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Can you complete our Selfie Safari challenge? Find all the animals and take a family portrait with each one!
ViewDiscover the life of the National Bard through the collections of National Museums Scotland.
ViewFrom Samurai treasures to tiny netsuke, the National Museum of Scotland has the largest Japanese collection in Scotland.
ViewJoin curator Margaret Maitland for a guided virtual tour of our Ancient Egypt Rediscovered gallery.
ViewThis page contains a range of dinosaur themed activities for P5-7. The activities can be used alongside our Digital Schools Session or to support classroom or home learning.
ViewA huge range of different elements are used to make up the components of a mobile phone. But did you know that many of them can be found in minerals you can see on display at the National Museum of Scotland?
ViewThe National Museum of Rural Life is open and tickets are available to book online.
ViewExplore inside the National Museum of Rural Life with your class using our themed trails.
ViewMeet the 12 metre-long, spectacular life-sized skeleton cast of a Tyrannosaurus rex, one of the star attractions at the National Museum of Scotland.
ViewThis Victorian scale model of a printing press was made in the Museum's own workshop.
ViewA Stirling engine is powered by hot air rather than steam. Now 200 years old, its revolutionary technology has become even more relevant today.
ViewThe Wester Kittochside Farm at National Museum of Rural Life was owned and run by the Reid family for more than 400 years. Find out how the tenth laird and his family celebrated Christmas and New Year on the farm.
ViewThe BAE Systems Hawk is a British single-engine, jet-powered advanced trainer aircraft. A stunning pair of Hawk wings with the iconic RAF Red Arrows livery are on display in the new Explore gallery at the National Museum of Scotland.
ViewThis tumbler was given by Napoleon to Captain Francis Maitland of HMS Bellerophon, which took the deposed Emperor away.
ViewSee an iconic piece of Scotland’s national heritage, the silver casket believed to have been owned by Mary, Queen of Scots.
ViewDiscover the story of the people who designed, built and operated Scotland's lighthouses through the objects which brought their role to life.
ViewLearn more about what’s changed to help you plan your visit to the National Museum of Rural Life.
ViewWhat do museum collections reveal about Britain’s and Scotland’s role in the Transatlantic slave system and the experiences of enslaved people?
ViewThis striking ceremonial standing cup and cover was created especially for the Museum by virtuoso silversmith Malcolm Appleby.
ViewAmong the museum's collection in storage are a group of Thai ceramics excavated at Sawankhalok.
ViewVisitors met the most feared and revered of all dinosaurs in this cutting-edge exhibition, that brought the latest discoveries in palaeontology to life and challenging preconceptions about these ferocious predators.
ViewA unique, full-length mummy shroud, which is over 2,000 years old yet is still in remarkable condition, has been discovered in National Museums Scotland’s collections.
ViewOver the last 300 years, Scottish scientists and engineers have made discoveries and inventions that have changed our relationship with the world. From simple, everyday processes to cutting edge of 21st-century medicine, Scotland remains at the heart of scientific innovation.
ViewExplore highlights of our Japanese collection, from tiny netsuke to cutting edge designs, superb ceramics to Ainu artefacts.
ViewThe destruction of Hamilton Palace, the grandest stately home in Britain, was one of the greatest losses to national heritage ever to happen in this country. This is the story of how Scotland’s biggest treasure trove was won and lost.
ViewFamilies can pick up our new trail to find the Bird Pin, from the Galloway Hoard, hiding amongst her feathered friends around the National Museum of Scotland.
ViewWe asked our Facebook fans which objects from the National Museum of Scotland their families would like to colour in, and here are the results! From our family of lions to the giant sunfish, T-Rex to our elephant - is your favourite here?
ViewWelcome to the world of the Lewis chess pieces! Discover all there is to know about these mysterious figures in this interactive resource.
ViewIn 2018, the internationally renowned metalsmith Simone ten Hompel was commissioned by National Museums Scotland and The Glenmorangie Company to create a new artwork inspired by our curatorial research and the Museum’s collection of metal artefacts from early medieval Scotland.
ViewIn 2015, the Edinburgh Iranian Festival and National Museums Scotland celebrated new movements in Iranian dress and design with a magnificent fashion show. On this occasion, the Museum acquired a selection of women’s clothing for its existing textile collection from Iran.
ViewRecreate your favourite museum objects and places using the LEGO you have at home!
ViewThis signed script for the influential Edinburgh-set film Trainspotting was donated to the Museum by actor Ewan McGregor.
ViewJoin our tour guide, Babs Brown, for a Deaf-led BSL tour of the museum’s Scottish Galleries.
ViewThe National War Museum is located within Edinburgh Castle. Find out how to get the most from your visit here.
ViewOracle bones are parts of animal bone, used in divination ceremonies in ancient China. National Museums Scotland’s collection of oracle bones dates from the late Shang dynasty (c.1200–1050 BC) and was found at Yinxu site near Anyang city, in central China.
ViewThis trail is to help you to ‘reset’ and find some moments of mindfulness and wellbeing in the Museum. Listen on your own device as you explore the space.
ViewNational Museums Scotland has been awarded a grant by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC) with the National Maritime Museum, London to enable organisations around the UK to work with community groups to explore experiences of empire, migration, and life in Britain through their collections.
ViewVisitors were able to see cleaned and conserved objects from the Hoard, revealing intricate decoration not seen since the objects' burial more than 1,000 years ago.
ViewThe history of the Reid family and farming on the Wester Kittochside farm National Museum of Rural Life.
ViewThis vintage Avro Anson first flew in 1935, when it represented leading edge technology.
ViewJoin model and broadcaster Eunice Olumide as she shares her experience of a transforming industry with museum curator Georgina Ripley.
ViewUncover the landscape of L’Éden, a set of 20 rolls of 19th-century scenic wallpaper and discover how this spectacular wallcovering has been conserved by the Museum.
ViewThis bold and vibrant woollen pile rug once furnished the Edinburgh home of Sir Robert Murdoch Smith, the director of this museum from 1885 to 1900.
ViewThe story of this 100-year-old planetarium provides a fascinating glimpse into the history of science interpretation, as well as a behind-the-scenes peek into early 20th century museum politics.
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