Episodes
Episode | Title | First Broadcast | Repeated | Comments |
---|---|---|---|---|
01 | Maya relief of royal blood-letting | 20100614 | The history of the world as told through objects. This week Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum, is exploring power and intrigue in the great royal courts of the world around 800 AD. Today's object offers a story of authority, pain and belief from the world of the ancient Maya. It is a limestone carving showing a king and his wife engaged in an agonising scene of ritual bloodletting. Neil describes a great city in the jungle of modern day Mexico and the culture that produced it. Virginia Fields, the expert on Maya iconography, and the psychotherapist Susie Orbach help explain an object that has the power to unsettle the modern viewer.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil Macgregor with a disturbing, bloody image from the ancient Mayan civilisation Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects | |
01 | Maya relief of royal blood-letting | 20100614 | 20210614 (R4) | The history of the world as told through objects. This week Neil MacGregor, the Director of the British Museum, is exploring power and intrigue in the great royal courts of the world around 800 AD. Today's object offers a story of authority, pain and belief from the world of the ancient Maya. It is a limestone carving showing a king and his wife engaged in an agonising scene of ritual bloodletting. Neil describes a great city in the jungle of modern day Mexico and the culture that produced it. Virginia Fields, the expert on Maya iconography, and the psychotherapist Susie Orbach help explain an object that has the power to unsettle the modern viewer.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil Macgregor with a disturbing, bloody image from the ancient Mayan civilisation Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
02 | Harem wall painting fragments | 20100615 | Neil MacGregor's world history as told through objects at the British Museum. This week, he is exploring life and intrigue in the great courts of the world at the same time as the European medieval period. Today he is with the women of Samarra in Iraq. This ancient city, north of Baghdad, was once home to the Abbasid court and was one of the great Muslim capitals of the world. Portraits from a mural in the palace harem offer a vivid insight into the lives of the rulers and the slave women whose job was to entertain them. What was life really like in this great court?
The historian Robert Irwin, an expert on the tales of the Arabian Nights, looks at how the reality of life in the harem matches the sensual fantasy that has become associated with the period. And Amira Bennison, of Cambridge University, explains what conditions were like for the women of the harem and the qualifications they needed just to get there.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with mysterious faces from the harem in an ancient city north of Baghdad Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects | |
02 | Harem wall painting fragments | 20100615 | 20210615 (R4) | Neil MacGregor's world history as told through objects at the British Museum. This week, he is exploring life and intrigue in the great courts of the world at the same time as the European medieval period. Today he is with the women of Samarra in Iraq. This ancient city, north of Baghdad, was once home to the Abbasid court and was one of the great Muslim capitals of the world. Portraits from a mural in the palace harem offer a vivid insight into the lives of the rulers and the slave women whose job was to entertain them. What was life really like in this great court?
The historian Robert Irwin, an expert on the tales of the Arabian Nights, looks at how the reality of life in the harem matches the sensual fantasy that has become associated with the period. And Amira Bennison, of Cambridge University, explains what conditions were like for the women of the harem and the qualifications they needed just to get there.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with mysterious faces from the harem in an ancient city north of Baghdad Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
03 | Lothair Crystal | 20100616 | This week, Neil MacGregor is exploring life in the great royal courts around the world during Europe's medieval period. It's easy to forget that the civilisations of Tang China, the Islamic Empire and the Maya in Mesoamerica were all at their peak during this time. He is describing the life of these courts through individual objects in the British Museum's collection. In the last programme he was with the Abbasid court North of Baghdad and an exotic wall painting; today's object is an engraved rock crystal connecting a biblical tale to a real life story of royal intrigue at the heart of Europe.
