BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 30: Chinese Bronze Bell 26 Feb 2010
A Chinese bell which plays different notes when hit in different places. Confucius believed in a society that worked in harmony. How do his teachings go down in China today? Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores the...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 31: Coin With Head of Alexander 17 May 2010
Coin showing Alexander the Great, issued by one of his successors. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, tells the story of Alexander the Great through a small silver coin that was made years after his death. One of history's...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 32: Pillar of Ashoka 18 May 2010
A fragment from a pillar edict of Indian ruler Ashoka. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at how Ashoka turned his back on violence and plunder to promote the ethical codes inspired by Buddhism. Ashoka communicated to...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 33: Rosetta Stone 19 May 2010
Ancient Egyptian stela with text in Greek, hieroglyphs and demotic. The Rosetta Stone is one of the British Museum's best known objects and a valuable key to the decipherment of hieroglyphs. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 34: Chinese Han Lacquer Cup 20 May 2010
A lacquer cup made on the orders of the Chinese Han dynasty emperor. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, tells the story of the cup, most probably given by the emperor to one of his military commanders in North Korea, and how...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 35: Head of Augustus 21 May 2010
Head of Augustus, the first Roman emperor. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at one of the world's most famous rulers, whose powerful, God-like status is brilliantly enshrined in a 2000-year-old bronze head with...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 36: Warren Cup 24 May 2010
A silver cup that offers a rare glimpse into the world of sexual love in ancient Rome. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at the Warren cup, which features such explicit images of homosexual acts that it was once...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 37: North American Otter Pipe 25 May 2010
Stone pipe shaped as an otter and used in ritual tobacco-smoking. The pipe is one of hundreds shaped as animals that were found in huge mounds in present-day Ohio. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, pieces together the...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 38: Ceremonial Ballgame Belt 26 May 2010
A ceremonial stone belt from central America. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at the ceremonial version of the leather and fibre padding used in an ancient ball game - the world's oldest-known organised sport....
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 39: Admonitions Scroll 27 May 2010
Chinese scroll with advice for palace ladies on correct behavior. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores this eleven foot painting based on a poem, which attempted to define the proper behavior for women during the...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 40: Hoxne Pepper Pot 28 May 2010
A silver pepper pot from a Roman treasure hoard found buried in England. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at how the elite of Roman Britain sustained their appetite for luxury goods and good living in the years...
BBC
Bbc Podcasts: Episode 41: Seated Buddha of Gandhara 31 May 2010
One of the earliest images of the seated Buddha. Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, looks at how Buddhism set about creating the classic image to represent the real life Buddha, who lived and roamed around North India in the...
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...