The British Museum
Indigenous Australia at the British Museum
The BP exhibition Indigenous Australia: enduring civilisation 23 April - 2 August 2015 Discover the remarkable story of one of the world’s oldest continuing cultures in this major exhibition. The show is the first major exhibition in the...
The British Museum
Why did ancient Egyptians wear wigs?
Curator John Taylor explains the cultural significance of wigs and hair in ancient Egypt. Ancient lives, new discoveries is an exhibition at the British Museum 22 May 2014 – 12 July 2015 Sponsored by Julius Baer Technology partner...
The British Museum
Thigh flashing Spartan girls: Bettany Hughes – Visitors' Voices
Historian and broadcaster Bettany Hughes ignores famous classical male bodies to find a small but perfectly formed female counterpart – the Spartan ‘thigh flasher’ – in the exhibition Defining beauty: the body in ancient Greek art (26...
The British Museum
Prize amphora showing a chariot race
Chariot-racing was the only Olympic sport in which women could take part, as owners of teams of horses. Kyniska, a princess of Sparta, was the first woman to win the Olympic crown in this sport. British Museum curator Judith Swaddling...
The British Museum
A competitor in the long jump
The long jump was the only type of jumping contest in the ancient Olympics. It differed vitally from our long jump in that athletes used pairs of weights or halteres, swung forward on take-off and back just before landing, probably as a...
The British Museum
Bonnie Greer on the Parthenon sculptures at the British Museum
Playwright, author and British Museum trustee, Bonnie Greer celebrates the enduring beauty and humanity of the Parthenon Sculptures. The Parthenon was built as a temple dedicated to the goddess Athena. It was the centrepiece of an...
The British Museum
The Sutton Hoo ship burial: excavation
Archive footage of the excavation of the Sutton Hoo ship burial in Suffolk, in the east of England in 1939.
The British Museum
A Parthenon metope: history and reconstruction
The virtual reconstruction of a metope from the Parthenon sculptures using 3D scanning and visualisation. Created by the British Museum in collaboration with the National Museum of Denmark, Copenhagen. 3D scanning by Conservation...
The British Museum
How Mitra became Mithras
Seema Anand tells the story of the Sun God Mitra, and how he came to be known as Mithras.
The British Museum
The Holy Thorn Reliquary
British Museum curator Dora Thornton explains the detailed elements of The Holy Thorn Reliquary. This reliquary was made to house a relic of the Crown of Thorns, the wreath of thorns placed on the head of Jesus Christ at his crucifixion.
The British Museum
Cuneiform: Irving Finkel & Jonathan Taylor bring ancient inscriptions to life
A brief look into a new book that will bring insight into the world's oldest writing system by authors Irving Finkel and Jonathan Taylor, curators of the world's largest collection of cuneiform tablets at the British Museum. Cunieform by...
The British Museum
Chinese Love Poetry: an introduction by Carol Michaelson
Carol Michaelson, curator of Chinese jades and early Chinese material at the British Museum, explains the relationship of Chinese love poems with the museum's rarely exhibited collection of Chinese paintings and prints. British Museum...
The British Museum
Chinese art close-up: An interview with Carol Michaelson
An interview with author Carol Michaelson about her book, Chinese art close-up, which reveals the sheer craftsmanship of Chinese art. British Museum Press September 2014 Paperback £12.99 ISBN 978 0 7141 2479 7
The British Museum
Egyptian blue on the Parthenon sculptures
A new technique unveils ancient colour at the British Museum.
The British Museum
The Chiseldon cauldron
The excavation and conservation of an Iron Age cauldron. In November 2004, a metal detector user discovered 12 cauldrons dating back to the Iron Age (around 800 BC -- around AD 43), buried in a pit near the village of Chiseldon in...
The British Museum
The making and worship of Ganesha statues in Maharashtra
Made to accompany From temple to home: celebrating Ganesha, a display at the British Museum from 27 February -- 25 May 2014 http://www.britishmuseum.org/whats_on/exhibitions/celebrating_ganesha.aspx Explore the iconography of and find...
The British Museum
Thomas Hockenhull discusses ten symbolic coins
Project curator of modern money at the British Museum, Thomas Hockenhull has written Symbols of Power: Ten Coins that Changed the World and discusses how they affect identity and culture. British Museum Press Spring 2015 Paperback £7.99...
The British Museum
Noriko Tsuchiya explains the history of netsuke at the British Museum
An interview with author and curator Noriko Tsuchiya, about her new book Netsuke: 100 miniature masterpieces from Japan, and her favourite netsuke from the British Museum's collection. British Museum Press July 2014 Paperback £14.99 978...
The British Museum
Inca ushnus: landscape, site and symbol in the Andes
For three years, a research team from the British Museum, the University of Reading, Royal Holloway University of London and the Universidad Nacional de San Cristobal de Huamanga set out to discover how the Inca Empire used a stone...
The British Museum
Vikings: life and legend, an exhibition at the British Museum
The BP exhibition Vikings: life and legend At the British Museum, 6 March -- 22 June 2014 Organised by the British Museum, the National Museum of Denmark, and the Museum für Vor- und Frühgeschichte, Staatliche Museen zu Berlin....
The British Museum
Beyond El Dorado: By hammer and fire: goldmaking techniques of the ancient Colombians
By hammer and fire (a martillo y fuego) Goldmaking techniques of the ancient Colombians Created for the exhibition Beyond El Dorado: power and gold in ancient Colombia at the British Museum, Organised with Museo del Oro, 17 October 2013...
The British Museum
How to craft gold like ancient Colombians
From wax to metal (de la cera al metal) Goldmaking techniques of the ancient Colombians Created for the exhibition Beyond El Dorado: power and gold in ancient Colombia at the British Museum, organised with Museo del Oro, 17 October 2013...
The British Museum
Beyond El Dorado: Depletion gilding: goldmaking techniques of the ancient Colombians
Depletion gilding (dorado por oxidación). The gold-making techniques of the ancient Colombians. Created for the exhibition Beyond El Dorado: power and gold in ancient Colombia at the British Museum, Organised with Museo del Oro, 17...
The British Museum
The female gaze in Ice Age art
Ice age sculptures of the female form depict women in every stage of their lives, and do not simply conform to the traditional "male gaze". Curator Jill Cook contrasts the posture and gaze of these female forms with classical depictions...