The Lothair Crystal was made in the mid-ninth century and offers scenes in miniature from the biblical story of Susanna, the wife of a rich merchant who is falsely accused of adultery. The crystal was intended to exemplify the proper functioning of justice but, intriguingly, the king for whom the piece was made was himself trying to have his marriage annulled so he could marry his mistress! The historian Rosamond McKitterick explains what we know of the court of King Lothair and former senior law lord, Lord Bingham, describes the role of justice as portrayed in this exquisite work of art.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with an engraved crystal and royal intrigue at the heart of Europe Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects | |
03 | Lothair Crystal | 20100616 | 20210616 (R4) | This week, Neil MacGregor is exploring life in the great royal courts around the world during Europe's medieval period. It's easy to forget that the civilisations of Tang China, the Islamic Empire and the Maya in Mesoamerica were all at their peak during this time. He is describing the life of these courts through individual objects in the British Museum's collection. In the last programme he was with the Abbasid court North of Baghdad and an exotic wall painting; today's object is an engraved rock crystal connecting a biblical tale to a real life story of royal intrigue at the heart of Europe.
The Lothair Crystal was made in the mid-ninth century and offers scenes in miniature from the biblical story of Susanna, the wife of a rich merchant who is falsely accused of adultery. The crystal was intended to exemplify the proper functioning of justice but, intriguingly, the king for whom the piece was made was himself trying to have his marriage annulled so he could marry his mistress! The historian Rosamond McKitterick explains what we know of the court of King Lothair and former senior law lord, Lord Bingham, describes the role of justice as portrayed in this exquisite work of art.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with an engraved crystal and royal intrigue at the heart of Europe Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
04 | Statue of Tara | 20100617 | The history of the world as told through one hundred of the objects. The objects are selected from the collection of the British Museum by its director, Neil MacGregor.
This week, Neil is exploring life in the great royal courts across the world during Europe's medieval period. It's easy to forget that the civilisations of Tang China, the Islamic Empire and the Maya in Mesoamerica were all at their peak during this time and today we discover what was happening in South Asia during this period. He tells the story through a beautiful statue of the female Buddhist deity, Tara, crafted for a powerful ruler in Sri Lanka 1,200 years ago. Richard Gombrich explains what Tara means to Buddhism and the historian Nira Wickramasinghe describes the powerful interaction between Hinduism and Buddhism, India and Sri Lanka at this time.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with a beguiling statue of the Buddhist deity Tara Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects | |
04 | Statue of Tara | 20100617 | 20210617 (R4) | The history of the world as told through one hundred of the objects. The objects are selected from the collection of the British Museum by its director, Neil MacGregor.
This week, Neil is exploring life in the great royal courts across the world during Europe's medieval period. It's easy to forget that the civilisations of Tang China, the Islamic Empire and the Maya in Mesoamerica were all at their peak during this time and today we discover what was happening in South Asia during this period. He tells the story through a beautiful statue of the female Buddhist deity, Tara, crafted for a powerful ruler in Sri Lanka 1,200 years ago. Richard Gombrich explains what Tara means to Buddhism and the historian Nira Wickramasinghe describes the powerful interaction between Hinduism and Buddhism, India and Sri Lanka at this time.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with a beguiling statue of the Buddhist deity Tara Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |
05 | Chinese Tang tomb figures | 20100618 | This week Neil MacGregor is exploring life in the great royal courts across the world during Europe's medieval period, from the heart of Europe to Mexico and Sri Lanka. Today he is in China of the Tang Dynasty around 700 AD. He tells how the elite of the time chose to leave their mark on the world by writing or commissioning their own obituaries. He is with a curious troupe of ceramic figures that were found in the tomb of a Tang general along with a stone tablet proclaiming his achievements. The China scholar Oliver Moore explains the growing ambitions of the dynasty and journalist Anthony Howard describes the enduring power of the obituary.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with a collection of tomb figures from Tang dynasty China Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects | |
05 | Chinese Tang tomb figures | 20100618 | 20210618 (R4) | This week Neil MacGregor is exploring life in the great royal courts across the world during Europe's medieval period, from the heart of Europe to Mexico and Sri Lanka. Today he is in China of the Tang Dynasty around 700 AD. He tells how the elite of the time chose to leave their mark on the world by writing or commissioning their own obituaries. He is with a curious troupe of ceramic figures that were found in the tomb of a Tang general along with a stone tablet proclaiming his achievements. The China scholar Oliver Moore explains the growing ambitions of the dynasty and journalist Anthony Howard describes the enduring power of the obituary.
Producer: Anthony Denselow
Neil MacGregor with a collection of tomb figures from Tang dynasty China Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects |