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The Silk Road And Beyond (400 - 700 AD)

Silk princess painting

Neil MacGregor continues his history of the world with a painting from the Silk Road.

• 14 mins

Inside The Palace: Secrets At Court (700 - 950 AD)

Maya relief of royal blood-letting

Neil Macgregor with a disturbing, bloody image from the ancient Mayan civilisation

• 14 mins

Inside The Palace: Secrets At Court (700 - 950 AD)

Harem wall painting fragments

Neil MacGregor with mysterious faces from the harem in an ancient city north of Baghdad

• 14 mins

Inside The Palace: Secrets At Court (700 - 950 AD)

Lothair Crystal

Neil MacGregor with an engraved crystal and royal intrigue at the heart of Europe

• 14 mins

Inside The Palace: Secrets At Court (700 - 950 AD)

Statue of Tara

Neil MacGregor with a beguiling statue of the Buddhist deity Tara

• 14 mins

Inside The Palace: Secrets At Court (700 - 950 AD)

Chinese Tang tomb figures

Neil MacGregor with a collection of tomb figures from Tang dynasty China

• 14 mins

Pilgrims, Raiders and Traders (900 - 1300 AD)

Vale of York Hoard

Neil Macgregor with a great Viking hoard from the Vale of York.

• 14 mins

Pilgrims, Raiders and Traders (900 - 1300 AD)

Hedwig glass beaker

Neil MacGregor with a glass vessel linked with a saintly miracle worker.

• 14 mins

Pilgrims, Raiders and Traders (900 - 1300 AD)

Japanese bronze mirror

Neil MacGregor with a bronze mirror from a sacred pond in Japan.

• 14 mins

Pilgrims, Raiders and Traders (900 - 1300 AD)

Borobudur Buddha head

Neil MacGregor with a head of the Buddha from Borobudur.

• 14 mins

Pilgrims, Raiders and Traders (900 - 1300 AD)

Kilwa pot sherds

Neil MacGregor - unlocking secrets with broken pots from East Africa.

• 14 mins

Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD)

Lewis Chessmen

Neil Macgregor's history through objects - today the famous Lewis chessmen.

• 14 mins

Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD)

Hebrew astrolabe

Neil MacGregor with an extraordinary astronomical instrument.

• 14 mins

Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD)

Ife head

Neil MacGregor with a magnificent brass head from the African city of Ife.

• 14 mins

Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD)

The David Vases

Neil MacGregor - and the transformation of ordinary clay into beautiful Chinese porcelain.

• 14 mins

Status Symbols (1200 - 1400 AD)

Taino ritual seat

Neil MacGregor with a ritual seat from a Caribbean culture that has been destroyed.

• 14 mins

Meeting The Gods (1200 - 1400 AD)

Holy Thorn Reliquary

Neil MacGregor with a reliquary made for a thorn from Christ's crown of thorns.

• 14 mins

Meeting The Gods (1200 - 1400 AD)

Icon of the Triumph of Orthodoxy

Neil MacGregor with a 14th century icon from the Byzantine Empire.

• 14 mins

Meeting The Gods (1200 - 1400 AD)

Shiva and Parvati sculpture

Neil MacGregor with a stone sculpture of the Hindu deity Shiva and his consort Parvati.

• 14 mins

Meeting The Gods (1200 - 1400 AD)

Statue of Huastec goddess

Neil MacGregor with the sculpture of a goddess made by the Huastec people of Mexico.

• 14 mins

Meeting The Gods (1200 - 1400 AD)

Hoa Hakananai'a Easter Island statue

Neil MacGregor with one of the extraordinary giant figures from Easter Island.

• 14 mins

The Threshold of the Modern World (1375-1550 AD)

Tughra of Suleiman the Magnificent

Neil Macgregor with the personal monogram of Suleyman the Magnificent.

• 14 mins

The Threshold of the Modern World (1375-1550 AD)

Ming banknote

Neil MacGregor with a 14th century bank note - from Ming Dynasty China.

• 14 mins

The Threshold of the Modern World (1375-1550 AD)

Inca gold llama

Neil MacGregor with a model of a llama - the animal behind the Inca Empire.

• 14 mins

The Threshold of the Modern World (1375-1550 AD)

Jade dragon cup

Neil MacGregor with a jade cup that belonged a great leader of the Timurid Empire.

• 14 mins

The Threshold of the Modern World (1375-1550 AD)

Durer's Rhinoceros

Neil MacGregor with Durer's extraordinary image of a rhino - an animal he had never seen.

• 14 mins

The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD)

The mechanical galleon

Neil Macgregor with a clockwork galleon designed for a grand dinner table.

• 14 mins

The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD)

Benin plaque - the Oba with Europeans

Neil MacGregor with some of the best examples of African art, the great plaques of Benin.

• 14 mins

The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD)

Double-headed serpent

Neil MacGregor with one of the stars of the British Museum - an Aztec serpent

• 14 mins

The First Global Economy (1450 - 1600 AD)

Kakiemon elephants

Neil MacGregor with porcelain white elephants from Japan.

• 14 mins