A History of the World in 100 Objects

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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.

A History of the World in 100 Objects: The First Cities and States (4000 - 2000 BC): Indus Seal

Indus Seal

The First Cities and States (4000 - 2000 BC)

A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus

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Neil MacGregor's global history told through objects - stone seals from the Indus Valley.

Neil MacGregor arrives at the great Indus Valley civilisation and examines 4,500-year-old stone stamps from a city building boom of the period.

The ancient city of Harappa lies around 150 miles north of Lahore in Pakistan. It was once one of the great centres of a civilisation that has largely disappeared, one with vast trade connections and boasting several of the world's first cities. At a time when another great civilisation was being forged along the banks of the river Nile in Egypt, Neil MacGregor investigates this much less well-known civilisation on the banks of the Indus Valley. 

He introduces us to a series of little stone seals that are four-and-a-half thousand years old, covered in carved images of animals and probably used in trade. The civilisation built over 100 cities, some with sophisticated sanitation systems, big scale architecture and even designed around a modern grid layout. The great modern architect Sir Richard Rogers considers the urban planning of the Indus Valley, while the historian Nayanjot Lahiri looks at how this lost civilisation is remembered - by both modern India and Pakistan.

A History of the World in 100 Objects: The First Cities and States (4000 - 2000 BC)

BBC Radio 4

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

What happens as people move from villages to cities? Five objects tell the story.

Five objects from the British Museum's collection tell the story of the emergence of the earliest cities in the river valleys of North Africa and Asia

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A History of the World in 100 Objects

The First Cities and States (4000 - 2000 BC)

Indus Seal

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