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uk/ahistoryoftheworld/about/british-
museum-objects/
1
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Making Us Human (!"""!""" - #""" $%&'''''''''''''(
Episode 1 - Mummy of Hornedjitef______________________________________________________6
Episode 2 - Olduvai stone chopping tool_________________________________________________10
Episode - Olduvai handa!e__________________________________________________________1"
Episode " - #$imming reindeer________________________________________________________1%
Episode & - 'lovis spear point__________________________________________________________22
)fter the *ce )ge: +ood and ,e- (#""" - ./"" $%&'''''(
Episode 6 - (ird-shaped pestle_________________________________________________________26
Episode ) - *in #a+hri or ,-he .overs,__________________________________________________0
Episode % - Egyptian /ainted /ottery 'attle______________________________________________"
Episode 0 - Maya mai1e god statue_____________________________________________________%
Episode 10 - 2omon pot_______________________________________________________________"1
0he +irst %ities and ,tates (1""" - """ $%&'''''''''1/
Episode 11 - 3ing 4en,s sandal la5el____________________________________________________"&
Episode 12 - #tandard of 6r___________________________________________________________"%
Episode 1 - 7ndus seal_______________________________________________________________&2
Episode 1" - 2ade a!e_________________________________________________________________&6
Episode 1& - Early $riting ta5let_______________________________________________________60
0he $eginning of ,cience 2 3iterature (4/"" - 5"" $%&
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''(1
Episode 16 - 8lood -a5let_____________________________________________________________6"
Episode 1) - 9hind Mathematical /apyrus_______________________________________________6%
Episode 1% - Minoan (ull .eaper_______________________________________________________)2
Episode 10 - Mold :old 'ape__________________________________________________________)6
Episode 20 - #tatue of 9amesses 77______________________________________________________%0
6ld 7orld! 8ew 9owers (44"" - ."" $%&''''''''''''':1
Episode 21 - .achish 9eliefs___________________________________________________________%"
Episode 22 - #phin! of -ahar;o________________________________________________________%%
Episode 2 - 'hinese <hou ritual vessel__________________________________________________02
Episode 2" - /aracas te!tile____________________________________________________________06
Episode 2& - :old coin of 'roesus______________________________________________________00
0he 7orld in the )ge of %onfucius (/"" - ."" $%&'''4".
Episode 26 - O!us chariot model______________________________________________________10
Episode 2) - /arthenon sculpture= 'entaur and .apith___________________________________10)
Episode 2% - (asse >ut1 8lagons_______________________________________________________111
2
Episode 20 - Olmec stone mas+________________________________________________________11&
Episode 0 - 'hinese 5ron1e 5ell______________________________________________________110
;mpire $uilders (.""$% - 4 )<&''''''''''''''''''4.
Episode 1 - 'oin $ith head of *le!ander_______________________________________________12
Episode 2 - /illar of *sho+a_________________________________________________________12)
Episode - 9osetta #tone___________________________________________________________11
Episode " - 'hinese Han lac;uer cup__________________________________________________1&
Episode & - Head of *ugustus________________________________________________________10
)ncient 9leasures! Modern ,pice (4 )< - ("" )<&'''41.
Episode 6 - ?arren 'up____________________________________________________________1"
Episode ) - @orth *merican otter pipe________________________________________________1")
Episode % - 'eremonial 5allgame 5elt_________________________________________________1&1
Episode 0 - *dmonitions #croll_______________________________________________________1&&
Episode "0 - Ho!ne pepper pot________________________________________________________1&0
0he =ise of 7orld +aiths ("" - ("" )<&''''''''''''4(.
Episode "1 - #eated (uddha from :andhara____________________________________________16
Episode "2 - :old coin of 3umaragupta 7_______________________________________________166
Episode " - #ilver plate sho$ing #hapur 77_____________________________________________1)0
Episode "" - Hinton #t Mary Mosaic___________________________________________________1)"
Episode "& - *ra5ian 5ron1e hand_____________________________________________________1)%
0he ,ilk =oad and $eyond (1"" - 5"" )<&''''''''''4:
Episode "6 - :old coin of *5d al-Mali+_________________________________________________1%2
Episode ") - #utton Hoo helmet_______________________________________________________1%6
Episode "% - Moche $arrior pot_______________________________________________________100
Episode "0 - 3orean roof tile_________________________________________________________10"
Episode &0 - #il+ princess painting_____________________________________________________10%
*nside the 9alace: ,ecrets at %ourt (5"" - #/" )<&'''"
Episode &1 - Maya relief of royal 5lood-letting___________________________________________202
Episode &2 - Harem $all painting fragments____________________________________________206
Episode & - .othair 'rystal__________________________________________________________210
Episode &" - #tatue of -ara___________________________________________________________21"
Episode && - 'hinese -ang tom5 figures________________________________________________21%
9ilgrims! =aiders and 0raders (#"" - 4."" )<&''''''
Episode &6 - Aale of >or+ Hoard______________________________________________________222
Episode &) - Hed$ig glass 5ea+er_____________________________________________________226
Episode &% - 2apanese 5ron1e mirror___________________________________________________20
Episode &0 - (oro5udur (uddha head__________________________________________________2"
3
Episode 60 - 3il$a pot sherds_________________________________________________________2%
,tatus ,ymbols (4"" - 41"" )<&'''''''''''''''''1
Episode 61 - .e$is 'hessmen_________________________________________________________2"2
Episode 62 - He5re$ astrola5e________________________________________________________2"6
Episode 6 - 7fe head________________________________________________________________2&0
Episode 6" - -he 4avid Aases_________________________________________________________2&"
Episode 6& - -aino ritual seat_________________________________________________________2&%
Meeting the >ods (4"" - 41"" )<&''''''''''''''''(
Episode 66 - Holy -horn 9eli;uary____________________________________________________262
Episode 6) - 7con of the -riumph of Orthodo!y__________________________________________266
Episode 6% - #hiva and /arvati sculpture_______________________________________________2)0
Episode 60 - #culpture of Huastec goddess______________________________________________2)"
Episode )0 - Hoa Ha+ananai,a Easter 7sland statue______________________________________2)%
0he 0hreshold of the Modern 7orld (4.5/ - 4//" )<&
''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''':
Episode )1 - -ughra of #uleiman the Magnificent________________________________________2%2
Episode )2 - Ming 5an+note__________________________________________________________2%6
Episode ) - 7nca gold llama__________________________________________________________200
Episode )" - 2ade dragon cup_________________________________________________________20"
Episode )& - 4urer,s ,9hinoceros,_____________________________________________________20%
0he +irst >lobal ;conomy (41/" - 4("" )<&'''''''''."
Episode )6 - -he mechanical galleon___________________________________________________02
Episode )) - (enin pla;ue= the o5a $ith Europeans______________________________________06
Episode )% - 4ou5le-headed serpent___________________________________________________10
Episode )0 - 3a+iemon elephants______________________________________________________1"
Episode %0 - /ieces of eight___________________________________________________________1%
0olerance and *ntolerance (4//" - 45"" )<&'''''''''.
Episode %1 - #hi,a religious parade standa______________________________________________22
Episode %2 - Miniature of a Mughal prince______________________________________________26
Episode % - #hado$ puppet of (ima___________________________________________________0
Episode %" - Me!ican code! map______________________________________________________"
Episode %& - 9eformation centenary 5roadsheet_________________________________________%
;-ploration! ;-ploitation and ;nlightenment (4(:" -
4:" )<&''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''.1
Episode %6= *+an drum______________________________________________________________"2
Episode %) - Ha$aiian feather helmet__________________________________________________"6
4
Episode %%= @orth *merican 5uc+s+in map_____________________________________________&0
Episode %0 - *ustralian 5ar+ shield____________________________________________________&"
Episode 00 - 2ade 5i_________________________________________________________________&%
Mass 9roduction! Mass 9ersuasion (45:" - 4#41 )<&'.(
Episode 01 - #hip,s chronometer from HM# (eagle______________________________________62
Episode 02 - Early Aictorian tea set____________________________________________________66
Episode 0 - Ho+usai,s ,-he :reat ?ave,_______________________________________________)0
Episode 0" - #udanese slit drum_______________________________________________________)"
Episode 0& - #uffragette defaced penny_________________________________________________)%
0he 7orld of 6ur Making (4#41 - "4" )<&'''''''''.:
Episode 06 - 9ussian revolutionary plate_______________________________________________%2
Episode 0) - Hoc+ney,s ,7n the dull village,______________________________________________%6
Episode 0% - -hrone of ?eapons______________________________________________________00
Episode 00 - 'redit card_____________________________________________________________0"
Episode 100 - O5ject 100_____________________________________________________________0%
5
Making Us Huan (!"###"### $ %### &C)
Episode 1 - Mummy of Hornedjitef
Mummy of Hornedjitef Bthird century ('CD * $ooden coffin from -he5esE Egypt
The sound of the past is in fact the sound of a ghost, it's a haunting magnetic pulse -which is all
that's left of a mighty star that we can still hear today, thanks to the Centre for strophysics at
!odrell "ank# The e$plosion that killed this star was so intense, that it was seen in %road daylight
across &urope, 'orth merica and China in the summer of the year 1(54) at least that's what the
year was called in &urope# *o what was our world up to, when men and women, howe+er they
counted the years, were ga,ing up to the hea+ens at this dying star, which they could see and we
can still hear- .hat were they doing, making, thinking- .ell, a thousand years ago in merica,
pyramids are taking shape on the /ississippi ri+er) the world's first %ank notes are circulating in
China) a magnificent "aghdad is the largest city in the world) in .est frica, 0hana rules a +ast
empire and, on a chilly island in northern &urope, there's a nasty surprise on the hori,on for a king
called 1arold#
2n these programmes, 2'm tra+elling %ack in time and across the glo%e, to see how we humans, o+er
two million years, ha+e shaped our world, and %een shaped %y it# nd 2'm going to tell this story
e$clusi+ely through the 'things' that humans ha+e made ### all sorts of 'things', carefully designed
and then either admired and preser+ed or used, %roken and thrown away# 2'+e chosen 3ust a hundred
o%3ects from different points on our 3ourney -from a cooking pot to a golden galleon, from a *tone
ge tool to a credit card, and in each programme 2'm going to %e talking a%out one o%3ect from the
"ritish /useum's collection#
'.hen 2 see it, 2 immediately think of the mastery of technology and art, the welding of the two ###'
'2 3ust thought it was %eautiful to look at, that it made me feel that it was used, and used again and
4
again ###' '2t's a %eautiful o%3ect, and it's fascinating, of course, %ecause it's pro%a%ly 5uite
accurate ###' '1olding this 2 can feel what it was like to %e out on the frican sa+annahs ###'
.e will get to the +ery %eginning of human history, %ut 2'm not going to start there %ecause 2 want
to %egin with the mummies -which is where 2 %egan when 2 first came through these doors into the
"ritish /useum in 1654 at the age of eight, and 2 think that's where most people %egin when they
first +isit a museum# 2t's a pretty safe %et that most of the children you can hear round a%out me are
also headed for the &gyptian mummies# .hat fascinated me then was the mummies themsel+es,
the thrilling gruesome thought of the dead %odies, %ut 2'm now much more interested in the
mummy cases - and 2'+e chosen one particular mummy case for this opening programme, %ecause
it carries all the different kinds of messages across the millennia, signals from the past if you like,
that 'things' can communicate to us, and that 2'm going to %e looking for in all the o%3ects in this
series#
Telling history through things, whether it's a mummy's coffin or a credit card, is what museums are
for and, %ecause the "ritish /useum has collected things from all o+er the glo%e, it's not a %ad
place to try to tell a world history# 7f course it can only %e 'a' history of the world, not 'the' history#
.hen people come to the museum, they choose their own o%3ects and make their own 3ourney
round the world and through time, %ut 2 think what they will find, is that their own histories
5uickly intersect with e+ery%ody else's -and when that happens, you no longer ha+e a history of a
particular people or nation, %ut a story of endless connections# 'o%ody has thought more deeply
a%out this than the 2ndian economist and 'o%el 8ri,e winner martya *en9
'2 think what is really +ery important to recognise is that, when we look at the history of the world,
we're not looking at the history of different ci+ilisations truncated and separated from each other#
They'+e a huge amount of contact with each other, there is a kind of inter-connectedness# *o 2'+e
always felt, not to think of the history of the world as a history of ci+ilisations, %ut as a history of
world ci+ilisations e+ol+ing in often similar, often di+erse ways, always interacting with each
other# nd this is a +ery different +iew from the clash of ci+ilisations to which we were e$posed
some years ago, as a way to understand enmity in the world# &nmity has not %een the general
condition of the relationship %etween people across the world in history#'
/ost of us 2 think, if we come %ack to a museum that we +isited as a child, ha+e the sense that
we'+e changed enormously, while the things ha+e remained serenely the same, %ut of course they
ha+en't# Thanks to constant research and to new scientific techni5ues, what we can know a%out
them is constantly growing# :et's look at one of the most impressi+e mummy cases in the "ritish
/useum# 2t was made around 24( "C for a high-ranking &gyptian priest called 1orned3itef#
There's a massi+e %lack outer case in the shape of a human %ody, there's an ela%orately decorated
inner case, and then the mummy itself# &+erything we know a%out 1orned3itef, we know from this
group of things# 1e is his own document if you like, and it's a document that continues to gi+e up
its secrets# /y colleague, !ohn Taylor, has %een researching the mummies in the "ritish /useum
for o+er 2( years - 2 asked him what we ha+e learnt a%out 1orned3itef since he came to the "ritish
/useum9
'.hen he arri+ed at the /useum in 1;35, the hieroglyphic script had only 3ust %een deciphered, so
the first step forward was to read all the inscriptions on his coffins, which told us who he was,
what his 3o% was, and something a%out the religious %ackground that he knew#'
1e was a priest in the Temple of <arnak around 25( "C# :ike all &gyptians, he %elie+ed that if his
%ody was preser+ed, he would li+e %eyond death, %ut %efore reaching the afterlife, he would ha+e
to undertake a ha,ardous 3ourney, for which he needed to prepare with the utmost care# *o he took
with him charms, amulets and spells for e+ery e+entuality# 7n the lid of his inner coffin, he e+en
had painted a map of the hea+ens stretched out a%o+e him as an aid to na+igation# 1orned3itef has,
=
in fact, commissioned his own personal firmament and time-machine# This ela%orate coffin will let
him tra+el through %oth time and space, and all this meticulous preparation on his part has allowed
us to tra+el in the opposite direction, %ack to him and to his world#
'2n the last 2( years, there ha+e %een huge steps forward in ways of gathering information# *o we're
now looking at the condition of the %odies non-in+asi+ely, 3ust %y scanning them# .e can e$amine
the teeth in great detail, look at the wear and the dental disease that they suffered from, we can
look at the %ones, we can see now that 1orned3itef had arthritis in his %ack which must ha+e %een
+ery painful for him#' >!ohn Taylor?
"ut the scientific ad+ances of the last couple of decades ha+e allowed us to find out a%out a great
deal more than 1orned3itef's %ad %ack# 2f the words on his coffin tell us a%out his place in society
and what that society %elie+ed a%out life after death, the new scientific techni5ues let us go one
stage further -to analyse the materials with which mummies and coffins were made, and to see how
&gypt was connected to the world round a%out it#
'"ut we can also look at su%stances that are %eing used in mummification, we can test them, we
can look at the chemical composition of them to find out what materials were %eing used - may%e
now we can look at where they were coming from# .e can compare these chemical make-ups with
su%stances found in different parts of the /editerranean, and %egin to reconstruct the trading
networks that supplied these things to &gypt# *ome of the mummies ha+e %itumen -the %lack tarry
su%stance -on the surface and, %y analysing the composition, it's possi%le to track it to its source
-some of it we know came from the @ead *ea# *o, all of this now is filling in these gaps which the
te$ts don't really tell us a%out#' >!ohn Taylor?
nd of course it's not 3ust 1orned3itef's mummy case that's telling us more and more# ll the
o%3ects we'll %e looking at in this series are releasing new information as scholars find new ways of
e$amining them#
/ost of the material that 1orned3itef had with him in his coffin was designed to guide him through
the great 3ourney to the afterlife, with star-maps and spells to help him o+ercome all foreseea%le
difficulties# The one thing his star-map certainly did not predict, was that he might ultimately wind
up at the "ritish /useum) let's face it, "looms%ury might ha+e %een a %it of a disappointment to
himA "ut, should he and his possessions %e here anyway- Buestions like this crop up fre5uently
-where do things from the past %elong now- *hould e+erything %e e$hi%ited where it was
originally made- 2'll %e coming %ack to these 5uestions at +arious points in the programmes# "ut 2
asked the &gyptian writer hdaf *ouief how she felt a%out seeing so many &gyptian anti5uities so
far from home9
'Cltimately it's pro%a%ly no %ad thing to ha+e &gyptian o%elisks and stones and statues sprinkled
all o+er the world# 2t reminds us of ages of colonialism, yes, %ut it also reminds the world of our
common heritage#' 2t's that idea of a common heritage that's %ecome more and more apparent and
more important to me, the longer 2 spend working in the "ritish /useum# 8ersonally, 2 think it's
ne+er %een more important than now to think a%out the history of the world as one shared story#
'2f 2 could decree a uni+ersal education programme, 2 would make e+ery child in the world learn a
%rief history of the entire world that focused on the common ground# 2t would e$amine how people
percei+e their relationship to each other, to the planet, and to the uni+erse, and it would see human
history as a kind of ongoing 3oint pro3ect, where one lot of people picked up where another had left
off#' >hdaf *oueif?
2 started this programme with the sound of a star whose e$plosion was seen across half the world
around 1(44# "ut the story of people making things %egan nearly two million years ago# nd once
;
again, the radio telescope can let us tune in to the echo of another dying star that those ancestors,
nearly two million years go, would ha+e %een a%le to see - %ut at this point all our ancestors li+ed
in frica#
2f at that moment, 1#; million years ago, you had %een ga,ing up at the e$ploding star from the Dift
Ealley of &ast frica, you might well ha+e heard the sound of the earliest human hands, creating
the oldest known humanly made 'thing'# Those hands were shaping stone tools) tools that represent
the first step on the great 3ourney of shaping our world# For me, it's making 'things' and then
coming to depend on 'things' that sets us apart from all other animals and, ultimately, turns us into
the humans we are today# 2t's one of those +ery first stone tools that 2'm going to %e looking at in
the ne$t programme#
6
Episode 2 - Olduvai stone chopping tool
Olduvai stone chopping tool Bmade 1D% million years agoC found in Olduvai :orgeE -an1aniaE
East *fricaD
8erhaps the %est thing of all a%out %eing @irector of the "ritish /useum, and one that still gi+es
me the most enormous thrill is that, now and then, 2'm allowed to take some of the o%3ects out of
the cases and hold them#
nd today 2'm %eing allowed to hold something a%solutely astonishing# 2'+e got to admit that if any
of us saw this 3ust lying on the ground, we'd pro%a%ly walk past it, %ut in fact it's the oldest o%3ect
in the "ritish /useum, and it was made nearly two million years ago, in frica# 2t looks like a
large, chipped grey co%%le# The naturalist and %roadcaster *ir @a+id tten%orough is, along with
me, the latest hominid to handle it9
G1olding this, 2 can feel what it was like to %e out on the frican sa+annahs, needing to cut flesh
for e$ample, needing to cut into a carcass, in order to get a meal#G
This is one of the first things that humans e+er consciously made# nd holding it puts me directly
in touch with them# 2n this history of the world that 2'm trying to tell through 'things', this chipped
stone from frica - from modern Tan,ania - is where it all %egins#
7ne of the points of any museum is to allow you to tra+el through time, %ut our understanding of
3ust how much time there is for us to tra+el through has e$panded dramatically since the "ritish
/useum opened its doors in 1=56# t that point, most of the +isitors would pro%a%ly ha+e agreed
that the world had %egun in 4((4 "C, to %e precise at the +ery %eginning of *unday 23 7cto%er#
This astonishingly e$act date had %een calculated %y the mathematically-minded clergyman
rch%ishop Cssher, who preached 3ust down the road in :incoln's 2nn# Cssher had carefully
trawled the "i%le totting up the lifespan of e+eryone descended from dam and &+e to reach his
date %ut, as you and 2 know, we don't now cele%rate 23 7cto%er as *tart the .orld @ay and that's
1(
%ecause, in the last couple of centuries, archaeologists, geologists and museum curators ha+e
steadily %een pushing %ack the chronology of human history - %ack from rch%ishop Cssher's si$
thousand years to an almost unimagina%le two million# *o if the scientists ha+e %een suggesting
that dam and &+e no longer stood at the %eginning of human time in the 0arden of &den in 4((4
"C, who did- nd where- There are many theories, %ut no conclusi+e answers and certainly no
conclusi+e date until 1631, when a young archaeologist called :ouis :eakey set off on a "ritish
/useum-sponsored e$pedition %ound for frica#
:eakey's goal was 7ldu+ai 0orge, a deep crack in the flat sa+annah of northern Tan,ania, not far
from the %order with <enya# 2t's part of the &ast frican Dift Ealley, a massi+e tear in the earth's
surface, thousands of miles long# 2t was here that time had %een fro,en within e$posed layers of
geology where, as :eakey e$amined the rocks shaped %y the sun, the wind and the rain on the
sa+annahs, he reached a layer where the rocks were also shaped %y something else - human hands#
They were found ne$t to %ones, and it was clear that these stones had %een shaped into %utchering
tools to strip meat and %reak into the %ones of animals killed on the sa+annah# The layer where the
tools were found was roughly two million years old# This was archaeological dynamite#
:eakey's e$ca+ations produced the oldest humanly made things anywhere in the world, and they
demonstrated that not only human %eings, %ut human culture, had %egun in frica# 7ur stone
chopping tool was one of the ones that :eakey found#
G8icking it up, your first reaction is it's +ery hea+y, and if it's hea+y of course it gi+es power %ehind
your %low# The second is that it fits without any compromise into the palm of the hand, and in a
position where there is a sharp edge running from my forefinger to my wrist# *o 2 ha+e in my hand
now a sharp knife# nd what is more, it's got a %ulge on it so 2 can get a firm grip on the edge
which has %een chipped specially, which is sharp ### 2 could perfectly effecti+ely cut meat with this#
That's the sensation 2 ha+e that links me with the man who actually la%oriously chipped it once,
twice, three times, four times, fi+e times on one side# 7ne, two, three ### three times at the other ###
so eight specific actions %y him, knocking it with another stone, to take off a flake, and to lea+e
this almost straight line, which is a sharp edge#G >@a+id tten%orough?
2n the "ritish /useum, we'+e recently made a new chopping tool using the same techni5ues as
would ha+e %een used in 7ldu+ai 0orge# 2f 2 now hold that new one in my hand, it %ecomes +ery
clear how well you can use it to strike meat off an animal# .e don't ha+e any frican wilde%eests
to hand, so 2 can try it using a %it of roast chicken# "ut these chopping tools are mar+ellous and
5uick at getting the meat off the %one and then, with one sharp %low, 2 could %reak the %one and
we'd %e a%le to get to the marrow# "ut you can of course use a tool like this also to strip %ark off
trees or roots, so that you could eat them as well# This is, in fact, a +ery +ery +ersatile kitchen
implement# The early humans who used chopping tools like this were pro%a%ly not hunters
themsel+es, %ut they were %rilliant opportunists - they waited until lions, leopards or other %easts
had killed their prey and then they mo+ed in with their chopping tools, secured the meat and the
marrow, and hit the protein 3ackpot#
/arrow fat doesn't sound tremendously appetising, %ut it is hugely nutritious - fuel not 3ust for
physical strength %ut also for a large %rain# The %rain is an e$tremely power- hungry mechanism#
lthough it accounts for only 2 per cent of our %ody weight, it consumes 2( per cent of our entire
energy intake, and it re5uires constant nourishment# 7ur ancestors of nearly two million years ago,
secured their future %y %eing really rather sneaky# .hen stronger, faster fiercer predators were at
rest out of the heat, 'they' were a%le to look for food# Csing tools like this one to o%tain %one
marrow, the most nutritious part of a carcass, they set in train an ancient +irtuous circle# This food
for %ody and mind, meant that larger-%rained indi+iduals would sur+i+e to %reed larger-%rained
children, capa%le in their turn of making e+er more comple$ tools, and you and 2 are 3ust the latest
iteration of this continuing process#
11
:ots of animals use o%3ects, particularly of course apes, %ut what sets us apart from them at this
moment in our e+olution is that, unlike them, we make tools %efore we need them# nd once we
ha+e used them we keep them to use again# 2t's the %eginning of the tool %o$#
The human %rain then carries on e+ol+ing steadily o+er thousands of years# nd what's really
interesting, is that our %rain starts to %ecome asymmetrical as it gets to grips with a whole range of
different functions - logic, language, the co-ordinated mo+ement needed for tool-making,
imagination and creati+e thought - 5uite unlike the ape's %rain, which remains smaller and
symmetrical# *o what we're looking at in this chopping tool is the moment at which we %ecame
distinctly smarter and with an impulse not 3ust to make things, %ut to imagine how we could make
things '%etter'#
GThis o%3ect sits at the %ase of a process which has %ecome almost o%sessi+e amongst human
%eings# This o%3ect is something created from a natural su%stance for a particular purpose, and in a
particular way, with a notion in the maker's mind of what he needed it for# 2s it more comple$ than
was needed to actually ser+e the function which he used it for- @o you know, 2 think you could
almost say it is# @id he really need to do one, two, three, four, fi+e chips on one side and four on
the other- Could he ha+e got away with two- 2 think he might ha+e done so# 2 think the man or
woman who held this, made it 3ust for that particular 3o% and perhaps got some satisfaction from
knowing that it was going to do it +ery effecti+ely, +ery economically and +ery neatly# 2n time,
you'd say he'd done it %eautifully %ut, may%e not yet ### the start of a 3ourney#G >@a+id
tten%orough?
.ithout those e$tra chips on the edge of the chopping tool, this whole series would %e impossi%le,
%ecause those chips tell us that right from the %eginning, we - unlike other animals - ha+e wanted
to make things more complicated than they need to %e# Hou see, o%3ects carry powerful messages
a%out their makers, and the chopping tool is the %eginning of a relationship %etween humans and
the things they create, which is %oth a lo+e affair and a dependency#
From this point on, we can't sur+i+e without the things we make and, in this sense, it is making
things that makes us human# :eakey's disco+eries in the warm earth of the Dift Ealley did more
than push humans %ack in time, they made it clear that all of us descend from those frican
ancestors, that e+ery one of us is part of a huge frican diaspora - we all ha+e frica in our @'
and all our culture %egan in the same place# .angari /aathai is a <enyan en+ironmentalist and a
'o%el 8eace 8ri,e winner9
G*o far it seems like the information we ha+e tells us that we came from somewhere within this
part of the world in eastern frica# nd that of course for many people must %e surprising -
%ecause 2 think we are so used to %eing di+ided along ethnic lines, along racial lines, and we look
all the time for reasons to %e different from each other - it must %e surprising to some of us to
realise that what differentiates us is usually +ery superficial, like the colour of your skin or the
colour of your eyes or the te$ture of your hair, %ut essentially that we are all from the same stem,
the same origin# *o, 2 think that as we continue to understand oursel+es and to appreciate each
other, and especially when we get to understand, for e$ample, that we all come from the same
origin - we will shed a lot of the pre3udices that we ha+e har%oured in the past#G
:istening to the news on the radio, it's easy to imagine the world is di+ided into ri+al tri%es and
competing ci+ilisations# *o it's good, it's essential in fact, to %e reminded that the idea of our
common humanity is not 3ust an enlightenment dream, %ut a genetic and a cultural reality# 2t's
something we'll see again and again in this series#
12
7ur ne$t o%3ect is the tool that people took with them when they first left frica and %egan to
spread around the world - it's %een called the *wiss rmy knife of the *tone ge ### it's the hand
a$e#
13
Episode 3 - Olduvai handaxe
Olduvai handa!e Bmade 1D2 - 1D" million years agoC found in Olduvai :orgeE -an1aniaE East
*frica
.hat do you take with you when you tra+el- /ost of us would em%ark on a long list that %egins
with a tooth%rush and ends with e$cess %aggage# "ut for most of human history, there was only
one thing that you really needed in order to tra+el - a stone handa$e#
'They are 3ust %eautiful tools ###'
'8retty sharp, around the edges, isn't it-'
'2 think whoe+er made this, did it +ery %eautifully and carefully#'
'nd once they'd %een in+ented, if you want to use that word, they 3ust ne+er changed the design ###
and 2 think that is the ultimate compliment to the design of a super% tool#'
2t looks pretty straightforward, %ut in fact a handa$e is e$tremely tricky to make and, for o+er a
million years, it was literally the cutting edge of technology# 2t accompanied our ancestors through
half of their history, and was the main reason they spread first across frica and then across the
world#
For a million years the sound of making handa$es pro+ided the percussion of e+eryday life#
nyone choosing a hundred o%3ects to tell a history of the world would ha+e to include a handa$e#
ll of this week 2'm looking at o%3ects from the +ery earliest moments of human history# &+ery
o%3ect 2'+e chosen is a document of the world in which it was made, %ut also marks a critical stage
in the process %y which we %ecame fully human# nd what 2 think makes this stone a$e so
interesting is how much it tells us, not 3ust a%out the hand, %ut a%out the mind that made it#
14
The 7ldu+ai 0orge handa$e doesn't, of course, look anything like a modern a$e - there's no handle
and there's no metal %lade# 2t's in fact a piece of grey-green +olcanic rock, a +ery %eautiful grey-
green, and it's in the shape of a tear-drop, and it's a lot more +ersatile than a modern straight a$e
would %e# The stone has %een chipped to gi+e you sharp edges along the long sides of the tear-
drop, so to speak, and to gi+e you a sharp point at one end# .hen you hold it up against a human
hand, you are struck %y how closely it matches the shape, although this one is unusually large and
it is %igger than most human hands would %e# 2t's also %een +ery %eautifully worked, and you can
see the marks of the chipping that ha+e shaped it#
handa$e like this was the *wiss rmy knife of the *tone ge - an essential piece of technology
with multiple uses# The pointed end could of course %e used as a drill, while the long %lades on
either side would cut trees or meat or scrape %ark or skins# Hou can imagine using this to %utcher
an elephant, to cut the hide and remo+e the meat#
The +ery earliest tools, like the stone chopper we were looking at in the last programme, would
strike all of us as pretty rudimentary# They look like chipped co%%les, and they were made simply
%y taking one large piece of stone and striking it with another, chipping off a few %its to make at
least one sharp cutting edge# "ut this handa$e is a +ery different matter# This is the e$pert stone-
knapper, 8hil 1arding9
''ow you can see, here 2'+e selected a piece of flint which is relati+ely long and thin - not a great
deal of work to thin it down#
'nd what 2 do is, 2 select a hard stone hammer, in this case a 5uart,ite pe%%le a%out the si,e of a
cricket %all, and 2 elect to hit it in one place - and this is where 2 start to knap# 'ow once 2'+e taken
one flake off, what 2 do then is turn the flint o+er and 2 take a flake off the other side, and then 2
turn it %ack again, and pretty much, %y the time 2'+e got all the way round, you can actually see that
what 2'+e done is make a +ery crude form of the final implement# 2t is rounded and it's got flaking
on %oth sides %ut, crucially, it's got a cutting edge that goes all the way round#'
*imply watching a practised knapper at work shows 3ust how many skills the maker of our
handa$e must ha+e possessed# 1anda$es are not things you knock off) they are the result of
e$perience, of careful planning and of skill, learned and refined o+er a long period#
''ow, if 2 really wanted to refine that - and people did want to refine that, they really were creati+e
people) they wanted to make %eautiful o%3ects, not 3ust functional o%3ects - what 2 could then do is
change the hammer from a %ig stone hammer to a hammer that is much softer ### a piece of antler is
a perfect hammer# nd what we would do then, is actually thin the piece down and refine the
shape, work our way round ### and in a%out 1( to 15 minutes, there's your handa$e#' >8hil 1arding?
"ut as well as great manual de$terity, what's important for our story is the conceptual leap re5uired
- to %e a%le to imagine in the rough lump of stone the shape that you want to make, in the way a
sculptor today can see the statue inside the %lock of mar%le#
This particular piece of supreme hi-tech stone is %etween 1#2 and 1#4 million years old# :ike the
chopping tool we were looking at in the last programme, it was found in &ast frica, at 7ldu+ai
0orge, that great split in the sa+annah in Tan,ania# "ut this comes from a higher geological layer
than the chopping tool, and there's a huge leap %etween those earliest first stone tools and this
handa$e, %ecause 2 think it's in this tool that we find the real %eginnings of modern humans# The
person that made this is, 2 think, a person we would ha+e recognised as someone like us#
ll this carefully focussed and planned creati+ity implies an enormous ad+ance in how our
ancestors saw the world and how their %rains worked# "ut this handa$e may contain the e+idence
15
of something e+en more remarka%le# @oes this chipped stone tool hold the secret of speech- .as it
in making things like this that we learned how to talk to one another-
Decently, scientists ha+e looked at what happens inside the %rain when a stone tool is %eing made#
They'+e used modern hospital scanners to see which %its of the %rain are used when a knapper is
working with stone - and surprisingly the areas of the modern %rain acti+ated when you're making
a handa$e o+erlap considera%ly with those you use when you speak# 2t now seems +ery likely that
if you can shape a stone you can shape a sentence#
7f course we'+e no idea what the maker of our handa$e might ha+e said, %ut it seems pro%a%le that
he would ha+e had roughly the language a%ilities of a se+en-year-old child# "ut whate+er the le+el,
this early speech would clearly ha+e %een the %eginnings of a 5uite new capacity for
communication - and that would ha+e meant that people could sit down to e$change ideas, plan
their work together or e+en 3ust to gossip# 2f you can make a decent handa$e like this one, it's a
good %et that you're well on the way to something we would all recognise as society#
*o, 1#2 million years ago, where are we- .e can make tools like our handa$e, that help us control
our en+ironment and in fact transform it - the handa$e gi+es us not 3ust %etter food, %ut can also
skin animals for clothing and strip %ranches for fire or shelter# 'ot only this) we can now talk to
each other and we can imagine something that isn't already in front of us# .hat ne$t- The handa$e
is a%out to accompany us on a huge 3ourney) %ecause with all these skills, we're no longer tied to
our immediate en+ironment# 2f we need to - e+en if we 3ust want to - we can mo+e# Tra+el is
possi%le, may%e e+en desira%le, and we can mo+e %eyond the warm sa+annahs of frica and
sur+i+e, perhaps e+en flourish, in a colder climate# The handa$e is our passport to the rest of the
world, and in the study collections of the "ritish /useum you can find handa$es from all o+er
frica - 'igeria, *outh frica, :i%ya - %ut also from 2srael and 2ndia, *pain and <orea - e+en from
a gra+el pit near 1eathrow airport#
nd as they mo+ed north, these early handa$e-makers %ecame the first "ritons# 'ick shton has
%een e$ca+ating on the 'orfolk coast in 1appis%urgh9
'2n 1appis%urgh we ha+e these 3(-foot >or 6-metre? cliffs, which are composed of these clays and
silts and sands, and these were laid down %y massi+e glaciation around a%out 45(,((( years ago,
which e+en reached the outskirts of north :ondon# "ut it's %eneath these clays that a local who was
walking his dog found a handa$e, em%edded in these organic sediments# These tools - which were
first %eing made in frica 1#4 million years ago - arri+ed in southern &urope and parts of sia 3ust
under a million years ago, and reached "ritain somewhere %etween 4((,((( and 5((,((( years
ago# 7f course today it's a %each, %ut the coast all those many years ago would'+e %een se+eral
miles further out# nd if you'd walked along that ancient coastline, you would ha+e arri+ed in what
nowadays we call The 'etherlands, in the heart of central &urope# t this time there was a ma3or
land %ridge connecting "ritain to mainland &urope# .e don't really know why humans colonised
"ritain then, %ut perhaps it was due to the effecti+eness of this new technology that we call the
handa$e#'
The stone handa$e was made essentially in the same way and in the same shape for o+er a million
years, and it must %e the most successful piece of human technology in human history# "ut is there
one last secret in the stone- 7ur handa$e is 3ust a %it too large to use easily# .hy would you make
it like that- 2 showed it to an e$pert in ergonomic design, the in+entor *ir !ames @yson9
'.hat interests me a%out this is that it's not really +ery practical# 2t's dou%le-sided, it has a sharp
edge %oth sides, and it's symmetrical# 2t's almost as though it's an o%3ect of %eauty rather than a
practical o%3ect# *o 2 wonder actually if it's a decorati+e thing, or e+en something like a ceremonial
sword to make you look %ra+e, powerful, and may%e to pull women#
14
'2t doesn't look to me like a practical tool, it looks to me more like a show o%3ect, a decorati+e
o%3ect, than a practical o%3ect, %ecause 2 can only see that whate+er 2 do with it 2'm going to hurt
my hand# *o 2 think it's a %eautiful o%3ect, %ut 2 don't %elie+e it has any intent - serious intent -
%ehind it#'
7f course it 'is' still a practical o%3ect, %ut 2 think it's nonetheless worth speculating, as *ir !ames
@yson does, whether our handa$e 'was' made a %it too %ig for easy use, in order to show that it was
made for some%ody important# re we looking here at one of the oldest of all status sym%ols) the
e$pression of a social pecking order- nd then the handa$e is so pleasing to the eye as well as to
the hand, that it's hard not to ask if it wasn't to some e$tent made 5uite intentionally to %e a thing of
%eauty# 2s this the %eginning of the long story of art and, indeed, of art %eing pressed into the
ser+ice of power- 7r are we 3ust pro3ecting %ack on to these distant ancestors our own ways of
thinking a%out %eauty and status-
2n the ne$t programme we're going to %e un5uestiona%ly in the realm of art - 2'm going to %e
looking at a masterpiece of 2ce ge sculpture, car+ed in the tusk of a mammoth#
1=
Episode 4 - !imming reindeer
#$imming reindeer Bmade around 1E000 years agoCD #culpture carved from mammoth tus+E
found at MontastrucE central 8rance
.hat does the past sound like- 7f course, when we're as far %ack in deep time as we are this week,
we can ha+e no real idea# .e can imagine the unchanging sounds of nature - wind, rain, sea, ri+er -
%ut for us, history is silent# "ut if we can't hear the past, we can certainly see it# 2'd like to
introduce you to an o%3ect that's 13,((( years old, made %y one of our ancestors who wanted to
show his own world to himself and, in doing so, relayed that world with astonishing immediacy, to
us# 2t is, 2 think, a masterpiece of 2ce ge art, and it's also e+idence of a huge change in the way in
which the human %rain was working# *te+en /ithen, professor at the Cni+ersity of Deading, and
Dowan .illiams, the rch%ishop of Canter%ury, ha+e %oth thought a%out this, in +ery different
ways, and we'll hear more from them later in the programme#
'Hou can feel that here's some%ody making this, who was pro3ecting themsel+es with huge
imaginati+e generosity into the world around, and saw and felt in their %ones that rhythm#'
>rch%ishop of Canter%ury, Dowan .illiams?
'*omething, %etween say 1((,((( and 5(,((( years ago, happens in the human %rain, that allows
this fantastic creati+ity, imagination, artistic a%ilities, to emerge#' >8rofessor *te+en /ithen?
