4) 594 BC : Babylonian cuneiform tablet recording a donation to a temple by Nebuchadnezzar's chief eunuch, who appears in the book of Jeremiah, and was present at the capture of Jerusalem in 587 BC. (British Museum)

5) AD 43-410 : Mosaics from Roman Britain, and a modern visitor. (British Museum)

6) St. Paul's Cathedral and the Millenium Bridge, seen from Tate Modern on the south bank.

AD 604 : original establishment of St Paul's Cathedral.

AD 1675-1710 : The present St. Paul's, designed by Sir Christopher Wren, is the fifth cathedral to have stood on the site since 604, and was built after its predecessor was destroyed in the Great Fire of London. It was the first cathedral to be built after the English Reformation, when Henry VIII separated the Church of England from the jurisdiction of the Pope and put it under his own control.

AD 2000 : The Millennium Bridge. We were told that when the Thames is at low tide, people sometimes find bones and artifacts from various periods of London's history along the shoreline here.

AD 2000: Inscription from Tennyson in the floor of the Great Court at the British Museum, built in celebration of the Millennium.

Comments

[k]

amazing Beth!

[Lilian Nattel]

This is so creative. I'll just add that the electricity you used to post this, if it comes from fossil fuels, would be some 100's of millions of years old in the timeline.

[Beth]

Thanks, K!

What a wonderful observation and addition to the timeline, Lilian! Thanks!

[Marja-Leena]

Amazing indeed, and I love Lilian's contribution too! I am really enjoying all your travel photos, Beth, and looking forward to more. (I did comment on an earlier post but it seemed to have disappeared into another time warp.)

[Ann]

Extraordinary photos. I especially liked the visitor walking past the Roman mosaics.

[Hattie]

I was talking to my husband about you and your wonderful photos from London. We haven't been there since the 80's. He said, "I wonder if we would even recognize it today."

[andrea]

That bridge (aka the Wobbly Bridge) makes an appearance in Julian Barnes's novel The Sense of An Ending.

[Jean]

How beautiful and evocative! I'm so glad you got to see all this - and with golden sunshine reflecting off the river and filtering through the glass roof of the Great Court.

[Vivien]

Fascinating photos. I don't know if you're still in London, but the Museum of London is well worth a visit. London dating from primeval sludge, as far as I remember!

[Parmanu]

A feast for the eye, and for the mind.

Do you know of the BBC series "A History of the world in 100 objects"? There is a book based on this series, which is full of objects (from the British Museum) you've shown us a glimpse of - priceless and endlessly fascinating.

[Dominic]

Really like these London pictures. Used to live there -I used to work for Camden Council- and often feel nostalgic!

In the British Museum did you come across "The History of the World in 100 Objects"? (it's a book and a radio series by the museum director). Somebody bought me the book...

http://www.britishmuseum.org/system_pages/holding_area/explore/a_history_of_the_world.aspx