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.

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A History of the World in 100 Objects: The Rise of World Faiths (200 - 600 AD): Seated Buddha from Gandhara

Seated Buddha from Gandhara

The Rise of World Faiths (200 - 600 AD)

A History of the World in 100 Objects Omnibus

BBC Radio 4 - A History of the World in 100 Objects, The Rise of World Faiths (200 - 600 AD), Seated Buddha from GandharaSearch BBC

Neil MacGregor with one of world religion's most iconic images - the Buddha.

In a week exploring how great religions created images to express the divine, Neil MacGregor tells the story of one of the world's best known religious images, that of the Buddha

This week the history of the world as told through one hundred objects is looking at how the world's great religions began trying to find the perfect way to visually express the divine, less than 2000 years ago. 

Today, Neil MacGregor looks at how a stone sculpture from modern day Pakistan can tell us about how Buddhism set about creating the classic image to represent the real life Buddha who lived and roamed around North India in the 5th Century BC. It was not until over five hundred years later when the classic seated image of the Buddha was first formulated. Before then the Buddha was represented only by symbols. How did the Buddha image come about and why do we need such images?  The Dalai Lama's official translator, Thupten Jinpa, and the historian Claudine Bautze-Picron help explain.

Producer: Anthony Denselow

A History of the World in 100 Objects: The Rise of World Faiths (200 - 600 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.

Neil MacGregor explores how and when many great religious images came into existence

Neil MacGregor, Director of the British Museum, explores when and how many of the great religious images we are familiar with today came into existence

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A History of the World in 100 Objects

The Rise of World Faiths (200 - 600 AD)

Seated Buddha from Gandhara

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