2n the last two programmes, we looked at stone tools, which raised the 5uestion of whether it's
making 'things' that makes us human# Could you concei+e of %eing human without using o%3ects to
negotiate the world- 2 don't think 2 can# "ut there's another 5uestion that follows 5uite 5uickly
once you start looking at these +ery ancient things# 7ur modern human species, 'homo sapiens'
>'thinking man' in the :atin?, e+ol+ed in frica at least 15(,((( years ago# "ut around 5(,((( years
ago, something dramatic seems to ha+e happened to the human %rain, %ecause across the world,
humans start to make patterns that decorate and intrigue, to make 3ewellery to adorn the %ody, and
representations of the animals that share their world with them# They are making o%3ects that are
1;
less a%out physically changing the world than a%out e$ploring the order and the patterns that they
see in it# 2n short, they are making art# .hy- .hy do all modern humans share the compulsion to
make works of art- .hy does man the toolmaker e+erywhere turn into man the artist-
7ur two reindeer represent the oldest piece of art in any "ritish art gallery or museum, and it's
alarmingly delicate# .e keep it in a climate-controlled case and we hardly e+er mo+e it, %ecause
with any sudden shock it could 3ust crum%le to dust# 2t was made during the end of the last 2ce ge,
around 13,((( years ago# nd it's a sculpture car+ed from the tusk of a mammoth - it must ha+e
%een towards the end of the tusk, %ecause it's slim, slightly cur+ed, and it's a%out eight inches long#
The two reindeer swim closely, one %ehind one the other, and the sculptor has %rilliantly e$ploited
the tapering shape of the tusk# The smaller, female reindeer is in front with the +ery tip of the tusk
forming the tip of her nose) and %ehind her, in the fuller part of the tusk, comes the larger male#
"ecause of the cur+e, %oth animals ha+e their chins up and their antlers are tipped %ack, e$actly as
they would when swimming - and along the undersides, their legs are at full stretch, gi+ing a
mar+ellous impression of streamlined mo+ement# 2t's a super%ly o%ser+ed piece - and it can only
ha+e %een made %y some%ody who has spent a long time watching reindeer swimming across
ri+ers#
nd it's pro%a%ly no coincidence that it was found %y a ri+er, in a rock shelter at /ontastruc in
central France# This car+ing is an ama,ingly realistic representation of the reindeer who, 13,(((
years ago, were roaming in great herds across &urope# The continent at this time was far colder
than it is today) the landscape consisted of open, tree-less plain, rather like the landscape of *i%eria
now and, for human hunter-gatherers in this unforgi+ing terrain, reindeer were one of the %est
hopes for sur+i+al# Their meat, skin, %ones and antlers could supply pretty well all the food and the
clothing you needed, as well as the raw materials for tools and weapons# s long as you could hunt
reindeer, you were going to %e alright# *o, it's not surprising that our 'homo sapiens' artist knew the
animals +ery well, and that he chose to represent them#
The larger, male reindeer displays an impressi+e set of antlers, which run along almost the whole
length of his %ack, and we can se$ him 5uite confidently as the artist has car+ed his genitals under
his %elly# The female has smaller antlers and four little %umps on her underside that look 3ust like
teats# "ut we can %e much more specific than this e+en, %ecause we're clearly looking at these
animals in the autumn, at the time of rutting and migration to winter pastures# 7nly in the autumn
do %oth male and female ha+e full sets of antlers and coats in such wonderful condition# 7n the
female's chest, the ri%s and the sternum ha+e %een %eautifully car+ed# This o%3ect was clearly made
not 3ust with the knowledge of a hunter %ut also with the insight of a %utcher, someone who not
only looked at his animals, %ut cut them up#
"y an astonishing stroke of luck, we know that this detailed naturalism was only one of the styles
that 2ce ge artists had at their disposal# 2n the case ne$t to the reindeer, the "ritish /useum shows
another sculpture found in that same ca+e at /ontastruc# "y happy symmetry, where our reindeer
are car+ed on mammoth tusk, the other sculpture shows a mammoth car+ed on a reindeer antler#
"ut the mammoth, although instantly recognisa%le, is drawn in a 5uite different way - simplified
and schematised, somewhere %etween a caricature and an a%straction, and this is no one-off
accident) 2ce ge artists display a whole range of artistic styles and techni5ues9 a%stract,
naturalistic, e+en surreal - as well as using perspecti+e and sophisticated composition# These are
modern humans with modern human minds, 3ust like our own# They still li+e %y hunting and
gathering, %ut they're interpreting the world through art# *o what's dri+ing this- 1ere's 8rofessor
*te+en /ithen9
'2 think what pro%a%ly happens - around 1((,((( years ago - is different %its of the %rain get
connected together in a new way, and they can com%ine different ways of thinking#
16
'*o they can com%ine what they know a%out nature with what they know a%out making things, and
this gi+es them a new capacity to produce pieces of art# "ut also 2 think those 2ce ge conditions
were critical as well# That was a +ery challenging time for people li+ing in harsh, long winters - the
need to %uild up really intense social %onds, the need for ritual, the need for religion, 2 think is all
related to this flowering of fantastically creati+e art at the time# There must ha+e %een astonishing
places ### you can imagine the mammoths, and the herds of horses and deer# nd the %irds, the
migrating %irds, would ha+e had a massi+e impact on these hunter-gatherers# *o 2 think part of the
art is an o+erwhelming sense of delight and appreciation and cele%ration of the natural world#'
nd an appreciation not 3ust of the animal world - these people know how to make the most of the
rocks and minerals# 2f you look closely, you can see that this little sculpture is the result, in fact, of
four separate stone technologies# First, the tip of the tusk was se+ered with a chopping tool) then
the contours of the animals were whittled with a stone knife and scraper# Then the whole thing was
polished using a powdered iron o$ide mi$ed with water, pro%a%ly %uffed up with a chamois
leather# nd finally the markings on the %odies and the details of the eyes were carefully incised
with a stone engra+ing tool# 2n e$ecution as well as in conception, this is a +ery comple$ work of
art# nd it seems to me that it has all the 5ualities of precise o%ser+ation and interpretation that
you'd look for in any great artist#
.hy would you go to such trou%le to make an o%3ect with no practical purpose- 1ere's rch%ishop
Dowan .illiams9
'.hat 2 think you see in the art of this period is human %eings trying to enter fully into the flow of
life around them, so that they %ecome part of the whole process of animal life that's going on
around them, in a way which 2 think isn't 3ust a%out managing the animal world, or guaranteeing
them success in hunting or whate+er# 2 think it's more than that# 2t's really a desire to get inside and
almost to %e at home in the world at a deeper le+el, and 2 think that that's actually a +ery deeply
religious impulse, to %e at home in the world# .e tend to identify religion with not %eing at home
in the world sometimes, as if the real stuff were elsewhere in hea+en) and yet actually if you look
at religious origins, if you look at a lot of the mainstream themes in the great world religions, it's
the other way round - it's how to li+e here and now and how to %e part of that flow of life#'
This car+ing of the two swimming reindeer had no practical function, only form# .as it 3ust 'art'-
n image made 3ust for its %eauty- 7r does it ha+e a different purpose- "y representing
something, %y making a picture or a sculpture of it, you gi+e it a different kind of life, a kind of
magical power, and you assert your relation to it in a world you're a%le not 3ust to e$perience, %ut
to imagine# 2s it going too far to suggest that art like this is the earliest physical e+idence for
religion- Dowan .illiams again9
't the %eginning, of course, you can't really pull apart religion and art can you- rt is sacred
%ecause it is taking you to this space where you're not 3ust doing the su%3ectIo%3ect arm's-length
approach to nature, it takes you to a new place and that's a religious acti+ity# 2t's only as time goes
on that religion %ecomes much more in+ol+ed with issues around power, and art %ecomes much
more in+ol+ed with issues around self-e$pression, and these days, the two often look at each other
from separate mountain peaks, peering in a pu,,led kind of way through the mists#
'2 don't think that primiti+e human %eings 3ust had a ready-made word in their heads that sounded
like '0od', and they immediately knew what it was# They were disco+ering how to %e human in a
world that was much more complicated %ecause of their intelligence, and %ecause of the new
en+ironmental challenges they were working with, and slowly the world - how should 2 say it- -
almost reshapes itself# .ith that, and in your identification with the processes of the world, you
%egin to understand or intuit what in the '7ld Testament' is called 'wisdom', a kind of principle of
cohesion or cohesi+eness underlying it all, and you identify that e+entually with the mind of 0od#'
2(
2t seems that much of the art made around the world at the time of the 2ce ge did ha+e a religious
dimension, although we can only guess at any ritual use# This art is part of a tradition still +ery
much ali+e today, and it's also part of an e+ol+ing religious consciousness which still shapes many
human societies# 7%3ects like this sculpture of swimming reindeer take us into the minds and
imaginations of people like us - into a world unseen %ut understood# nd 2 think it's that a%ility to
see %eyond the functional and the physical - to use our imaginations - that ultimately makes us
modern# t the time our swimming reindeer were car+ed in &urope, the people of north-east sia
were a%out to settle the mericas# That's for the ne$t programme#
21
Episode " - #lovis spear point
'lovis point Bmade over 1E000 years agoCD #tone spearhead found in *ri1ona
2magine# Hou're in a green landscape studded with trees and %ushes# Hou're working in a team of
hunters 5uietly stalking a herd of mammoths# 7ne of the mammoths, you hope, is going to %e your
supper# Hou're clutching a light spear with a sharp, pointed stone at the end of it# Hou get closer -
you hurl your spear - and it misses# The mammoth you wanted to kill snaps the shaft under its foot#
That spear is useless now# Hou take another one, and you mo+e on# nd you lea+e %ehind you on
the ground something that's not 3ust a killing tool that failed, %ut a thing that's going to %ecome a
message across time, %ecause thousands of years after the mammoth trod on your spear, humans
will find that pointed stone spearhead and know that their ancestors were in this place far earlier
than anyone had imagined#
'2t looks so tiny and then it's only sort of two or three inches in length#' >/ichael 8alin?
'These are people on the mo+e - e$plorers, and 2 can really feel 5uite a %it of empathy, and 2 can
really feel what it must'+e %een like to enter a country that no%ody had told you a%out, that no%ody
had actually %een in %efore you#' >8rofessor 0ary 1aynes?
2t's 13,((( years ago, and you're in merica# Things that are thrown away or lost can tell us as
much a%out the past as any o%3ects carefully preser+ed for posterity# "roken things tell poignant
stories - in fact, mundane e+eryday items discarded long ago as ru%%ish, are as much a defining
characteristic of %eing human as great art, and these modest %ut essential things can tell us some of
the most important stories of all in human history# 2n the case of this programme, how modern
humans - the toolmakers and the artists we'+e %een following this week - took o+er the world#
1ow, after populating frica, sia, ustralia and &urope, they finally got to merica#
2n the 'orth merican gallery of the "ritish /useum, among the magnificent feather headdresses,
and in a case %eside the totem poles, is a +ery interesting %it of ru%%ish indeed# 2t is the %usiness
22
end of a deadly weapon) a spear - the shaft, of course, is long gone# 2t's made of stone and it was
lost %y a person like you or me in ri,ona o+er 13,((( years ago# The spearhead is made of hard
flint and it's a%out the si,e of a small, slim mo%ile phone, %ut it's in the shape of a long thin leaf#
The point is still intact and still +ery sharp# The surface of %oth sides has %eautiful ripples and,
when you look closely, you can see that these are the scars from its making, where the flakes of the
flint ha+e %een carefully chipped off# 2t's a lo+ely thing to touch and it's +ery well adapted to its
lethal purpose - a thing of %eauty and a kill fore+erA
This spearhead raises many 5uestions# "ut perhaps the most surprising fact is that it was found in
merica# fter all, for most of our history we humans ha+e %een a resolutely land-locked frican,
sian and &uropean species# *o how did the people who made spears like this get to merica, and
who were they-
This stone spearhead is %y no means uni5ue) it is 3ust one of thousands that ha+e %een found across
'orth merica, from laska to /e$ico# They're known as Clo+is points, after the small town in
the C* *tate of 'ew /e$ico where they were first disco+ered in 1634, alongside the %ones of the
animals they'd killed# nd so the makers of these stone points, the people who hunted with them,
are known as Clo+is people#
The disco+ery at Clo+is was one of the most dramatic leaps forward in our understanding of the
history of the mericas# These spearheads are the firmest e+idence yet found for the first human
%eings to inha%it merica# lmost identical Clo+is points ha+e %een found in clusters from laska
to /e$ico, and from California to Florida, and what they show is that these people were a%le to
esta%lish small communities right across this immense area as the last 2ce ge was coming to an
end, a%out 13,((( years ago#
re the Clo+is people really the first mericans- The leading e$pert in this period is 8rofessor
0ary 1aynes9
'There's some scattered e+idence that people were in 'orth merica may%e %efore these Clo+is
points were made >which would %e %efore 13,((( years ago?, %ut most of that e+idence is argua%le#
The fact is that Clo+is look like the first people# 2f you dig an archaeological site almost anywhere,
the %ottom le+els are going to %e a%out 13,((( years old, and if there are any artefacts, it will %e
Clo+is or Clo+is-related# *o it looks like may%e these are the +ery first dispersers who filled up the
continent and %ecame the ancestors of modern 'ati+e mericans# The area that was populated %y
Clo+is was 3ust a%out all of 'orth merica, and they came from somewhere up north, %ecause the
studies of genetics seem to pro+e conclusi+ely that the ancestry of 'ati+e mericans is north-east
sian#'
*o archaeology, @', and the %ulk of academic opinion, are telling us effecti+ely that e+ery%ody
in merica arri+ed from north-east sia less than 15,((( years ago# .hen history gets re-written
like this, it can lead to head-on collision with deeply-held %eliefs#
1istorian 0a%rielle Tayac is a 8iscataway 2ndian# *he works for the *mithsonian's 'ational
/useum of the merican 2ndian, and she studies how 'ati+e mericans are reacting to this new
narrati+e that science is gi+ing them9
'This is an affront to their +ery specific %eliefs ### 2f you look at creation stories, there are certainly
people who ha+e +ery strong %eliefs that either they emerged from the earth, or fell from the sky or
de+eloped out of the %ack of a water %eetle, depending on where they were ### 'ati+e merican
religions were repressed for a +ery long time and so people ha+e %ecome +ery protecti+e# For some
'ati+e people, though not all, the insertion of scientific findings that 'ati+e people did not get
23
created from the +ery site that they emerged from, or that there are findings that might %e counter
to a specific oral recitation, can %e seen as a way of in+alidating 'ati+e traditions#'
"y a%out 4(,((( years ago, humans like oursel+es had spread from frica all o+er sia and
&urope, e+en crossing seas to get to ustralia# "ut no humans had yet set foot in the mericas, and
it needed ma3or changes in climate %efore they could# Firstly, 2(,((( years ago, the 2ce ge locked
up the water in ice-sheets and glaciers, leading to a huge fall in sea le+el, and the sea %etween
Dussia and laska >what's now the "ering *traits? %ecame a wide and easily passa%le land-%ridge#
nimals - mammals, %ison and reindeer - mo+ed across to the merican side, and hunting humans
followed# The way further south into the rest of merica was through an ice-free corridor %etween
the Docky /ountains on the 8acific side, and the +ast continental ice-sheet co+ering Canada on the
other#
15,((( years ago, as the climate warmed up again, it was possi%le for large num%ers of animals,
followed again %y their human hunters, to get through this corridor to the rich hunting grounds
across what is now the Cnited *tates# This is the new merican world of the Clo+is points# 2t was
clearly a great en+ironment for those go-getting humans from north sia %ut, if you were a
mammoth, the outlook wasn't 5uite so rosy# The ripples on the side of the Clo+is point, which 2
find so %eautiful, produce intense %leeding in any animal they hit, so you don't need to %e a dead
shot and strike a +ital organ, you can hit your prey anywhere and the %lood loss will gradually
weaken it until you can easily finish it off# nd %y 1(,((( "C, all the mammoths and a lot of other
%ig mammals, had %een finished off# 1ow far it's the Clo+is people that are responsi%le for these
e$tinctions is a matter for de%ate, %ut 0ary 1aynes thinks they were9
'2 think there's a direct connection %etween the first appearance of people and the last appearance
of many of the large mammals - if not all of them - that disappeared in 'orth merica# Hou can
actually trace this sort of connection across the world, where+er modern 'homo sapiens' turns up#
There had ne+er %een a human population %efore this# 2t's almost in+aria%le that large mammals
disappeared - and not 3ust some animals, it's a large proportion# 2n 'orth merica it's something
like two-thirds to three-5uarters#'
This was going to %ecome a familiar story# "y around 12,((( years ago, the Clo+is people and
their descendants had not only spread across 'orth merica, %ut had also reached the
southernmost tip of *outh merica# 'ot long after this, warming climate and melting ice raised sea
le+els sharply so that the land-%ridge to sia flooded once again# There was no way %ack# For the
ne$t nine thousand years, in fact until &uropean contact in the si$teenth century @, the
ci+ilisations of the mericas would de+elop on their own# *o, 12,((( years ago, we had reached a
key moment in human history# .ith the e$ception of the islands of the 8acific, human %eings had
settled the whole ha%ita%le world# .e seem to %e hard-wired to keep mo+ing, to want more, to find
out what's %eyond the ne$t hill# "roadcaster and tra+eller /ichael 8alin has co+ered a good deal of
the glo%e - what does he think dri+es us on-
'2n myself 2'+e always %een +ery restless and, from when 2 was +ery small, interested in where 2
wasn't, JinK what was o+er the hori,on, JinK what was round the ne$t corner# nd the more you look
at the history of 'homo sapiens', it's all a%out mo+ement, right from the +ery first time they decided
to lea+e frica# 2t is this restlessness which seems a +ery significant factor in the way the planet
was settled %y humans# 2t does seem that we are not settled, we think we are, %ut we are still
looking for somewhere else where something is %etter - where it's warmer, it's more pleasant#
/ay%e there is an element, a spiritual element, of hope in this whole thing# Hou know, that you are
going to find somewhere that is going to %e wonderful# 2t's the search for paradise, the search for
the perfect land - may%e that's at the %ottom of it all, all the time#'
24
1ope, as the defining human 5uality - wouldn't that %e an encouraging note in which to end this
first week of our history of the world- .hat's stood out for me in this week's long 3ourney of
nearly two million years, is the constant human stri+ing to do things %etter) to make tools that are
not only more efficient %ut also more %eautiful, to e$plore not 3ust en+ironments %ut ideas, to
struggle towards something not yet e$perienced# The o%3ects 2'+e looked at this week ha+e tracked
that mo+e - from tools for sur+i+al not so different from what other animals might use, to a great
work of art and the %eginnings of religion#
'e$t week, 2'm going to %e looking at how, a%out ten thousand years ago, we %egan to transform
the natural world %y starting to farm# 2n the process, changing not 3ust the landscape, %ut plants,
animals and, a%o+e all, oursel+es# nd 2'm going to %e focussing on two fa+ourite pastimes - food
and se$#
25
'()*+ ),* -.* 'g*/ 0112 an2 3*4 (%### $ 56## &C)
Episode $ - %ird-shaped pestle
"ird-shaped pestle >made 4 - ;,((( years ago?# *tone, found in 8apua 'ew 0uinea
:unch here at the "ritish /useum staff canteen has always %een a pretty international affair# 2t's
not 3ust the scholars and the curators who come from all round the world) it's also of course the
food# s today is one of my healthy days, 2'm at the salad %ar, looking in among the greens at a
fairly standard run of potato salad, rice, sweetcorn and kidney %eans# .hat 2 find interesting a%out
these +egeta%les is not 3ust that they come originally from all o+er the world, %ut that none of them
would e$ist in the form they do today if the plants they come from hadn't %een carefully chosen,
cherished and modified in a long process that %egan a%out ten thousand years ago with some
intrepid and ingenious 2ce ge cooks#
'&+eryone did these things, and the families e$isted as families %ecause you did it not for yourself
%ut for the family#' >/adhur !affrey?
'.e need some new e+olutionary tricks in order to spread out into increasingly hostile
en+ironments#' >/artin !ones?
2n pre+ious programmes, we ha+e looked at how our ancestors mo+ed around the world) in this
week's programmes 2'm going to %e focussing on what happened when they settled down# This is a
week full of ancient animals, powerful gods, dangerous weather, good se$ and e+en %etter food#
round 11,((( years ago, the world underwent a +iolent and rapid period of climate change,
leading to the end of the last 2ce ge# Temperatures increased %y as much as se+en degrees
centigrade in a hundred years, and sea le+els rose %y o+er 3(( feet >or 1(( metres?# 2ce turned to
water and snow ga+e way to grass, and the result was slow %ut profound changes in the way that
24
humans li+ed# 7+er the course of this week, 2 will %e co+ering a%out se+en thousand years of
human history when, as the 2ce ge ended, people in many different parts of the world %egan to
%reed animals, grow plants and eat differently#
Ten thousand years ago, the sound of daily life %egan to change across the world, as new rhythms
of grinding and pounding prepared the new foods that were going to change our diets and our
landscapes# For a long time, our ancestors had used fire to roast meat %ut, in the sense that we
would use the word today, they were now 'cooking'#
There's an enormous range of o%3ects in the "ritish /useum that we could ha+e chosen to illustrate
this particular moment in human history, when people literally start putting down roots and
culti+ating plants that will feed them all year round# The %eginning of this sort of farming is a
process that seems to ha+e happened in many different places at more or less the same time, and
we'+e recently disco+ered that one of these places was 8apua 'ew 0uinea, that huge island 3ust to
the north of ustralia, where this %ird-shaped stone pestle comes from# .e think it's a%out eight
thousand years old, %ut a pestle then would ha+e %een used e$actly as it is now - to grind food in a
mortar and %reak it down, so that you can make it edi%le# 2t's a %ig pestle, it stands 3ust o+er a foot
tall >a%out 35 cm?, and the %usiness end is a stone %ul%, a%out the si,e of a cricket %all, and you can
feel that it's %een much used# %o+e the %ul%, the shaft is +ery easy to grasp and the upper part of
the handle, or the shaft, has %een shaped in a way that's got nothing to do with making food at all -
it looks like a slender, elongated %ird with wings outstretched and a long neck dipping forward) it
looks a %it like Concorde#
.e're +ery familiar now with the idea that making food unites us, either as a family or a society,
and we all know how much family memory and emotion is %ound up in the pots and pans and
wooden spoons of childhood# These sorts of associations seem to date from around ten thousand
years ago) from the +ery %eginning of cooking implements, roughly the period of our pestle# The
chef /adhur !affrey is still +ery attached to her pestle, which her mother ga+e her when she left
2ndia, and she came to look at ours9
'2 3ust thought it was %eautiful to look at and had a well-honed, worn look, and a patina that made
me feel that it was used - and used again and again# 2t is a fundamental act %oth of cooking and of
li+ing, and li+ing with a family and passing on, at least in 2ndia#
'.hen 2 left 2ndia, which was a long long time ago, my mother ga+e me certain utensils to take
with me, and they were all hea+y, 2 remem%er that# There was a wok, a grinding stone, and a huge
mortar and pestle, so those are what 2 left with, and 2 ha+e all of them, and 2 use my mortar and
pestle to this day#'
7ther stone pestles and mortars ha+e also %een found in 'ew 0uinea, and what they show is that
there were farmers growing crops in the tropical forests and grasslands here in ancient times,
around ten thousand years ago# This relati+ely recent disco+ery has upset the con+entional +iew
that farming %egan in the /iddle &ast, in what's called the Fertile Crescent, and from there spread
across the world# .e now know that in fact this particular %it of the history of humanity happened
simultaneously in many different places# Clearly a lot of us %ecame farmers at the same time, and
where+er people were farming, they %egan to concentrate on a small num%er of plants, selecti+ely
har+esting these from the wild, planting and tending them# 2n the /iddle &ast, they chose
particular grasses - early forms of wheat) in China, wild dry rice) in frica, sorghum - a grain that
looks a %it like grass) and in 8apua 'ew 0uinea, the starchy tu%er, taro# For me, the most
surprising thing a%out these new plants is that in their natural state you +ery often can't eat them at
all, or at least they taste pretty filthy if you do# .hy would you choose to grow food that you can
eat only once it's %een soaked or %oiled or ground to make it edi%le at all- /artin !ones, 8rofessor
2=
of rchaeological *cience at Cam%ridge Cni+ersity, sees this alchemy of food as an essential part
of human e+olution9
's the human species e$panded across the glo%e, we had to ha+e a competiti+e edge o+er other
animals going for the easy food# *o we went for the difficult food, we went for things like the
small hard grass seeds we call cereals, that are indigesti%le if eaten raw and may e+en %e
poisonous, and we ha+e to pulp them up and turn them into things like %read and dough# nd we
went into the poisonous giant tu%ers, like the yam and the taro, which also had to %e leeched,
ground up and cooked %efore we could eat them# nd that was our competiti+e ad+antage - other
animals that didn't ha+e the %ig %rain couldn't think se+eral steps ahead to do that#'
*o it takes %rains to get to cookery# .e don't know what gender the cooks were who used our
pestle to grind taro in 'ew 0uinea, %ut we do know from archaeological research in the /iddle
&ast that cookery there was primarily a woman's acti+ity# From e$amining %urial sites of this
period, scientists ha+e disco+ered that the hips, ankles and knees of mature women are generally
se+erely worn - the grinding of wheat then would ha+e %een done kneeling down, rocking %ack
and forth to crush the kernels %etween two hea+y stones# This arthritis-inducing acti+ity must ha+e
%een +ery tough, %ut the women of the /iddle &ast and the new cooks e+erywhere were
culti+ating a small range of nourishing %asic foods that could sustain much larger groups of people
than had %een possi%le %efore# /ost of these new foods were pretty %land, %ut the pestle and
mortar can also play a key part here in making them more interesting# /adhur !affrey again9
'2f you take mustard seeds, which were known in ancient times, if you lea+e them whole they ha+e
one taste, %ut if you crush them, they're like !ekyll and 1yde) they %ecome pungent and %itter, so
you change the +ery nature of a seasoning %y crushing it#'
nd /artin !ones %elie+es that in due course, this early farming changed the whole pattern of our
society9
'.e specialise in those smaller num%er of foods - not stopping the others - %ut emphasising a
smaller num%er of foods, and that's how agriculture emerges, and it allows people to interact in
different ways, to share food in different ways and to make contact with each other in different
ways#'
These new crops helped create new kinds of communities %ecause, if you were lucky with the
weather, they could produce surpluses which could then %e stored, e$changed or simply consumed
in a great feast# 7ur pestle's long, thin elegant %ody looks far too delicate to ha+e %een a%le to
withstand the +igorous daily pummelling of taro, so we should perhaps think of it more as %eing
used to prepare special meals) meals where people gathered, as we might do today, to trade, to
dance, or to cele%rate key moments in life# *haring food is one of the most %asic ways of %inding
people together#
:ooking at the food in the "ritish /useum canteen, so much of it flown across the world, 2'm
struck %y the fact that while we all tra+el more and more freely, we depend on food grown %y
people who cannot mo+e, who must stay on the same piece of land# .e're all increasingly aware of
how +ulnera%le this makes farmers across the world to any change in climate, and this dependence
on regular predicta%le weather led the farmers of ten thousand years ago to identify gods of food
and climate, who needed constant placation and prayer in order to ensure the cycle of nature and
safe, good har+ests# 'owadays, most people look to go+ernments, and to campaigners like *ir "o%
0eldof9
'The whole psychology of food, where it places us, is 2 think more important than almost any other
aspect of our li+es# &ssentially, the necessity to work comes out of the necessity to eat# *o, this
2;
central idea of food is the fundamental in all human e$istence# 2t's clear that no animal can e$ist
without %eing a%le to eat, %ut right now, at the %eginning of the 21st century, it is clearly in the top
three of priorities for the glo%al powers to address# Cpon their success or not will depend the future
of huge sections of the world population# There simply isn't enough food for the world at the
moment# There are se+eral factors, %ut the predominant one is climate change#'
*o a change in climate, like the one that %rought us agriculture in the first place, is now threatening
our glo%al sur+i+al# !ust after the 2ce ge, the growing population that the new foods allowed was
of course not a pro%lem %ut a positi+e ad+antage# The first settled societies increased 5uickly in
num%ers and, as long as the weather allowed, they de+eloped new, sta%le communities#
Tomorrow 2'll %e focussing on the fertility not of the land, %ut of the people farming it# 2'll %e
looking at a stone sculpture that's the first representation, anywhere, of a couple making lo+e#
26
Episode & - 'in a(hri or )*he +overs)
in *akhri lo+ers figurine >made around 11,((( years ago?# *tone sculpture, found near "ethlehem
s the last 2ce ge came to an end, some%ody picked a pe%%le out of a small ri+er not far from
"ethlehem# 2t's a pe%%le that must ha+e %een tum%led downstream, %anged and smoothed against
other stones as it went, in the process that geologists poetically descri%e as 'chattering'# "ut a%out
11,((( years ago, a human hand then shaped and chipped this %eautifully chattered, rounded
pe%%le into one of the most mo+ing o%3ects in the "ritish /useum# 2t shows two naked people
literally wrapped up in each other# 2t's the oldest known representation of a couple ha+ing se$#
'.ell it's the classic thing that we always imagine that we disco+ered se$, and that all other ages
%efore us were kind of rather prudish and simple, whereas in fact o%+iously human %eings ha+e
%een emotionally sophisticated since at least ;,((( "C when this sculpture was made, and 3ust as
sophisticated as us, 2'm sure#' >/arc Buinn?
'nd 2 think it's clear that se$uality was a +ery +ery important part of the sym%olic and social
world#' >2an 1odder?
t the end of the last 2ce ge, as the climate warmed up across the world, humans gradually
shifted from hunting and gathering to a settled way of life %ased on farming - and in the process,
our relationship to the natural world was transformed# From li+ing as a minor part of a %alanced
ecosystem, we start trying to o+ercome nature - to take control# 2n the /iddle &ast the warmer
weather %rought a spread of rich grasslands# 8eople had %een mo+ing around, hunting ga,elle and
gathering the seeds of lentils, chick peas and wild grasses# "ut in the new, lusher sa+annah, ga,elle
were plentiful and they tended to stay in one place throughout the year, so the humans settled down
with them# nd once they were settled, they deli%erately collected grass grains still on the stalk,
and %y collecting and sowing the seeds, they almost inad+ertently carried out a +ery early kind of
genetic engineering9 they slowly created the world's great staple crops - wheat and %arley# .ith
this more sta%le life, our ancestors turned to new gods, and they made images which show and
3(
cele%rate the key elements in their changing uni+erse) food, power, worship, se$ and lo+e# nd the
maker of the 'lo+ers' sculpture was one of these people#
2n the /anuscript *aloon at the "ritish /useum, most people walk straight past the case that
contains the statue of the lo+ers# 8erhaps it's %ecause from a distance it doesn't look +ery much) it's
a small, muted, greyish stone a%out the si,e of a clenched fist# "ut when you get nearer to it, you
can see that it's a couple, seated, their arms and legs wrapped around each other in the closest of
em%races# There are no clear facial features, %ut you know that these two people are looking into
each other's eyes# 2 think it's one of the tenderest e$pressions of lo+e that 2 know, compara%le to the
great kissing couples of "rancusi and Dodin, and 2 asked the contemporary "ritish sculptor, /arc
Buinn, what he thought of it9
'2t's incredi%le to %e in the presence of this o%3ect, which is from so long ago# To me, what's
incredi%le a%out this sculpture is that when you mo+e it and look at it in different ways, it changes
completely# nd so here you ha+e this thing - from the side, you ha+e the long shot of the em%race,
you see the two figures# From another side it's a penis, from the other side a +agina, from another
side it is %reasts - it seems to %e formally mimicking the act of making lo+e as well as representing
it# nd those different sides unfold as you handle it, as you turn this o%3ect around in your hand -
so they unfold in time, which 2 think is another important thing a%out the sculpture - it's not an
instant thing# Hou walk round it and the o%3ect unfolds in real time# 2t's almost like in a
pornographic film, you ha+e long shots, close-ups - it has a cinematic 5uality as you turn it, that
you get all these different things and yet it's a poignant, %eautiful o%3ect a%out the relationship
%etween people#'
"ut what do we know of the people captured in this lo+ers' em%race- .ell, the maker - or should
we say the sculptor- - of the lo+ers, %elonged to a people that we now call the 'atufians, who li+ed
in a region that straddled what is today 2srael, 8alestine, :e%anon and *yria, and our sculpture
came from the area south-east of !erusalem# 2n 1633 the great French archaeologist %%L 1enri
"reuil and a French diplomat, DenL 'eu+ille, +isited a small museum in "ethlehem# 'eu+ille
wrote9
'Towards the end of our +isit, 2 was shown a wooden casket containing +arious items from the
surrounding areas, of which none, apart from this statuette, was of any +alue# 2 realised
immediately the particular significance of the design in+ol+ed and asked the source of these
o%3ects# 2 was told that they had %een %rought %y a "edouin who was returning from "ethlehem
towards the @ead *ea#'
2ntrigued %y the figure, 'eu+ille wanted to know more a%out its disco+ery and he sought out the
"edouin he'd %een told a%out# 1e managed to track down the man responsi%le for the find, who
took him to the +ery ca+e - in the !udean desert not far from "ethlehem - in which the sculpture of
the lo+ers had %een disco+ered# The ca+e was called in *akhri, and so these sculpted lo+ers that
had so capti+ated 'eu+ille are still known as the in *akhri lo+ers# Crucially, the sculpture had
%een found with o%3ects which made it clear that the ca+e had %een a dwelling rather than a gra+e,
and so our sculpture must ha+e played some kind of role in domestic e+eryday life#
.e don't know e$actly what that role might ha+e %een, %ut we do know that this dwelling
%elonged to people who were li+ing at the dawn of agriculture# Their new way of life in+ol+ed the
collecting and storing of food#
.ild grass seeds fall off the plant and are spread easily %y the wind or eaten %y the %irds, %ut these
people selected seeds which stayed on the stalk - a +ery important characteristic if a grass is e+er
going to %e worth culti+ating# They stripped these seeds, remo+ed the husks and ground the grains
31
to flour# :ater, they would go on to sow the surplus seeds# Farming had %egun - and e+er since,
together we'+e %een %reaking %read#
The result was as profound a transformation for human %eings as any re+olution in history# This
process of settling down did, of course, make you more +ulnera%le to a crop failure, pests,
diseases, a%o+e all to the weather, %ut while things were good, society %oomed# guaranteed
a%undant food source fuelled a sustained population e$plosion, and people %egan to li+e in large
+illages of %etween two or three hundred - the highest concentration of people the world had yet
seen# .hen your larder is stocked, the pressure is off and you'+e got time to think, and these
rapidly growing, settled communities had the leisure to work out new social relationships and to
contemplate the changing pattern of their li+es#
7ur little sculpture of the entwined lo+ers may %e a response to this new way of li+ing - a different
way of thinking a%out oursel+es# .hat does it mean to depict the se$ual act in this way, at this
time- rchaeologist 2an 1odder, of *tanford Cni+ersity, has done a lot of work on this period and
he sees here a process he calls the 'domestication of the mind'9
'The 'atufian culture is really %efore fully domesticated plants and animals, %ut you already ha+e a
sedentary society# nd so, 2 think that this particular o%3ect, %ecause of its focus on humans and
human se$uality in such a clear way, is part of that general shift towards a greater concern with
domesticating the mind, domesticating humans, domesticating human society, %eing more
concerned with human relationships rather than on the relationships %etween humans and wild
animals, and on the relationships %etween wild animals themsel+es#'
s you hold the in *akhri pe%%le and turn it round, what's striking is not 3ust that there are clearly
two human figures rather than one, %ut that it's impossi%le, %ecause of the way the stone has %een
car+ed, to say which is male and which is female - could that generalised treatment, that am%iguity,
ha+e %een a deli%erate intention on the part of the maker- .e 3ust don't know, %ut we don't know
either how this little statue would ha+e %een used# *ome scholars think it might ha+e %een
connected with fertility, %ut 2an 1odder takes a different +iew9
'This o%3ect is one that could %e read in many ways, and 2 think that earlier on, one would ha+e
often thought that these notions of se$ual coupling, and se$uality itself, were linked to ideas of the
mother goddess, %ecause it's %een assumed that when you ha+e the first farmers their main concern
is the fertility of the crops#
'/y own +iew is in fact that the e+idence is not really supporting this idea of a dominant mother
goddess +ery early on, %ecause there are now +ery e$citing new disco+eries that really ha+e no
representations of women at all - most of the sym%olism is +ery, +ery phallocentric, so my +iew at
the moment is that se$uality is important in these early farming societies, %ut not in terms of
reproductionIfertility, children and mothering and nurturing - that sort of thing, it's really more
clearly a%out the se$ act itself#'
Certainly, to me, the tenderness of the em%racing figures suggests not reproducti+e +igour, %ut
lo+e# 8eople are %eginning to settle and to form sta%le families, to ha+e more food, and therefore
more children, and perhaps this is the first moment in human history when a mate could %ecome a
hus%and or a wife#
ll these ideas may %e present in our sculpture of the lo+ers, %ut we're still largely in the realm of
historical speculation# 7n another le+el though, it speaks to us a%solutely directly, not as a
document of a changing society %ut as an elo5uent work of art# *culptor /arc Buinn again9
32
'There's the difference %etween art and artefact# n artefact is something from a time that stays in
that time like a piece of pottery and it %ecomes like a relic of that time# n artwork is something
that is from a time, %ut is also eternally in the present moment, and 2 think you can definitely say
that this sculpture is in the present moment# That to me is the great strength of making artwork,
you are making essentially emotional time-machines) you're making an o%3ect of meditation that
will communicate with people in ten thousand years time >were it to sur+i+e? in a +ery direct way -
2 mean, certain things are %eyond time#'
"ut in a sense nearly all o%3ects speak '%eyond time'# Throughout this series 2'll %e trying to
disco+er the stories of the people whose hands made the o%3ects - their fears, their hopes,
sometimes e+en their lo+es# From the in *akhri lo+ers to Dodin's statue of 'The <iss' there are
11,((( years of human history, %ut not, 2 think, much change in human desire#
2n the ne$t programme, we're on less romantic territory# 2'm with the world's first cow%oys, perhaps
more accurately the world's first cattle herders, in &gypt, and with another statue - of four small
cows#
33
Episode , - Egyptian -ainted -ottery #attle
/odel of four cattle >made around 5,5(( years ago?# 8ainted clay, found at &l mra, southern
&gypt
/ention e$ca+ation in &gypt, and most of us immediately see oursel+es entering Tutankhamun's
tom%, disco+ering the hidden treasures of the pharaohs and at a stroke rewriting history# spiring
archaeologists should %e warned that this happens only +ery rarely# /ost archaeology is of course
a slow dirty %usiness, followed %y e+en slower recording of what has %een found# nd the tone of
archaeological reports has a deli%erate, academic, almost clerical dryness, far remo+ed from the
riotous swagger of 2ndiana !ones#
2n 16((, a mem%er of the &gypt &$ploration *ociety e$ca+ated a gra+e in southern &gypt# 1e
so%erly named his disco+ery 0ra+e 23 and noted the contents9
'"ody, male# "aton of clay painted in red stripes, with imitation mace-head of clay# *mall red
pottery %o$, four-sided, 6 inches $ 4 inches# :eg %ones of small animal# 8ots and - stand of 4 clay
cows#'
These four little clay cows are a long way from the glamour of the pharaohs, %ut you could argue
that cows and what they represent ha+e %een far more important to human history# "a%ies ha+e
%een reared on their milk, temples ha+e %een %uilt to them, whole societies ha+e %een fed %y them,
economies ha+e %een %uilt on them# .ithout cows there are no cow%oys, and without cow%oys no
.ild .est# 7ur world would ha+e %een a different and a duller place without the cow#
'They were a +ery important part of the &gyptian economy# 2t %ecame essentially a sym%ol for life#'
>8rofessor Fekri 1assan?
