BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 42: Gold Coin of Kumaragupta I
Gold coin from the Gupta empire, showing a goddess and a horse. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the Hindu images of gods and goddesses that can be found on coins from the Gupta empire, which flourished in India...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 43: Silver Plate Showing Shapur Ii 1 Jun 2010
Silver plate showing Sasanian King Shapur II, who ruled Iran, Iraq and Afghanistan. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at power and faith in 4th Century Iran. He describes how an apparently secular image of King Shapur...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 44: Hinton St Mary Mosaic 3 Jun 2010
Mosaic of one of the earliest known images of Christ. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at this mosaic which was made somewhere around the year 350 and was found on the floor of a Roman villa in Dorset. He explores...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 45: Arabian Bronze Hand 4 Jun 2010
Life sized bronze hand with writing on the back. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the religious climate of pre-Islamic Arabia, its wealth of local gods and imported beliefs. The bronze hand is not part of a god,...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 46: Gold Coins of Abd Al Malik 7 Jun 2010
Gold coins from Syria. Neil McGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at how the Syrian capital Damascus was rapidly becoming the centre of a new Islamic empire. He tells the story through two gold coins that perfectly capture the...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 47: Sutton Hoo Helmet 8 Jun 2010
Helmet found in the grave of an Anglo-Saxon warrior king. Neil McGregor, Director of the British Museum, travels to East Anglia to describe the sensational burial discovery that has been hailed as a "British Tutankhamen". He looks at the...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 48: Moche Warrior Pot 9 Jun 2010
Pot in the shape of a kneeling warrior, made by the Moche in South America. Neil McGregor, Director of the British Museum, uncovers what life and culture was like in South America at a time when, a continent away, Islam was transforming...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 49: Korean Roof Tile 10 Jun 2010
Roof tile with image of an intimidating face intended to scare evil spirits from a house. The tile is from Kyongju, the ancient capital of Korea. Similar tiles were used earlier in China, but once introduced into the Korean peninsula,...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 50: Silk Princess Painting 11 Jun 2010
Fragile silk painting telling story of industrial espionage. Neil McGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the Buddhist kingdom of Khotan, now in Western China, and tells a powerful story about how the secrets of silk...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 51: Maya Relief of Royal Blood Letting 14 Jun 2010
Maya temple carving showing a scene of ritual blood-letting. Neil MacGregor, Director of British Museum, looks at a limestone carving showing a king and his wife, who is piercing her tongue to induce pain and provoke a visionary trance....
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 53: Lothair Crystal 16 Jun 2010
Crystal engraved with images from the Biblical story of Susanna. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, looks at the Lothair Crystal, made in the mid-9th century and showing scenes of Susanna, wife of a rich merchant, falsely...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 54: Statue of Tara 17 Jun 2010
Statue of female Buddhist deity Tara from Sri Lanka, who represents mercy and compassion. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores what was happening in South Asia during Europe's medieval period. He tells the story...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 55: Chinese Tang Figures 18 Jun 2010
Ceramic figures from the burial of a Chinese Tang general. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, describes how, around 700 AD, the elite of China's Tang Dynasty chose to leave their mark on the world by writing or commissioning...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 56: Vale of York Hoard 21 Jun 2010
Hoard of coins and other items buried in a silver cup. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, examines a great Viking treasure hoard that was discovered by metal detectors in a field in North Yorkshire. This recent discovery...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 57: Hedwig Glass Beaker 22 Jun 2010
Glass beaker from central Europe probably made by a Muslim craftsman. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, examines a glass beaker made in Syria or Egypt at a time when Christians were warring with Muslims in the crusades. The...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 58: Japanese Bronze Mirror 23 Jun 2010
Bronze mirror decorated with dancing cranes. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at this mirror which comes from a time when the Japanese suddenly cut themselves off from the outside world and stopped all official...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 59: Borobudur Buddha Head 24 Jun 2010
Head of a Buddha statue from Borobudur in Java. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, examines a stone head from Borobudur, one of the world's greatest monuments. He looks at the monument, which is built from one-and-a-half...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 60: Kilwa Pot Sherds 25 Jun 2010
Pieces of broken pottery found on the island of Kilwa Kisiwani, off the coast of Tanzania. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, sifts through a selection of broken pots, found on a beach. He finds the variety of glazes and...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 61: Lewis Chessmen 28 Jun 2010
Ivory chess pieces found in the Outer Hebrides. They take us to the world of Northern Europe at a time when Norway ruled parts of Scotland. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, describes the medieval world of the Chessmen and...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 62: Hebrew Astrolabe 29 Jun 2010
Astronomical instrument from medieval Spain which could perform multiple tasks, from working out the time to preparing horoscopes. Originating from Spain at a time when Christianity, Islam and Judaism coexisted there, this instrument...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 63: Ife Head 30 Jun 2010
Head of an Oni, a ruler of Ife in Nigeria, one of medieval Africa's most powerful and wealthy kingdoms. With deeply naturalistic features, it is widely considered as one of the greatest achievements of world art. Neil MacGregor, Director...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 64: The David Vases 1 Jul 2010
A pair of vases from the Yuan dynasty in China, made from instantly-recognisable blue and white porcelain. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, describes the history of porcelain and the use of these vases in a temple setting....
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 65: Taino Ritual Seat 2 Jul 2010
Wooden seat carved in the shape of an ancestor spirit by the Taino, one of the pre-European, native Caribbean peoples. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, tells the story of a beautifully carved four-legged stool which has...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 66: Holy Thorn Reliquary 5 Jul 2010
Christian reliquary from medieval Europe. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, examines an object designed to connect with Christ himself. He tells the story of this highly ornate reliquary which was made to house a thorn from...