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A History of the World in 100 Objects

Factual: History

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, retells humanity's history through objects

Director of the British Museum, Neil MacGregor, narrates 100 programmes that retell humanity's history through the objects we have made.

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A History of the World in 100 Objects: Pilgrims, Raiders and Traders (900 - 1300 AD): Japanese bronze mirror

Japanese bronze mirror

Pilgrims, Raiders and Traders (900 - 1300 AD)

A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus

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

The history of the world as told through objects arrives in 12th Century Japan. Neil MacGregor tells the story of a bronze mirror found at the bottom of a sacred pond. 

The history of humanity as told through one hundred objects from the British Museum in London. This week Neil MacGregor is looking at objects from Tanzania, Britain, Java and central Europe, exploring the great arcs of trade that connected Africa, Europe and Asia around a thousand years ago. Today he arrives in Japan with an object that offers a dramatic twist on the week's theme. This small mirror from the bottom of a sacred pond comes from a time when the Japanese suddenly cut themselves off from the outside world and stopped all official contact with China, a country it had frequently borrowed ideas from. Neil tells the story of the Heian period of Japanese history, a moment of great cultural awakening in Japan, especially in literature. The object is a small mirror that was found at the bottom of a sacred pond. The writer Ian Buruma and the archaeologist Harada Masayuki help describe the Japan of this time.

Producer: Anthony Denselow


A History of the World in 100 Objects: Pilgrims, Raiders and Traders (900 - 1300 AD)

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Intelligent speech, the most insightful journalism, the wittiest comedy, the most fascinating features and the most compelling drama and readings anywhere in UK radio.

How trade, war and religion moved objects around the globe 1000 years ago

Neil MacGregor uses five objects from the British Museum's collection that show how, even 1,000 years ago, trade, war and religion moved objects freely around the globe

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A History of the World in 100 Objects

Pilgrims, Raiders and Traders (900 - 1300 AD)

Japanese bronze mirror

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