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...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 67: Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy 6 Jul 2010
Icon from Constantinople showing the Triumph of Orthodoxy. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, tells the story of the overthrow of iconoclasm and the restoration of holy images in AD 843, a moment of triumph for the Orthodox...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 68: Shiva and Parvati Sculpture 7 Jul 2010
Indian temple statue of divine Hindu couple, Shiva and Parvati. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, discusses a magnificent stone sculpture showing two of the most beloved and familiar figures of Hinduism. The vehicles of the...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 69: Statue of Huastec Goddess 8 Jul 2010
Stone statue made in Mexico and associated with two goddesses. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor examines a sandstone sculpture of a goddess made by the Huastec people of present-day Mexico. The figure stands bare breasted...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 70: Hoa Hakananai'a Easter Island Statue 9 Jul 2010
Moai statue from the Island of Rapa Nui, also known as Easter Island. Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, looks at one of the most instantly recognisable sculptures in the world: a giant stone carving from Easter Island in...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 71: Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent 13 Sept 2010
Personal signature of the great Ottoman ruler Suleiman the Magnificent. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum examines this monogram which is the ultimate expression of Suleiman's authority at this time - a stamp of state and...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 72: Ming Banknote 14 Sept 2010
A surviving example of one of the world's first paper banknotes - much bigger than the notes of today and dated 1375. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explains how paper money comes about. While the rest of the world was...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 73: Inca Gold Llama 15 Sept 2010
A simple, gold sculpture of a llama. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum examines the animal that helped fuel the success of the great Inca Empire, which ruled over some 12 million people along the Pacific West Coast of...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 74: Jade Dragon Cup 16 Sept 2010
Jade cup that belonged to one of the great leaders of the Timurid Empire. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, tells the story of a cup once owned by Ulugh Beg, who built the great observatory in Samakand and has a crater on...