'2t's not that easy for archaeologists to pin down how food processing worked in these early stages,
%ut some of these artefacts can gi+e us a good insight into it#' >8rofessor /artin !ones?
34
Four horned cows stand side %y side upon fertile land# nd indeed they'+e %een gra,ing on their
little patch of grass for a%out fi+e and a half thousand years# They're ancient &gyptian, more
ancient e+en than the pharaohs or the pyramids#
These cows are miniatures - small models, hand-moulded out of a single lump of 'ile ri+er clay#
nd on them you can still see +ery faint traces of %lack-and-white paint applied after the clay had
%een lightly %aked# :ike toy farm-animals of the sort most of us played with as children, they stand
only a few inches high, and the clay %ase that they share is roughly the si,e of a dinner plate# These
cows were %uried with a man in a cemetery near a small +illage near &l mra in southern &gypt#
:ike all the o%3ects 2'+e chosen this week, these creatures speak of the conse5uences of climate
change and human responses to it# They ha+e a story to tell a%out their owner that stretches far
%eyond 0ra+e 23#
ll of the things found in this gra+e were intended to %e useful in another world and, in a way
ne+er imagined %y the people who placed them there, they are# "ut they're useful for us, not for the
dead# "ecause they allow us uni5ue insights into remote societies, their way of death casting light
on their way of life, and perhaps e+en more important, they gi+e us some idea not 3ust of what
people did %ut of what they thought and %elie+ed#
/ost of what we know a%out early &gypt, that's &gypt %efore the pharaohs and the hieroglyphs, is
%ased on %urial o%3ects that archaeologists ha+e disco+ered, o%3ects like these little cows# They
come from a time when &gypt was populated only %y small farming communities li+ing along the
'ile Ealley# Compared to the spectacular gold and tom% ornaments of later &gypt, these little clay
cows are a modest thing# Funerals at that point were simpler) they didn't in+ol+e em%alming or
mummifying) that kind of practice wouldn't come for another thousand years# 2nstead we find a
simpler way of %urying people#
The owner of our four clay cows would ha+e %een laid in an o+al pit# 1e would ha+e %een placed
in a crouched position, lying on a mat of rushes, facing the setting sun# nd around him were his
gra+e goods - items of +alue for his 3ourney into the afterlife, fi+e and a half thousand years ago)
among them his four clay cows# Cow models like this one are 5uite common, so we can %e fairly
sure that cows must ha+e played a significant part in &gyptian daily life - such an important part, in
fact, that they couldn't %e left %ehind when the owner passed through death and on into the
afterlife# 1ow did this hum%le %east %ecome so important to human %eings- /artin !ones,
8rofessor of rchaeological *cience at Cam%ridge Cni+ersity, is an e$pert in the archaeology of
food9
'2f we think of the human diet in two steps - one is with early modern humans, there is an
enormous ad+enturous di+ersification# .e were eating e+erything - seeds, fish, mammoths, %irds -
anything that mo+es we are finding a way to eat it# nd then there is a second episode, which starts
around ten thousand years ago, where we seem to home in on a small num%er of target species,
particularly grass seeds >what we call cereals?, underground tu%ers, and a small num%er of
animals#'
The story %egins o+er nine thousand years ago, in the +ast e$panses of the *ahara# 2n &gypt then,
instead of today's landscape of arid desert, the *ahara was a lush, open sa+annah with ga,elles,
giraffes, ,e%ras, elephant and wild cattle roaming through it - happy hunting for humans#
"ut around eight thousand years ago, the rains that nourished this landscape dried up# .ithout rain,
the land %egan to turn to the desert that we know today, lea+ing people and animals to seek e+er-
dwindling sources of water# This dramatic change of en+ironment meant that people had to find an
alternati+e to hunting#
35
*omehow they found a way to tame wild cattle# 'o longer did they 3ust chase them, one %y one,
they learnt how to gather and manage herds, with which they tra+elled and from which they could
li+e# Cows %ecame almost literally the life%lood of these new communities# The needs of fresh
water and pasture for the cattle now determined the +ery rhythm of life as %oth human and animal
acti+ity %ecame e+er more intertwined# .hat role did these early &gyptian cattle play in this sort of
society- .hat did they keep cows for- 8rofessor Fekri 1assan has e$ca+ated and studied many of
these early &gyptian gra+es9
'These people had farming +illages, and 2 happen to ha+e e$ca+ated sites in the 'a5ada region#
nd we found remains of animal enclosures, as well as e+idence for the consumption of cattle# .e
found the %ones of these animals# nd these items, these models of cattle, were pro%a%ly produced
a millennium or more after cattle were introduced into &gypt#'
*tudy of the %ones of these cattle from ancient times shows the ages at which the animals were
killed# *urprisingly, many of them were old, at least too old if they were %eing kept only for food#
*o unless the early &gyptians en3oyed +ery tough steak, these are not in our sense %eef cattle# nd
they must ha+e %een kept ali+e for other reasons - perhaps to carry water or possessions on
3ourneys# "ut it seems more likely they were tapped for %lood which, if you drink it or add it to
stews, gi+es you essential e$tra protein - it's something we find in many parts of the world, and it's
still done today %y the nomadic peoples in <enya#
*o are our four cows a walking %lood %ank- The more o%+ious answer, that they were dairy cows,
we can pro%a%ly rule out, %ecause for se+eral reasons milk was unfortunately off the menu# 'ot
only did these early domesticated cows produce +ery little milk %ut, more importantly for humans,
drinking cows' milk is +ery much an ac5uired skill# /artin !ones again9
'There are a range of other foods that our distant ancestors would not ha+e eaten as readily as we
do, something as commoplace as milk is something that we ha+e had to e+ol+e to tolerate, %ecause
milk is %iologically designed 3ust for +ery young mammals, and we needed to genetically e+ol+e in
order to tolerate drinking milk as adults, and indeed a great num%er of modern peoples around the
world don't ha+e that tolerance of drinking milk as adults#'
*o, drinking cows' milk would pro%a%ly ha+e made these early &gyptians +ery ill, %ut they and
many other populations e+entually adapted# .e're not only what we eat, we are essentially what
our ancestors - with great difficulty - 'learned' to eat#
"ut in early &gypt cows were pro%a%ly also kept as a kind of insurance policy# 2f crops or the
immediate surroundings were damaged %y fire, communities could always fall %ack on the cow for
nourishment as a last resort) perhaps not the %est thing to eat, %ut always there# They were also
socially and ceremonially significant %ut, as Fekri 1assan e$plains, their importance went e+en
deeper9
'Cattle ha+e always had religious significance, %oth the %ulls and the cows) it's related mostly to
life# 2n the desert a cow was the source of life# nd we ha+e many representations in rock art,
where we see cows with their cal+es in a more-or-less a religious scene - and we also see human
female figurines, also modelled from clay, with raised arms as if they were horns# *o it seems to
me that cattle were 5uite important in religious ideology#'
The cattle in front of me don't show any outward signs of %eing particularly special# 7n closer
inspection, howe+er, they don't look like the cows you find on the farm today, anywhere across
&urope, 'orth merica or the /iddle &ast# Their horns are strikingly different - they cur+e
forwards and much lower than any cows that we know, and that's %ecause they're not like the cows
that we know#
34
ll the cows ali+e in the world today descend from sia# 7ur &gyptian model cows look different
from the ones we know today %ecause they were descended from nati+e frican cattle, which ha+e
now %ecome e$tinct#
long the 'ile Ealley, the cow e+entually transformed human e$istence, and in fact %ecame so
much a central part of the &gyptian world that it e+en inspired worship# .e all need our gods to %e
close to what we eat# .hether this cow worship started as early as the time of our little model cows
is still a matter of de%ate, %ut in later &gyptian mythology the cow takes on a prominent role in
religion, worshipped as the powerful cow goddess "at# *he is typically shown with the face of a
woman and the ears and horns of a cow# nd we can see 3ust how far cattle ha+e gained in status,
%y the fact that su%se5uently, &gyptian kings were honoured with the title "ull of his /other - the
cow had come to %e seen as the creator of the pharaohs#
2n the ne$t programme, 2'm mo+ing from cows to corn - %ut 2'm staying with the gods - this time,
the all-powerful god of mai,e, in /e$ico#
3=
Episode . - Maya mai/e god statue
/aya mai,e god >made around 1,3(( years ago?# *tone statue, found in 1onduras
The sound of worship coming from a Christian Church in Chiapas, the southernmost state of
/e$ico, indicates where the local 2ndian population are offering their god, not 3ust their de+otion,
%ut also their food - it's a practice they'+e %een following for thousands of years# 'owadays we like
to say 'we are what we eat', %ut for generations among the faithful, it's %een e5ually true to say 'we
worship what we eat'#
This willingness to +enerate the food on our plate seems to arri+e at a particular moment in human
de+elopment - and it tells us much more a%out a society than its fa+ourite supper dish#
'2t's always present in one way or another - either to %e eaten, or to %e looked at, or to %e
worshipped# 2t is part of the cultural identity#' >Destaurateur *antiago Cal+a?
*ome archaeologists argue that food must always ha+e had a di+ine role e+en for our earliest
ancestors) 3ust think of the cow goddess of &gypt, or "acchus and Ceres of classical mythology, or
nnapurna, the 1indu goddess of food# "ut there's a particular time, after the end of the 2ce ge,
so %etween ten and fi+e thousand years ago roughly, when a range of new foods seems to %e
accompanied %y a range of new gods# cross the world, people %egan to identify particular plants
that would pro+ide them with food# 2n the /iddle &ast - as we saw in the last programme - it was
wheat and %arley) in China millet and rice) in 8apua 'ew 0uinea taro) and in frica sorghum#
nd, as they did so, e+erywhere stories a%out gods emerged) gods of death and of re%irth, gods
who would guarantee the cycle of the seasons and ensure the return of the crops, and gods - more
importantly - that represent food itself# Today's o%3ect is myth-made material) a food god from
Central merica#
1ere, in the heart of the "ritish /useum, we ha+e a god of mai,e# 1e's a %ust, car+ed of limestone
using a stone chisel and a %asalt hammer, and the features are large, symmetrical, the eyes closed,
3;
the lips parted - as though this god is in communion with a different world, 5uietly meditating# The
arms are %ent, the palms of the hands face outwards - one raised, one lower - gi+ing an impression
of serene power# The head of the god is co+ered with an enormous headdress in the shape of a
stylised corn co%, and his hair is like the silky strands that line the inside of a co% of corn, inside
the wrapping lea+es#
7riginally this statue would ha+e sat with many other similar gods high up on a stepped pyramid-
style temple in western 1onduras# 1e was found in CopMn, a ma3or /ayan city and religious
centre, whose monumental ruins you can still +isit today# ll of the temple's statues were
commissioned %y the /ayan ruler of the day, to adorn the magnificent temple that he %uilt at
CopMn around @ =((# "etween the head and the %ody you can +ery clearly see the 3oin, and
indeed the head looks rather too %ig for the %ody, %ecause when the temple in CopMn >in western
1onduras, from which this came? was destroyed, all the statues fell, and heads and %odies were
pieced together, %ut whether this head and this %ody precisely %elong together is actually not the
key thing - %ecause all these gods are a%out the central power, the central role, of mai,e to the local
people# 7ur statue of the mai,e god is o%+iously a comparati+e new %oy) he's made as late as @
=((# "ut he comes at the end of a +ery long tradition) Central mericans had %een worshipping
him and his predecessors for thousands of years, and his mythic story mirrors the annual planting
and har+esting of the corn on which all Central merican ci+ilisation depended# :ike the mai,e
plant, the mai,e god is decapitated at har+est time, and is then re%orn - fresh, young, and %eautiful
at the %eginning of each new growing season# !ohn *taller, anthropologist and author of the %ook
'1istories of /ai,e' e$plains why the mai,e god was a common choice for rich and powerful
patrons9
'The elite from ancient societies focussed upon corn as ha+ing sacred kinds of properties which
they then associated with themsel+es# nd this is pretty o%+ious in the young mai,e god - the
sculpture was apparently a manifestation of mythological %eings resulting from the third /aya
creation# There were eight mythological %eings, four women and four men, who are the ancestors
of all the /aya people# The /aya %elie+ed that their ancestors essentially came from corn, and
they were formed of yellow and white mai,e dough# /ai,e was certainly a primary focus of ritual
and religious +eneration %y ancient /eso-merican people, going %ack all the way %efore the
/aya and e+en into the 7lmec ci+ilisation#'
*o our mai,e god is not 3ust a hauntingly %eautiful statue, he gi+es us a real insight into the way
ancient merican society thought a%out itself and its en+ironment# The mai,e god represents %oth
the fact of the agricultural cycle of planting, har+esting and replanting, and the faith in a parallel
human cycle of %irth, death and re%irth - %ut more, he is the +ery stuff of which the Central
mericans are made# .here the 1e%rew god made dam out of dust, the /ayan gods used mai,e
to make their humans# The mythical story is told in the most famous epic in the whole of the
mericas, the '8opol Euh'# For generations, this was passed on through oral traditions %efore
finally %eing written down in the se+enteenth century# 1ere's a taste of it9
'nd here is the %eginning of the conception of humans and of the search for the ingredients of the
human %ody ### *o they spoke) the %earer, %egetter, the makers, modellers - and a so+ereign plumed
serpent - they sought and disco+ered what was needed for human flesh# 2t was only a short while
%efore the sun, moon and stars were to appear a%o+e the makers and modellers# *plit place, %itter
water place, is the name, the yellow corn, white corn, came from there# nd this was when they
found the staple foods, and then the yellow corn and white corn were ground# fter that they put
into words the making, the modelling of our first mother-father, with yellow corn, white corn alone
for the flesh, food alone for the human legs and arms for our first fathers, the four human works#'
"ut why did mai,e %ecome the fa+oured food and the re+ered grain of the mericas- .hy not
wheat or a certain type of meat- The answer lies not in mai,e's di+ine connections, %ut in the
36
en+ironment that Central merica offered# 2n this part of the world at this time around nine
thousand years ago, other food resources were +ery thin on the ground# There were no easily
domesticated animals - as you would find pigs, sheep or cattle elsewhere - and the staples were a
trinity of plants that were slowly culti+ated and tamed9 s5uashes, %eans and mai,e# "ut %eans and
s5uashes don't %ecome gods - why does mai,e-
.ell, the plant from which mai,e deri+es, the teosinte, is wonderfully adapta%le# 2t's a%le to grow
in %oth the lush wet lowlands and the dry mountainous regions, which means that farmers can
plant crops in any of their seasonal dwellings# 7n top of that, constant har+esting of the grain
encourages the plants to grow larger and more a%undantly, so mai,e 5uickly %ecame plentiful -
farmers got a healthy return for in+esting their la%our# "ut crucially, mai,e is a rich car%ohydrate
that gi+es you a rapid energy hit# "ut it is, let's face it, pretty stodgy, and so from +ery early on,
farmers also culti+ated an ingenious - and tasty - accompaniment) the indigenous chilli# 2t has
+irtually no nutritional +alue %ut, as we all know, it's uni5uely a%le to li+en up dull car%ohydrates -
and it shows that we'+e %een foodies for as long as we'+e %een farmers#
"y @ 1(((, mai,e had spread north and south, +irtually through the whole length of the
mericas) which is perhaps surprising - %ecause, in its earliest form, not only did mai,e ha+e little
taste, it was practically inedi%le# 2t couldn't 3ust %e %oiled and eaten straight away as it is today#
'ine thousand years ago, the mai,e co% was +ery hard, and eating it raw would ha+e made you
+ery ill# 2t needed to %e cooked in a mi$ture of water and white lime# This ela%orate process of
%oiling the raw kernel in lime and water was essential# .ithout it, the two key nutrients in the
+egeta%le - the amino acids and +itamin " - would not %e released# fter all that, it had to %e
ground into a paste and then made into an unlea+ened dough# The god of mai,e e$pected his
disciples to work hard for their supper# &+en today, mai,e still dominates much of /e$ican
cuisine, and it still carries a surprisingly powerful religious and metaphorical charge, as
restaurateur *antiago Cal+a knows only too well9
'The continuous spin-offs of mai,e into daily life is +ast and comple$# t some stage there will
always %e mai,e around, and it 3umps any class %arrier or identity# &+ery%ody eats it and drinks it,
from the richest to the poorest, from the most indigenous to the least indigenous, and that's one
thing that unites more than anything else#
'/ai,e culture faces two new pro%lems, one %eing the use of mai,e as a %io-fuel and the increment
of prices, where it directly affects the /e$ican population# The other pro%lem %eing the
genetically-modified mai,e, it's almost personally offensi+e - and religiously - that you are playing
0od, as it were ### it's 3ust +ery sensiti+e# &specially when you take corn to %e used for other
purposes other than to %e eaten or %e worshipped, %ut rather to %e put into a car - it %ecomes a
highly contro+ersial issue#'
*o e+en today for some people it's unthinka%le that mai,e, the di+ine food, should end up in a
petrol tank# .ell %eyond /e$ico, the idea of genetic modification of crops still causes deep
unease, as much religious as scientific - a sense that the natural order is %eing distur%ed, that
humans are trespassing on territory that's properly reser+ed for the gods# 2n a +ery real sense, the
/e$ican mai,e god is still ali+e, and he's not to %e trifled with#
2n our ne$t programme, we'll %e turning from the food of the gods to the +essels that it's cooked in#
.e'll %e in !apan, with some of the oldest pottery in the world, and the %irth of the stew#
4(
Episode 10 - 1omon pot
!omon pot >made around 5,((( "C?# Clay, found in !apan
Thousands of years ago, one of our ancestors must accidentally ha+e made their first pot# .e can
imagine that a lump of wet clay somehow ended up in the fire, dried out, hardened and formed a
hollow shape) a shape that could hold things, in a tough material# Cntil now, for the 2ce ge cook,
lea+es were soggy, %askets and skins leaked and %urned, and meat charred# *uddenly, when that
wet clay hardened, a whole world of culinary possi%ilities and ceramic design opened up#
The miraculous accident that produced pottery coincided with some great de+elopments in human
history# 2n the pre+ious four programmes, 2'+e %een looking at the way humans %egan to rear
animals and to culti+ate plants# s a conse5uence, they started to cook differently, to eat new
things and therefore to li+e differently - they settled down# Today, we're in !apan, a%out se+en
thousand years ago, with an ancient pot made in a tradition that goes %ack almost ten thousand
years %efore that#
'The earliest dates we'+e got for pottery are around a%out 14,5(( years ago, and that in itself has
caused 5uite a fuss %ecause this is still what most people recognise as the 7ld *tone ge - with
people hunting %ig game animals# .e don't really e$pect to find pottery 5uite as early as that#'
>*imon <aner?
2t was in !apan that the world's first pottery was %orn - and with it, possi%ly the world's first stew#
Hou'll find pots in museums all around the world and in the &nlightenment 0allery of the "ritish
/useum, we ha+e pots from all o+er the world) 0reek +ases with heroes fighting on them, /ing
%owls from China, pot-%ellied frican 3ars and %eautiful .edgwood tureens# The world's pots are
so u%i5uitous that we take all of them for granted, %ut human history is told and written in pots
perhaps more than in anything else) as Do%ert "rowning put it9 'Time's wheel runs %ack or stops)
potter and clay endure'#
41
This !omon pot is an e$tremely important pot# 2t's pretty underwhelming to look at - in fact it's
5uite dull# 2t's made of %rown-grey clay, a simple round pot a%out the si,e of the %ucket that
children play with on the %each, a%out si$ inches high, si$ inches across at the top, and its got it's
got straight sides and a flat %ase, and it was made a%out se+en thousand years ago in !apan#
.hen you look more closely, you can see that it was %uilt up with coils of clay and then, into the
outside, fi%res ha+e %een pressed, so that when you hold it, you feel as though you are actually
holding a %asket# 2t looks and feels like a %asket in clay#
The %asket - like markings on this and other !apanese pots of the same time, are in a cord pattern
and that's in fact what their name is in !apanese# They are !omon - or 'cord-pattern' pots# nd the
word !omon has come to %e used not 3ust for the o%3ects, %ut for the people that made them, and
e+en the whole historic period in which they were li+ed# 2t was the !omon people li+ing in what is
now northern !apan, who created the world's first pots# *imon <aner, of the Cni+ersity of &ast
nglia, is a specialist in ancient !apanese culture9
'2n &urope we'+e always assumed that people who'+e made pottery were farmers, and that it was
only through farming that people were a%le to stay in one place, %ecause they'd %e a%le to %uild up
a surplus that they could then su%sist on through the winter months, and it was only if you were
going to stay in one place all the year round, that you'd %e making pottery, %ecause it's an awkward
thing to carry around with you#
'The !apanese e$ample is really interesting, %ecause what we ha+e here is pottery %eing made %y
people who were not farmers, and it's one of the %est e$amples that we'+e got from anywhere in
the world really - from pre-history, of people who su%sisted on fishing, gathering nuts and other
wild resources, and hunting wild animals - that they also had a need for cooking pots#'
The !omon way of life seems to ha+e %een pretty comforta%le# They li+ed near the sea and they
relied on fish as a main source of food, that is, a food that came to them, so they didn't ha+e to
mo+e around as land-roaming hunter-gatherers did# They also had easy access to a%undant plants
with nuts and seeds, so there was no imperati+e to domesticate animals or to culti+ate particular
crops# 8erhaps %ecause of this plentiful supply of fish and food, farming took a long time to
esta%lish itself in !apan, compared to the rest of the world# *imple agriculture, in the shape of rice,
arri+ed in !apan only two thousand fi+e hundred years ago, %ut in pots, the !apanese were +ery
much ahead of the game#
"efore the disco+ery of the pot, people stored their food in holes in the ground or in %askets - %oth
+ulnera%le to thie+ing creatures and, in the case of the %askets, to wear and to weather# 8utting
your food in sturdy clay containers that you can co+er, keeps freshness in and mice out and, as for
the shape and decoration of the new pots - well, ha+ing no pottery tradition to learn from, the
!omon looked at what they already had - %askets# *o it's not surprising that they make pots that
look like %askets, and indeed, look like each other# 8rofessor Takashi @oi is *enior rchaeologist
at the gency of Cultural ffairs in !apan9
'For !omon people the decorations are deri+ed from what they saw around them in the natural
world - the motifs were inspired %y trees, plants, shells, animal %ones# The %asic patterns are
applied using twisted plant fi%res or twisted cords, and there is an ama,ing +ariety in the ways you
can twist your cords - there is an ela%orate regional and chronological se5uence that we ha+e
identified# 7+er the years of the !omon period we can see o+er four hundred local types or regional
styles# Hou can pin down some of these styles to 25-year time slots, they were so specific with their
cord markings#'
42
s well as making attracti+e and stylised storage pots, the !omon must ha+e %een also thrilled at
the leak-proof, heat-proof properties of their new kitchenware# The menu would ha+e included
+egeta%les and nuts, %ut they also cooked shellfish - oysters, cockles and clams# /eat was pot-
roasted or %oiled - and so !apan appears to %e the %irthplace of the soup and the stew# *imon <aner
again9
'.e're 5uite lucky they weren't +ery good at washing up, these guys - and so they'+e left some
car%onised remains of foodstuffs inside these pots, there are %lack deposits on the interior surfaces#
2n fact, some of the +ery early ones, some of those ones that are now dated to a%out 14,((( years
ago - there's %lack incrustations, and its that car%onised material that has %een dated - we think
they were pro%a%ly used for cooking up some +egeta%le materials- 8erhaps they were cooking up
fish %roths- nd it's possi%le they were cooking up nuts, using a wide range of nuts - including
acorns - that you need to cook and %oil for a long time %efore you can actually eat them#'
2 think that this is a really interesting point - that pots change your diet# 'ew foods %ecome
a+aila%le and usea%le only once they can %e %oiled# 1eating shellfish in water forces the shells to
open, making it easier to get at the contents, %ut also, and no less importantly, it sorts out which
ones are %ad - %ad ones stay closed# 2t's alarming to think of the trial-and-error in+ol+ed in
disco+ering which foods are in fact edi%le - there must ha+e %een plenty of horri%le accidents
along the way - %ut it's a process that was going on all o+er the world#
The !omon hunter-gatherer way of life, enriched and transformed %y the making of !omon pottery,
didn't radically change for o+er 14,((( years# lthough the oldest pots in the world were made in
!apan, the techni5ue didn't spread from there# 8ottery seems to ha+e %een in+ented in different
places at different times right across the world# The first pots known from the /iddle &ast and
'orth frica were made a few thousand years after the earliest !omon pots, and in the mericas it
was a few thousands of years after that# "ut almost e+erywhere in the world, the in+ention of the
pot was connected with new cuisines and a more +aried menu#
'owadays !omon pots are used as cultural am%assadors for !apan in ma3or e$hi%itions around the
world# /ost nations look %ack to imperial glories or in+ading armies - and 2 think it's e$traordinary
that a technologically, economically powerful nation like !apan proudly places the +ery origins of
its identity in the early hunter-gatherers# s an outsider, 2 find the meticulous attention to detail and
the patterning of the surface, and the long continuity of !omon traditions, already +ery !apanese#
8rofessor Takashi @oi again9
'!apan has the longest pottery-making tradition in the world# The fine porcelains made %y !apan's
top craftsmen and women today ha+e an inheritance lasting o+er 1=,((( years# !omon pots and
culture ha+e great resonance for many !apanese people today, perhaps %ecause it speaks of the
distincti+e nature of !apanese culture that often stresses continuity through change#'
"ut the story of our small !omon pot doesn't end here, %ecause 2 ha+en't yet descri%ed to you what
is perhaps the most e$traordinary thing of all a%out it - that the inside is, when you look, carefully
lined with lac5uered gold leaf#
.hat's fascinating a%out trying to tell a history through o%3ects is that they go on to ha+e li+es and
destinies ne+er dreamt of %y those who made them - and that's certainly true of this pot# That gold
leaf was applied somewhere %etween the se+enteenth and nineteenth centuries, when ancient pots
were %eing disco+ered, collected and displayed %y !apanese scholars# nd it was pro%a%ly a
wealthy collector a couple of hundred years ago who had the inside of the pot lac5uered with a thin
layer of gold# fter se+en thousand years of e$istence, our !omon pot then %egan a new life - as a
'mi,usashi', or water 3ar, for that 5uintessentially !apanese ritual, the Tea Ceremony#
43
2 don't think that its maker would ha+e minded# .e know there were all sorts of rituals and
ceremonies in+ol+ing pots in the time of the !omon# 2n that society, as in +irtually all others, pots
5uickly went %eyond their functional purpose to %ecome o%3ects of desire and display# 2n their
many manifestations, pots resonate throughout human history, from the most primiti+e domestic
meal or drink to the :ast *upper) from a nomadic snack to an international %an5uet# 2f mealtimes
are a microcosm of society, then pots are the +ery glue that %inds hosts and guests, indeed the
whole of society, together#
This week we'+e traced the %eginnings of farming and settlement) in the ne$t programmes, we're
with the conse5uences9 the world's first cities#
44
T,* 0i+s) Ci)i*s an2 3)a)*s (7### $ !### &C)
Episode 11 - 2ing 3en)s sandal la4el
<ing @en's sandal la%el >made around 3((( "C?# 1ippopotamus i+ory, found in %ydos, &gypt
There's a compelling show%i, mythology of the modern %ig city - the energy and the a%undance,
the pro$imity to culture and power, the streets that 3ust might %e pa+ed with gold# .e'+e seen it
and we'+e lo+ed it, on stage and on screen# "ut we all know that in reality %ig cities are noisy,
potentially +iolent and alarmingly anonymous# .e sometimes 3ust can't cope with the sheer mass
of people#
pparently, if you look at how many num%ers we're likely to store in our mo%ile phone, or how
many names we're likely to list on a social networking site, it's +ery rare e+en for city dwellers to
e$ceed a couple of hundred# *ocial anthropologists delightedly point out that this is the si,e of the
social group we'd ha+e had to handle in a large *tone ge +illage# ccording to them, we're all still
trying to cope with modern city life with a *tone ge social %rain#
*o how do you lead and control a city or a state where most people don't know each other, and you
can only personally persuade a +ery small percentage of the inha%itants- 2t's the central theme of
this week's programmes, and it's %een the key political 5uestion for o+er fi+e thousand years, since
the growth of the world's first cities and states# These grew up in the world's great fertile ri+er
+alleys, the &uphrates, the Tigris and the 2ndus, %ut 2 want to start with the most famous ri+er of
them all, the 'ile#
GThere's no dou%t that warfare and the coerci+e power of the king is +ery much at the heart of the
regime from an early period#G >To%y .ilkinson?
45
G2t's a fine image of %ashing - so it's +iolent, it's elegant, e$pressi+e, and it's %eautiful as well#G
>*te+e "ell?
Today's o%3ect shows us that in the &gypt of the pharaohs, the answer to the 5uestion of how to
e$ert leadership and state control o+er a large population was 5uite simple9 force#
2f you're going to talk a%out the &gypt of the pharaohs, the "ritish /useum gi+es you a spectacular
choice - monumental sculptures, painted mummy cases, and much much more %ut, as we're talking
a%out a society that was created %y its ri+er, 2'+e chosen an o%3ect that came 5uite literally from the
mud of the 'ile# 2t's made from a tusk of a hippo, and it %elonged to one of &gypt's first pharaohs -
<ing @en# 8er+ersely for an o%3ect that's going to let us e$plore power on a massi+e scale, it is
a%solutely tiny#
2'm holding it now# 2t's a%out one and a half inches s5uare, it's +ery thin and it looks and feels a %it
like a modern-day %usiness card# "ut, in fact, it's a la%el - a la%el that was once attached to a pair of
shoes) not any old shoes - these were sandals of the highest status, %ecause this little i+ory pla5ue
is a name tag for an &gyptian pharaoh, made to accompany him as he set off to the afterlife# The
nearest modern e5ui+alent 2 can think of to this is the 2@ card that e+ery%ody working in an office
now has to wear round their necks to get past the security check# 2t's not immediately clear who
was meant to read these la%els, whether they're aimed at the gods of the afterlife or perhaps the
ser+ants that might not know their way around# The images themsel+es are made %y scratching into
the i+ory and then ru%%ing a %lack resin into the incisions, so that you get a wonderful contrast
%etween the %lack and the cream of the i+ory# *o, through this little i+ory name tag, we're
immediately close to these first kings of &gypt) rulers around 3((( "C, of a new kind of
ci+ilisation that would produce some of the greatest monumental art and architecture e+er#
"efore the first pharaohs, &gypt was +ery much a country di+ided, split %etween the east-west
/editerranean-facing strip of the @elta in the north, and the north-south string of settlements along
the ri+er itself# .ith the 'ile flooding e+ery year, har+ests were plentiful, so there was enough
food for a rapidly growing population and there was still some surplus to trade with# "ut there was
a%solutely no e$tra fertile land %eyond the flooding area# *o, ine+ita%ly, people fought o+er what
land was a+aila%le# Conflict followed conflict, with those from the @elta e+entually %eing
con5uered %y the people from the south and, 3ust %efore 3((( "C, &gypt was united# 2t's one of the
earliest societies that we can think of as a state in the modern sense, and as one of its earliest
leaders, <ing @en had to address all the pro%lems of control and co-ordination that a modern state
has to confront today#
Hou might not e$pect to disco+er how he did it from the la%el on his shoes, %ut @en's sandals were
no ordinary shoes, they were +ery high status items - and the <eeper of the *andals was one of the
high court officials, so it's not so surprising that on the %ack of the la%el we ha+e a clear statement
of how this pharaoh e$ercised power# The model e+ol+ed in @en's &gypt fi+e thousand years ago
resonates uncannily around the world to this day#
7n the other side from the sandals Jin the museumK is their owner, dressed in a royal head-dress
with a mace in one hand and a whip in the other# <ing @en stands in com%at, authoritati+ely
smiting an enemy who cowers at his feet# 7f course the first thing we look for is his sandals %ut,
disappointingly, he's %arefoot#
This little la%el is the first image in our series of a ruler - and it's striking that, right at the
%eginning, the ruler wants to %e shown as commander-in-chief, con5uering his foe# This is how,
from earliest times, power has %een pro3ected through images# There's something distur%ingly
familiar a%out this kind of image - it looks to us indeed a %it like a contemporary political cartoon,
and so we showed it to the political cartoonist, *te+e "ell, to ask him what he made of it9
44
G.ell, looking at this tiny o%3ect now, it is a genuinely archetypal image of power - it's the e$ercise
of power, it's some%ody %ossing it o+er some%ody else# nd this image of ha+ing a larger character
dominating a smaller character is o%+iously not to do with physical si,e, it's to do with sym%olic
si,e, sym%olic weight, and that e+en carries on into the world of naturalistic political cartoons to
this +ery day# 2 did it myself only yesterday# Hou find that characters you focus on often you draw
%igger, 3ust %ecause that's where the meaning is# 1ere we are - one of the earliest political images
of all time - it is 5uite something# There're no laughs there - %ut that comes laterAG
The la%el-maker's 3o% 'was' deadly serious - to keep his leader looking in+inci%le and semi-di+ine,
and to show that @en was the only man who could guarantee what &gyptians, like e+ery%ody else,
wanted from their rulers - law and order# .ithin the pharaoh's realm, e+ery%ody was e$pected to
conform and to take on a clear &gyptian identity# The message of our sandal la%el is that the price
of opposition was high and painful# nd the message is carried not only in images %ut %y writing -
there are some early hieroglyphs scratched into the i+ory#
The inscriptions gi+e us the name of <ing @en and, %etween him and the enemy, are the chilling
words 'they shall not e$ist'# This 'other' is going to %e o%literated# .ho he is we don't know %ut, to
the right of the la%el, is an inscription which reads9 'the first occasion of smiting the east'# nd, as
the sandy ground %eneath the figures rises to the right-hand side, it's %een suggested that the enemy
comes from the east, from *inai# ll the tricks of sa+age political propaganda are already here - the
ruler calm and +ictorious, the alien misshapen, defeated enemy#
The area that this &gyptian state was a%le to coerce and control is staggering) at its height, it
included +irtually all the 'ile Ealley from the @elta to what is modern *udan, as well as a huge
area to the east up to the %orders of *inai# .e asked archaeologist To%y .ilkinson what state
%uilding on this scale re5uired9
G.ell o%+iously this is an early period in &gypt's history, when the nation is still %eing
consolidated, not so much territorially as ideologically and psychologically# nd the king and his
ad+isers are looking for ways to reinforce &gypt's sense of its own nationhood, and support for
their regime# nd 2 think they realised, as world leaders ha+e realised throughout history, that
nothing %inds a nation and a people together 5uite so effecti+ely as a foreign war against a
common enemy, whether that enemy is real or manufactured# nd so warfare plays really a key
role in, if you like, the consolidation of the &gyptian sense of their own nationhood#G
2t's a discouragingly familiar strategy# Hou win hearts and minds at home %y focussing on the
threats from a%road, %ut the weapons that you need to crush the enemy can come in handy when
you're dealing with domestic opponents as well# The political rhetoric of foreign aggression is
%acked up %y +ery %risk policing at home#
The apparatus of the modern state had %een forged# nd the enduring conse5uences were artistic as
well as political# 7nly power of this order could organise the enormous %uilding pro3ects that these
early pharaohs em%arked on# @en's ela%orate tom% with granite shipped from hundreds of miles
away, and the later, e+en grander pyramids, were possi%le only %ecause of the e$traordinary power
the &gyptian pharaohs could e$ercise o+er the minds and the %odies of their su%3ects#
2n the ne$t programme, 2'll %e looking further east, %eyond *inai to /esopotamia - modern-day
2ra5# Two ri+ers there, not one, and not one great unitary state like &gypt, %ut competing groups of
rich city states# "ut the same pro%lems confront the rulers9 how do you control these large,
prosperous - %ut always tur%ulent - populations- nd in part at least, they came up with the same
answer9 force#
4=
Episode 12 - tandard of 5r
*tandard of Cr >made around 4,5(( years ago?# .ooden %o$ inlaid with mosaic, found in southern
2ra5
t the centre of pretty well all great cities, in the middle of the a%undance and the wealth, the
power, and the %usy-ness, you'll find a monument to @eath on a massi+e scale# 2t's the same in
8aris, .ashington, "erlin and :ondon#
t the moment, 2'm standing in .hitehall, 3ust a few yards from @owning *treet, the Treasury and
the /inistry of @efence, where the Cenotaph marks the death of millions in the great wars of the
last century# .hy is death at the heart of our cities- 8erhaps one e$planation is that in order to
retain the wealth and power that our cities represent, we ha+e to %e willing to defend them from
those who co+et them# 2n this week's programmes, 2'm looking at the moment, a%out fi+e thousand
years ago, when people first started li+ing in cities#
Today's o%3ect, from one of the oldest and the richest of them all - seems to say 5uite clearly that
the power of cities to get rich is indissolu%ly linked to the power to wage and win wars#
GFor the 2ra5is, it's a sym%ol of their +ery deep long tradition, %eing one of the centres of
ci+ilisation#G >:amia al-0hailani?
G*ince the in+ention of history, fi+e to si$ thousand years ago, a large part of history has %een the
history of competing classes and class conflicts - /ar$ was not so wrong#G >nthony 0iddens?
Cities started around fi+e thousand years ago, when some of the world's great ri+er +alleys saw a
step change in human de+elopment# Fertile land, farmed successfully, %ecame in 3ust a few
centuries +ery densely populated# 7n the 'ile this hugely increased population led, as we saw in
the last programme, to the creation of a unified &gyptian state# 2n /esopotamia, the land %etween
the ri+ers Tigris and &uphrates - now 2ra5 - the agricultural surplus, and the population that could
4;
support, led to settlements of up to 3(,((( - 4(,((( people, a si,e ne+er seen %efore, and to the first
cities# Co-ordinating groups of people on this scale o%+iously needed new systems of power and
control, and the systems de+ised in /esopotamia around 3((( "C ha+e pro+ed astonishingly
resilient# They ha+e pretty well set the ur%an model to this day# 2t's no e$aggeration to say that
modern cities e+erywhere ha+e /esopotamia in their @'#
7f all these earliest /esopotamian cities, the most famous was Cr# *o it's not surprising that it was
at Cr that the great archaeologist :eonard .oolley chose to carry out his e$ca+ations in the 162(s#
t Cr, .oolley found royal tom%s which themsel+es could ha+e %een the stuff of fiction# 2t was
.oolley who famously ga+e gatha Christie %oth a hus%and - she married his assistant - and the
inspiration for a no+el9 /urder in /esopotamia'# There was a 5ueen and the female attendants
who died with her, dressed in gold ornaments) there were sumptuous headdresses) a lyre of gold
and lapis la,uli) the world's earliest known %oard-game - and a mysterious o%3ect, which .oolley
initially descri%es as a pla5ue9
G2n the farther cham%er was a most remarka%le thing, a pla5ue, originally of wood, twenty three
inches long and se+en and a half inches wide, co+ered on %oth sides with a mosaic in shell, red
stone, and lapis) the wood had decayed, so that we ha+e as yet little idea of what the scene is, %ut
there are rows of human and animal figures, and when the pla5ue is cleaned and restored it should
pro+e one of the %est o%3ects found in the cemetery#G
This was one of .oolley's most stupendous finds# The 'pla5ue' was clearly a work of high art, %ut
its greatest importance is in what it tells us a%out the e$ercise of power in these early
/esopotamian cities#
.hat .oolley found is now in the "ritish /useum - and 2'm 3ust coming in to the /esopotamian
galleries to find it - here it is9 it's a%out the si,e of a small %riefcase, %ut it tapers at the top - so that
it looks almost like a large %ar of To%lerone# 2t's decorated all o+er with small mosaic scenes#
.oolley called it the *tandard of Cr, %ecause he thought it might ha+e %een a %attle standard that
you carried high on a pole in a procession or into %attle# .e'+e kept that name, %ut it's actually hard
to see how it could ha+e %een a standard of that sort, %ecause it's o%+ious that the scenes are meant
to %e looked at from +ery close up# *ome scholars ha+e thought it might %e a musical instrument or
perhaps 3ust a %o$ to keep precious things in, %ut we 3ust don't know# .e asked @r :amia al-
0hailani, a leading 2ra5i archaeologist who now works in :ondon, what she thinks this is9
GCnfortunately, we don't know what they used it for, %ut for myself, it represents the whole'
*umerians# 2t's war, it's peace, it's colourful, it shows how far the *umerians tra+elled - %ecause the
lapis la,uli came from fghanistan, the red mar%le came from 2ndia, and you'+e got all the shells
which came from the 0ulf# nd so it's a fantastic piece, and it's %eautifulAG
*o far in these programmes, each of the o%3ects 2'+e looked at has %een made in a single material -
stone or wood, %one or pottery - all of them su%stances that would'+e %een found close to where its
maker was li+ing# 'ow, for the first time in the series, 2'm looking at an o%3ect that is made of
se+eral different, 5uite e$otic materials# 7nly the %itumen which held together the different pieces
could ha+e %een found locally, it's a trace of what is now /esopotamia's greatest source of wealth -
oil#
.hat kind of society do you need to %e a%le to gather these materials in this way- Firstly it needs
to ha+e agricultural surplus, %ut it then needs a structure of power and control that allows the
leaders to mo%ilise that surplus and e$change it for e$otic materials along e$tended trade routes#
That surplus will also feed and support priests and soldiers, administrators and, critically,
craftsmen a%le to specialise in making comple$ lu$ury o%3ects like the *tandard# nd this is the
society that you can see on the *tandard itself#
46
7n the *tandard, the scenes are arranged like three comic strips, one on top of each other# 7ne side
shows what must %e any ruler's dream of how a ta$ system should operate# 2n the lower two
registers, people calmly line up to offer their tri%ute of produce and fish, sheep, goats and o$en)
and on the top register, the king and the elite, pro%a%ly priests, are feasting on the proceeds while
some%ody plays the lyre# nd you couldn't ha+e a clearer demonstration of how the structures of
power work in Cr9 the land workers shoulder their %urdens and deli+er offerings, while the elite
drink with the king - and to emphasise the king's pre-eminence, the artist has made him much
%igger than any%ody else - in fact so %ig that his head %reaks through the %order of the picture#
.hat we are looking at in the *tandard of Cr is a totally new model of how a society is organised#
.e asked the former @irector of the :ondon *chool of &conomics, 8rofessor nthony 0iddens, to
consider this shift in social organisation9
GFrom ha+ing a surplus, you get the emergence of classes, %ecause some people can li+e off the
la%our of others, which they couldn't do in traditional small agricultural communities - e+ery%ody
worked# Then you get the emergence of usually a priestly warrior class, you get the emergence of
organised warfare, you get the emergence of tri%ute and something like a state - which is really the
creation of a new form of power 2 think# *o all those things hang together, and that was the way it
happened really, the con3unction of all those things#
GHou can't ha+e a di+ision %etween rich and poor when e+eryone produces the same goods# *o it's
only when you get a surplus product which some people can li+e off and others ha+e to produce,
that you get a class system) and that soon emerges into a system of power and domination# nd
you see the emergence of indi+iduals who claim a di+ine right, that integrates with the emergence
of a cosmology, you ha+e the origin of ci+ilisation there %ut it's %ound up with %lood, it's %ound up
with dynamics, it's %ound up with personal aggrandisement - you can't really ha+e those things in
the same way in a small +illage community#G
2f one side of the *tandard shows the ruler running a flourishing economy, the other side shows the
army he needed to protect it - and that %rings me %ack to the thought that 2 %egan with) that it
seems to %e a continuous historical truth - that once you get rich you then ha+e to fight to hang on
to it# *o, it's not surprising that the king of ci+il society that we see on one side also has to %e the
commander-in-chief we see on the other# The two sides of the *tandard of Cr are in fact a super%
and alarmingly early illustration of the military-economic ne$us, of the ugly +iolence, that
underlies prosperity# :et's turn to the war scenes#
7nce again, the king's head %reaches the frame of the picture) he alone is shown wearing a full-
length ro%e and he holds a large spear, while his men lead prisoners off either to their doom or to
sla+ery# Eictims and +ictors look +ery alike - %ecause this is almost certainly a %attle %etween close
neigh%ours# The losers are shown stripped naked to emphasise the humiliation of their defeat# 2n
the %ottom row, we ha+e some of the oldest-known representations of chariots of war, and one of
the first disco+eries of what was to %ecome a classic graphic techni5ue - the artist shows the asses
that are pulling the chariots, mo+ing from a walk to a trot to a full gallop, gathering speed as they
go# 2t's a techni5ue that no graphic artist would %etter until the arri+al of film#
.oolley's disco+eries at Cr coincided with the early years of the modern state of 2ra5, created after
the collapse of the 7ttoman &mpire at the end of the First .orld .ar# 7ne of the focal points of
that new state was the 2ra5 /useum in "aghdad, which recei+ed the lion's share of the Cr
e$ca+ations# From the moment of disco+ery, there was a strong connection %etween 2ra5i national
identity and the anti5uities of Cr, so the looting of anti5uities from the "aghdad /useum during
the recent war in 2ra5 was felt +ery profoundly %y the 2ra5is9
GThe plundering of "aghdad has continued for a third day to the consternation of international aid
agencies ###G >""C news report?
5(
G ### at the 'ational /useum in "aghdad we were shown where *umarian artefacts were ripped
down when it was looted 3ust after the war, %ut e$perts say an e+en greater cultural crime is now
%eing committed# This official calls it a rape of the history of mankind'#G >""C news report?
"ut for 2ra5is in particular, these o%3ects ha+e a +ery special place# 1ere's :amia l-0hailani
again9
GFor the 2ra5is, we think of it as part of the oldest ci+ilisation - which is in our country, and we are
descendants of it# .e identify 5uite a lot of the o%3ects from the *umerian period that ha+e
sur+i+ed until now #### so ancient history is really the unifying piece of 2ra5 today#G
*o /esopotamia's past is a key part of 2ra5's future# rchaeology and politics are set to remain
closely connected as, tragically, are cities and warfare#
2 %egan this programme %y suggesting that all ur%an societies might ultimately depend on +iolence
to defend their wealth, %ut in the ne$t programme, 2'll %e taking a more hopeful +iew# 2'll %e in the
2ndus Ealley, in modern 8akistan and 2ndia, looking at a ci+ilisation whose cities were defined, not
%y memorials, kings and +ictories %ut, apparently, %y their peaceful plum%ingA
51
Episode 13 - 6ndus seal
2ndus seal >made 4,((( - 4,5(( years ago?# *tone stamp found in the 2ndus Ealley, 8akistan
2magine the great cities of the world gone fore+er# :ondon has slowly disappeared, su%merged
under the swollen Thames# Cairo, :os ngeles and *ydney ha+e all %een a%andoned to drought
and desert# Climate change has swallowed up our cities and they ha+e +anished without trace#
.hether this apocalyptic scenario is our future, or 3ust another 1ollywood disaster mo+ie, we or
our successors will find out# "ut what's certain, is that it 'has' happened '%efore'#
2 want to take you not 3ust to a city that was lost, %ut to an entire ci+ilisation that collapsed and
then +anished from human memory for o+er three and a half thousand years, largely due to climate
change# 2ts redisco+ery in 8akistan and north-west 2ndia was one of the great archaeological stories
of the twentieth century# nd in the 21st we're still piecing the e+idence together# .hat can we
now know a%out this lost world, the ci+ilisation of the 2ndus Ealley- The story %egins with a small
car+ed stone, used as a seal to stamp wet clay#
GHou could really say that that's where all the things that 2 am interested in - ci+il society - starts#G
>Dichard Dogers?
G2t speaks to me in so many different ways, and it doesn't appear to %e something that is alien 3ust
%ecause it %elongs to the third millennium "C#G >'ayan3ot :ahiri?
This week 2'm looking at how the first cities and states grew up along the great ri+ers of the world,
and how these new concentrations of people and of wealth were controlled# round fi+e thousand
years ago, the 2ndus Di+er flowed, as it still does today, down from the Ti%etan 8lateau into the
ra%ian *ea# The 2ndus ci+ilisation, which at its height co+ered nearly 2((,((( s5uare miles, grew
up in the rich, fertile floodplains# &$ca+ations ha+e re+ealed plans of entire cities, as well as
+igorous patterns of international trade# *tone seals from the 2ndus Ealley ha+e %een found as far
52
afield as the /iddle &ast and central sia, %ut the seals 2 want to tell you a%out were found in the
2ndus Ealley itself#
2'm in the sia study room of the "ritish /useum and in front of me is a small collection of stone
seals, made to press into wa$ or clay in order to claim ownership, to sign a document or to mark a
package# They were made %etween 25(( and 2((( "C# They're all s5uare-ish, a%out the si,e of a
modern postage stamp, and they're made of soapstone, so they're easy to car+e# nd they ha+e
%een %eautifully car+ed - they ha+e wonderfully incised images of animals# 2'+e got in front of me
an elephant, an o$, a kind of cross %etween a cow and a unicorn and, in my hand my fa+ourite, a
rhinoceros# ll the %easts ha+e a%o+e them a few sym%ols which look like writing, and we'll come
%ack to that later#
"ut, in historical terms, the most important of the lot is, without 5uestion, the seal that shows the
cow that looks a %it like a unicorn, for it was this seal that stimulated the disco+ery of the entire
2ndus ci+ilisation#
2t was disco+ered in the 1;5(s, near the town of 1arappa in what was then "ritish 2ndia, a%out 15(
miles south of :ahore in modern 8akistan# 7+er the ne$t 5( years, three more seals like it arri+ed
in the "ritish /useum, %ut no-one had any idea what they were, when or where they'd %een made#
"ut in 16(4, they caught the attention of the @irector of the rchaeology *ur+ey of 2ndia, !ohn
/arshall# 1e ordered the e$ca+ation of the ruins at 1arappa, where the first seal had %een found,
and what was disco+ered re-wrote world history#
/arshall's team found the remains of an enormous city and went on to find many others, dating
%ack to %etween 3((( and 2((( "C# This took 2ndian ci+ilisation much further %ack in time than
anyone had thought# nd it was now clear that this was a land of sophisticated ur%an centres, trade
and industry, and e+en writing# 2t ranked as a contemporary and an e5ual with ncient &gypt or
/esopotamia ### and it had %een totally forgotten#
The largest of the 2ndus Ealley cities like 1arappa and /ohen3o-@aro had populations of up to
3(,((( - 4(,((( people# They were %uilt on rigorous grid layouts, with carefully articulated
housing plans and ad+anced sanitation systems which e+en incorporated home plum%ing) they're a
modern town-planner's dream# The architect Dichard Dogers admires them greatly9
G.hen one's faced with a piece of ground where there is +ery limited constraints, there are not
many %uildings there and it's a sort of white piece of paper, the first thing you do is start putting a
grid on it, %ecause you want to own it and a grid is a way of owning it, a way of getting order# nd
architecture is really gi+ing order, harmony, %eauty, rhythm to space# Hou can see that e$actly in
1arappa, that's e$actly what they're doing - they were gi+ing e$actly those elements# nd there's
an aesthetic element with it, %ecause you can see this from their sculpture and so on - they ha+e an
aesthetic consciousness, and they also ha+e a consciousness of order, and they ha+e a
consciousness of economy, and those things link us straight o+er the fi+e thousand years to the
things that we are doing today#G
s we saw in &gypt and /esopotamia, the leap from +illage to city usually re5uired one dominant
ruler, a%le to coerce and deploy resources# "ut 3ust who ran these highly-ordered 2ndus Ealley
cities remains unclear# There is no e+idence for kings or pharaohs - or indeed for any leader at all#
nd this is largely %ecause, %oth literally and metaphorically, we don't know where the %odies are
%uried# There are none of the rich %urials which in &gypt or /esopotamia tell us so much a%out the
powerful, and a%out the society they controlled# .e ha+e to conclude that the 2ndus Ealley people
pro%a%ly cremated their dead and, while there may %e many %enefits in cremation ### for
archaeologists, if 2 may use the phrase, it's a dead loss#
53
.hat's left of these great 2ndus cities gi+es us no indication of a society engaged with, or
threatened %y, war# 'ot many weapons ha+e %een found, and the cities show no signs of %eing
fortified# There are great communal %uildings, %ut nothing that looks like a royal palace, and there
seems to %e little difference %etween the homes of the rich and the poor# *o what is going on here-
.e seem to ha+e a 5uite different model of how to create an ur%an ci+ilisation, without cele%ration
of +iolence or e$treme concentration of indi+idual power# 2s it possi%le that these societies were
%ased not on coercion %ut on consensus- 2s it going too far to see these 2ndus cities as an early
ur%an Ctopia- rchitect Dichard Dogers sees in them an e$emplary %alance %etween the pu%lic
and the pri+ate realm9
Gll culture stems from that early moment, all ci+il society stems from that and, in some ways,
things ha+e not changed as much as we would think - a house is still a house, the pu%lic domain or
go+ernment %uilding is still the same, a person sits on the stoop or step, he faces the sun or away
from the sun# There's a relationship %etween the pri+ate domain and pu%lic domain) so all those
things are really there - and the %eginning of go+ernment is there too# .e pride oursel+es in %eing
on one le+el +ery different %ut, actually, we're +ery close to those people#G
.e could get e+en closer if only we could read the writing on our seal, and others like it# %o+e
all, the animal images on the seals are a series of sym%ols - one looks like an o+al shield) others
look like matchstick human figures) there are some single lines, and there's a standing spear shape#
"ut what are they- 'um%ers, logos, sym%ols - or are they in fact a language- .e don't know# *ince
the early 16((s, people ha+e %een trying to decipher them - nowadays of course using computers -
%ut we 3ust don't ha+e enough material to go on#
The seals are often pierced, so they may ha+e %een worn %y their owners, and they were pro%a%ly
used to stamp goods for trading - they'+e %een found in 2ra5, 2ran, fghanistan and central sia#
*o, we ha+e a +ast network of comple$ organised cities with flourishing trading links to the world
%eyond, all thri+ing %etween 3((( and 2((( "C# nd then, around 16(( "C, it all comes to an end#
The cities turned to mounds of earth, and e+en the memory of this, one of the great early ur%an
cultures of the world, appears to ha+e +anished# .hy- 8ossi%ly the need for tim%er to ha+e fired
the %rick kilns of the huge %uilding industry may ha+e led to e$tensi+e deforestation# /ore
importantly, climate change seems to ha+e caused tri%utaries of the 2ndus to change course or to
dry up completely#
.hen the ancient 2ndus ci+ilisation was initially unearthed, the entire su%-continent was under
"ritish rule, %ut its territory now straddles %oth 8akistan and 2ndia# .e asked 8rofessor 'ayan3ot
:ahiri from @elhi Cni+ersity, a specialist on the 2ndus ci+ilisation, a%out its importance for %oth
countries today9
G2 think initially, in 1624 when it was disco+ered, we were looking at a nation which was
colonised# *o to %egin with there was a great sense of national pride, and a sense that we were
e5ual to, if not %etter than, our colonisers, and that considering this was the case that they should
actually lea+e 2ndia#
G'ow what happens after independence, of course, is that the newly created state of 2ndia is left
with 3ust one 2ndus site, this site of Danpur in 0u3arat, so there is an urgency to disco+er 2ndus
sites in 2ndia - hundreds of 2ndus sites today are known, not merely in 0u3arat %ut also in
Da3asthan, in 8un3a%, and e+en in Cttar 8radesh# 7n the other hand, in the case of 8akistan, of
course the great cities of /ohen3o-@aro and 1arappa, which were first e$ca+ated, are there# 2 don't
think there's a competition, there is, howe+er, a certain kind of poignant sentiment - that at least 2
ha+e - when 2 think of 2ndia and 8akistan and the 2ndus ci+ilisation, for no other reason e$cept that
54
the great remains, the artefacts, the pottery, the %eads etc that were found at these sites - they're 3ust
completely di+ided among the two states#G
.e need to know more a%out these great 2ndus cities, and our knowledge is still growing steadily,
%ut of course the %ig %reakthrough would come if we could read the signs on the seals# *o, if
you'+e got some time on your hands, this might %e the moment to a%andon *udoku, and come and
look at the 2ndus seals and %ecome the person that cracked the 2ndus Ealley script# Hou might 3ust
%e a%le to %ring a lost ci+ilisation %ack to life# 2n the meantime, the total disappearance of these
great ur%an societies is a chilling reminder of 3ust how fragile our own city life - indeed our whole
ci+ilisation - is#
2n the ne$t programme, we ha+e no writing at all - and a +ery different kind of society, far from the
ur%an sophistication of 2ndia and the /iddle &ast# For the first time in the series, we'll %e in
"ritain, where the ultimate lu$ury is a piece of 3ade#
55
Episode 14 - 1ade axe
!ade a$e >made around 4,((( years ago? found near Canter%ury
For most of history, to li+e in "ritain was to li+e at the edge of the world#
This week 2'+e %een in &gypt, /esopotamia, 8akistan and 2ndia, seeing how fi+e thousand years
ago cities and states grew up along some of the great ri+ers of the world# .e'+e e$plored their
styles of leadership and their architecture, their writing and the international trading networks that
let them ac5uire new skills and materials# "ut in the world %eyond these great ri+er +alleys, the
story was different# From China to "ritain, people continued to li+e in relati+ely small farming
communities, with none of the pro%lems or opportunities of the new large ur%an centres# .hat they
did share with them was a taste for the e$pensi+e and the e$otic, and thanks to well-esta%lished
trade-routes e+en in "ritain, on the outside edge of the sianI&uropean landmass, they had long
%een a%le to get what they wanted#
G2 think it's an e$traordinarily %eautiful o%3ect) almost any%ody presented with one of these things
would 3ust stop in their tracks, they're stunningAG >/ark &dmonds?
.e're in Canter%ury in this programme, around 4((( "C, where the supreme o%3ect of desire is a
polished 3ade a$e# t first sight our a$e looks like thousands of others in the "ritish /useum
collection, %ut it's thinner and it's wider than most of them# 2'm holding it now +ery carefully,
%ecause it still looks a%solutely %rand new - and +ery sharp# 2t's the shape of an o+ersi,ed tear drop
- a%out se+en inches long and at the %ase a%out two or three inches wide# 2t's cool to the touch and
e$traordinarily, pleasingly, smooth#
$es occupy a special place in the human story, the farming re+olution in the 'ear &ast took
generations to spread across the %readth of mainland &urope, %ut e+entually, a%out si$ thousand
years ago, settlers reached "ritish and 2rish shores in skin-co+ered %oats, %ringing with them crop
seeds and domesticated animals# They found thick forests co+ering the land# 2t was the a$e that
54
ena%led them to clear the spaces they needed to plant their seeds and gra,e their %easts# .ith a$es
the settlers made for themsel+es a new wooden world9 they felled tim%er and %uilt fences and
trackways, houses and %oats# These were the people who would also construct huge, mysterious
monuments like the first *tonehenge# *tone a$es were the re+olutionary tool that ena%led our
ancestors to create a green and pleasant land#
$es like this normally ha+e a haft - that is, they're fitted into a long wooden handle and they're
used like a modern a$e) %ut it's 5uite clear that our a$e has ne+er %een hafted - in fact, it shows no
signs of wear and tear at all# 2f 2 run my finger carefully, rather gingerly, round the %lade end, 2
can't feel e+en the smallest chip# The long flat surfaces are remarka%ly smooth and still ha+e a
glossy, mirror-like sheen#
The conclusion is o%+ious9 not only has our a$e not %een used - it was ne+er intended to %e used#
/ark &dmonds of Hork Cni+ersity e$plains how this magnificent prestige o%3ect was made9
G2f you ha+e the good fortune to handle one of these a$es - the feel in the hand, the %alance, the
weight, the smoothness - they ha+e %een polished to an e$traordinary degree# .e are talking a%out
hour upon hour of grinding against stone, and then polishing with fine sand or silt and water, and
then ru%%ing %ackwards and forwards in the hand, perhaps with grease and lea+es, to really gi+e
that polish - that's days and days of work# 2t gi+es the edge a really sharp and resilient %ite to it, %ut
the polishing also %rings out the shape, allows the control of form, and %rings out that
e$traordinary green and %lack speckled 5uality to the stone - it makes it instantly recognisa%le, it
makes it +isually +ery striking# nd those things may%e are 3ust as important almost as the cutting
edge#G
"ut perhaps the most e$citing thing a%out this a$e head is what it's made of9 not the usual
greyI%rown tones that you find in "ritish stones and flints - this a$e is a %eautiful striking green,
%ecause this tool is made from 3ade, or, to gi+e it its precise geological term, 3adeite#
!ade is of course foreign to "ritish soil - we tend to think of it as an e$otic material from the Far
&ast or from Central merica) in fact, %oth the Chinese and the Central merican ci+ilisations are
known to ha+e +alued 3ade far more highly than gold# "ut %oth these sources are thousands of
miles away, so archaeologists were %affled for many years %y where the 3ade in &urope could ha+e
come from# "ut there are actually sources of 3ade in continental &urope and, only a few years ago,
in 2((3 - so si$ thousand years after our a$e head was made - the precise origin of the stone it was
made from was disco+ered ### this lu$ury o%3ect is 2talian#
rchaeologists 8ierre and nne-/arie 8Ltre5uin spent 12 hard years sur+eying and e$ploring the
mountain ranges of the 2talian lps and the northern pennines# Finally they found the prehistoric
3ade 5uarries that our a$e comes from# 1ere's 8ierre 8Ltre5uin9
G1a+ing worked in 'ew 0uinea, and studied how and where the stone for the a$e heads came
from there, that's what ga+e the idea of going up +ery high in the lps to try and find the sources#
"ecause, again in the 16=(s, a lot of geologists had said ### oh ### that they would 3ust ha+e used
%locks of 3adeite or 3adetite that had %een washed down the mountains in the ri+ers and in the
glacial moraines# "ut that's not the case# *o, %y going much higher up, %etween 1,;(( and 2,4((
metres a%o+e sea le+el, they found the chipping floors and the actual source material - with signs
of it ha+ing %een used#
Gnd, in some cases, the raw material e$ists as +ery large %locks, isolated %locks in the landscape,
and it's 5uite clear that these were e$ploited %y setting fire against them, and then they would %e
a%le to knock off large thermal flakes and then work those up# *o the sign that's left on the stone,
it's a slightly hollow area - a scar as it were - then there are a large num%er of chips %eneath that#G
5=
"y using a scientific techni5ue de+eloped %y astronomers, the geological signature of any piece of
3ade can %e precisely identified and matched# The 8Ltre5uins found that the "ritish /useum a$e
could %e confidently linked to the 2talian lps# 2ndeed the readings of the geological signatures not
only matched the mountain, %ut they did so with such accuracy that the +ery %oulder that the a$e
came from could %e identified# nd e+en more e$traordinary, 8ierre 8Ltre5uin was a%le to track
down a geological si%ling for our a$e - another 3ade %eauty found in @orset# 1ere he is again9
Gnd in some cases it's possi%le to say that this particular a$e head here is from the same %lock of
raw material as the other one# *o, with the Canter%ury a$e head, that was from the same %lock as
one that was found in @orset, and it's clear that people must ha+e gone %ack to that %lock at
different times, it might %e centuries apart, %ut %ecause it's distincti+e compositionally, it's now
possi%le to say ### yep, that was the same %lock ### chips off the old %lockAG
The %oulder from which the "ritish /useum a$e was chipped si$ thousand years ago sits today, as
then, in a landscape high a%o+e the earth and sometimes a%o+e the clouds, with spectacular +istas
stretching as far as the eye can see# The 3ade-seekers seem to ha+e deli%erately chosen this special
spot - they could easily ha+e taken 3ade that was lying loose at the %ase of the mountains, %ut they
clim%ed up through the clouds - pro%a%ly %ecause there they could take the rock that came from a
place midway %etween our world on earth and the celestial realm of gods and ancestors# nd so
this 3ade was treated with e$treme care and re+erence, as if it contained special powers#
1a+ing 5uarried rough sla%s of 3ade, the stone-workers and miners would then ha+e had to la%our
to get the material %ack down to a place where it could %e crafted# 2t was a long, arduous task,
completed on foot and using %oats# ma,ingly, %ig %locks of this desira%le stone ha+e %een found
o+er 12( miles away - an astonishing achie+ement - and some of the material had an e+en longer
3ourney to make# !ade from here e+entually spread throughout northern &urope - some e+en as far
as *candina+ia#
.e can only guess - %ut we can, 2 think, make some guesses - a%out the 3ourney of our particular
a$e# !ade is e$tremely hard, and difficult to work, so much effort must ha+e gone into the shaping
of it# 2t's likely that it was first of all roughly sculpted in northern 2taly, and then carried hundreds
of miles across &urope to north-west France# 2t was pro%a%ly polished there, %ecause it's like a
num%er of other ones found in southern "rittany, where there seems to ha+e %een a fashion for
ac5uiring e$otic treasures like this# They e+en car+ed impressions of the a$es into the walls of their
+ast stone tom%s#
2n "ritain, si$ thousand years ago, the rarity, the %eautiful working and the distant origins of this
foreign material would ha+e gi+en our a$e a +ery high +alue, and it would ha+e %een an
e$ceptional gift - the e5ui+alent of a lu$ury watch perhaps, or an e$pensi+e piece of 3ewellery# .e
can only speculate how the hierarchies of prehistoric "ritish society might ha+e regarded this rare
and %eautiful thing, or what they might ha+e done with it# *imilar a$es in less +alua%le stones ha+e
also %een found unworn, and their e5ually pristine condition implies that they may ha+e ser+ed
special, perhaps ritual, purposes# /ark &dmonds again9
G"eyond the practical tasks that you can use one of these things for, a$es had a further significance
- a significance that came from where they were found, who you got them from, where and when
they were made, the sort of stories that were attached to them# *ometimes they were tools to %e
used and carried and forgotten a%out in the process, at other times they would come into focus as
important sym%ols to %e held aloft, to %e used as reminders in stories a%out the %roader world, and
sometimes to %e handed on - in an e$change with a neigh%our, with an ally, with some%ody you'd
fallen out with, and perhaps in e$ceptional circumstances, on someone's death, the a$e was
something that had to %e dealt with# 2t had to %e %roken up like the %ody, or %uried like the %ody,
and we do ha+e hundreds - if not thousands - of a$es in "ritain that appear to ha+e %een gi+en that
5;
kind of treatment) %uried in gra+es, deposited in ritual ceremonial enclosures, and e+en thrown into
ri+ers#G
That our a$e has no signs of wear and tear is surely a conse5uence of the fact that its owners chose
not to use it# This a$e was designed to make a mark not on the landscape %ut in society, and its
function was surely to %e aesthetically pleasing# 2ts sur+i+al in such good condition suggests that
people si$ thousand years ago found it 3ust as %eautiful as we do today# 7ur lo+e of the e$pensi+e,
the e$5uisite and the e$otic, has a +ery long pedigree#
2n the ne$t programme, an o%3ect much less %eautiful to %ehold# "ut it speaks of one of the most
momentous changes in human history# .e will %e in /esopotamia, e$ploring the origins of
writing#
56
Episode 1" - Early !riting ta4let
&arly writing ta%let >made around 5,((( years ago?# Clay, found in southern 2ra5
Can you imagine a world without writing- .ithout any writing at all-
'o forms to fill in of course, no ta$ returns, %ut also no literature, no science, no 'history'# 2t is
almost %eyond imagining, %ecause our modern life, and a%o+e all our modern go+ernment, is %ased
almost entirely on writing# 7f all mankind's great ad+ances, the de+elopment of writing is surely
the giant9 2 think you can say that it's had more impact on the e+olution of human society than any
other in+ention# "ut when and where did it %egin - and how- This programme's o%3ect is a piece of
clay, made 3ust o+er fi+e thousand years ago in a /esopotamian city# 2t's one of the earliest
e$amples of writing that we know) it's a%out %eer and the %irth of %ureaucracy#
GFor me, it's a first sign of writing, %ut it also tells you a%out the growth of the early %eginnings of
a state#G >0us 7'@onnell?
G2t's essential for the creation of what we think of as human ci+ilisation# 2t has a creati+e capacity
that may not e+en ha+e %een intended#G >!ohn *earle?
.hen, around fi+e thousand years ago, the earliest cities and states grew up in the world's fertile
ri+er +alleys, one of the challenges for leaders was how to go+ern these new societies# 1ow do you
control not 3ust a couple of hundred +illagers, as it had %een, %ut tens of thousands of new city
dwellers- 'early all these new rulers disco+ered that, as well as using military force and official
ideology, if you want to control populations on this scale you need to write things down#
.e'+e already talked a%out a sandal la%el of an &gyptian pharaoh that had early writing on it, in
hieroglyphs# 'ow we're %ack with the /esopotamians who made the standard of Cr, and we're
looking at one of the earliest e$amples of writing from there, in what is now southern 2ra5# 2t's on a
4(
little clay ta%let, a%out four inches %y three, made a%out fi+e thousand years ago, and it's almost
e$actly the same shape as the mouse that controls your computer as you mo+e it around your desk#
.e tend to think of writing as %eing a%out poetry or fiction or history, %ut early literature in that
sense was in fact oral - learnt %y heart and recited or sung# Hou wrote down what you couldn't
learn %y heart, what you couldn't turn into +erse, so that pretty well e+erywhere writing seems to
ha+e %een a%out record-keeping, %ean-counting, or, as in the case of this little ta%let, %eer-counting#
"eer was the staple drink in /esopotamia and was issued as rations to workers# /oney, laws,
trade, employment) this is the stuff of early writing, and it's writing like the writing on this little
ta%let that changes the nature of state control and state power - %ureaucratic and economic# 7nly
later does writing mo+e from rations to emotions) the accountants get there %efore the poets# 2t's all
thoroughly %ureaucratic stuff, and so we asked 0us 7'@onnell, the head of the "ritish ci+il ser+ice,
to talk to us a%out why he thinks the first writing in /esopotamia was a%out organising the state9
GThis ta%let is ama,ing# Hou'+e got a ci+il ser+ice here, starting to come into place in order to
record what's going on# 1ere is +ery clearly the state paying some workers for some work that's
%een done, they need to keep a track of the pu%lic finances, they need to know how much they'+e
paid9 it needs to %e fair#G
*o, %y 3((( "C, the people who had to manage the +arious city-states of /esopotamia were
disco+ering how to use written records for all kinds of day-to-day administration, keeping large
temples running or tracking the mo+ement and storage of goods# /ost of the early clay ta%lets in
our collection, like this one, come from the city of Cruk, roughly halfway %etween modern
"aghdad and "asra# Cruk was 3ust one of the large rich city-states of /esopotamia that had grown
too %ig and too comple$ for anyone to %e a%le to run them 3ust %y word of mouth# 0us 7'@onnell
again9
G.hat's ama,ing for me is of course this is a society where the economy is in its first stages, there
is no money, there is no currency# *o how do they get around that- .ell, the sym%ols tell us that
they'+e used %eer - %eer glorious %eer# 2 think that's a%solutely tremendous) no li5uidity crisis here,
they are coming up with a different way of getting around the pro%lem of the a%sence of a currency
and, at the same time, sorting out how to ha+e a functioning state# nd, as this society de+elops,
you can see that this will %ecome more and more important# nd the a%ility to keep track, to write
things down, which is a crucial element of the modern state - that we know how much money
we're spending, and we know what we are getting for it - that is starting to emerge# nd this ta%let
for me is the first e+er e5ui+alent of the ca%inet secretary's note%ook - it's that important#G
.riting confers such power, that it ine+ita%ly %ecame the su%3ect of magic and myth# later
/esopotamian epic poem gi+es us one +ersion of how it all %egan9
G"ecause the messenger's mouth was hea+y and he couldn't repeat the message, the :ord of <ulla%
patted some clay and put words on it, like a ta%let# Cntil then, there had %een no putting words on
clay#G
Clay may not seem to us the ideal medium for writing, %ut the clay from the %anks of the
&uphrates and the Tigris pro+ed to %e un%eata%le for all kinds of purposes, from %uilding cities to
making pots, or e+en, as with our ta%let, for gi+ing a 5uick and easy surface to write on# From the
historians' point of +iew, clay has one huge ad+antage9 it lasts# Cnlike the %am%oo used %y the
Chinese to write on, which rots 5uickly, and unlike paper, which is so easily destroyed, sun-%aked
clay will sur+i+e in the ground for thousands of years - and we're still learning from those clay
ta%lets# 2n the "ritish /useum, we look after a%out 13(,((( written ta%lets from /esopotamia, and
scholars from all o+er the world come to study the collection#
41
.hile e$perts are still working hard on the history of the script some points are already +ery clear,
and many of them are +isi%le in this o%long of %aked clay# Hou can see +ery clearly how a reed
stylus has pressed the marks into the soft clay, which has then %een %aked hard so that it is now a
handsome orange# 2f you tap it - you can hear that this ta%let is +ery tough indeed, that's why it has
sur+i+ed) %ut one of our pro%lems in the "ritish /useum is that we often ha+e to re-%ake the clay,
in order to preser+e the information inscri%ed on them - indeed we ha+e a separate kiln for re-
cooking /esopotamian ta%lets#
7ur little %eer-rationing ta%let is di+ided into three rows of four %o$es each, and in each %o$ the
signs - typically for this date - are read from top to %ottom, mo+ing right to left - %efore you mo+e
onto the ne$t %o$# The signs are pictographs, drawings of items which stand 3ust for that item or
something closely related to it# *o the sym%ol for %eer is an upright 3ar with a pointed %ase - a
picture of the +essel that was actually used to store the %eer rations# The word for 'ration' itself is
con+eyed graphically %y a human head, 3u$taposed with a porridge %owl, from which it appears to
%e drinking, and the signs in each one of the %o$es are accompanied %y circular and semi-circular
marks - which represent the rationing num%ers#
Hou could say that this isn't writing in the strict sense, it's more a kind of mnemonic, a repertoire of
signs that can %e used to carry 5uite comple$ messages# The crucial %reakthrough to real writing
came when it was first understood that a graphic sym%ol, like the one for %eer on our ta%let, could
%e used to mean not 3ust the 'thing' it showed, %ut what the word for the 'thing' sounded like# t this
point writing %ecame phonetic, and then all kinds of new communication %ecame possi%le#
.hen writing in this full sense was taking off, life as a pioneer scri%e must ha+e %een +ery
e$citing# The creation of new sound signs was pro%a%ly 5uite a fast-mo+ing process, and as they
de+eloped, the signs would ha+e had to %e listed - the earliest dictionaries if you like - %eginning
an intellectual process of categorising things and relationships, that has ne+er stopped since# 7ur
little %eer-ration ta%let leads directly, and swiftly, to a completely different way of thinking a%out
oursel+es and a%out the world that surrounds us#
"ut what does it do to the human mind when writing %ecomes part of culture- .e asked !ohn
*earle, 8rofessor of 8hilosophy at the Cni+ersity of California, "erkeley9
G2 think you don't understand the full import of the re+olution %rought %y writing if you think of it
3ust as preser+ing information into the future# There are two areas where writing makes an
a%solutely decisi+e difference to the whole history of the human species# 7ne area is comple$
thought# There's a limit to what you can do with the spoken word# Hou cannot really do higher
mathematics or e+en more comple$ forms of philosophical argument of the kind that 2 am
interested in, unless you ha+e some way of writing it down and scanning it# *o it's not ade5uate to
think of writing 3ust as a way of recording, for the future, facts a%out the past and the present# 7n
the contrary, it is immensely creati+e# G"ut now a second thing a%out writing, which 2 think is 3ust
as important as that, and that is when you write down you don't 3ust record what already e$ists, %ut
there are elements in which you create new entities# Hou create money, you create corporations,
you create go+ernments, you create comple$ forms of society, and writing is essential for all of
that#G
.riting seems to ha+e emerged independently in /esopotamia, &gypt, China and Central merica
- all of them e$panding population centres - %ut there's fierce de%ate and much ri+alry a%out who
got to writing first# t the moment, the /esopotamians seem to %e in the lead, %ut that may simply
%e %ecause their e+idence - %eing in clay - has sur+i+ed#
42
2 %egan this week looking at how rulers, trying to control their su%3ects in the new populous cities
of &gypt and /esopotamia, used military force to coerce them# "ut in writing, they found an e+en
more powerful weapon of social control# &+en a reed pen turned out to %e mightier than the sword#
'e$t week, 2 shall %e looking at some of the new worlds that writing opened up - myth,
mathematics and poetry#
43
T,* &*ginning 1( 3.i*n.* 8 Li)*+a)u+* (96## $ :## &C)
Episode 1$ - 7lood *a4let
Flood Ta%let >made around =(( - 4(( "C?# Clay writing ta%let from northern 2ra5
.hen you think a%out rain that falls for 'forty days and forty nights', you might 3ust %e considering
the prospect of li+ing through yet another summer in "ritain# "ut of course, what you're really
referring to is the %i%lical story of 'oah, his ark and the 0reat Flood - a story that's %ecome so
much part of our language, that any child in the country can tell you that the animals went in two
%y two# "ut the story of the 0reat Flood is itself one that goes %ack far %eyond the "i%le to many
other societies, and is part of a glo%al collecti+e consciousness# .hy- 1ow did a story like 'oah's
Flood, so ancient, come into %eing- nd for me, that leads to the ne$t 5uestion - when did the idea
of writing down a story at all %egin-
2t's no ark, %ut the main entrance of the "ritish /useum is at least dry - and the +isitors certainly
come in more than two %y two# .hat's great a%out museum collections is that they let you stride
through the centuries and across the continents in a single afternoon, without e+en getting wet#
This week, 2'll %e striding across a tightly interconnected world that stretched from the southern
'ile to the "lack *ea, and from 0reece to 2ran - it's a world that flourished a%out three and a half
thousand years ago, so around 15(( "C# The o%3ects 2'm going to %e looking at raise %ig 5uestions
and +ery %ig ideas, like the origins of mathematics and, in this programme, the %eginnings of
literature#
GThere's a really kind of a hymn to the %eauty and the fragility of human culture, caught %etween
the world of the gods and the world of an unforgi+ing nature#G >@a+id @amrosch?
44
Gnd without that !ewish %reak with the world of myth, we would ne+er ha+e had science#G
>!onathan *acks?
2t's lunchtime at the "ritish /useum and the place, as usual, is %ustling with +isitors# :ocals from
"looms%ury are dropping in as they regularly do for any num%er of reasons and, 3ust o+er 14(
years ago, one of those locals, a regular lunchtime +isitor, was a man called 0eorge *mith# 1e was
an apprentice to a printing firm not far from the museum, and he'd %ecome fascinated %y the
museum's collection of ancient clay ta%lets# 1e was so engrossed %y these, that he taught himself
to read them and, in due course, he %ecame one of the leading translators of his day# 2n 1;=2, *mith
was studying a particular ta%let from 'ine+eh >modern 2ra5? and that's what 2 want to look at now#
2'+e walked across the museum, and 2'm now sitting in the li%rary where we keep the clay ta%lets
from /esopotamia) a room filled with shel+es from floor to ceiling, and on each shelf a narrow
wooden tray with up to a do,en clay ta%lets in it - most of them fragments# The fragment that
0eorge *mith was particularly interested in, in 1;=2, is a%out fi+e or si$ inches >13( - 15(mm?
high, it's dark %rown clay and it's co+ered with +ery densely written te$t organised in two +ery
close columns# From a distance, it looks a %it like the small ads column of an old-fashioned
newspaper# "ut this fragment, once 0eorge *mith had realised what it was, was going to shake the
foundations of one of the great stories of the 7ld Testament, and indeed raise %ig 5uestions a%out
the role of scripture and its relationship to truth#
7ur ta%let is a%out a flood - a%out a man who is told %y his god to %uild a %oat and to load it with
his family and animals, %ecause the deluge is a%out to wipe humanity from the face of the earth#
The tale on the ta%let was startlingly familiar to 0eorge *mith - %ecause as he read and deciphered,
it %ecame clear that what he had in front of him was an ancient myth that paralleled and - most
importantly - 'predated' the story of 'oah and his rk# !ust to remind you, here are a few snippets
of the 'oah story from the "i%le9
G/ake thee an ark ### and of e+ery li+ing thing of all flesh, two of e+ery sort shalt thou %ring unto
the ark ### 2 will cause it to rain upon the earth forty days and forty nights) and e+ery li+ing
su%stance that 2 ha+e made will 2 destroy from off the face of the earth#G
nd here's a snippet of what 0eorge *mith read on the clay ta%let9
G ### demolish the house, and %uild a %oatA %andon wealth and seek sur+i+al# *purn property, sa+e
life# Take on %oard all li+ing things' seedA The %oat you will %uild, her dimensions all shall %e
e5ual9 her length and %readth shall %e the same# Co+er her with a roof, like the ocean %elow, and he
will send you a rain of plenty#G
That a 1e%rew %i%lical story should already ha+e %een told on a /esopotamian clay ta%let was an
astounding disco+ery - and *mith knew it - as a contemporary account tells us9
G*mith took the ta%let and %egan to read o+er the lines which the conser+ator who had cleaned the
ta%let had %rought to light) and when he saw that they contained the portion of the legend he had
hoped to find there, he said, '2 am the first man to read that after 2,((( years of o%li+ion'# *etting
the ta%let on the ta%le, he 3umped up and rushed a%out the room in a great state of e$citement, and,
to the astonishment of those present, %egan to undress himselfAG
"ut this really was a disco+ery worth taking your clothes off for# This ta%let, now uni+ersally
known as the Flood Ta%let - had %een written down in what is now 2ra5 in the se+enth century "C,
4(( years %efore the oldest sur+i+ing +ersion of the "i%le narrati+e# .as it thinka%le that that "i%le
narrati+e, far from %eing a specially-pri+ileged re+elation, was merely part of a common pool of
legend that was shared %y the whole /iddle &ast-
45
2t was one of the great moments in the nineteenth century's radical rewriting of world history#
0eorge *mith pu%lished the ta%let only 12 years after @arwin's '7rigin of *pecies'# nd in doing
so, he opened a religious 8andora's %o$# 8rofessor @a+id @amrosch, from Colum%ia Cni+ersity,
gauges the Flood Ta%let's seismic impact9
G8eople in the 1;=(s were o%sessed %y %i%lical history, and there was a great deal of contro+ersy as
to the truth of the %i%lical narrati+es# *o, it created a sensation when 0eorge *mith found this
ancient +ersion of the Flood story, clearly much older than the %i%lical +ersion# 8rime /inister
0ladstone came to hear his lecture descri%ing his new translation, it was reported on front-page
articles around the glo%e, and there was a front-page article in the ''ew Hork Times' in 1;=2 in
which they're already noting that the ta%let could %e read either in two 5uite different ways - does
this pro+e the "i%le is true or show it's all legendary- nd *mith's disco+ery ga+e further
ammunition in the de%ate on %oth sides as to the truth of %i%lical history, de%ates o+er @arwin and
e+olution, geology - all of these things were coming in#G
nd of course these de%ates still continue today# "ut what does it do to a religious te$t when you
disco+er that it comes in fact from an older society, with a +ery different set of %eliefs- .e asked
the Chief Da%%i, !onathan *acks9
GClearly there is a core e+ent %ehind %oth narrati+es which was a great flood, part of the folk
memory of all the peoples of that area# .hat the ancient te$ts that tell flood stories do, is they talk
essentially of the great forces of nature %eing controlled %y deities who don't like human %eings
+ery much, and for whom 'might makes right'# 'ow the "i%le comes along and retells the story, %ut
does so in a uni5ue way - 0od %rings the flood %ecause the world was filled with +iolence, and the
result is that the story %ecomes moralised, and that is part of the "i%le's programme# This is a
radical leap from polytheism to monotheism - to a world in which people worshipped power, to the
"i%le's insistence that power must %e 3ust and sometimes compassionate# nd from a world in
which there are many forces, many gods, fighting with one another, to this world in which the
whole uni+erse is the result of a single rational creati+e will# *o the more we understand what the
"i%le is arguing against, the deeper we understand the "i%le#G
"ut the Flood Ta%let was important not 3ust for the history of religion, it's also a key document in
the history of literature# *mith's ta%let comes from the se+enth century "C, %ut we now know that
other +ersions of the Flood story had originally %een written down a thousand years %efore that# 2t
was only later that the Flood story was wo+en %y storytellers into the famous &pic of 0ilgamesh,
the first great epic of world literature# *mith's ta%let forms the ele+enth chapter of that story#
0ilgamesh is a hero who sets off on a grand 5uest for immortality and self-knowledge# 1e
confronts demons and monsters, he sur+i+es all kinds of perils and, e+entually, like all su%se5uent
epic heroes, he has to confront the greatest challenge of them all9 his own nature and his own
mortality# The &pic of 0ilgamesh has all the elements of a cracking good tale, %ut it's also a
turning-point in the story of 'writing'# .riting in the /iddle &ast had %egun as little more than
%ean-counting - created essentially for %ureaucrats to keep records# 2t had %een used a%o+e all for
the practical tasks of the state# *tories, on the other hand, were usually told or sung - and they were
learnt %y heart#
"ut gradually, around four thousand years ago, stories like 0ilgamesh %egan to %e written down#
2nsights into the hero's hopes and fears could now %e shaped, refined and fi$ed - an author could
%e sure that 'his' narrati+e and 'his' understanding of the tale would %e transmitted directly, and not
constantly reshaped %y other storytellers# 1ardly less important, a written te$t can %e translated,
and so a story could pass easily into many languages# :iterature written down like this can always
%ecome world literature# @a+id @amrosch again9
44
G0ilgamesh is now +ery commonly assigned as a +ery first work in all the literature courses, and it
shows 2 think a kind of early glo%alisation# 2t's the first work of world literature that circulates
widely around the ancient world# The great thing a%out looking at 0ilgamesh today is that we see
that, if we go %ack far enough, we find there's not a clash of ci+ilisations %etween the /iddle &ast
and the .est# .e find in 0ilgamesh the origins of a common culture - its offshoots, that go off into
1omer, and the '1((1 'ights', and the "i%le - so it is really a sort of a common thread in our
common glo%al culture#G
.ith the &pic of 0ilgamesh, represented here %y *mith's Flood Ta%let, writing changed its nature#
nd it has changed 'our' nature - for literature like 0ilgamesh allows us not 3ust to think our own
thoughts, %ut to inha%it the thought worlds of others - and that for me is also the point of the
/useum, and the power of the o%3ects that make up this thread of human history that 2'm tracing#
They lead us to other e$istences#
2n the ne$t programme, we ha+e the creation of another 'new world' of thought that has changed
%oth us and the world we inha%it - mathematics#
4=
Episode 1& - 8hind Mathematical -apyrus
Dhind /athematical 8apyrus >made around 3,5(( years ago? found in The%es, &gypt
2n se+en houses there are se+en cats# &ach cat catches se+en mice# &ach mouse would ha+e eaten
se+en ears of corn and each ear of corn, if sown, would ha+e produced se+en gallons of grain# 1ow
many things are mentioned in total-
.hile you're counting, 2'll tell you that this is 3ust one of nearly a hundred similar pro%lems, all
e5ually complicated, all carefully written out, with the answers, and showing the workings in %est
school%ook manner, that are recorded in the Dhind /athematical 8apyrus - the most famous
mathematical papyrus to ha+e sur+i+ed from ncient &gypt, and the ma3or source for our
understanding of how the &gyptians thought a%out num%ers#
G*ome of the maths is +ery +ery practical, other pro%lems are more a%stract#G >&leanor Do%son?
G2 think we see the %eginnings of a realisation that mathematics is not a%out specific num%ers,
a%out specific pro%lems) that you can e$tract from it general procedures, general rules, that you
can follow in lots of cases#G >Cli+e Di$?
2t owes its name to an %erdeen lawyer, le$ander Dhind, who in the 1;5(s took to wintering in
&gypt %ecause the dry heat helped his tu%erculosis# There, in :u$or, he %ought this papyrus, which
turns out to %e the largest mathematical te$t we know, not 3ust from &gypt %ut from anywhere in
the ancient world#
s it is e$tremely sensiti+e to humidity and to light, we keep it here in the "ritish /useum, in the
8apyrus Doom, which 2 am 3ust going to go into now ### 2t's pretty dry and pretty stuffy in here, in
fact 2 imagine rather like the conditions in an ncient &gyptian tom%, which suits the papyrus -
a%o+e all %ecause of course it's dark, and therefore the writing doesn't fade# The whole papyrus
would originally ha+e %een a%out 1= feet >or 5m? long and would normally ha+e %een rolled up in
4;
a scroll# Today it's in three pieces - the two largest ones in the "ritish /useum# 2t's simply framed
under glass to protect it# The papyrus is a%out a foot >or 3(cm? high, and if you look closely you
can see the fi%res of the papyrus plant#
/aking papyrus is la%orious %ut in fact, 5uite straightforward# The plant itself - a kind of reed that
can grow to a%out 15 feet >or 4#5m? high - was plentiful in the 'ile @elta# The pith of the plant is
sliced into strips, which are soaked and pressed together to form sheets - +ery con+eniently, the
organic fi%res of papyrus were meshed together without needing glue, and the sheets are then dried
and ru%%ed smooth with a stone#
The result is a wonderful surface for writing on - papyrus went on %eing used across the
/editerranean until a%out a thousand years ago, and indeed ga+e most &uropean languages their
+ery word for paper#
"ut it was e$pensi+e - a 1=-foot roll like the Dhind /athematical 8apyrus would ha+e cost two
copper de%en, a%out the same as a small goat# *o this is an o%3ect for the well-off#
"ut why would you spend so much money on a %ook of mathematical pu,,les- 2s this the ncient
&gyptian +ersion of our cra,e for *udoku- The answer is ### not 5uite# "ecause to own this scroll
would, in fact, ha+e %een a +ery good career mo+e# 2f you wanted to play any serious part in the
&gyptian state, you had to %e numerate# society as comple$ as this needed people who could
super+ise %uilding works, organise payments, manage food supplies, plan troop mo+ements,
compute the flood le+els of the 'ile - and much, much more# To %e a scri%e, a mem%er of the ci+il
ser+ice of the pharaohs, you had to demonstrate your mathematical competence# s one
contemporary writer put it9
G*o that you may open treasuries and granaries, so that you may take deli+ery from one corn-
%earing ship at the entrance to the granary, so that on feast days you may measure out the gods'
offerings#G J8apyrus :ausing "/ 6664K
The whole Dhind /athematical 8apyrus contains ;4 different pro%lems - calculations that would
ha+e %een used in different scenarios to sol+e practical difficulties of life) for instance, how to
calculate the slope of a pyramid, or the amount of food necessary for different kinds of %irds# 2t's
mostly written in %lack, %ut red is used for each pro%lem's title and to e$plain the solution# nd,
interestingly, it's not written in hieroglyphs, %ut in a particular kind of administrati+e short-hand
that's much 5uicker, much simpler, to write - and looks a %it like scri%%ly hand-writing#
2n short, the Dhind /athematical 8apyrus teaches you all you need to know for a da,,ling
administrati+e career# 2t's a crammer for the Ci+il *er+ice e$ams around 155( "C and, like self-
help pu%lications today that promise instant success, it has a wonderful title, written %oldly in red
on the front page9
GThe correct method of reckoning, for grasping the meaning of things, and knowing e+erything -
o%scurities and all secrets#G
2n other words9 G"uy me, and you can't go wrongG# The numeracy of the &gyptians, honed %y
works like the Dhind /athematical 8apyrus, was widely admired across the ancient world# 8lato,
for e$ample, urged the 0reeks to copy the &gyptians, where ###
G ### The teachers, %y applying the rules and practices of arithmetic to play, prepare their pupils for
the tasks of marshalling and leading armies and organising military e$peditions and all together
form them into persons more useful to themsel+es and to others and a great deal wider awake#G
J:aws =,;16K
46
"ut if e+ery%ody agreed that training like this produced a formida%le state machine, the 5uestion of
what mathematics the 0reeks actually did learn from the &gyptians, remains a matter of de%ate#
Cli+e Di$, of the Cni+ersity of :eicester9
G.ell, the interesting thing is, that the traditional +iew has always %een that the 0reeks learned of
their geometry from the &gyptians# 0reek writers such as 1erodotus, 8lato, ristotle, all refer to
the outstanding skills of the &gyptians in geometry#G
The pro%lem is that we ha+e only a +ery few sur+i+ing &gyptian mathematical documents - many
others must ha+e perished# *o, although we ha+e to assume that there was a flourishing higher
mathematics, we 3ust don't ha+e the e+idence for it# Cli+e Di$ again9
G2f we didn't ha+e the Dhind /athematical 8apyrus, we'd actually know +ery little indeed a%out
how the &gyptians did mathematics# The alge%ra is entirely what we would call linear alge%ra,
straight line e5uations# There are some what now we would call arithmetical progressions, which
are a little %it more sophisticated# The geometry's a +ery %asic kind as well# hmose tells us how to
calculate the area of a circle, and how to calculate the area of a triangle# There is nothing in this
papyrus that would trou%le your a+erage 0C*& student, and most of the stuff is rather less
ad+anced than that#G
"ut this is, of course, what you'd e$pect, %ecause the person using the Dhind /athematical
8apyrus is not training to %e a mathematician# 1e 3ust needs to know enough to handle tricky
practical pro%lems - like how to di+ide up rations among workmen# 2f, for instance, you ha+e ten
gallons >or 45 litres? of animal fat to get you through the year, how much can you consume e+ery
day- @i+iding 1( %y 345 was as tricky then as it is now, %ut it was essential if you were going to
keep a workforce properly supplied and energised# s &leanor Do%son, a specialist in ancient
mathematics from Cam%ridge Cni+ersity e$plains9
G&+eryone who's writing mathematics is doing it %ecause they're learning how to %e a literate,
numerate manager, a %ureaucrat, a scri%e - and they're %oth learning the technical skills and how to
manage num%ers and weights and measures, in order to help palaces and temples manage their
large economies# There must ha+e %een a whole lot of discussion of mathematics and how to sol+e
the pro%lems of managing huge %uilding pro3ects like the pyramids and the temples, and managing
the huge work-forces that went with it, and feeding them all#G
1ow that more sophisticated discussion of mathematics was conducted, or transmitted, we can
only guess# The e+idence that has come down to us is maddeningly fragmentary, %ecause papyrus
is so fragile, %ecause it rots in the damp, and it %urns so easily# .e don't know where the Dhind
/athematical 8apyrus came from, %ut we presume that it must ha+e %een a tom%# There are some
e$amples of pri+ate li%raries %eing %uried with their owners - presuma%ly to esta%lish their
educational and administrati+e credentials in the afterlife#
This loss of e+idence makes it +ery hard to form a +iew of how &gypt stood in comparison to its
neigh%ours# &leanor Do%son again9
G2t's 5uite difficult to tell e$actly how representati+e &gyptian mathematics is in the early second
millennium "C# The only e+idence we'+e got to compare it with at the same time is from
"a%ylonia, southern 2ra5# "ecause they were the only two ci+ilisations at that point that actually
used writing# *o 2'm sure that lots of cultures were counting and managing with num%ers, %ut they
all did it - as far as we know - without e+er writing things down# The "a%ylonians we know a lot
more a%out, %ecause they wrote on clay ta%lets and, unlike papyrus, clay sur+i+es +ery well in the
ground o+er thousands of years# *o for &gyptian mathematics we ha+e perhaps si$, ma$imum ten,
pieces of writing a%out mathematics, and the %iggest of course is the Dhind 8apyrus#G
=(
The Dhind 8apyrus certainly gi+es us no sense of maths as an a%stract discipline through which the
world can %e concei+ed and contemplated anew# "ut it does let us glimpse - and share - the daily
headaches of an &gyptian administrator# :ike all ci+il ser+ants, he seems to %e looking an$iously
o+er his shoulder at the 'ational udit 7ffice, eager to ensure that he is getting +alue for money#
*o there are calculations a%out how many gallons of %eer, or how many loa+es of %read, you
should %e a%le to get from a gi+en amount of grain, and how to calculate whether the %eer or the
%read that you'+e %een paying for has %een adulterated#
For me, the most remarka%le thing a%out this papyrus is how close it lets me get to the fascinating
5uirky details of aspects of daily life under the pharaohs, not least culinary# *o did the &gyptians
really eat foie gras- From the papyrus, you can learn that if you force-feed a goose, it needs fi+e
times as much grain as a free-range goose will eat# "ut ncient &gypt also seems to ha+e had
%attery-farming, %ecause we're told that geese kept in a coop - and so presuma%ly una%le to mo+e -
will need only a 5uarter of the food consumed %y their free-range counterparts, and so would %e
much cheaper to fatten for market# .hether there were also champions of animal rights in ncient
&gypt at this date we 3ust don't know#
"ut in %etween the %eer and the %read, and the hypothetical foie gras, you can see the logistical
infrastructure of an enduring and powerful state, a%le to mo%ilise +ast human and economic
resources for pu%lic works and military campaigns# The &gypt of the pharaohs was, to its
contemporaries, a land of superlati+es - astonishing +isitors from all o+er the /iddle &ast %y the
colossal scale of its %uildings and sculptures, as it still does us today# :ike all successful states,
then as now, it needed people who could do the maths#
nd if you're still counting the cats, and the mice, and the ears of grain in the pu,,le that 2 %egan
with, the answer is, of course ###16,4(=#
=1
Episode 1, - Minoan %ull +eaper
/inoan "ull :eaper >made around 3,5(( years ago?# "ron,e statue of %ull and acro%at, found in
Crete
GTaking the %ull %y the hornsG ### it's a terrifying metaphor# 2t's how politicians are meant to tackle
crises# 2t's what we're all meant to do with the %ig moral pro%lems of life# Though most of us, 2
suspect, hope to a+oid doing anything of the sort# "ut a%out four thousand years ago, we ha+e
serious archaeological e+idence of a whole ci+ilisation that seems to ha+e %een collecti+ely
fascinated %y the idea of confronting the %ull#
G2 ha+e seen many paintings of people leaping or cutting the %ulls# There always has %een a kind of
game %etween men and %ulls ### always#G >*ergio @elgado?
2t's one of the many mysteries of a society at the crossroads of frica, sia and &urope, that played
a key role in shaping what we now call the /iddle &ast#
G7ut in the middle of the wine-dark sea, there is a land called Crete, a rich and lo+ely land washed
%y the sea on e+ery side) and in it are many peoples and 6( cities# There, one language mingles
with another ### mong the cities is <nossos, a great city) and there /inos was nine years king, the
%oon companion of mighty Neus#G
That was 1omer, singing the praises of Crete, prosperous and cosmopolitan, and of its great king
/inos# 'ow in 0reek myth, /inos had a +ery comple$ relationship with %ulls# 1e was the son of
Neus, king of the gods, %ut in order to father him, Neus had turned himself into a %ull# /inos's wife
in turn had concei+ed an unnatural passion for a +ery %eautiful %ull and the fruit of that o%session
was the /inotaur, half-man, half-%ull# /inos was so ashamed of his monstrous stepson that he had
him imprisoned in the la%yrinth, and there the /inotaur de+oured a regular supply of maidens and
youths sent e+ery year %y thens - until, that is, the 0reek hero Theseus succeeded in killing him#
The story of Theseus and the /inotaur, of man facing down his monstrous demons, has %een told
=2
and re-told for centuries - %y 7+id, 8lutarch, Eirgil and others - and it's part of the high canon of
0reek myth, of Freudian psychology and of &uropean art#
rchaeologists were capti+ated %y these tales and, 3ust o+er a hundred years ago, when rthur
&+ans e$plored the island and decided to dig at <nossos, the %ulls and monsters, palaces and
la%yrinths of Crete, familiar from 0reek myth, were still +ery much in his mind# *o although we
ha+e no idea what the people of this rich ci+ilisation around 1=(( "C actually called themsel+es,
&+ans, %elie+ing he was unco+ering the world of /inos, called them 5uite simply /inoans, and
/inoans they'+e remained e+er since# 2n his e$tensi+e e$ca+ations, &+ans unco+ered the remains
of a +ast %uilding comple$) finding pottery and 3ewellery, car+ed stone seals, i+ory, gold and
%ron,e, and colourful frescoes, often depicting %ulls# &+ans was eager to reconstruct the role that
the animals might ha+e played in the island's economic and ceremonial life, so he was particularly
interested in a disco+ery - made somewhere else on the island - of a small %ron,e sculpture of a
%ull with a figure leaping o+er it# 2t's now one of the highlights of the "ritish /useum's /inoan
collection#
The %ull and the leaper are %oth made of %ron,e, and together they're a%out si$ inches >or 15(mm?
long and four or fi+e inches >or 1(( - 13(mm? high# The %ull is in full gallop - legs outstretched
and head raised - and the figure is leaping o+er it in a great arching somersault# 2t's pro%a%ly a
young man# 1e's sei,ed the %ull's horns and thrown his %ody right o+er, so that we see him at the
point where his %ody has completely flipped# The two arching figures echo each other - the
outward cur+e of the %oy's %ody %eing answered %y the inward cur+e of the %ull's spine# 2t's the
most dynamic and %eautiful piece of sculpture, and it carries us at once into the reality - %ut also
the myth - of the history of Crete#
2t's thought to ha+e come from Dethymnon, a town on the north coast of the island, and it was
pro%a%ly originally deposited as an offering in a mountain shrine or in a ca+e sanctuary# 7%3ects
like this are often found in these holy places of Crete, suggesting that cattle had an important role
in religious ritual# /any scholars since &+ans ha+e tried to e$plain why these images were so
important# They'+e asked what %ull-leaping was for, and e+en if it was e+er possi%le# &+ans
thought it was part of a festi+al in honour of a mother goddess# 7thers disagree, %ut %ull-leaping
has often %een seen as a religious performance, possi%ly in+ol+ing the sacrifice of the animal, and
e+en the accidental death of the leaper# Certainly, in this sculpture, %oth %ull and human are
engaged in a highly dangerous e$ercise# "eing a%le to +ault the animals would ha+e taken months
of training# .e can say this with some confidence, %ecause the sport in fact still sur+i+es today in
parts of France and *pain# .e talked to *ergio @elgado, a leading modern-day %ull leaper - or to
use the proper *panish term 'recortador'9
GThere always has %een a kind of game %etween men and %ulls, always# There is not a proper
school for 'recortadores'# Hou 3ust learn how to understand the animal and how he will react to the
arena# Hou only get this knowledge with e$perience# There are three main techni5ues we had to
learn9 first the 'recorte de riOPn' >the kidney cut?) second it's the '5uie%ro' >the %reak or the swing?)
the third one is the 'salto' >or leap?, which is mainly 3umping right o+er the %ull in a different
+ariety of styles#
GDemem%er that the %ulls are not in3ured %efore the match like in the %ullfighting# The %ull ne+er
dies in the arena# .e are risking our li+es here, we get %utted and gored as fre5uently as
%ullfighters# The %ull is unpredicta%le# 1e is the one in charge ### .e ne+er lost a respect for the
%ull#G
2 think what *ergio @elgado says is 5uite fascinating, %ecause it confirms scholars' suggestions that
%ull-leaping on Crete at the time of this little statue would pro%a%ly ha+e had a religious
significance# &+en the %ron,e it's made of suggests an offering to the gods#
=3
2t was made around 1=(( "C in the middle of what archaeologists call the "ron,e ge, when huge
ad+ances in making metals transformed the way humans could shape the world# "ron,e, an alloy
of copper and tin, is much harder and cuts much %etter than copper or gold, and once disco+ered, it
was widely used to make tools and weapons for o+er a thousand years# "ut it also makes +ery
%eautiful sculpture, and so it was 5uickly used, as you can see from this %ull leaper, to make
precious, pro%a%ly de+otional o%3ects#
The "ritish /useum %ull sculpture was cast using the lost-wa$ techni5ue# The artist firstly models
his +ision in wa$, then he moulds clay around it# nd this is then put into the fire, which hardens
the clay and melts the wa$# The wa$ is then drained off and, in its place, a %ron,e alloy is poured
into the mould, so that it takes on the e$act form the wa$ had occupied# .hen it cools, the mould
is %roken to re+eal the %ron,e which can then %e finished - polished, inscri%ed or filed, to produce
the final sculpture# The %ull leaper is 5uite %adly corroded# 2t's now degraded to a greenish-%rown
colour# 2t would ne+er of course ha+e %een as sparkling as gold %ut, originally, it would ha+e had a
powerful, seducti+e gleam#
2t's the %ron,e that makes sculptures like this one gleam, and it's the %ron,e that lets our %ull mo+e
from myth into history# t first sight, it's surprising that it's made of %ron,e at all, considering that
neither copper nor tin - %oth of which are needed - are found on Crete# "oth came from much
further afield, with copper coming from Cyprus - the +ery name means the 'copper island' - or from
the eastern /editerranean coast# "ut tin had an e+en longer 3ourney to make, tra+elling along trade
routes from eastern Turkey, and sometimes e+en from fghanistan# 2t was often in short supply,
%ecause those trade routes were fre5uently interrupted, on occasion %y pirates#
1ere with the sculpture itself, you can actually see something of that struggle to secure the tin
supplies# There hasn't %een 5uite enough in the alloy, which e$plains why the surface is rather
pock-marked, and also why the structure has %een weak, so that the hind legs of the %ull ha+e
%roken off o+er time#
"ut e+en if the proportions of the alloy were less than ideal, the +ery e$istence of the tin and
copper - %oth from outside Crete - tells us that the /inoans were mo+ing around and trading %y
sea# 2ndeed, Crete was a ma3or player in the +ast network of trade and diplomacy that co+ered the
eastern /editerranean - often focused on the e$change of metals, and all linked %y maritime tra+el#
.e asked the maritime archaeologist, @r :ucy "lue of *outhampton Cni+ersity, to tell us more9
GThe small %ron,e statuette from /inoan Crete, uni5ue as it is, is also a +ery good indicator of this
key commodity, %ron,e, that was sought after throughout the eastern /editerranean#
Cnfortunately, we ha+e only a limited num%er of shipwrecks to su%stantiate these trading
acti+ities, %ut one of the shipwrecks that we ha+e is that of the 'Clu%urun'# This was a +essel that
was found off the Turkish coast# The 'Clu%urun' was carrying 15 tons of cargo, 6 tons of which was
copper, copper in the form of ingots# 2n addition, the 'Clu%urun' was carrying a +ery rich cargo -
am%er from the "altic, pomegranates, pistachio nuts ### there were also a wealth of manufactured
goods, including %ron,e and gold statuettes, %eads of different materials, large num%ers of tools
and weapons that were %eing carried on %oard# There's a wooden diptych, or essentially the first
form of filofa$, that would ha+e %een carried on %oard with wa$ inside, where they would ha+e
kept a note of the different cargoes that were %eing e$changed#G
@espite the filofa$, there are still many unanswered 5uestions a%out /inoan ci+ilisation# The word
'palace', which &+ans used to descri%e the large %uildings he e$ca+ated, suggests royalty, %ut in
fact these %uildings seem to ha+e %een religious, political and economic centres# They were
architecturally comple$ places, housing a great +ariety of acti+ities, one of them the administration
of trade and produce, organising the large population of skilled artisans who wo+e cloth and
worked the imported gold, i+ory and %ron,e#
=4
Frescoes in the palace at <nossos show large gatherings of people, suggesting that these were also
ceremonial and religious centres# @espite o+er a century of e$ca+ation, the /inoans remain
enticingly enigmatic# 7%3ects like this little %ron,e statue of the "ull :eaper tell us a lot a%out
Crete's key historic role in the mastery of metals which, in a few centuries, transformed the world#
nd it also asserts the enduring fascination of mythical Crete as the perpetual site where we
confront the most distur%ing links %etween man and %east in oursel+es# .hen 8icasso in the 162(s
and 3(s wanted to e$plore the %estial elements that were shaping &uropean politics, he turned
instincti+ely to the palace of /inoan Crete, to that encounter %etween man and %ull that still haunts
us all ### the /inotaur#
=5
Episode 1. - Mold 9old #ape
/old 0old Cape >made o+er 3,5(( years ago?# Finely worked gold o%3ect found in 'orth .ales
For the local workmen, it must ha+e seemed as if the old .elsh legends were true# They'd %een
sent to 5uarry stone in a field known as "ryn-yr-&llyllon, which translates as the Fairies' or the
0o%lins' 1ill# *ightings of a ghostly %oy, clad in gold, a glittering apparition in the moonlight, had
%een reported fre5uently enough for tra+ellers to a+oid the hill after dark# s the workmen dug into
a large mound, they unco+ered a stone-lined gra+e# 2n it were hundreds of am%er %eads, se+eral
%ron,e fragments, and the remains of a skeleton# nd wrapped around the skeleton was a
mysterious crushed o%3ect - a large and finely decorated %roken sheet of pure gold#
G2t is - in the true sense of the word - 'uni5ue', %ecause there is no other o%3ect like it#G >/ary
Cahill?
G.hen you look at this o%3ect, in one way you react %y ama,ement a%out how %eautiful and
intriguing it is# nd then you also react to it in terms of wondering a%out who it was made for,
what does it mean that that kind of uni5ue special o%3ects were created#G >/arie :ouise *Qrensen?
Cndeterred %y thoughts of ghosts or go%lins, and e$hilarated %y the da,,ling wealth of their find,
the workmen eagerly shared out chunks of the gold sheet, with the farmer taking the largest pieces#
2t would ha+e %een easy for the story to end there# The year was 1;33, and %urials from a distant
past, howe+er e$otic, en3oyed little legal protection# The isolated location of the %urial site, near
the +illage of /old, not far from the north coast of .ales, meant that the wider world could easily
ha+e continued in ignorance of its e$istence# That this didn't happen, owes e+erything to the
curiosity of a local +icar, De+erend C#"# Clough, who wrote an account of the find that aroused the
interest of the *ociety of nti5uaries, hundreds of miles away in :ondon#
Three years after the spoils from the %urial had %een di+ided, the "ritish /useum %ought from the
tenant farmer the first and the largest of the fragments of gold, which had %een his share of the
=4
%ooty# /uch that the +icar recorded had %y that stage disappeared, including +irtually the whole
skeleton# This left only three large and twel+e small crushed and flattened fragments of the
decorated gold o%3ect# 2t took another hundred years for the "ritish /useum to gather together
enough of the remaining fragments >and some indeed are still missing? to %egin a complete
reconstruction of this di+ided treasure#
.hat was the o%3ect that these fragments %elonged to- .hen had it %een made- .ho had worn it-
s more archaeological disco+eries were made, it %ecame clear that the /old %urial was indeed
prehistoric, and dated to the newly identified age of %ron,e - around four thousand years ago# "ut
it was not until the 164(s, that the gold pieces from the /old gra+e were put together for the first
time# ll the conser+ators had was flattened fragments of paper-thin gold, some large, some small,
with cracks, splits and holes all o+er them, altogether weighing 3ust o+er a pound - a%out half a
kilo# 2t was like a huge three-dimensional 3igsaw pu,,le, and sol+ing it took nothing less than the
re-learning of ancient gold-working techni5ues that had %een lost for millennia#
2t turned out to %e a gold cape - or perhaps more accurately a short golden poncho# "ut we call it a
cape, and 2'm standing in front of it now# 2t's a stunning, punched-gold wrapping for a human
%eing# 2t's a%out a foot and a half >or 45cm? wide and a%out a foot >3(cm? deep, and it would ha+e
%een put o+er the head and lowered onto the shoulders, coming down to a%out the middle of the
chest#
.hen you look at it closely, you can see that it's all %een made out of one sheet of %reathtakingly
thin gold - and it's %een calculated in fact that the whole thing could ha+e %een made from an ingot
a%out the si,e of a ping-pong %all# The +ery thin sheet of gold has then %een worked from the
inside and punched out - so that the o+erall effect is of strings of %eads running from one shoulder
to another and going all the way round the %ody# :ooking at it now, you're struck with this as an
o%3ect of enormous comple$ity and ultimate lu$ury# .e don't know who made this, %ut it's
perfectly o%+ious that they were +ery, +ery highly skilled# These were the Cartiers or the Tiffanys
of "ron,e ge &urope#
"ut what kind of society could ha+e produced this cape- The sheer opulence and intricate details
of the o%3ect, suggest that it must ha+e come from a centre of great wealth and power, perhaps
compara%le to the contemporary courts of the pharaohs of &gypt or the palaces of /inoan Crete -
for the cape must ha+e %een made around 1=(( "C#
"ut archaeology has re+ealed no o%+ious palaces, cities or kingdoms anywhere in "ritain at this
time# There are the +ast ceremonial monuments of *tonehenge and +e%ury, hundreds of stone
circles and thousands of %urial mounds which would ha+e dominated the landscape, %ut little
sur+i+es of any dwelling places, and what does remain, suggests that these were e$tremely modest
- thatched wooden roundhouses that would normally suggest tri%al farming societies, led %y chiefs#
2n the past, it was easy to dismiss prehistoric societies as primiti+e people e$isting %efore
recognisa%le ci+ilisations emerged# .ith few settlements and only %urials to work from, it is easy
to see why these assumptions were made# "ut it's partly through the disco+ery of rare o%3ects like
the /old 0old Cape that in recent years we ha+e come to see them +ery differently# For while it's
uni5ue in its comple$ity, the cape is 3ust one e$ample of a num%er of precious o%3ects which tell us
that societies in "ritain must then ha+e %een e$tremely sophisticated, %oth in their crafts and in
their social structures# nd that their societies were not isolated, %ut part of a larger &uropean trade
network# The collection of small am%er %eads, for e$ample, that were found with the cape, must
ha+e come from the "altic - hundreds of miles away from /old#
"y studying these precious o%3ects - gold, am%er, and a%o+e all %ron,e - we can track a we% of
trade and e$change that reaches from 'orth .ales to *candina+ia, and e+en to the /editerranean#
==
The /old Cape was %uried only a matter of miles away from the largest "ron,e ge copper mine
in northwest &urope, the 0reat 7rme# The copper from here, and the tin from Cornwall, would
ha+e pro+ided the ingredients for the +ast ma3ority of "ritish %ron,e o%3ects# The peak of acti+ity
at the 0reat 7rme mine has %een dated %etween 16(( and 14(( "C# Decent analysis of the gold-
working techni5ues, and the decorati+e style of the cape, dates the %urial to this +ery period# *o we
can only guess, %ut it's likely that the wearers of this e$traordinary o%3ect were linked to the mine,
which would ha+e %een a source of great wealth, and a ma3or trading centre for the whole of north-
west &urope# "ut was the gold for the cape also traded from far away- 1ere's @r /ary Cahill,
from the 'ational /useum of 2reland9
G2t has %een a huge 5uestion - where did the gold come from- .e ha+e learned a great deal a%out
where the early copper sources are, %ut the nature of gold - especially if it's coming from ri+ers and
streams, and %ecause the early workings can literally %e washed away in one flood, for e$ample - it
means that it's +ery, +ery hard to identify the sites# *o what we are trying to do is to look more
closely at the nature of the gold ore, to look at the o%3ects, to try and relate the analysis of one with
the other - in the hope that this will lead us %ack to the right type of geological %ackground, the
right type of geological en+ironment, in which the gold was actually formed# nd then, %y doing
e$tensi+e fieldwork, we hope that we may actually identify an early "ron,e ge goldmine#
G'ow, with regard to the /old Cape, a +ery rich source of gold must ha+e %een a+aila%le, %ecause
the 5uantity of gold used in making the gold cape is way a%o+e anything else of the period, so
there had to %e a +ery rich source - gold had to %e collected o+er may%e a long period of time# The
o%3ect itself is made with e$ceptional skill# 2t's not 3ust the decoration of the o%3ect that is skilful,
the shape of it, the form in which it's made, so that it would fit on the %ody - we ha+e to imagine
that the goldsmith had to really sit down and work this out in ad+ance# 1ow he was going to form
the sheet - which is a +ery skilful matter in itself - how he was then going to decorate it, and how
the whole thing would %e %rought together to make the cape# nd this really demonstrates more
than anything the le+el of skill, and the sense of design, that the goldsmith who made it had#G
"ut if the e$pertise of the maker of the cape is clear, +irtually nothing is certain a%out the person
who may ha+e worn it# The o%3ect itself pro+ides us with a num%er of clues# 2t pro%a%ly had a
lining, possi%ly of leather, which co+ered the chest and the shoulders of the wearer# The cape is so
fragile, and it would so ha+e restricted the mo+ement of arms and shoulders, that it can only ha+e
%een +ery rarely worn# "ut there are definite signs of wear, and so it may ha+e %een %rought out on
a num%er of different ceremonial occasions, perhaps o+er a long period of time#
"ut 'who' was wearing it- The cape is too small for a grown man, certainly too small for the
mighty warrior of early speculation, and it will fit only a slim small person - a woman or perhaps,
more likely, a teenager# rchaeologist /arie-:ouise *rensen specialises in the role of the young
in these early societies9
G.e know that in the early "ron,e ge +ery few people would get older than a%out 25 years# /ost
children would not get older than 5# /any, many women would die in child%irth, and a few would
get +ery old, and these +ery old people might ha+e had a +ery special status in the society#
G2t's actually difficult to know whether our concept of children applies to this society, where you
+ery 5uickly %ecame a grown-up mem%er of the community, e+en if you were only 1( years old,
%ecause of the a+erage age of the communities that they li+ed in# That would mean that most
people around them were teenagers, there were +ery few old people in this kind of society#G
.hat this of course challenges, is our perceptions of age and responsi%ility# 2n many societies in
the past, a teenager could %e a parent, a full adult, a leader# nd so the cape could ha+e well ha+e
%een worn %y a young person who already had considera%le power# .e can only guess# The key
=;
e+idence, the skeleton that was found inside the cape, was thrown away when the gold was
disco+ered, as it clearly had no financial +alue# *o when 2 look at the /old 0old Cape now, 2 ha+e
a strange mi$ of sensations - e$hilaration that such a supreme work of art has sur+i+ed, and
frustration that the surrounding material - which would ha+e told us so much a%out this great and
mysterious ci+ilisation that flourished in 'orth .ales four thousand years ago, was recklessly
discarded#
2t's why archaeologists get so agitated a%out illicit e$ca+ations today# For although the precious
finds will often sur+i+e, the conte$t which e$plains them will %e lost, and it's that conte$t of
material - usually financially worthless - that turns treasure into history#
=6
Episode 20 - tatue of 8amesses 66
*tatue of Damesses 22 >made around 125( "C?# 0ranite) found in The%es, &gypt
G/y name is 7,ymandias, <ing of <ings9
:ook on my works, ye mighty, and despairAG
That was *helley, writing in 1;1; with a poetic +ision inspired %y the monumental figure here in
the "ritish /useum, whose serenely commanding face is looking down at me from a +ery great
height# *helley's 7,ymandias is our Damesses 22, king of &gypt around 12=( "C, and his giant
head dominates this space from a gallery plinth ### although it would once ha+e %een e+en higher#
G2t's difficult for us to concei+e now, with our air tools and electrical ways of cutting stone, 5uite
what an e$traordinary achie+ement, not simply the scale and weight of a sculpture of this si,e is,
%ut also the degree of finish#G >ntony 0ormley?
GThere's no way of looking at this man and seeing him as a failure# 1e a%solutely deser+es the
epithet 'the 0reat', he really was#G ><aren &$ell?
.hen it arri+ed in &ngland, this was %y far the largest &gyptian sculpture that the "ritish had e+er
seen, and it was the first o%3ect that ga+e them a sense of the colossal scale of the &gyptian
achie+ement# The upper %ody alone is a%out eight or nine feet >a%out 2#5m? high, and it weighs
a%out se+en tons# This is a king who understood, as ne+er %efore, the power of scale, the purpose
of awe#
Damesses 22 ruled &gypt for an astonishing 44 years, presiding o+er a new golden age of &gyptian
prosperity and imperial power# 1e was lucky - he li+ed to %e o+er 6(, he fathered around 1((
children and, during his reign, the 'ile floods o%ligingly produced a succession of %umper
har+ests# "ut he was also a prodigious achie+er# s soon as he took the throne in 12=6 "C, he set
out on military campaigns to the north and south, he co+ered the land with monuments, and he was
;(
seen as such a successful ruler that nine later pharaohs took his name# 1e was still %eing
worshipped as a god in the time of Cleopatra, o+er a thousand years later#
Damesses was a consummate self-pu%licist, and a completely unscrupulous one at that# To sa+e
time and money, he simply changed the inscriptions on pre-e$isting sculptures so that they %ore his
name and glorified his achie+ements# "ut all across his kingdom he erected +ast new temples - like
%u *im%el, cut into the rocky sides of the 'ile Ealley - and the huge image of himself there,
sculpted in the rock, inspired many later imitations, not least the +ast faces of merican presidents
car+ed into /ount Dushmore#
2n the far north of &gypt, facing towards the neigh%ouring powers in the 'ear &ast and the
/editerranean, he founded a new capital city, modestly called 8i-Damesses a-nakhtu, the '1ouse
of Damesses 22, 0reat and Eictorious'#
7ne of his proudest achie+ements was his memorial comple$ at The%es, near modern :u$or# 2t
wasn't a tom% where he was going to %e %uried, %ut a temple where he would %e +enerated in life
and then worshipped as a god for all eternity# The Damesseum, as it's now known, co+ers an
immense area a%out the si,e of four foot%all pitches and contains a temple, a palace and treasuries
#
There were two courtyards in the Damesseum, and our statue sat at the entrance to the second one#
"ut magnificent though it is, this statue is 3ust one of many - Damesses is replicated again and
again throughout the comple$, a multiple +ision of monumental power that must ha+e had an
o+erwhelming effect on the officials and priests who went there# .e went to see ntony 0ormley
in the studio where he created his own monumental sculpture - the 'ngel of the 'orth'9
G.ell for me, as a sculptor, the acceptance of the material as a means of con+eying the relationship
%etween human-li+ed %iological time and in a way the eons of geological time, is an essential
condition of the waiting 5uality of sculpture# The fact that sculptures persist, endure, and life dies#
nd all of &gyptian sculpture in some senses has this dialogue with death, with that which lies on
the other side#
GFor me there is something +ery hum%ling that is, in some senses, a cele%ration of what a people
can do together, %ecause that is the other e$traordinary thing a%out &gyptian %oth architecture and
sculpture# This is engaged upon %y +ast num%ers of people, and is an a%solutely collecti+e act of
cele%ration of what they are a%le to achie+e, as a united %ody of intention#
G&+en if we don't understand it in technical terms, the awe-inspiring thing is the way in which, in
spite of its scale, proportion and clarity is %rought to the surface of the stone# This surface is
created entirely %y sand a%rasion# 2t's difficult to concei+e of a harder material - this is granite -
e$treme resistance has %een o+ercome %y time and el%ow grease#G
ntony 0ormley's point is, 2 think, a +ery important one# This serenely smiling sculpture is not the
creation of an indi+idual artist, %ut the achie+ement of a whole society - the result of a huge,
comple$ process of engineering and logistics - in many ways much closer to %uilding a motorway
than making a work of art#
The granite for the sculpture was 5uarried from swan and e$tracted in a single colossal %lock -
the whole statue would ha+e originally weighed a%out 2( tons# 2t was then roughly shaped %efore
%eing mo+ed on wooden sleds, and pulled %y large teams of la%ourers, from the 5uarry to a raft
which was floated down the 'ile to :u$or# The stone would then %e hauled from the ri+er to the
Damesseum, where the finer stone-working would take place in situ# *o an enormous amount of
;1
man-power and organisation was needed to erect e+en this one statue, and this whole work-force
had to %e trained, managed and co-ordinated and, if not paid - many of them would of course ha+e
%een sla+es - at least fed and housed# To deli+er our sculpture a literate, numerate and +ery well-
oiled %ureaucratic machine was essential - and that same machine was of course also employed to
manage &gypt's international trade and to organise and e5uip her armies#
Damesses undou%tedly had something of the magic touch, and like all great masters of
propaganda, where he didn't actually succeed, he 3ust made it up# .hile he wasn't e$ceptional in
com%at, he was a%le to mo%ilise a considera%le army and supply them with ample weaponry and
e5uipment# nd whate+er the actual result of his %attles, the official line was always the same -
knock-out for Damesses# The whole of the Damesseum, like our statue, con+eyed this consistent
message of serene success# This is egyptologist <aren &$ell, on Damesses the propagandist9
G2 start smiling when 2 see this %ust, and 2 think ### you're still there ### and he's still dominating
e+erything around him
#
G1e +ery much understood that %eing +isi%le was central to the success of the kingship, so he put
up as many colossal statues as he could, +ery +ery 5uickly# 1e %uilt temples to the traditional gods
of &gypt, and this kind of acti+ity has %een interpreted as %eing %om%astic - showing off and so on,
%ut we really need to see it in the conte$t of the re5uirements of the kingship# 8eople needed a
strong leader and they understood a strong leader to %e a king who was out there campaigning on
%ehalf of &gypt, and was +ery +isi%le within &gypt# .e can e+en look at what we can regard as the
'spin' of the records of the %attle of Badesh in his year fi+e, which was a draw# 1e fought the
1ittites, it was a draw# 1e came %ack to &gypt and had the record of this %attle inscri%ed on se+en
temples, and it was presented as an e$traordinary success, that he alone had defeated the 1ittites#
*o it was all spin, and he completely understood how to use that#G
This king would not only con+ince his people of his greatness, %ut would fi$ the image of imperial
&gypt for the whole world# :ater &uropeans were mesmerised# round 1;((, the new aggressi+e
powers in the /iddle &ast, now the French and the "ritish, competed to ac5uire the image of
Damesses# 'apoleon's men tried to remo+e the statue from the Damesseum in 1=6;, %ut failed#
There is a hole a%out the si,e of a tennis %all drilled into the torso, 3ust a%o+e the right %reast,
which e$perts think came from this attempt, and %y 1=66 the statue was %roken#
2n 1;14 the %ust was successfully remo+ed, rather appropriately, %y a circus-strong-man-turned-
anti5uities-dealer named 0io+anni "attista "el,oni# Csing a specially designed system of
hydraulics, "el,oni organised hundreds of workmen to pull the %ust on wooden rollers, %y ropes,
to the %anks of the 'ile, almost e$actly the method used to %ring it there in the first place# 2t is a
powerful demonstration of Damesses' achie+ement, that 3ust mo+ing half the statue was considered
a great technical feat three thousand years later# "el,oni then loaded the %ust onto a %oat and the
dramatic cargo went from there to Cairo, to le$andria, and then finally to :ondon# 7n arri+al, it
astounded e+ery%ody who saw it, and it %egan a re+olution in how we &uropeans +iew the history
of our culture# The Damesses in the "ritish /useum was one of the first works to challenge long-
held assumptions that great art had %egun in 0reece#
.e started the week with the mythical hero-king 0ilgamesh, and we'+e ended it with a king-hero
who created his own myth9 the myth of power# Damesses' success lay not only in maintaining the
supremacy of the &gyptian state, through the smooth running of its trade networks and ta$ation
systems, %ut in using the rich proceeds towards %uilding numerous temples and monuments# 1is
purpose was to create a legacy that would speak to all generations of his eternal greatness# Het %y
one of the great ironies of history, this statue has come to mean e$actly the opposite#
;2
*helley heard reports of the disco+ery of the %ust and of its transport to &ngland# 1e was inspired
%y accounts of its colossal scale, %ut he also knew what had happened to &gypt after Damesses -
with the crown passing to :i%yans and 'u%ians, 8ersians and /acedonians, and Damesses' statue
itself s5ua%%led o+er %y &uropean intruders# *helley's poem '7,ymandias' is a meditation not on
imperial grandeur, %ut on the transience of earthly power, and in it Damesses' statue %ecomes a
sym%ol of the futility of all human achie+ement#
G### /y name is 7,ymandias, <ing of <ings9
:ook on my works, ye mighty, and despairA
'othing %eside remains# Dound the decay
7f that colossal wreck, %oundless and %are
The lone and le+el sands stretch far away#G
;3
;<2 =1+<2" >*? @1?*+s (99## $ 5## &C)
Episode 21 - +achish 8eliefs
.achish 9eliefs Bmade around )00 ('CD #tone panelE found in northern 7ra;
Three thousand years ago, the world was, as usual, at war# 7n the face of it this might seem
surprising, as the entire population of the world three thousand years ago was only a%out 5(
million people - roughly the num%er that now li+e in &ngland# *o you'd ha+e thought there might
ha+e %een enough land and wealth to go round without ma3or conflict# "ut, howe+er you look at
human history, it's 5uite clear that one of the constants is the urge to fight# nd, around 1((( "C,
we find e+idence for war on a 5uite new scale %ut with e$actly the same results as war always
%rings with it#
GDulers wished to esta%lish their total power# 2t was a demonstration of their supremacy#G >nthony
"ee+or?
GThere's always wars, there's always deaths, there's always refugees - they're a %i-product of war,
and ha+e %een since the +ery +ery earliest times#G >8addy shdown?
This warfare transformed the political landscape from the /editerranean to the 8acific # 2n what's
now 2ra5, the ssyrians created a model of empire which would last for centuries# &sta%lished
powers ruling &gypt and China were in+aded %y outsiders, and indeed, across the whole world, we
encounter new peoples and new powers# This week's o%3ects take us into the minds of these
peoples and powers of three thousand years ago, and our first o%3ect takes us straight into the heat
of %attle#
2'm in a room whose walls are completely co+ered with stone car+ings a%out eight feet >2#5m?
high# They tell the story of a great siege# The siege of :achish in !udea, in =(1 "C# Think of a film
;4
in stone - an early 1ollywood epic, perhaps, with a cast of thousands# The first scene shows the
in+ading army marching in, then comes the %loody %attle around the %esieged town, and then we
mo+e on to the dead, the in3ured, and the columns of passi+e refugees# nd finally we see the
+ictorious king presiding triumphantly o+er his con5uest9 *ennacheri%, ruler of the great ssyrian
empire, and the terror of the ancient /iddle &ast#
"y =(( "C, the ssyrian rulers %ased in northern 2ra5 had %uilt an empire that stretched from 2ran
to &gypt - co+ering most of the area that we now call the /iddle &ast# 2ndeed# you might almost
say that this was the %eginning of the idea of the /iddle &ast as one single theatre of conflict and
control# 2t was the largest land empire that had yet %een created, and it was the result of the
prodigious ssyrian war-machine#
:achish, a%out 25 miles >4( km? south-west of !erusalem, is today known as Tell ed-@uweir# t
the time of the siege, it was a hea+ily fortified hill town, the second city after !erusalem of the
kingdom of !udah, which had managed, 3ust, to stay independent of the ssyrians# :achish stood at
a +ital strategic point on the key trade routes linking /esopotamia to the /editerranean and to the
immense wealth of &gypt# "ut around =(( "C , the king of !udah, 1e,ekiah, re%elled against the
ssyrians# 2t was a %ig mistake# *ennacheri% mo%ilised the ssyrian imperial army, fought a
%rilliant campaign, sei,ed the city of :achish, killed its defenders and deported its inha%itants# nd
the resounding success of the ssyrian campaign is what is cele%rated in these car+ings#
They're in shallow relief, and they'd ha+e run like a continuous frie,e pretty well from floor to
ceiling all around the walls of *ennacheri%'s palace at 'ine+eh - near modern /osul in 2ra5# They
would once ha+e %een %rightly painted %ut, e+en without any colour today, they are astonishing
historical documents#
:ike any good propaganda war film, the sculptor has shown us the :achish campaign as a perfectly
e$ecuted military e$ercise# 1e sets the city among trees and +ineyards, while %elow, the ssyrian
soldiers, archers and spearmen, are marching# s you look across the frie,e, wa+e after wa+e of
ssyrians scale the city walls, and e+entually o+erwhelm the resident !udeans#
The ne$t scene shows the aftermath# *ur+i+ors flee the %urning city, carrying what they can# These
lines of people, carrying their worldly goods and heading for deportation, must %e one of the
earliest depictions of refugees that e$ists, and they are almost un%eara%ly poignant# 2t's impossi%le,
looking at them close up, not to think of the millions of refugees and displaced people that this
same region has seen o+er the centuries ### and is still seeing#
.e showed the :achish Deliefs to 8addy shdown, soldier, politician and international diplomat,
who's had long e$perience of the human cost of military conflict, especially during his work in the
"alkans9
G2 saw refugee camps right across the "alkans and, frankly, 2 could ne+er stop the tears coming to
my eyes, %ecause what 2 saw was my sister and my mother and my wife and my children# "ut 2
saw *er%s dri+en out %y "osniacs, "osniacs dri+en out %y Croats, Croats dri+en out %y *er%s, and
so on# 2 e+en saw the most shameful refugees of all ### the Doma people, a huge camp of Doma
people, may%e 4( - 5(,(((, and they were dri+en out when my army, the 'T7 army, was in
charge# nd we stood aside as their houses were %urnt and they were dri+en from their homes# nd
that made me feel not 3ust desperately sad, %ut also desperately ashamed# .hat is true, and what
the reliefs show, is in a sense the immuta%le and unchangea%le character of war# There's always
wars, there's always deaths, there's always refugees# Defugees are normally the sort of flotsam and
3etsam of war# They are left where they were washed up when the war finished#G
;5
The heartland of the ssyrian empire lay on the fertile ri+er Tigris, o+er 5(( miles >;(( km? north-
east of the de+astated :achish# 2t was an ideal location for agriculture and trade, %ut it had no
natural %oundaries or defences, and so the ssyrians spent huge resources on a large army, to
police their frontiers, e$pand their territory and to keep potential enemies at %ay#
:achish was 3ust one +ictim in a long series of wars %ut, and this is what 2 think makes :achish so
fascinating, we know a%out this particular war from the other side as well, from the 1e%rew "i%le#
The "ook of <ings tells us that 1e,ekiah, <ing of !udah, refused to pay the tri%ute that
*ennacheri% demanded9
Gnd the :ord was with him9 and he prospered whithersoe+er he went forth9 and he re%elled
against the king of ssyria, and ser+ed him not#G >22 <ings, 1;, +# 2?
The "i%le understanda%ly glosses o+er the disagreea%le fact that *ennacheri% responded %y
%rutally sei,ing the cities of !udah - until 1e,ekiah was crushed, ga+e in, and paid up# n ssyrian
account of the episode, also here in the "ritish /useum, gi+es us *ennacheri%'s +iew of what
happened, allegedly in his own words9
G"ecause 1e,ekiah, <ing of !udah, would not su%mit to my yoke, 2 came up against him, and %y
force of arms and %y the might of my power 2 took 44 of his strong-fenced cities) and of the
smaller towns which were scattered a%out, 2 took and plundered a countless num%er# From these
places 2 took and carried off 2((,154 persons, old and young, male and female, together with
horses and mules, asses and camels, o$en and sheep, a countless multitude#G
These are the people that we see on the relief - the +ictims of war, who pay the price of their ruler's
re%ellion# Families with carts packed high with %undles are %eing led into e$ile, while ssyrian
soldiers carry their plundered spoils towards the image of the enthroned <ing *ennacheri%# n
inscription credits the king himself with the +ictory9 '*ennacheri% <ing of the .orld, <ing of
ssyria, sat on a throne and watched the %ooty of :achish pass %efore him#' 1e presides o+er the
sacked city and its defeated inha%itants as an almost di+ine o+erlord, watching the citi,ens as
they're deported to another part of the ssyrian empire#
This practice of mass deportation was standard ssyrian policy# They shifted large groups of
trou%lesome people from their homelands to resettle them in other parts of the ssyrian empire,
including ssyria itself# @eportation on this scale must ha+e %een logistically challenging - %ut the
ssyrian army had %een through so many campaigns %y now that this programme of mo+ing
people had %een refined to a point of industrial efficiency#
The strategy of shifting populations has %een a constant phenomenon of empire e+er since# 8erhaps
our nearest e5ui+alent - 3ust a%out in li+ing memory - is *talin's deportation of peoples during the
163(s# :ike *ennacheri%, *talin knew the +alue of mo+ing re%ellious peoples out of strategic areas
and relocating them far away from their homelands# /ilitary historian nthony "ee+or puts these
two imperial hea+ies - *ennacheri% and *talin - in historical perspecti+e9
G.ell 2 think one sees the way that in the past, for e$ample in the deportation of the !udeans after
the siege of :achish, rulers wished to esta%lish their total power# 2t was a demonstration of their
supremacy#
G"y the twentieth century there was much greater element of notions of treason, particularly
political treason, as one saw with *talin and the *o+iet Cnion# .hen it came to the real wa+es of
deportations which were punishing whole peoples, this was %ecause *talin suspected that they had
colla%orated with the 0ermans during the in+asion of the *o+iet Cnion from 1641 onwards#
;4
Gnd the peoples who were most famously affected were of course the Crimean Tartars, the
2ngushes, the Chechens, the <almuks - one is certainly talking of three to three and a half million#
2n many cases they reckon that 4( per cent of those died during the transport, and of course during
the forced la%our when they arri+ed# nd when 2 say 'arri+ed' ### usually what happened was, a lot
of them were 3ust literally dropped %y the railhead, with no tools, no seeds, and were literally left
there in the desert, so it's not surprising how many died# 2t was interesting to see that in :achish, in
the early deportations of the pre-Christian times, that they took their sheep with them, %ut in these
cases they had to lea+e e+erything there#G
*o *ennacheri% may not ha+e %een 5uite as %ad as *talin - cold comfort for the +ictims# The
:achish Deliefs show the misery that defeat in war always entails, %ut of course their main focus is
not the !udeans, %ut *ennacheri% in his moment of triumph# They do not record *ennacheri%'s less
than glorious end ### assassinated %y two of his sons while he was at prayer to the gods who'd
appointed him ruler# 1e was succeeded %y another son, whose son, in his turn, con5uered &gypt
and defeated the pharaoh Tahar5o, who is the su%3ect of our ne$t programme#
nd so the cycle of war that these reliefs show - %rutal, pitiless, and de+astating for the ci+ilian
population - was a%out to %egin all o+er again#
;=
Episode 22 - phinx of *ahar:o
#phin! of -ahar;o Bmade around 6%0 ('C found in -emple - at 3a$aE northern #udan
2f you were to ask which country the Di+er 'ile %elongs to, most people would immediately say
&gypt# "ut in fact, of course, the 'ile is a ri+er that can %e claimed %y nine different frican
countries, and as water resources get scarcer, the 5uestion of its ownership today is a %urning
political issue#
critical fact of modern &gypt's life is that most of the 'ile is actually in *udan# &gypt has always
%een wary of its huge southern neigh%our %ut, for most of its history, it has %een %y far the stronger
of the two# "ut there was a moment, around three thousand years ago, when for a century or so, it
all looked +ery different#
G2t really was the centre of a +ery powerful +i%rant ci+ilisation in the heart of frica - %lack
frica#G >Neina% "adawi?
Gnd it was one of the ma3or ci+ilisations of the ancient world, although it's always seen as %eing
on the periphery of that world#G >@erek .els%y?
This week 2'm in+estigating the world around =(( "C# &+en though populations were tiny - only
a%out one per cent of today's world population occupied the whole of the glo%e then - large-scale
conflicts were fre5uent and %itter# .ar was e+erywhere, and one of the features of the period was
the con5uest of long-esta%lished centres of wealth and ci+ilisation %y poorer peoples li+ing on the
edge# 2n the case of &gypt, this meant that the mighty land of the pharaohs was con5uered and
ruled %y its southern neigh%our - what is now northern *udan, %ut was then called the kingdom of
<ush#
2'm walking through the galleries of the "ritish /useum heading for a stone sphin$# *phin$es -
statues with a lion's %ody and a man's head - are creatures of myth and legend, %ut they're also one
;;
of the great sym%ols of &gyptian royalty and power# The most famous of all, of course, %eing the
0reat *phin$ at 0i,a#
1ere it is now and, compared with the one at 0i,a, this sphin$ is +ery small - it's a%out the si,e of
a spaniel - %ut it is particularly interesting, %ecause it's not 3ust a hy%rid of a man and a lion, %ut a
fusion of &gypt and <ush# 2t's made out of sandy grey granite, and it's %eautifully preser+ed# The
muscular lion's %ack, the mane of hair and the powerful outstretched paws are all classically
&gyptian - %ut it's not a typical &gyptian pharaoh's face, %ecause this man is un5uestiona%ly a
%lack frican, and this sphin$ is the image of a %lack pharaoh# 1ieroglyphics on the sphin$'s chest
spell it out9 this is a portrait of the great <ing Tahar5o, the fourth pharaoh to rule o+er the
com%ined kingdoms of <ush and &gypt#
<ush occupied what is now the north half of *udan# For thousands of years, &gypt had looked on
its southern <ushite neigh%our essentially as a rich %ut trou%lesome colony, that could %e e$ploited
for its raw materials - there was gold and i+ory and, +ery important, sla+es# 2n this almost colonial
relationship, &gypt was +ery much the master# "ut in =2; "C, the %alance of power flipped# &gypt
had %ecome fragmented and weak, and the <ushite king, 8iankhi, took the opportunity to send his
armies north, and capture the cities of &gypt one %y one, until finally the north was 5uashed, and
the <ushites were in charge of an empire that ran roughly from modern <hartoum to modern
le$andria# nd in order to go+ern this new state, they created a new national identity, a hy%rid
that would com%ine %oth &gypt and <ush#
Tahar5o, represented in the "ritish /useum sphin$, is the most important of all the <ushite kings#
1e initiated a golden age for his immense new kingdom, and he succeeded largely %ecause, rather
than imposing <ushite customs on the &gyptians, he a%sor%ed and adopted theirs# &+en in <ush
itself, Tahar5o %uilt pyramids on the &gyptian model, and he worshipped the &gyptian god mun)
he restored temples in the &gyptian style, and his officials wrote in &gyptian hieroglyphics# 2t's a
pattern that we see again and again in successful con5uests# They used the e$isting sym%ols and
+oca%ulary of power, %ecause those are the ones that are already familiar to the population# 2t
makes sense to keep using a language of control that e+ery%ody is accustomed to accept# The
*phin$ of Tahar5o, in its calculated mi$ture of the two different traditions, is not 3ust a striking
portrait of the <ushite ruler as a traditional &gyptian pharaoh, it's also a lesson in political method#
nd for a short period, that method worked %rilliantly#
This %rief *udanese con5uest of &gypt is now +ery much a forgotten history# The official narrati+e
of &gypt underplayed the <ushite disruption, %landly calling the reign of the <ushite kings the
25th @ynasty, thus 5uietly incorporating them into an un%roken story of an eternal &gypt) %ut
<ush's historical role is now %eing energetically reassessed, and *udanese history, in some
measure, rewritten#
2n the "ritish /useum we ha+e a curator who has %een central to this work of reco+ery and re-
e+aluation# @erek .els%y, a leading e$pert on the archaeology of the *udan, has %een digging
along the 'ile for many years# 1e has done a lot of work at <awa, north of <hartoum, where this
sphin$ came from# 2t was made to go into a temple there, that had %een restored %y Tahar5o#
@erek's description of the working conditions at his e$ca+ation gi+e an idea of what this land
would ha+e %een like for the <ushites9
G7ften it's incredi%ly hot on site# &+en in the middle of winter it can %e +ery hot, %ut sometimes
early in the morning it's incredi%ly cold as well, like 4 or 5 degrees, and then you'+e got a +ery
strong wind# "ut %y 11 o'clock it can %e 35, 4( degrees, so it changes +ery dramatically#
GThe temple that Tahar5o %uilt at <awa is purely &gyptian in design - it was actually %uilt %y
&gyptian workmen and architects sent %y Tahar5o from his capital at /emphis in :ower &gypt,
;6
%ut it was %uilt in the heart of <ush# "ut the &gyptian influences are 3ust a +eneer o+er <ushite
culture ### the indigenous frican culture continued right the way through the <ushite period#
G2t used to %e considered that the <ushites were sla+ishly %orrowing things from &gypt and 3ust
copying &gyptian models, %ut what we see ### they're picking and choosing, they're choosing the
things that are enhancing their +iew of the world, the status of their ruler and so on, and they're
retaining many of their local cultural elements as well# Hou see this particularly in their religion
%ecause, not only do you get the &gyptian gods like mun, %ut you also get the ma3or local
<ushite gods such as pademak, %eing worshipped sometimes in the same temples#G
s originally placed in the temple, Tahar5o's sphin$ would ha+e %een seen only %y the ruler and %y
his closest circle - which would ha+e included priests and officials from %oth &gypt and <ush#
Coming upon it in an inner sanctuary, <ushites would ha+e %een reassured %y its %lack frican
features, while &gyptians would ha+e immediately felt at home with its peculiarly &gyptian
iconography#
Tahar5o's sphin$ is a +ery sophisticated piece of political imagery, for it's not 3ust a mi$ of north
and south, it also com%ines the present with the long distant past# The form of the lion's mane and
his ears closely resem%le elements found on ncient &gyptian sphin$es as far %ack as the 12th
@ynasty, that's a%out a thousand years %efore this# The message is clear9 this %lack pharaoh,
Tahar5o, stands in a long line of great &gyptian rulers, who ha+e held dominion o+er all the lands
of the 'ile#
Tahar5o was eager to e$pand &gypt %eyond *inai and its north-east %order - an aggressi+e policy
that led to conflict with the ssyrian king, *ennacheri% - whose stone reliefs were the su%3ect of
the last programme# round =(( "C Tahar5o allied himself with 1e,ekiah, <ing of !udah, and
fought alongside him#
"ut this challenge to the ssyrian war machine ultimately led to Tahar5o's downfall# Ten years
later, the ssyrians came looking for him, seeking the colossal wealth of &gypt, and although he
repelled them that time, they soon returned# 2n 4=1 "C they forced Tahar5o to flee south to his
nati+e <ush# 1e lost his wife and his son to the enemy and, after more attacks from the ssyrians,
he was finally e$pelled#
2n the long history of &gypt, <ushite rule was a %rief interlude of not e+en 15( years# Het it
reminds us that the %order %etween what is now &gypt and *udan is a constant fault-line, %oth
geographic and political, that has fre5uently di+ided the peoples of the 'ile Ealley, and fre5uently
%een fought o+er# .e'll see that fault-line again later in these programmes, %ecause %oth the
Doman and the "ritish empires %loodily re+isited this contested %oundary %etween &gypt and
<ush# 0eography has determined that this will always %e a frontier, %ecause it's here that the first
cataract %reaks up the 'ile into small, rocky channels that are +ery hard to na+igate, making
contact %etween north and south highly pro%lematic# For fricans, the 'ile has ne+er %een 3ust an
&gyptian ri+er, and it's claimed as fiercely %y the *udanese now as it was in the time of Tahar5o#
1ere's the *udanese-%orn political commentator, Neina% "adawi9
G2deologically, 2 wouldn't say that there are any huge differences %etween the *udanese and the
&gyptian go+ernments certainly, and there is a huge affinity %etween the people# 2 think that the
%iggest source of friction and potential tension %etween &gypt and *udan has %een in the 'ile, and
how the waters of the 'ile are used# The feeling that a lot of northern *udanese might ha+e is that
the 'ile actually in a sense runs much more through *udan than it does through &gypt# *udan is
the %iggest country in frica# 2t's the tenth %iggest in the world, the si,e of western &urope# 2t is the
land of the 'ile, and may%e there is a kind of %rotherly resentment %y the northern *udanese that
the &gyptians ha+e in a sense claimed the 'ile as their own, whereas the *udanese in a sense feel
6(
they are the proper custodians of the 'ile, %ecause after all, most of its 3ourney is through the
territory of *udan#G
Neina% "adawi's words perhaps make it clear why the union of &gypt and *udan 3ust under three
thousand years ago was easier to achie+e in the sculpted form of Tahar5o's sphin$, than in the
unsta%le world of practical politics# Deco+ering the story of <ush has %een one of the great
achie+ements of recent archaeology, showing how an energetic people on the edge of a great
empire were a%le to con5uer it and appropriate its traditions# 2t's a familiar pattern in the story of
empires, and it's one that was taking place somewhere else at almost e$actly the same time - in
China - and that's where we'll %e going in the ne$t programme#
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Episode 23 - #hinese ;hou ritual vessel
'hinese <hou ritual vessel Bmade around 10&0 ('CD (ron1e guiE found in $estern 'hina
1ow often do you dine with the dead- 2t may seem a strange 5uestion, %ut if you're Chinese it may
not %e 5uite so surprising, %ecause many Chinese, e+en today, %elie+e that deceased family
mem%ers watch o+er them from the other side of death, and can help or hinder their fortunes#
.hen some%ody dies, they're e5uipped for %urial with all kinds of practical %its and pieces9 a
tooth%rush for instance - money, food, water - possi%ly a credit card and a computer# The Chinese
afterlife often sounds depressingly >or perhaps 2 mean reassuringly-? like our own# "ut there is one
great difference9 the dead are paid huge respect# well e5uipped send-off is 3ust the %eginning9
ritual feasting - holding %an5uets with and for the ancestors - has %een for centuries a part of
Chinese life#
GThe primary and most ancient religion in China consists of preparing ceremonial meals for the
dead#G >!essica Dawson?
G2n Chinese way it's ritual, particularly of %an5uets, offering your ancestor food#G >.ang Tao?
Today's programme is a%out a spectacular %ron,e %owl, which around three thousand years ago
was used for feasting in the company of %oth the ancestors and the gods# Families offered food and
drink to their watchful dead, while go+ernments offered to the mighty gods# This is a +essel that
addresses the ne$t world, %ut emphatically asserts authority in this one, and around 1((( "C, at a
trou%led transitional moment for China, the link %etween hea+enly and earthly authority was all#
From the /editerranean to the 8acific, around three thousand years ago, e$isting societies
collapsed and were replaced %y new powers# 2n China the *hang @ynasty, which had %een in
power for o+er 5(( years, was toppled %y a new dynasty, the Nhou# The Nhou came from the west -
from the steppes of central sia# :ike the <ushites of *udan who con5uered &gypt at roughly the
same time, the Nhou were a people from the edge, who challenged and o+erthrew the old-
62
esta%lished, prosperous centre# The Nhou ultimately took o+er the entire *hang kingdom and, again
like the <ushites, followed it up %y appropriating not 3ust the state they'd con5uered %ut its history,
imagery and rituals# Central to the ritual of Chinese political authority was the practice of ela%orate
feasting with the dead, and this in+ol+ed magnificent %ron,e +essels, which are %oth instruments of
power and ma3or historical documents#
2'm in the sia gallery of the "ritish /useum, and 2'm with a handsome %ron,e +essel called a gui#
2t is a%out the shape and si,e of a large punch %owl, a%out a foot >3( cm? across, with two large
cur+ed handles# .hat you first notice 2 think, looking at the outside, is the ela%orate, flower-like
decoration that run on %ands on the top and the %ottom) %ut undou%tedly it's the handles that really
are the most striking element, %ecause each handle is a large %east, with tusks and horns and huge
s5uare ears, and it's caught in the act of swallowing a %ird whose %eak is 3ust emerging from its
3aws# "ron,e +essels like this one are among the most iconic o%3ects made in ancient China# They
often carry inscriptions which are now a key source for Chinese history, and this %ron,e, made
a%out 1((( "C, is 3ust such a document# 2t's part of the story a%out the end of one Chinese dynasty
- the *hang - and the %eginning of another one - the Nhou#
The *hang @ynasty had seen the growth of China's first large cities# Their last capital, at nyang
on the Hellow Di+er in north China, co+ered an area of 3( s5uare kilometres and had a population
of 12(,((( - at the time it must ha+e %een one of the largest cities in the world# :ife in *hang cities
was highly regulated, with 12-month calendars, decimal measurement, conscription and centralised
ta$es# s centres of wealth, the cities were also places of outstanding artistic production in
ceramics and 3ade and, a%o+e all, in %ron,e, and all these skills continued to flourish after the
*hang had %een replaced %y the +ictorious Nhou#
'ow making a %ron,e +essel like our gui %owl is an e$traordinarily complicated %usiness# First
you need to mine and smelt the ores that contain %oth copper and tin, in order to make the %ron,e
itself# Then comes the casting, and here Chinese technology led the world# 7ur gui was not made
as a single o%3ect, %ut as separate pieces cast in different moulds which were then 3oined together
to make one comple$ and intricate work of art# The result is a +essel that at that date could ha+e
%een made nowhere else in the world#
The sheer skill, the effort and e$pense in+ol+ed in making %ron,e +essels like these make them
immediately o%3ects of the highest +alue and status, fit therefore for the most solemn ceremonies#
1ere's @ame !essica Dawson, renowned e$pert on Chinese %ron,e9
GThe first dynasties of China, the *hang and the Nhou, made large num%ers of fine %ron,e
containers for food, for alcohol, for water, and used these in a %ig ceremony, sometimes once a
week, may%e once e+ery ten days# The %elief is that if food, wine or alcohol is properly prepared, it
will %e recei+ed %y the dead and nourish them, and those dead, the ancestors, will look after their
descendants in return for this nourishment# The %ron,e +essels which we see today were pri,ed
possessions for use in life# They were not made primarily for %urial, %ut when a ma3or figure of the
elite died, it was %elie+ed that he would carry on offering ceremonies of food and wine to his
ancestors in the afterlife, indeed, entertain them at %an5uets#G
7ur %owl would ha+e %een one of a set of +essels of different si,es, rather like a set of saucepans
in a smart modern kitchen - although we don't know how many companions it might once ha+e
had# &ach +essel had a clearly defined role in the preparing and ser+ing of food at the regular
%an5uets that were organised for the dead#
2f you look inside our %asin, there is a surprise# t the %ottom, where it would ha+e normally %een
hidden %y food when in use, there is an inscription written in Chinese characters, that are not so
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unlike the ones still used today# nd this inscription tells us that this particular %owl was made for
a Nhou warrior, one of the in+aders who o+erthrew the *hang @ynasty#
t this date, any formal writing is prestigious, %ut writing in %ron,e carries a +ery particular
authority# The inscription at the %ottom of the gui tells us of a significant %attle in the Nhou's
ultimate triumph o+er the *hang9
GThe <ing, ha+ing su%dued the *hang country, charged the /ar5uis <ang to con+ert it into a
%order territory to %e the .ei state# *ince /ei *itu Hi had %een associated in effecting this change,
he made in honour of his late father this sacral +essel#G
*o the man who commissioned the gui, /ei *itu Hi, did so in order to honour his dead father, and
at the same time, as a loyal Nhou, he chose to commemorate the 5uashing of a *hang re%ellion in
a%out 1(5( "C %y the Nhou king's %rother, the /ar5uis <'ang# 2t's through inscriptions in %ron,e
like this one that we can reconstruct the continued tussling %etween the *hang and the Nhou
throughout this period# s writing on %am%oo or wood has perished, these %ron,e inscriptions are
now our principal historical source#
2t's not at all clear why the smaller and much less technically sophisticated Nhou were a%le to
defeat the powerful and well organised *hang state# They seem to ha+e had a striking a%ility to
a%sor% and to shape allies into a coherent attacking force) %ut a%o+e all, they were %uoyed up %y
their faith in themsel+es as a chosen people# 2n first capturing, and then ruling, the *hang kingdom,
they saw themsel+es - as so many con5uering forces do - as enacting the will of the gods# *o they
fought with the confidence %orn of knowing that they were to %e the rightful inheritors of the land#
"ut - and this was new - they articulated this %elief in the form of one controlling concept, which
was to %ecome a central idea in Chinese political history#
The Nhou are the first to formalise the idea of the /andate of 1ea+en9 the Chinese notion that
hea+en %lesses and sustains the authority of a 3ust ruler# n impious and incompetent ruler would
displease the gods, who would withdraw their mandate from him# *o on this +iew, it followed that
the defeated *hang must ha+e lost the /andate of 1ea+en, which had passed to the +irtuous,
+ictorious Nhou# From this time on, the /andate of 1ea+en %ecame a permanent feature of
Chinese political life, underpinning the authority of rulers or 3ustifying their remo+al, as .ang Tao,
archaeologist at the Cni+ersity of :ondon tells us9
GThat transformed the Nhou, %ecause that allowed them to rule other people# 2f you kill the king or
senior mem%er of the family, it's the %iggest crime you could make# *o to turn the crime against
authority or against a ruler into some 3ustifia%le action, you had to ha+e an e$cuse, and that e$cuse
is the /andate of 1ea+en#
G1ere in the west, we ha+e the concept of democracy, and in China it's the /andate of 1ea+en# For
e$ample, you can see if you offend the hea+en, or offend the people, then you will see the omens
from hea+en - thunder, rain, earth5uake# That's why e+ery single time that China has an
earth5uake, the political rulers were scared, %ecause they were reading that as some kind of
/andate of 1ea+en#G
*o the Nhou's ritual feasting with +essels like our gui was in part a pu%lic assertion that the gods
endorsed the new regime# 0ui such as ours ha+e %een found o+er a wide swathe of China, %ecause
the Nhou con5uest continued to e$pand until it co+ered nearly twice the area of the old *hang
kingdom# 2t was a cum%ersome state, with fluctuating le+els of territorial control# "ut nonetheless,
the Nhou @ynasty lasted for as long as the Doman &mpire, and indeed longer than any other
dynasty in Chinese history#
64
nd as well as the /andate of 1ea+en, they %e5ueathed one other enduring concept to China# 2t
was the Nhou, who three thousand years ago ga+e to their lands the name of Nhongguo9 the
/iddle <ingdom'# nd the Chinese ha+e thought of themsel+es as the /iddle <ingdom, placed
in the +ery centre of the world, e+er since#
65
Episode 24 - -aracas textile
-e!tile fragment from the /aracas peninsula on the southern coast of /eru Bmade around 00
('C
Fashion as we all know is glamorous and e$tra+agant, fri+olous and ephemeral# "ut it's also a great
way to grasp how a society thinks a%out itself# :ooking at clothes is a key part of any serious
looking at history# "ut as we all know to our cost, clothes don't last - they wear out, they fall apart
and what sur+i+es gets eaten %y the moths# Compared with stone, pottery or metal, clothes are
pretty well non-starters in a history of the world told through 'things'# *o regretta%ly, %ut perhaps
not surprisingly, it's only now, well o+er a million years into our story, that we're coming to clothes
and to all that they can tell us a%out economics and power structures, climate and customs, the
li+ing and the dead#
GTe$tiles 3ust ha+e a +ery unusual place#G >/ary Frame?
G2t's a constant ama,ement when we disco+er these things, and find that they're not new, and that
they were in+ented years ago#G >Nandra Dhodes?
The theme of our week so far has %een one of empires collapsing, new regimes, and massi+e
%loodshed# 2n the *outh merica of 5(( "C there were no empires yet to %e o+erthrown %ut, as we
shall see, there certainly was %lood# .e're learning new things all the time a%out the mericas at
this date %ut, compared to what we know a%out sia, much is still relati+ely mysterious, %elonging
to a world of %eha+iour and %elief that we still struggle to interpret from fragmentary e+idence#
2'm in a study room in the "ritish /useum, and in front of me are pieces of cloth well o+er two
thousand years old# They're usually kept in specially controlled conditions, so 2'm not going to
lea+e them all e$posed to ordinary light and humidity for long# The first thing that strikes you
a%out them is their e$traordinary condition# They're each a%out three or four inches >1(( mm? long,
and they're em%roidered in stem-stitch using wool, either from llamas or alpacas, we're not sure
64
which - %oth animals are nati+e to the ndes and were soon domesticated# The figures ha+e %een
+ery carefully cut out and they must once ha+e %een part of a larger garment, a mantel or a cape, or
something like that# They are strange %eings - not entirely human in form - %ecause they appear to
ha+e talons instead of hands, and claws for feet#
t first glance you might find these figures rather charming, as they appear to %e flying through
the air with their long pigtails or top knots trailing %ehind them # # # %ut when you look more
closely, they're disconcerting, %ecause you can see that they're wielding daggers and they're
clasping se+ered heads# 8erhaps the most striking thing a%out them, though, is the intricacy of the
sewing and the sur+i+ing %rilliance of the colours, with their %lues and pinks, yellows and greens,
all sitting +ery carefully 3udged ne$t to one another#
These 3ewel-like scraps of cloth were found a%out 15( miles >24( km? south of modern :ima# .ith
the coast in front of them and the ndes mountains %ehind them, the people of 8aracas produced
some of the most colourful, comple$ and distincti+e te$tiles that we know#
These early 8eru+ians seem to ha+e put all their artistic energies into te$tiles# &m%roidered cloth
was for them roughly what %ron,e was for the Chinese at the same date9 the most re+ered material
in their culture, and the clearest sign of status and authority# These particular pieces of cloth ha+e
come down to us %ecause they were %uried in the dry desert conditions of the 8aracas peninsula,
3ust like the te$tiles that ha+e sur+i+ed from ancient &gypt from the same period, thousands of
miles away# nd in 8eru, as in &gypt, the te$tiles were intended not 3ust for wearing in daily life
%ut also to wrap the dead# The 8aracas te$tiles were used to clothe 8eru+ian mummies#
The Canadian wea+er and te$tile specialist /ary Frame has %een studying these 8eru+ian
masterpieces for o+er 3( years, and she finds in these funeral cloths an e$traordinary organisation
at work9
G*ome of the wrapping cloths were immense in these mummy %undles - one was ;= feet long# 2t
would ha+e %een a social enactment, a happening, to lay out the yarns to make these cloths# Hou
can ha+e up to 5(( figures on a single te$tile, and they are organised in +ery set patterns of colour
repetition and symmetry patterns# The social le+els were reflected in cloth to a tremendous degree#
&+erything was controlled a%out te$tiles - what kind of fi%re, colours, materials could %e used %y
what groups# nd 2 think there has always %een a tendency to do that - in a stratified society - to
use something ma3or, like te$tiles, to +isi%ly reflect the le+els in the society#G
There was no writing that we know of at this time in 8eru, so these te$tiles must ha+e %een a +ital
part of the +isual language# The colours must ha+e %een electrifying against the e+eryday palette of
yellow and %eige hues that dominated the landscape of the sandy 8aracas peninsula# They were
certainly +ery difficult colours to achie+e# The %right red tones were e$tracted from the roots of
plants, while the deep purples came from molluscs gathered on the shore# The %ackground cloth
would ha+e %een cotton, spun and dyed %efore %eing wo+en on a loom# Figures were outlined first,
and then the details - like clothes and facial features - were filled-in in different colours with
e$5uisite precision, presuma%ly %y young people, as you need perfect eyesight for stitching like
this#
8roduction would ha+e re5uired coordinating large num%ers of differently skilled la%ourers - the
people who reared the animals for the wool, who grew the cotton, who gathered the dyes and then
the many who actually worked on the te$tiles themsel+es# society that could organise all this,
and de+ote so much energy and resource to materials for %urial, must ha+e %een %oth prosperous
and +ery highly structured#
6=
/aking the mummy %undles, in other words preparing the 8aracas elite for %urial, in+ol+ed an
ela%orate ritual# The naked corpse was first %ound with cords to fi$ it in a seated position# .rapped
pieces of cotton or occasionally gold were put in the mouth, and grander corpses had a golden
mask strapped to the lower half of their face# fter this the %ody was wrapped in a large
em%roidered te$tile - our fragments must come from one of these - and the encased %ody was then
seated upright in a %ig shallow %asket containing offerings of shell necklaces, %ird feathers from
the ma,onian 3ungle, animal skins and food, including mai,e and peanuts# Then %ody, offerings
and %asket, all together, were wrapped in layers of plain cotton cloth to form one giant conical
mummy %undle, sometimes up to fi+e feet >1#5m? wide#
2t's impossi%le to know e$actly what our em%roidered figures represent# pparently floating in the
air, with %ared teeth and clawed hands, it is easy to imagine that they are not human, %ut creatures
from the spirit world# "ut as they hold daggers and se+ered heads, perhaps we are in the realm of
ritual sacrifice# .hat is this killing for- nd why would you em%roider it on a te$tile- .e're
clearly in the presence here of a +ery comple$ structure of %elief and myth, and the stakes are as
high as they can %e# For these are em%roideries a%out life and death# /ary Frame again9 ###
GThe se+ered heads, the wounds, the strange posture, seem to %e depicting a whole set of stages of
transformation %etween the human into the mythic ancestor# "lood and fertility seem to %e themes
that are intertwined with this# These te$tiles are really directed like a supplication for success with
crops# 8eru+ian land is +ery marginal, it's terrifically arid down there) 2 think the people had an
intense focus on rituals that would ensure continual success# .ater is necessary for plant growth -
%lood is concei+ed of as %eing e+en more potent for plant growth#G
/ary Frame's hypothesis sounds con+incing, not least %ecause when the first &uropeans arri+ed in
central and south merica o+er two thousand years later, they found societies structured around
%lood sacrifices to ensure the continuing cycle of seasons and crops# *o these four little
em%roideries gi+e us a huge amount of information, and stimulate a great deal of speculation,
a%out how the people of the 8aracas li+ed, died and %elie+ed# "ut 5uite apart from that, they are
great imaginati+e achie+ements, masterpieces of needlework that still speak directly to
contemporary fashion designers like Nandra Dhodes9
G/y first reaction when 2 see these wonderful ancient te$tiles is - isn't it fantastic that they'+e
sur+i+ed, and they'+e sur+i+ed with colours, and they're %eing preser+ed- nd then the
magnificence of %eing a%le to look at them# nd when 2 get the chance, 2 would like to do a
drawing of them, %ecause it's only when you draw them that you can understand the shapes and
how they'+e achie+ed it, and see the way the threads go# "y %eing a%le to study them, you get to
feel a closer connection, and e+en start to think9 'Could 2 do a whole 8eru+ian-inspired collection
%y starting to study the way the patterns go-' G
.hile the mericas %efore the &uropeans arri+ed are still in many ways a mystery, continuing
archaeology and research on te$tiles like these ones are helping us to piece together a clearer
picture# "ut it's certain that merican societies at this date, e+en ad+anced ones like the 8aracas,
were much smaller in scale than the contemporary states in the /iddle &ast and in China that
we'+e %een looking at this week# 2t was to %e many centuries yet %efore empires like the 2ncas
would emerge#
"ut these te$tiles and em%roideries of the 8aracas, produced o+er two thousand years ago, remain
among the greatest in the world# nd it's not 3ust designers who see them as ha+ing significant
potential today# *o do politicians# These te$tiles are now seen, literally, as part of the fa%ric of the
nation and, in contemporary 8eru, there is a determined effort to re+italise these traditional
wea+ing and sewing practices, in order to connect modern 8eru+ians directly to their ancient,
indigenous, and entirely non-&uropean past#
6;
Episode 2" - 9old coin of #roesus
0old coin of Croesus, <ing of :ydia >made around 55( "C? minted in Turkey
G0et Dich BuickAG trumpets the promo on a %u,,y financial we%site# *tart with fifty %ucks, it says,
and +ery soon, you'll %ecome Grich like CroesusG# 2t's a promise that's %een made countless times
through the centuries, despite financial %ooms and %usts, %ut what intrigues me most a%out finding
it on this hyper-modern we%site is that the name of Croesus still stands for the ultimate in wealth#
fter so many centuries, Croesus is still the world-wide sym%ol of the man who's made it#
The real <ing Croesus was indeed fa%ulously rich and, until a horri%le twist at the end of his life,
he did ha+e a wonderful time with his money# .e don't know who first coined the phrase Gas rich
as CroesusG, %ut it's now em%edded not 3ust in our language %ut in many others, and we're going to
%e looking at some of the world's first proper coins in this programme#
G2 imagined it was flatter and more circular, %ut this is con+e$, with a design only on one side#G
>!ames "uchan?
GThe stamps on them are the guarantee of the weight and the purity#G >8aul Craddock?
Croesus was a king in what's now western Turkey# 1is kingdom, :ydia, was among the new
powers that emerged across the /iddle &ast a%out three thousand years ago, so it was part of that
wider political uphea+al that 2'+e %een e$ploring this week# "ut in this programme, 2 want to look
at a different kind of new power - or more precisely, 2 want to look at the creation of a new type of
o%3ect that would ultimately %ecome a power in its own right9 coinage#
.e'+e all grown so accustomed to using little round pieces of metal to %uy things, that it's easy to
forget that coins arri+ed 5uite late in the history of the world# For o+er two thousand years, states
ran comple$ economies and international trading networks without a coin to hand# The &gyptians,
for e$ample, used a sophisticated system that measured +alue against standard weights of copper
66
and gold, %ut as new states and new ways of organising trade emerged, coinage %egan to make an
appearance, and fascinatingly, it happened independently in two different parts of the world at
almost the same time# 2n China they %egan using miniature spades and kni+es in +ery much the
same way that we would now use coins, and +irtually simultaneously in the /editerranean world,
the :ydians started making actual coins as we would recognise them today - round shapes in
precious metals#
2 ha+e here some of the original gold coins that made Croesus so rich# They come in all different
si,es, from a%out the shape of a modern one penny piece right down to something the si,e of a
lentil# The :ydian coins are not all the same shape# The largest one we'+e got here - it's in my hand
now - is a kind of figure-of-eight shape, an o%long, slightly s5uee,ed in the middle, and on it are a
lion and a %ull facing each other as if in com%at, and a%out to crash together head-on#
These coins were minted under Croesus around 55( "C %ut, in a +ery real sense, they are already
part of our modern world, as the financial 3ournalist and no+elist, !ames "uchan e$plains9
GThere is a continuity %etween this coin of Croesus and today, and when you look at it, it has
concealed in it the entire future, including the %onuses at 0oldman *achs and the career of *ir Fred
0oodwin#
G2n modern times, what money does is it incorporates a wish, and displays that wish to the world#
nd in the way that human %eings are, they tend to %ecome fascinated %y the potential of o%3ects,
and certainly it's a feature of the present day that people accumulate fortunes that no%ody could
possi%ly spend, and yet people still compete to accumulate e+er larger fortunes# "ut what makes
this ine5uality of fortune possi%le is ha+ing money#
GThere is nothing either natural or 0od-gi+en a%out the use of money# 2t's 3ust a historical process,
5uite a complicated one, that's %uilt up o+er time# 7+er that period, money has worked pretty well
and has played a +ery important role in the triumphs of humanity - and also of course in its
miseries# "ut it's allowed the population of the world to e$pand %eyond limits that were thought
possi%le# *ince e+en a few years ago, it's raised the standards of li+ing# ll these possi%ilities are in
this little o%3ect#G
*o Croesus's gold coins really ha+e changed the world# 2t's said that Croesus found his gold in the
ri+er that once %elonged to the legendary /idas - he of Gthe golden touchG, and it's certain that the
region was +ery rich in gold, which would ha+e %een e$tremely useful in the great trading
metropolis of :ydia's capital city, *ardis#
2n small societies, there isn't really a great need for money, %ecause you can generally trust your
friends and neigh%ours to return any la%our, food or goods in kind# The need for money, as we
understand it, grows when you are dealing with strangers you may ne+er see again and can't
necessarily trust - that is, when you're trading in a cosmopolitan city like *ardis#
"efore the first :ydian coins, payments were made mostly in precious metal - effecti+ely 3ust
lumps of gold and sil+er# 2t didn't really matter what shape the metal was, 3ust how much it
weighed and how pure it was# "ut there's a difficulty) in their natural state, gold and sil+er were
often found mi$ed with each other and, indeed, mi$ed with other metals# Checking a metal's purity
was a tedious task - likely to hold up e+ery %usiness transaction, and e+en when the :ydians and
their neigh%ours in+ented coinage, a%out a hundred years %efore Croesus, this pro%lem still
remained# They used the naturally occurring mi$ture of gold and sil+er, not the pure forms of the
metals#
1((
The :ydians e+entually sol+ed this pro%lem, speeded up the market and, in the process, %ecame
hugely rich# They realised that the answer was for the state to mint coins of pure gold and pure
sil+er, of consistent weights that would ha+e a%solutely relia%le +alue# 2t was the currency that you
could trust in completely and, without any checking, spend, spend, spendA 1ow did the :ydians
manage to pull this off- 8aul Craddock, e$pert in historical metals, e$plains9###
GThe :ydians hit on the idea of the state, or the king, issuing standard weights and standard purity#
The stamps on them are the guarantee of the weight and the purity# nd of course if you're
guaranteeing the purity, then it is a%solutely necessary that you ha+e the a%ility not 3ust to add
elements to the gold %ut also to take them out# nd to some degree, taking out elements like lead
and copper, that's not too %ad, %ut unfortunately the main element that came with the gold out of
the ground was the sil+er, and this had not %een done %efore# *o 2 guess that Croesus sent to his
research teams and said9 Hour pro%lem today lads is to disco+er how we can get the sil+er out of
the gold so that we can then make a consistent coinage#' 'ow sil+er is reasona%ly resistant to
chemical attack, and gold of course is +ery resistant to chemical attack# *o what they did was to
get either +ery fine powder of the gold straight from the mines, or else get %igger pieces of old
gold and hammer it out into +ery thin sheets - a %it like the old-fashioned cigarette papers - and
then put these in a pot along with common salt, that's sodium chloride# nd then heat that in a
furnace to a%out ;(( degrees centigrade, and ultimately you are left with pretty pure gold#G
*o the :ydians learned how to make pure gold coins# "ut no less importantly, they then employed
craftsmen to stamp on them sym%ols indicating their weight, and thus their +alue# These first coins
ha+e no writing on them - dates and inscriptions on coins were to come much later - %ut
archaeological e+idence allows us to date our coins to around 55( "C, so the middle of Croesus's
reign#
The stamp used to indicate weight on his coins was a lion, and as the si,e and therefore the +alue
of the coin decreased, e+er smaller parts of the lion's anatomy were used, so for e$ample the
smallest coin shows only a lion's paw# .hat this new :ydian method of minting did, was to mo+e
the responsi%ility for checking the purity and weight of the coins from the %usinessman to the ruler
- a switch that made the city of *ardis an easy, swift, and e$tremely attracti+e place to do %usiness
in# 'o wonder that Croesus and his kingdom %ecame enormously wealthy#
2t was thanks to that wealth that Croesus was a%le to %uild one of the *e+en .onders of the .orld
- the great Temple of rtemis at &phesus# "ecause people could trust Croesus's coins, they used
them far %eyond the %oundaries of :ydia itself, gi+ing him a new kind of influence - financial
power# Trust is of course a key component of any coinage - you'+e got to %e a%le to rely on the
stated +alue of the coin, and on the guarantee that it implies# 2t was Croesus who ga+e the world its
first relia%le currency - the gold standard starts here#
"ut did Croesus's money %ring him happiness- .e're told that he was warned %y a wise thenian
statesman that no man, howe+er rich and powerful, could %e considered happy until he knew his
end# &+erything would depend on whether he died happy#
:ydia was powerful and prosperous, %ut it was threatened from the east %y the rapidly e$panding
power of the 8ersians# Croesus responded to this threat %y seeking ad+ice from the famed 7racle at
@elphi# nd he was told that, in the coming conflict, Ga great empire would %e destroyedG# "ut
actually it was his own empire, :ydia, that was con5uered# Croesus was captured %y the great
8ersian king Cyrus, and he %ecame the world's fa+ourite moralising e$ample of how fortune can
turn, e+en against the richestA 2n fact, his end wasn't so %ad# Cyrus shrewdly appointed Croesus as
an ad+isor - 2 like to think as his financial ad+isor - and the +ictorious 8ersians 5uickly adopted the
:ydian model, spreading Croesus's coins along the trade routes of the /editerranean and sia, and
then minting their own coins in pure gold and pure sil+er at Croesus's mint in *ardis#
1(1
2t's an intriguing fact that coinage was in+ented at pretty well the same time in %oth China and in
Turkey, and it's pro%a%ly not a coincidence# Dather, 2 think, they're %oth responses to the
fundamental changes seen across the world around three thousand years ago from the
/editerranean to the 8acific# There were military, political and economic uphea+als that %rought
us not only modern coinage, %ut something else that's resonated till the present day - new ideas
a%out how people and their rulers saw themsel+es, in short, the %eginning of modern political
thinking, the world of Confucius and Classical thens# That's what we're going to %e looking at
ne$t week, and we're going to start with the people that toppled Croesus - the 8ersians#
1(2
T,* =1+<2 in ),* 'g* 1( C1n(u.ius (6## $ 5## &C)
Episode 2$ - Oxus chariot model
7$us chariot model >made almost 2,5(( years ago?# 0old - from the ncient 8ersian &mpire
This week we're in +ery e$alted intellectual company9 we're with Confucius in China, 8ericles in
0reece, and Cyrus in ncient 8ersia# 2t's the fifth century "C, and across the world societies are
%eginning to articulate +ery clear ideas a%out themsel+es and a%out others# They're in+enting and
defining what we would now call statecraft# This is the era of what some ha+e called the 'empires
of the mind'# 2'm going to %egin with the world superpower of two and a half thousand years ago9
8ersia#
GThis was an empire that was run on a rather different principle to pre+ious empires - which were
really %ased on might %eing right#G >/ichael $worthy?
G8ersian occupation - 2 suppose you could compare to a light morning mist settling o+er the
contours of their empire - you were aware of it, %ut it was ne+er o%trusi+e#G >Tom 1olland?
.e are a%out =( miles north of *hira,, 2ran, and the low camel-coloured hills ha+e opened out into
a flat windy plain# 2t's pretty featureless landscape, e$cept that right in front of me is a huge stone
plinth, rising in si$ gigantic steps to what looks like a ga%led hermit's cell# 2t dominates the entire
landscape# 2t is the tom% of Cyrus, the first 8ersian emperor, the man who two and a half thousand
years ago %uilt the largest empire that the world had then seen, and changed the world - or at least
the /iddle &ast - for e+er#
Centred in modern 2ran, the +ast 8ersian &mpire ran from Turkey and &gypt in the west to
fghanistan and 8akistan in the east# To control an empire like this re5uired land transport on a
5uite unprecedented scale, and so the 8ersian &mpire is the first great 'road' empire of history#
1(3
2n front of me now Jin the "ritish /useumK is a chariot made of solid gold and pulled %y four
golden horses# 2t's easy to imagine a chariot like this racing along those great 8ersian imperial
roads# 2t's got two figures in it9 the dri+er, who stands holding the reins, and the much larger and
clearly +ery important passenger, who sits on a %ench at his side# 1e is pro%a%ly meant to %e a
high-up administrator, +isiting the distant pro+ince that he rules on %ehalf of the <ing of 8ersia#
nd this chariot was found in a +ery distant pro+ince, right on the far eastern edge of the empire,
somewhere on the %orders of modern Ta3ikistan and fghanistan# 2t's part of a huge hoard of gold
and sil+er o%3ects, which for o+er a hundred years ha+e formed one of the great collections here at
the "ritish /useum#
This magnificent chariot sits 5uite comforta%ly on the palm of my hand, where it looks like an
e$5uisite toy for a pri+ileged child# .e can't %e certain the chariot was in fact a toy) it could ha+e
%een made as an offering to the gods, either asking them for a fa+our or thanking them for one# "ut
whate+er it meant then, this tiny golden chariot allows us today to con3ure up a whole empire#
"ut what kind of an empire was it- 2t was more a collection of kingdoms than what we might
immediately think of as an empire# Cyrus called himself the *hahanshah - the <ing of <ings -
making clear that this was a confederation of allied states, each with their own ruler %ut all under
firm 8ersian control# 2t was a model that allowed a great deal of local autonomy and all sorts of
di+ersity - +ery different from the later Doman model# 1ere's historian and writer Tom 1olland9
GThe Doman approach, of course, was to encourage those they had con5uered to identify with their
con5uerors, so that ultimately e+eryone within the %orders of the Doman &mpire came to consider
themsel+es to %e Domans# 8ersians went for a +ery different approach, in that the method that the
8ersian kings liked to employ with those they con5uered was to encourage the elites, in particular,
to colla%orate# *o as long as you paid your ta$es, and you didn't re+olt, then you'd pretty much %e
left alone# That said, howe+er, you do not con5uer a +ast empire without spilling an immense
amount of %lood, and there was no 5uestion that if you dared to stand up to the 8ersian kings then
you would %e o%literated#G
nd they o%literated trou%lesome people %y sending their armies along those wonderfully straight
and fast imperial roads# "ut %loodshed was generally a+oided, thanks to a huge - and hugely
effecti+e - administrati+e machine# The <ing of <ings, of course, controlled e+erything, %ut at
local le+el he was represented %y a go+ernor - a satrap - who would keep a close eye on what was
going on in these su%ordinate kingdoms# 1e would enforce law and order, le+y ta$es and raise
armies#
.hich %rings us %ack to our golden toy - %ecause the passenger in our chariot must %e a satrap on
tour# 1e sports a stylishly patterned o+ercoat - he's o%+iously spent a great deal of money on it -
and his headdress lea+es you in no dou%t that this is a man who is used to %eing in charge# 1is
chariot is made for serious tra+el9 the large-spoked wheels are as high as the horses themsel+es,
and are clearly designed for long distances#
'othing tells you more a%out a state than its transport system >you need think no further than
modern "ritain?, and so our chariot tells us a great deal a%out imperial 8ersia# 8u%lic order was so
secure that people could tra+el long distances without armed guards# nd they could tra+el fast#
.ith its horses specially %red for strength and speed, and with its large, steadying wheels, this
chariot was the Ferrari or the 8orsche of its time# "road dirt roads were kept wheel-worthy in all
weathers, and there were fre5uent staging posts# Commands from the centre could %e transmitted
at speed across the whole territory, thanks to an entirely relia%le royal postal ser+ice that employed
horsemen, runners and e$press messengers# Foreign +isitors were deeply impressed, among them
the 0reek historian 1erodotus9
1(4
GThere is nothing in the world which tra+els faster than these 8ersian couriers ### it is said that men
and horses are stationed along the road, e5ual in num%er to the num%er of days the 3ourney takes -
a man and a horse for each day# 'othing stops these couriers from co+ering their allotted stage in
the 5uickest possi%le time - neither snow, rain, heat, nor darkness#G >1erodotus, 1istory E222# 6;?
"ut our chariot doesn't 3ust tell us a%out tra+el and communications) it sums up the di+ersity that
was at the heart of the 8ersian imperial system# lthough found on the eastern frontier near
fghanistan, the techni5ue of its metal-working shows that it must ha+e %een made in central
8ersia# The dri+er and his passenger wear the costume of the /edes, and on the front of the
chariot, prominently displayed, is the head of the &gyptian god "es# 'ow "es, a dwarf figure with
%ow legs, is perhaps not your most likely candidate for a di+ine protector, %ut he looked after
children and people in trou%le, and he was a good god to ha+e guarding your chariot on long
3ourneys# 2 suppose he's the e5ui+alent of a modern-day saint or talisman dangling from the car
mirror#
"ut what, you might ask, is an &gyptian god doing protecting a 8ersian on the frontiers of
fghanistan- .ell, it's a perfect demonstration of the 8ersian &mpire's striking capacity to tolerate
different religions and indeed, on occasion, to adopt them from the people that they con5uered#
This unusually inclusi+e empire was also perfectly happy to use foreign languages for their official
proclamations# 1ere's 1erodotus again9
G'o race is so ready to adopt foreign ways as the 8ersian) for instance, they wear the /edian
costume as they think it handsomer than their own, and their soldiers wear the &gyptian corselet#G
>1erodotus, 1istory 2# 135?
The multi-faith, multi-cultural approach that's summed up in our little chariot, when com%ined
with huge military power, created a fle$i%le imperial system that lasted for o+er two hundred
years# 2t ga+e the king the opportunity to present the image of a friendly empire - whate+er the
facts on the ground might actually ha+e %een# *o, when Cyrus in+aded "a%ylon, near modern
"aghdad, in 536 "C, he could issue a grandilo5uently generous decree - in "a%ylonian -
presenting himself as the defender of the people that he had 3ust con5uered# 2n his own words9
G.hen my soldiers in great num%ers peacefully entered "a%ylon ### 2 did not allow anyone to
terrori,e the people ### 2 kept in +iew the needs of the people and all their sanctuaries to promote
their well-%eing ### 2 freed all sla+es#G
The most famous %eneficiaries of Cyrus' shrewd political decision after the con5uest of "a%ylon
were the !ews# Taken prisoner a generation %efore %y 'e%uchadne,,ar, they were now allowed to
return home to !erusalem and to re-%uild the temple# 2t was an act of generosity that they ne+er
forgot# 2n the 1e%rew scriptures, and especially %y the prophet 2saiah, Cyrus is hailed as a di+inely
inspired %enefactor and hero# nd in 161=, when the "ritish go+ernment declared that it would
esta%lish in 8alestine a national home to which !ews could once again return, images of Cyrus
were displayed with photographs of 0eorge E throughout eastern &urope# 'ot many political ploys
are still paying di+idends like that, two and a half thousand years later#
7ne of the perple$ing things a%out the 8ersian &mpire is that the 8ersians themsel+es wrote +ery
little a%out how they managed it# /ost of our information comes from 0reek sources and, as the
0reeks were for long the enemies of the 8ersians, it's rather as though we knew the history of the
"ritish &mpire only through documents written %y the French# "ut modern archaeology has
pro+ided new sources of information, and in the last 5( years the 2ranians themsel+es ha+e
redisco+ered and re-appropriated their great imperial past# ny +isitor to 2ran today feels it at once#
1ere's /ichael $worthy, @irector of the Centre for 8ersian and 2ranian studies at the Cni+ersity
1(5
of &$eter, and the author of '&mpire of the /ind' - a history of the enduring ideal of the ancient
8ersian &mpire9
GThere is a huge and una+oida%le pride in the past in 2ran ### 2t's a culture that is at ease with
comple$ity, that has faced the comple$ity of different races, different religions, different
languages, and has found ways to encompass them and to relate them to each other and to organise
them# 'ot in a loose way or in a relati+istic way, necessarily, %ut in a principled way that keeps
things together# nd 2ranians are +ery keen for people to understand that they ha+e this long, long,
long history and this ancient heritage#G
$worthy's phrase 'empires of the mind' sums up pretty well the theme that 2'm trying to tackle this
week, %ut perhaps 'states of mind' would %e more accurate - %ecause 2'm talking a%out o%3ects that
show us how different people imagine and de+ise an effecti+e state# For 8ersia 2'+e %een looking at
a toy chariot) for thens 2'll %e looking at a temple# s you'd imagine, %ecause they for so long
were at war, 0reeks and 8ersians had +ery different ideas of what a state should %e# "ut precisely
%ecause they were at war, each tended to define the ideal state in opposition to the other# 2n 4;( "C
8ersian troops destroyed the temple on the thenian cropolis# 2n its place the thenians %uilt the
8arthenon that we know today#
There are few o%3ects that o+er the last two hundred years ha+e %een so widely seen as em%odying
a set of ideas as the 8arthenon# nd 2'll %e looking at one of the sculptures that decorated it in the
ne$t programme#
1(4
Episode 2& - -arthenon sculpture< #entaur and +apith
8arthenon sculpture9 Centaur and :apith >made around 44( "C?# /ar%le) from the 8arthenon,
thens
round 1;((, :ord &lgin remo+ed some of the sculptures from the ruins of the 8arthenon in
thens, and a few years later put them on pu%lic show in :ondon# For most western &uropeans it
was the first time they had e+er %een a%le to look closely at 0reek sculpture, and they were
o+erwhelmed and inspired %y the %reathing +itality and the %eauty of these works# "ut in the 21st
century, the &lgin /ar%les, as they'+e long %een known, are famous less as art o%3ects than as
o%3ects of political contro+ersy# For most people today, the 8arthenon sculptures in the "ritish
/useum pro+oke only one 5uestion9 should they %e in :ondon or in thens- The 0reek
go+ernment insists they should %e in thens) the "ritish /useum's Trustees %elie+e that in :ondon
they're an integral part of the story of world cultures#
GFor me the 8arthenon sculptures re+eal to us the tensions, the discontents, the conflicts, and also
the sheer %rilliance of ncient 0reek culture# For the modern 0reeks, the 8arthenon sculptures are
a rallying cry and a remem%rance of things lost#G >/ary "eard?
GThe whole 8arthenon - not only the sculptures %ut the %uilding - %ecame em%lematic, the sym%ol
of new 0reece# 2t still is, and we're still restoring it, and naturally, of course, the sculptures of the
8arthenon are part of this#G >7lga 8alagia?
2t's a passionate de%ate in which e+eryone has their own +iew, %ut in this programme 2 want to
focus on one sculpture in particular, and what that sculpture meant to the people who made it and
looked at it in thens in the fifth century "C#
The 8arthenon sculptures set out to present an thenian uni+erse made up of gods, heroes and
mortals, wo+en together in comple$ scenes drawn from myth and daily life# They are, 2 think,
some of the most mo+ing and uplifting sculptures e+er made# They'+e %ecome so familiar, and
1(=
ha+e shaped so much of &uropean thinking, that it's hard now to reco+er their original impact# "ut
at the time of their making they were a 5uite new +ision of what it meant, intellectually and
physically, to %e human and, indeed, thenian# They're the first, and supreme, achie+ements of a
new +isual language# 1ere's 7lga 8alagia, 8rofessor of Classical rchaeology at the Cni+ersity of
thens9
GThe idea of the new style was to create a new e5uili%rium %etween the human %ody, and the
human mo+ement and the garments # # # The effort was to achie+e the perfect proportions of the
human %ody which were not there %efore# The key word for the new classical style is harmony and
%alance - that is why the sculptures of the 8arthenon are so timeless, %ecause the figures they
created are indeed timeless#G
The sculptures were of course made at a +ery particular time and with a +ery particular purpose#
The 8arthenon was a temple dedicated to the goddess thena 8arthenos, meaning thena the
Eirgin# 2t was %uilt on the cropolis - a rocky citadel at the heart of the city# 2ts central hall housed
a colossal statue of the goddess herself, made of gold and i+ory# nd e+erywhere there was
sculpture#
round all four sides of the %uilding, a%o+e the columns and easily seen %y e+ery%ody
approaching, was a series of 62 s5uare relief car+ings, known as metopes# :ike all the other
sculpture in the %uilding, these would ha+e originally %een %rightly coloured in red and %lue and
gold, and it's one of these metopes, now without its colour, that 2 want to take as our o%3ect to think
a%out thens around 44( "C#
The metopes are all a%out %attles - %attles %etween the 7lympian gods and the 0iants, %etween
thenians and ma,ons and, in the ones 2 want to focus on, %etween :apiths and Centaurs# The
figures are almost free-standing, and the human ones are a%out four feet >1#2m? tall# Centaurs - half
horse, half human - are attacking the :apiths, who are a legendary 0reek people# ccording to the
story, the :apiths made the mistake of gi+ing the Centaurs wine at the marriage feast of their king#
The Centaurs got horri%ly drunk and attempted to rape the women, while their leader tried to carry
off the %ride# general %itter %attle ensued, and the :apiths - the 0reeks - were ultimately
+ictorious o+er their half-animal Centaur enemies#
The one 2'm looking at now is particularly mo+ing) there are only two figures - a Centaur rearing
triumphantly o+er a fallen :apith, who lies dying on the ground# s with so many of the 8arthenon
sculptures, this one is damaged, and we can no longer see the e$pression in the dying :apith's face,
or the aggression in the eyes of the Centaur# 'onetheless, it remains a wonderful and mo+ing piece
of sculpture# "ut what does it mean- nd how can it sum up, in itself, a +iew of the thenian state-
2'm fairly certain that these sculptures are using myths to present a heroic +ersion of recent e+ents#
generation %efore these sculptures were made, thens was one of a num%er of fiercely
competiti+e city states, who were suddenly forced into a coalition with each other %y the 8ersian
in+asion of the 0reek mainland# *o, in the metopes, when we see 0reeks fighting Centaurs, these
mythical %attles stand pro$y for the real-life struggle %etween 0reeks and 8ersians# 1ere's /ary
"eard, Cam%ridge classicist, on what the sculptures would ha+e meant to the people who first saw
them9
Gncient 0reece is a world which sees - 'sees' - issues in terms of conflict, of winning, and losing#
2t's a conflictual society, and one of the ways that thenians thought a%out their position in the
world, and their relationship to those they con5uered, or a%ominated, was they saw the 'enemy' or
the 'other' in terms that were not, in a sense, 'human'# *o what you ha+e on the 8arthenon is
different ways of understanding the 'otherness' of your enemy# 2 mean, the %est interpretation of the
1(;
metopes, is that you see the heroic conflicts as necessary in order to ensure order# nd part of that
is a feeling that we can +ery easily empathise with# 2 mean, we don't want to li+e in a culture that
the Centaurs - the half-men half-horse run, we don't want to li+e in Centaur .orldA 'or do we
want to li+e in ma,on .orld# .e want to li+e in 0reek .orld, and thenian .orld#G
Centaur .orld for the thenians would ha+e meant not 3ust the 8ersian &mpire, %ut other
competing 0reek city states, and a%o+e all, *parta, with whom thens was fre5uently at war# The
struggle against the Centaurs that we see on the metopes %ecomes an em%lem of the perpetual
%attle that, for the thenians, e+ery ci+ilised state has to fight# Dational man has to keep struggling
against %rute irrationality# @ehumanising your enemy like this takes you down a dangerous path,
%ut it's a magnificent rallying call if you're waging war# 2f chaos is to %e kept at %ay, so the
message goes, reason will ha+e to fight un-reason again and again#
"ut 2 chose this particular sculpture %ecause it gi+es us the %itter insight that, in the short-term,
reason does not always pre+ail# The defence of the rationally ordered state will cost some of its
citi,ens their li+es# nd yet - and this is why this sculpture is such a supreme achie+ement - the
dying human %ody is shown with such pathos, the fierce struggle depicted with such %alance, that
the +ictory goes not to the strutting half-%east, %ut to the thenian artist who can turn conflict into
%eauty# 2n the long-run of things, this sculpture seems to say, intellect and reason alone can create
things that endure# The +ictory is not 3ust political9 it is artistic and intellectual#
This is all +ery high-minded stuff, %ut what did the 8arthenon look like if you came from one of
the other 0reek cities- Hou might e$pect that %ecause the 8arthenon is called a temple, it would
ha+e %een a place of prayer and sacrifice) in fact, it %ecame a treasury - a war-chest to finance the
defence of 0reece against the 8ersians# 2n time, though, this fighting fund %ecame protection
money, demanded %y thens from the other 0reek cities when thens placed itself at the head of
them# 2t forced them into %ecoming satellites of its growing maritime empire# nd a great chunk of
that money was siphoned off %y the thenians to fund the cropolis %uilding programme# 1ere's
/ary "eard again, on the non-thenian +iew of the 8arthenon9
G2 think the 8arthenon must ha+e %een the kind of %uilding that you spat at and kicked if you could#
Hou knew, if you were one of thens' su%3ects, that this was a statement of your own
su%ordination# There was a clear and +ociferous faction in thens when the 8arthenon was %uilt,
which said the money shouldn't %e spent that way# That this was, in the words of one, dressing
thens up like a 'harlot'# 'ow, that's +ery odd, 2 think, for us to empathise with now, %ecause the
8arthenon sculptures seem so austerely %eautiful, 2 think, it's hard to think of them in terms of
prostitution# 2t's +ery discomfiting, 2 think, to think of our touchstone of good classical taste as
ha+ing appeared +ulgar# "ut it clearly did, to some#G
7ne of the many e$traordinary things a%out the 8arthenon is that it's meant so many different
things to different people at different times# Concei+ed as the Temple of the Eirgin thena, it was
for centuries the Christian Cathedral of the Eirgin /ary, and it later %ecame a mos5ue# "y the end
of the eighteenth century, it was a neglected ruin in a diminished thens ruled %y the Turks# "ut in
the 1;2(s and 3(s, the 0reeks fought for, and won, independence, and they were gi+en a 0erman
king %y their &uropean allies# The new state needed to define what kind of society it wanted to %e#
1ere's 7lga 8alagia again9
G0reece was resurrected in a%out 1;3(# .e had a 0erman king who came to 0reece from "a+aria,
and the 0ermans decided they were going to resurrect the thens of 8ericles# This initiated, 2
think, the perennial identification of the new 0reek nation with the 8arthenon# *o, we ha+e %een
restoring it from 1;34, and 2'm sure that this will ne+er endA 2t will %e a constant attempt to restore
and redefine the 8arthenon as a sym%ol# *o the seed the 0ermans sowed in 1;34 has really %ecome
+ery %ig and important#G
1(6
nd so this great %uilding had, %y the 1;3(s, ac5uired yet another meaning# 'ot as the self-image
of one ancient city, %ut as the em%lem of a new modern country# nd it was an em%lem familiar to
all educated &uropeans, through the sculptures in the "ritish /useum# 7ne of the most striking
things a%out recent &uropean history is how countries wanting to define and strengthen their
present identity look to particular moments in the past# 2n the last hundred years or so, more and
more people in 2reland, *cotland and .ales ha+e wanted to see themsel+es as the heirs of a people
that flourished in northern &urope at the same time as the thenians were %uilding the 8arthenon#
nd it's those other &uropeans of two and a half thousand years ago - &uropeans dismissed %y the
0reeks as %ar%arians - that 2'm going to %e talking a%out in the ne$t programme#
11(
Episode 2, - %asse =ut/ 7lagons
"asse Hut, Flagons >made around 2,5(( years ago?# "ron,e) found in 'orth-astern France
This is the sound of a *aturday night out ### we're in *cotland and, as you can hear, people are
ha+ing a really good time# &+er since someone disco+ered how to make alcohol, and that's at least
se+en thousand years ago, we humans ha+e %een partying# nd Celtic northern &uropeans, so the
story goes, party harder than most, and they consume a great deal of alcohol in the process#
2t's a stereotype that goes %ack o+er two and a half thousand years, and it still shapes the way
/editerranean &urope thinks a%out the north - and e+en the way the north thinks a%out itself#
GThere's an undou%ted %ias against the culture of northern &urope) it's not seen as ideal, in the way
that the culture of the /editerranean was for many years#G >!onathan /eades?
GThere's %een a re+olution in our understanding of who the Celts really were) the re+olution makes
us aware 3ust how complicated the situation is#G >"arry Cunliffe?
There are no written records from the people of northern &urope of two and a half thousand years
ago) they're mentioned %riefly and disparagingly %y the 0reeks, %ut we'+e got nothing written from
them, and so the only way we can really get to know these people - our close neigh%ours and, for
some of us, indeed our ancestors - is through the things they'+e left %ehind# :uckily, we'+e got a
good deal to go on# 1ere 2'+e got a pair of spectacular wine 3ugs, which are key o%3ects in helping
us understand the society of early northern &urope#
They were found in :orraine, in north-eastern France, near the town of "asse Hut,, and they're
always referred to as the "asse Hut, Flagons# They're %ron,e, e$tremely elegant and highly
ela%orate# They are a%out the si,e of a large %ottle of wine, a magnum, and they hold a%out the
same amount of li5uid, %ut they're in the shape of large 3ugs, with handle, lid and +ery pointed
spout# They'+e got a +ery %road shoulder, which tapers to a narrow, rather unsta%le %ase# "ut what
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really strikes you a%out these two flagons is the e$traordinary decoration at the top, where animals
and %irds cluster# nd that must ha+e %een what e+ery%ody would ha+e looked at, as they were
feasting with these ama,ing o%3ects#
These ela%orately decorated flagons were stum%led on in 162= %y workmen digging in "asse Hut,#
'othing 5uite like them had e+er %een found in western &urope %efore, and the strangeness of their
style and decoration led many e$perts to assume that they must %e fakes# "ut the curators at the
"ritish /useum were con+inced that they were genuinely ancient) that they represented a new,
unknown chapter in &uropean history, and so then the flagons were ac5uired for the then colossal
sum of 5,(((# "etting the %ank on this kind of ac5uisition is a huge gam%le on curatorial
knowledge, %ut in this case it paid off, and research since has confirmed they were indeed made
a%out two and a half thousand years ago# That is, roughly the same time as the 8arthenon was
%eing %uilt in 0reece, the 8ersian empire was at its ,enith, and Confucius was teaching in China#
nd the "asse Hut, Flagons are now cele%rated as two of the most important and earliest pieces of
Celtic art anywhere#
2n northern &urope at this time, around 45( "C, there were no towns or cities, no states or empires,
no writing or coinage# From the *teppes to the tlantic, there were small communities of farmer-
warriors, connected across thousands of miles %y trade, %y e$change and fre5uently %y war# 2t was
a precarious e$istence for most, %ut life for those at the top of the pile, in the 2ron ge Dhineland,
could %e +ery glamorous indeed# The smartest gra+es in the region where the flagons were found
ha+e wagons and chariots, hangings of silk, e$otic hats, shoes and clothes - and of course all the
things you needed for throwing parties# /ere death was not going to keep these northern
&uropeans from the good life, so the gra+es ha+e lots of drinking e5uipment - %owls and
cauldrons, drinking horns and flagons#
/any of these o%3ects must ha+e %een traded o+er the lps) there are 0reek pots and +essels, and
lots of flagons made in the &truscan cities of northern 2taly# Cnkind commentators might call the
owners of the "asse Hut, Flagons the 2ron ge 'nou+eau$ riche' - northerners looking to use
/editerranean design and taste to show off their own sophistication and aspirations# 2s this where
the myth of the di+ide %etween an uncouth 'orthern &urope and a cultured *outh %egins- 2t's one
many of us will still recognise, and 2 think it's one that o+er the centuries has done a great deal of
damage# 1ere's !onathan /eades, cultural commentator and food-writer9
G2 don't think there's a single northern &uropean identity more than there is a single southern
&uropean identity# 1owe+er, there has %een a marked %ias - throughout western &uropean history,
that is, - towards the *outh# The 'orth has looked south) the *outh has %arely looked north, so
there is an im%alance# This is largely occasioned %y the paramountcy of classics - of 0reek and
:atin as languages, of 0reek and :atin literature, of 0reek and Doman architecture#G
The %ron,e, the design and the craftsmanship of the flagons make a nonsense of the 0reek myth of
these northern &uropeans as crude %ar%arians, and they tell us a great deal a%out the scope of their
world# These people li+ed in small communities, %ut the material from which our flagons are made
makes it clear that they had plenty of international contacts9 for the source materials for making
this %ron,e are copper from the lps to the south, and the tin comes pro%a%ly from Cornwall in the
far west# 8atterns on the %ase of the flagons are familiar to us from "rittany and the "alkans, while
there are shapes inspired %y palm fronds found in the art of ncient &gypt# nd then the +ery idea
of a flagon itself is foreign - it's a popular shape created %y people li+ing in northern 2taly# feast
with these flagons at the centre would lea+e the +isitors to these new rulers in no dou%t at all that
the people they were +isiting were sophisticated, international, cosmopolitan and rich#
7n each flagon, there are at least 12( separate pieces of coral - pro%a%ly from the /editerranean#
They'+e now faded to white, %ut of course originally they would ha+e %een %right red, gi+ing a
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striking contrast to the original golden shine of the %ron,e# Hou can imagine them, standing %y
%la,ing firelight, with the flames reflected in the %ron,e and deepening the red of the coral, while
the wine, the %eer or the mead they contained was ceremonially poured for important guests ###
The animals on the flagons tell us a great deal a%out these people# The cur+ed handle is a lean,
elongated dog, stretching forward, fangs %ared and holding in its mouth a chain that connects to
the stopper# @ogs would, of course, ha+e %een an essential part of hunting life, and two more,
smaller dogs lie on either side of the lid# ll three dogs ha+e their attention focussed on a tiny
%ron,e duck that sits right at the end of the spout# 2t's a lo+ely touch, %oth mo+ing and funny#
.hen some%ody poured from the flagon, it would certainly look as though the duck was
swimming on the wine, mead or the %eer - especially, 2 suspect, if the drinker had already had
se+eral cups from this flagonA
"ut what would %e clear to anyone whose cup was %eing filled from these flagons, was that these
lu$ury goods were local# 'o piece of 2talian design actually looked like this# Their e$tra+agant
shape, their uni5ue com%ination of decoration, the animal imagery, all said loud and clear that
these were made north of the lps - e$amples of a new wa+e of creati+ity among craftsmen and
designers) a rare confidence in taking elements from different foreign and local sources to forge a
new +isual language#
*o, who were these drinkers who could make such wonderful things- .e don't know what they
called themsel+es %ecause they didn't write# The only name we ha+e to go on is one gi+en to them
%y foreigners, the 0reeks# They called them '<&:T72', and that's the first written reference to the
peoples we know as Celts# nd this is part of the reason that we call the new art style seen on these
flagons Celtic art - although it is +ery dou%tful that the people who made or used this art called
themsel+es Celts, or indeed called the language they spoke a Celtic language# 8rofessor "arry
Cunliffe is a leading e$pert on the 2ron ge and the Celts9
GThe relationship %etween Celtic art and people we call Celts is +ery, +ery comple$ indeed, and 2
think one can simplify it %y saying that in most of the areas where Celtic art de+eloped and was
used, people spoke the Celtic language# That doesn't mean to say that they necessarily thought of
themsel+es as Celts, or that we can gi+e them that sort of ethnic identity, %ut they pro%a%ly spoke
the Celtic language, and therefore they could communicate with each other# .e could go a %it
further and say that the area in which Celtic art de+eloped - and that is roughly sort of eastern
France, southern 0ermany, that kind of region - in that area, people had pro%a%ly %een speaking
the Celtic language for 5uite a long time#G
The people we now call Celts li+e far to the west of the Dhine Ealley where our flagons were made
- in "rittany, .ales, 2reland and *cotland - %ut throughout these Celtic lands we find artistic
traditions that echo the decoration on the "asse Hut, Flagons# 2t's what since the nineteenth century
has %een called Celtic art# Celtic art connects our two ornate, if rather o+er-the-top, flagons with
the 'Celtic crosses', the "ook of <ells and the :indisfarne 0ospels, made in 2reland and "ritain
more than a thousand years later# 2n metalwork and stone-car+ing, inlays and manuscript
illumination, it's possi%le to trace the legacy of a language of decoration across much of .estern
and Central &urope, including the "ritish 2sles#
"ut this is no easy lineage# The pro%lem of studying the ancient Celts is that we are looking at a
fifth-century 0reek stereotype, compounded %y a much later nineteenth-century "ritish and 2rish
one# The 0reeks constructed an image of the '<eltoi' as a %ar%aric, +iolent people# That ancient
typecasting was replaced a couple of hundred years ago with an e5ually fa%ricated image of a
%rooding, mystical Celtic identity, that was far remo+ed from the greedy practicalities of the
nglo-*a$on industrial world - the romanticised 'Celtic Twilight' of 7ssian and Heats# *ince then,
%eing Celtic has taken on further constructed connotations of national identity - 3ust look at the
113
Celtic clo+ers and the crosses that for many *cots, .elsh and 2rish are +isi%le statements of their
tri%al identity, or the fact that +isitors are welcomed to modern &din%urgh with greetings in 0aelic,
a Celtic language ne+er historically spoken there#
The notion of Celtic identity, although strongly felt and articulated today %y many, turns out on
in+estigation, to %e distur%ingly elusi+e, unfi$ed and changing# The challenge when looking at
o%3ects like the "asse Hut, Flagons is how to get past those distorting layers of myth-making, and
let the o%3ects speak as clearly as possi%le a%out their own place and their own time# "ut there may
nonetheless %e some truth in the enduring stereotype that 'orthern &uropeans, Celtic or not, do
know how to drink#
114
Episode 2. - Olmec stone mas(
7lmec stone mask >made around 2,5(( years ago? found in /e$ico
2'm holding a face in my hand, and it's +ery definitely a face, and not a head# 2t's made in polished
green stone, and it's hollowed out at the %ack - so in fact it's a miniature mask# The dark stone is
flecked with white, snake-like streaks, which gi+es it its name, 'serpentine' - and when you look
more closely, you can see the face has %een pierced, and has %een ritually scarred# The people of
this mask are the 7lmec, who ruled in what's now /e$ico for around a thousand years, from 14((
to 4(( "C# They'+e %een called the mother culture - the 'cultura madre' - of Central merica, and it
was this 7lmec mother culture that produced this unsettling face#
*o far this week the o%3ects in this world history ha+e taken me along the royal roads of the
8ersian &mpire, into mythical %attles in thens and to some hea+y drinking in northern &urope#
&ach o%3ect has shown how the people who made it defined themsel+es and the world around them
a%out two and a half thousand years ago# 2n &urope and sia it's striking that that self-definition
was usually in distinction to others - partly %y imitation, %ut usually in opposition# Today 2'm on
the continent of the mericas - to %e precise, in the lowland rainforests of south-east /e$ico, and
my o%3ect, this 7lmec face-mask, shows me a culture looking only at itself#
GTo go as far %ack as the 7lmecs is to go as far %ack as the &gyptians, %ecause the culture of &gypt
of the pharaohs and the 7lmec culture of /e$ico are contemporary# *o it's a part of our continuity,
the great continuity of /e$ican culture#G >Carlos Fuentes?
/ost of us don't learn a lot a%out Central merican ci+ilisations at school) we're all taught a%out
the 8arthenon, and we'+e all heard of Confucius as a great Chinese thinker, %ut we don't know a lot
a%out the great ci+ilisations occurring at the same time in Central merica# Het the 7lmecs were a
highly sophisticated people, who %uilt the first cities in Central merica, mapped the hea+ens,
de+eloped the first writing and pro%a%ly e+ol+ed the first calendar there# They e+en in+ented one
of the world's earliest %all games - which the *panish would encounter a%out three thousand years
115
later# 2t was played using ru%%er %alls - ru%%er %eing readily a+aila%le from the local tropical gum
trees - and although we don't know what the 7lmecs called themsel+es, it's documented that the
,tecs called them 7lmen, meaning 'the ru%%er country'#
2t's only relati+ely recently that 7lmec ci+ilisation was unco+ered from the 3ungles of /e$ico) it
was after the First .orld .ar that their sites, their architecture and a%o+e all their sculptures were
found and in+estigated# Finding out when the 7lmecs li+ed took e+en longer# 2n the 165(s
radiocar%on dating came in, and that allowed archaeologists to date the %uildings and therefore the
people that li+ed in them# The results showed that this great ci+ilisation flourished a%out three
thousand years ago# The disco+ery of this ancient and long-standing culture has had a profound
effect on the cultural identity of /e$icans today# .e asked the cele%rated /e$ican writer Carlos
Fuentes what it means to him9
G2t means that 2 ha+e a continuity of culture that is 5uite astonishing# /any :atin mericans who
are merely migrants from &uropean countries, or do not ha+e a strong 2ndian culture %ehind them,
don't ha+e the e$traordinary strength of the culture of /e$ico, which %egins a +ery long time ago -
as pro+en %y the 7lmeca culture, which %egins in the twelfth or thirteenth century %efore Christ#
G.e consider oursel+es heirs to all these cultures# They are a part of our make-up, a part of our
race# .e are %asically a /esti,o country, 2ndian and &uropean# The 2ndian culture has infiltrated
into our literature, into our painting, into our ha%its, into our folklore# 2t is e+erywhere# 2t is a part
of our heritage, as much as the *panish culture, which for us is not only 2%erian %ut also !ewish
and /oorish# *o /e$ico is a compound of many, many ci+ilisations and part of them of course are
the great 2ndian ci+ilisations of the past#G
*o who were the 7lmecs- .hose face does this mask show, and how was it worn- 7lmec masks
ha+e %een intriguing historians for a long time# *crutinising their features, many scholars %elie+ed
that they were looking at fricans, Chinese or e+en /editerraneans, who'd come to colonise the
'ew .orld# 2 suppose if you look at our mask, wanting to see an frican or a Chinese face, you
can 3ust a%out persuade yourself that you can, %ut the features, in fact, are totally characteristic of
Central merican people# This face is one that can still %e seen in the descendants of the 7lmecs
still li+ing in /e$ico today# 2 find this desire to disco+er &uropean or sian elements in ancient
merican societies fascinating# 2 think it's %ecause the similarities %etween the cultures of the old
and the new worlds are so strong - %oth produced pyramids and mummification, temples and
priestly rituals, social structures and %uildings that function in similar ways - that scholars found it
hard to %elie+e that these merican cultures could ha+e e+ol+ed like this in isolation# "ut they did#
t only fi+e inches >12#5 cm? high, the mask is o%+iously far too small to ha+e %een worn o+er
any%ody's face, and it's much more likely that you'd ha+e worn this round your neck or in a
headdress, possi%ly for some kind of ceremony# *mall holes ha+e %een %ored at the edges and at
the top of the mask, so that you could easily fasten it with a %it of twine or thread# 7n either cheek
you can see what, to my &uropean eyes, look like two candles standing on a holder# To the eyes of
the great 7lmec specialist, <arl Tau%e, they're more likely to %e the cardinal points of the compass,
and they suggest that this person may ha+e %een a king9
GFor the 7lmec we ha+e these great colossal heads, we ha+e thrones, portraits of kings and +ery
often, important here too, is the concept of centrality# nd so, on this finely car+ed serpentine
mask, we see four elements on the cheek which are pro%a%ly the four directions# nd so for the
7lmec, of ma3or concern were the world directions and world centre, with the king %eing the
pi+otal world a$is in the world centre#G
1ere we are again9 e+ery culture this week - and indeed most cultures in this history - see
themsel+es 5uite naturally as the centre of the world#
114
s well as honouring a wide range of gods the 72mecs also re+ered their ancestors - so it's possi%le
that this mask with its particular features and markings might well represent a historic king or a
legendary ancestor# <arl Tau%e again9
Contri%utor9 <arl Tau%e There's also in a num%er of 3ades a person's face, we call him the ':ord of
the dou%le scroll', and it looks like he has tattooing 5uite similar to this piece also in the "ritish
/useum# That's pro%a%ly tattooing on his face >that light incision? and so we see a num%er of
3ades, this :ord of the dou%le scroll, suggesting this was an indi+idual that had this facial marking#
nd so portraiture was o%+iously important here, denoting the king as an indi+idual and historic
figure#
.hoe+er he was, the man of the serpentine mask must ha+e cut 5uite a dash when he appeared in
pu%lic# The ears are pierced in se+eral places, presuma%ly for gold earrings# "ut at the corners of
his mouth are what look like enormous dimples# They must in fact represent circular holes# .e're
used now to face-piercings and studs, %ut this man must ha+e %een wearing plugs# .e know that
piercings and plugs are common throughout the history of Central merica# lterations like these,
in the name of 7lmec %eauty, would ha+e transformed the face - and today it's only in masks like
this that we can ha+e any idea of what the 7lmecs would ha+e looked like, for the skeletons ha+e
completely dissol+ed in the acid soil of the rainforest# "ut the 7lmec sense of personal
%eautification could go far %eyond cosmetics or 3ewellery# 1ere's <arl Tau%e again9
GThey would modify their heads - it's often called cranial deformation, %ut 2 think that's a loaded
word# For them it was a mark of %eauty# For new%orns, they would %ind their heads, and so they
would %ecome elongated - some people call it a+ocado head# "ut really what they're e+oking is
their head as an ear of corn# nd so the 7lmec really were truly the people of mai,e#G
*adly there are only a few 7lmec inscriptions - or glyphs - now sur+i+ing, and decipherment of
their writing is tentati+e at %est# There 3ust isn't enough continuous writing to let us %e certain of
what the sym%ols mean# "ut there are lots of o%3ects %earing sym%ols, marks and glyphs, such as
pottery and sculptures, and they show us that writing was originally widespread across the 7lmec
heartland#
&+en if we can't yet read their writing, we can learn a lot a%out the 7lmecs from the %uildings and
the cities that ha+e recently %een unco+ered# /a3or cities such as :a Eenta, near the 0ulf of
/e$ico, had impressi+e step-pyramids with temple monuments for the worship of the gods and the
%urials of the kings# These would ha+e formed the centre of the city# The pyramid itself was often
topped %y a temple, 3ust as at the same time the 8arthenon was %uilt o+erlooking thens#
"ut whereas the 8arthenon stood on the naturally formed rock of the cropolis, the 7lmecs %uilt
artificial mountains - platforms is far too mild a word - on which to put their temples to o+erlook
the city# The layout of the city, and its placing in an ordered landscape, typified not 3ust 7lmec, %ut
most later Central merican ur%an centres - like the /ayas and the ,tecs# ll were a +ariation of
the 7lmec model of a temple o+erlooking an open s5uare, flanked %y smaller temples and palaces#
"y 4(( "C :a Eenta, along with all the other 7lmec centres, was a%andoned# 2t's a pattern that
occurs with disconcerting fre5uency in Central merica - great population centres are suddenly,
mysteriously, a%andoned# 2n the case of the 7lmecs, it could ha+e %een the o+erpopulation of this
fragile tropical ri+er +alley, or a shift in the earth's tectonic plates making ri+ers change their
course, the eruption of one of the local +olcanoes, or a temporary climate change caused %y the
shifting patterns of the &l 'io ocean current - all of them are possi%ilities#
2'+e 3ust clim%ed a%out three hundred steps up a great pyramid in central /e$ico# .e're around 24(
feet >=3m? high, and it's %la,ing hot# "elow me are the ruins of the ancient city of Teotihuacan, a
11=
city founded se+eral centuries after the mysterious collapse of the 7lmec heartland# "ut what
Teotihuacan demonstrates is the continuing power of the 7lmec culture# 2n the ruins you can see
the monumental a+enues, pyramids and pu%lic %uildings of a city that in its day was the same si,e
as ancient Dome# "ut it's a city that owes a great deal of its shape to the models gi+en them %y the
7lmecs# The culture of the 7lmecs casts a +ery long shadow, esta%lishing models and patterns that
were going to %e followed %y other cultures for centuries to come#
/y o%3ect in the ne$t programme also em%odies a cultural model that lasted for thousands of
years# nd it is also one that is 5uite separate from de+elopments in &urope# 2t's a %ell, made in
China#
11;
Episode 30 - #hinese 4ron/e 4ell
Chinese %ron,e %ell >made around 2,5(( years ago? found in *han$i pro+ince
This is the music that was played at the ceremony marking "ritain's hando+er of 1ong <ong to the
8eople's Depu%lic of China in 166=# The choice of music on each side had some +ery interesting
aspects# The "ritish played the ':ast 8ost' on a %ugle) the Chinese a specially composed piece of
music called '1ea+en, &arth, /ankind') part of it played on a set of ancient %ells# 7n the &uropean
side, a solo instrument connected with war and conflict) on the Chinese side, a group of
instruments playing in harmony# 2t may %e stretching it a %it, %ut 2 think you can see in that choice
of instruments, two +ery different +iews of how society works# "ells in China go %ack thousands
of years, and they carry great resonances for Chinese people - so perhaps this was the Chinese
leaders' way of reminding 1ong <ong of the cultural and political traditions it would %e re3oining#
/y o%3ect in this programme is, as you will %y now ha+e guessed, a %ell, and through this %ell 2'm
going to %e e$ploring Confucius's ideas of how a society can work in harmony#
G.hat Confucius and the other political philosophers of the day were trying to do, was to de+ise a
philosophy that would esta%lish the predominance and the unity of one ruler#G >2so%el 1ilton?
G&+ery single %ell truly does ha+e its own uni5ue +oice# 2t's difficult to compare one to the other#G
>&+elyn 0lennie?
7ur %ell is a%out the same age as the %ells that were played at the 1ong <ong ceremony, so ha+e
another listen - they are a%out two and a half thousand years old#
.hen those %ells were first played in the fifth century "C, China was in military and political
disarray, essentially 3ust a collection of competing fiefdoms, all %attling for supremacy# There was
widespread social insta%ility, %ut also li+ely intellectual de%ate a%out what a society ought ideally
to %e, and %y far the most famous and influential contri%utor to these de%ates was Confucius#
8erhaps not surprisingly, gi+en the insecurity of the times, he places a +ery high +alue on peace
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and harmony# .e're told that one of his cele%rated sayings was9 G/usic produces a kind of
pleasure which human nature cannot do without#G For Confucius, music was a metaphor of a
harmonious society, and its performance could actually help %ring that %etter society a%out# 2t's a
+iew of the world that still resonates strongly in China today, and it %rings us %ack to our %ell#
2 hope Confucius would appro+e that 2 want to speak of him through a %ell# 2'm standing ne$t to
one now - 2 can e+en tap it for you, to gi+e you some sense of the %ron,e it's made of# s it's a
museum piece, and as it's two and a half thousand years old, we don't play it +ery often, and as you
can hear, it's not perhaps the most thrilling sound %ut, if we listen to composer Tan @un's %ells,
they gi+e us a +ery good idea of what this sort of %ell would once ha+e sounded like#
The %ell here at the "ritish /useum is large and +ery handsome# 2t's a%out the si,e of a %eer %arrel,
%ut is not circular, %ut elliptical# 2n fact, it reminds me of nothing so much as an outsi,e *wiss
cow%ell# 'onetheless, it's a pretty impressi+e sight# 2t's co+ered in decoration, ela%orate strap-work
that swirls all o+er, round medallions with dragons' heads swallowing geese and, at the top, two
magnificent standing dragons holding the handle from which the %ell would ha+e hung# This was a
%ell that was not only made to %e heard, %ut to %e seen#
:ike the 1ong <ong %ells we heard earlier on, our %ell would ha+e originally %een part of a set
owned %y a warlord or %y a powerful official in one of the numerous small states# 7wning a set of
%ells - and, e+en more, %eing a%le to afford the orchestra to play them - were +isi%le, and of course
audi%le, signs of great wealth and status# The principal message of our %ell would ha+e originally
%een a%out its owner's power, %ut it would also ha+e represented that owner's +iew of society and
the cosmos#
Confucius himself spoke a great deal a%out music, and although many of his sayings on the su%3ect
ha+e %een lost, enough has sur+i+ed to let us know that he saw music as playing a central part in
the education of the indi+idual - and indeed in the shaping of the state#
t the core of the teachings of Confucius, was the fundamental need for e+ery indi+idual to
understand and accept their place in the world# 2t was perhaps in this spirit that sets of Chinese
%ells took on such philosophical importance - reflecting the di+ersity %ut also the harmony that's
created when each different %ell is perfectly tuned and played in its proper se5uence# 1ere's 2so%el
1ilton, writer and e$pert on modern China9
G1armony was +ery important to Confucius, and the way Confucius concei+ed of it was that he
had an idea that men could %est %e go+erned %y +irtue, %y %ene+olence, %y righteousness, and if
the leader e$emplified those +irtues, then so would his people# nd %y culti+ating these +irtues,
you did away with the need for punishment and law, %ecause you ruled %y a sense of what was
appropriate - and %y shame# The application of all these ideas produced a harmonious society#G
*o a harmonious society is the conse5uence of +irtuous indi+iduals working together in a
complementary way# 2t's a short step for a philosopher to see, in a set of highly tuned, graduated
%ells, a metaphor for this ideal society - e+eryone in their allotted place, making music with their
fellows#
"ells in China go %ack a%out fi+e thousand years# The earliest would ha+e %een simple hand %ells,
with a clapper inside to produce the sound# :ater the clapper was a%andoned, and %ron,e %ells
were played %y %eing hit on the outside with a hammer# 7ur single %ell would once ha+e %een part
of a set of either nine or fourteen# &ach would ha+e %een a different si,e, and would produce two
different tones, depending on where it was struck# .e asked the famous percussionist &+elyn
0lennie to come and ha+e a look at our %ell, and to talk a%out the power of %ells9
12(
G&+ery single %ell has its own uni5ue sound# 2t can %e a +ery tiny sound that you'+e really got to
pay attention to, or it can 3ust %e a huge, huge resonant e$perience that a whole community can
register# 2 remem%er in the early years when 2 went to China, and they had a whole rack of %ells
that decorated the %ack of the stage, and of course 2 couldn't help %ut go up to them and 3ust admire
the craftsmanship that went into this huge, huge structure# 1owe+er, 2 did ask if 2 could possi%ly
strike one, and 2 was gi+en this long wooden pole, and of course the whole %ody has to %e
implemented in order to create a sound, and the right striking point is particularly important# nd 2
think there was this immense respect as to what actually 2 was going to do, you know# 2t wasn't 3ust
a case of, '.ell, hit the %ell, or something'# This was something that 2 wanted to really treasure, and
it was an incredi%le e$perience to 3ust create that one strike, and then to really li+e the sound
e$perience of the resonance after that strike had %een made#G
"y &uropean standards, these ancient Chinese %ron,e %ells are enormous# 'othing on this scale
would %e cast in &urope until the /iddle ges, o+er fifteen hundred years later# "ut the role of
%ells in China could go far %eyond the musical# To produce perfect tones they had a%solutely
standardised shapes, and the consistency of these shapes meant that the %ells could also %e used to
measure +olume# Hou had, so to speak, a pint %ell or a 5uart %ell# nd as the amount of %ron,e in
each one was also carefully controlled, they could 3ust as well pro+ide standard weights# *o you
could ha+e, as it were, a hundredweight %ell, and so on# *o there is a sense in which a set of %ells
in ancient China could also ser+e as a sort of local weights and measures office, %ringing harmony
to commerce as well as society#
2ntriguingly, %ells also played a ma3or roll in the eti5uette of war# The Chinese held that no attack
could %e considered fair and a%o+e %oard without the sounding of %ells or drums, from then on you
could honoura%ly fight without restraint# "ut more commonly, the %ells were used for rituals and
entertainments at court, played at grand occasions, %an5uets and sacrificing ceremonies, the
comple$ music of the %ells marked the rhythm of court li+es#
The %ells, and the ancient methods of playing them, tra+elled well %eyond the %oundaries of China,
and the closest sur+i+ing form of this ancient music is today found not in China, %ut in <orean
court music that originated in the twelfth century - and is still played in <orea now#
2n &urope we rarely listen to music that is more than fi+e or si$ hundred years old, %ut the music of
the ancient Chinese %ells has %een resonating harmoniously for o+er two and a half thousand years,
sym%olising not only the sound of an era %ut the underlying political ideals of an ancient society
and its modern successors# 2t's a Confucian principle that China once again finds +ery appealing
today - although that hasn't always %een the case# 1ere's 2so%el 1ilton again9
GConfucianism was really the soul of the Chinese state for the %est part of two thousand years %ut,
in the early twentieth century, it was really +ery strongly criticised %y the modernisers, the
re+olutionaries, the people who %lamed Confucianism for the decline of China in the pre+ious two
hundred years, and it fell out of fa+our# "ut Confucianism ne+er really went away# Curiously
enough, harmonious society is what we hear today on the lips of Chinese leaders# .hat the
leadership today wants is a society that is more content, in which people are content, if you like,
with their station, so no more class struggle) in which the leaders are seen to em%ody +irtue as in
the old Confucian idea# nd it is their +irtue that makes people accept their right to rule# *o we'+e
seen the taking of this +ery old idea of harmony, and we're seeing it in a modern form to 3ustify a
static political system, a system in which the right to rule is not 5uestioned#G
nd %ells are still going strong# The ancient %ells used for the 166= 1ong <ong ceremony were
played again at the 2((; 7lympic 0ames in "ei3ing# Tan @un was once more the composer# nd
Confucius is now, it seems, the fla+our of the decade# 1e has his own 25 million dollar %io-pic, a
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%est-selling %ook, a TE series and a hundred-part animated series on his teachings# The age of
Confucius has come again#
2t seems a happy coincidence that the sound of %ells should %ring us to the end of this part of our
radio 1istory of the .orld# 2 %egan with a two-million-year-old chopping tool, and we're pausing
now with a 2,5((-year-old %ell, so we'+e come a long way in 3( programmes# 2 do hope you'll
re3oin me on Dadio 4 in a couple of months' time, when we'll ha+e left the age of Confucian
harmony for the age of empire and con5uest, with le$ander the 0reat#
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ABi+* &ui<2*+s (5##&C $ 9 'C)
Episode 31 - #oin !ith head of 'lexander
#ilver coin sho$ing *le!ander the :reat Bmade 5et$een 0& and 2%1 ('CD Minted in $estern
-ur+ey
.elcome %ack to this second part of ' 1istory of the .orld in 1(( 7%3ects' here at the "ritish
/useum# 2'm starting this week 3ust o+er two thousand years ago, with the great empires of &urope
and sia - empires whose legacies are still strongly felt in the world today - the Doman &mpire in
the .est, the &mpire of shoka in 2ndia, and the 1an @ynasty in China#
2n this age of great rulers, 2'll %e looking at how power is constructed and pro3ected# /ilitary might
is 3ust the %eginning - you might say it's the easy part# 1ow does a ruler stamp his authority on the
+ery minds of his su%3ects- s always, images are more effecti+e than words, and the most
effecti+e of all images are those that we see so often that we hardly notice them# The am%itious
ruler shapes the currency9 the message is in the money#
G2'm standing in front of the +ery coin that shows the idealised le$ander, struck forty years or
more after his death %y his successor :ysimachus, in %eautiful sil+er#G >Do%in :ane Fo$?
G2 think the nearest we'+e had in the modern world to the spread of le$ander's portrait in the
1ellenised world # # # 2 suppose it's 'apoleon, where %usts of 'apoleon were all o+er &urope# Then
you ha+e to come through to the dictators, 2 suppose - 1itler and /ussolini#G >ndrew /arr?
2'm going to China soon, and 2'+e 3ust got %ack from my local %ank, where 2 was changing sterling
for Huan# nd what struck me most, as the red notes were %eing counted out, was that almost e+ery
one of them has on it the portrait of Chairman /ao# 2t's ironic isn't it, that this spectacularly
successful capitalist economy carries on its currency the portrait of a dead Communist
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re+olutionary- .e all know why9 /ao reminds the Chinese people of the heroic achie+ements of
the Communist 8arty, which is still in power# 1e stands for the reco+ery of Chinese unity at home
and prestige a%road, and e+ery Chinese go+ernment wants to %e seen as the inheritor of his
authority# 7f course this kind of appropriation of the past, this kind of e$ploitation of an image, is
nothing new# 2n the world of high politics, it's %een around for thousands of years, and what's
happening today to /ao's image on the Chinese currency was happening o+er two thousand years
ago to the image of another great ruler#
Today's o%3ect is one of the earliest coins that we know with the image of a leader on it - it's from
around 2,3(( years ago and it carries the head of the most glamorised military ruler of his age -
and possi%ly of all time - le$ander the 0reat#
1e's on a coin a%out an inch and a half >3#; cm? in diameter, so slightly larger than a two penny
piece# .hat 2'm looking at is the profile of a young man - his straight nose and his strong 3aw line
show classical good looks and strength, and he's looking keenly into the distance - the tilt of the
head commanding and suggesti+e of +igorous forward mo+ement#
.e'+e got no way of knowing whether this is an accurate likeness of le$ander %ut it must %e him,
%ecause as well as human hair this man has ram's horns# 2t's the horn sym%ol, well-known
throughout the ancient world, that lea+es the +iewer in no dou%t that we're looking at an image of
le$ander the 0reat# The horns are associated with the god Neus-mon - a hy%rid of the two
leading 0reek and &gyptian gods, Neus and mon# *o this small coin is making two %ig statements
- it asserts le$ander's dominion o+er %oth 0reeks and &gyptians, and it suggests that, in some
sense, he is %oth man and god#
le$ander the man was the son of 8hilip 22 of /acedon, a small kingdom a few hundred miles
north of thens# 8hilip e$pected great things of his son and he employed the great philosopher
ristotle as le$ander's tutor# le$ander came to the throne in 334 "C at the age of 2(, with an
almost limitless sense of self-%elief# 1is goal was to reach the Gends of the world and the 0reat
7uter seaG, and to do this he em%arked on a series of wars, crushing re%ellions %y thens and the
other 0reek cities, and then turning east to confront the long-standing enemy of the 0reeks -
8ersia# 8ersia was at that point the greatest empire on earth, sprawling from &gypt across the
/iddle &ast and central sia to 2ndia and almost to China# The young le$ander campaigned
%rilliantly for a total of ten years, until he had defeated the whole of the 8ersian &mpire# .hat
dro+e him on- .e asked the leading e$pert on le$ander, Do%in :ane Fo$9
Gle$ander was dri+en %y the heroic ideals that %efitted a /acedonian king, ruling o+er
/acedonians, the ideals of personal glory, prowess# 1e was dri+en %y a wish to reach the edge of
the world, in his case first the eastern edge, denied %y his men in 2ndia# 1e was dri+en %y a wish to
e$cel fore+er his father 8hilip, who was a man of significance, %ut pales almost to a shadow %eside
le$ander's glo%al reputation#G
le$ander's +ictories didn't 3ust depend on his armies# They needed money - and lots of it# :uckily
his father 8hilip had con5uered the rich gold and sil+er mines of Thrace, the area that straddles the
modern %orders of 0reece, "ulgaria and Turkey, and that financed the early campaigns# "ut this
inheritance was later swelled %y the enormous wealth he captured in 8ersia, and le$ander's
imperial con5uests were %ankrolled %y nearly fi+e million kilos of 8ersian gold#
.ith irresisti%le force, huge wealth and enormous charisma, it's no wonder that le$ander %ecame
a legend, seeming to %e more than mortal, literally superhuman# nd for many, he was 3ust that# 2n
one of his early campaigns in &gypt, he +isited the oracle of the god mon, and there the oracle
named him not 3ust the rightful pharaoh of &gypt, %ut a god# 1e left the oracle with the title Gson of
Neus monG - and that e$plains the characteristic ram's horns on images of him, like the one on
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our coin# 1e was recei+ed %y many of the con5uered peoples as though he were a li+ing god, %ut
it's not altogether clear whether he actually %elie+ed himself to %e one# Do%in :ane Fo$9
G1e certainly %elie+ed he was the son of Neus in some sense # # # Neus had entered into his
%egetting - a story possi%ly told to him, %y that mother 7lympias herself, though he is in earthly
terms the son of the great king 8hilip# 1e is honoured as a god - spontaneously %y some of the
cities, %y no means all, in his empire - and he is not displeased to recei+e honours e5ual to the
gods# "ut he knows he's mortal#G
le$ander con5uered an empire of o+er two million s5uare miles, and founded many cities in his
own name, the most famous of course %eing today's le$andria in &gypt# lthough nearly e+ery
large museum in &urope has an image of le$ander in its collection, they're not consistent, and
there's no way of knowing whether he actually looked like any of them# 2t was only after
le$ander's death in 323 "C that an agreed, idealised, image, constructed for pu%lic consumption,
came into %eing# nd that's the image found on our coin, which, if 2 turn it o+er, actually re+eals
that this is not le$ander's coin at all - he's making a posthumous guest appearance in some%ody
else's political drama#
This side shows the goddess thena 'ikephoros, %ringer of +ictory, carrying her spear and shield#
*he is the di+ine patroness of 0reeks and a goddess of war# "ut it's not le$ander that she's
fa+ouring, %ecause the 0reek letters %eside her tell us that this is the coin of <ing :ysimachus#
:ysimachus had %een one of le$ander's generals and companions# 1e ruled Thrace from
le$ander's death until his own death in 2;1 "C# *o why didn't :ysimachus mint a coin that
showed himself- The answer is 5uite simple9 he's trying in this coin to appropriate the glory and
the authority of his predecessor# This is image manipulation - almost identity theft - on a heroic
scale# Do%in :ane Fo$ again#
G2t's a super% e$ample of 0reek 1ellenistic coin portraiture, %ased on the prototypes of the great
gems commissioned %y le$ander, who controlled the artists who could make his image# 2t
reminds us it's a world of monarchy, it's a world of association with le$ander, it's a world of
e$5uisite art and it's a world of pu%licity forming a climate of opinion - all too familiarAG
le$ander died in his early thirties, and his empire 5uickly disintegrated into a confusion of
shifting territories under competing warlords - :ysimachus was 3ust one of these# ll of the war
lords claimed that they were the true heirs of le$ander, and many of them minted coins with his
image on them to pro+e it# This was a struggle fought out not 3ust on the %attlefield %ut on the
coinage# 2t's a te$t%ook early e$ample of a timeless political ploy9 harnessing the authority and the
glamour of a great leader of the past to %oost yourself in the present# @ead reputations are usually
more sta%le and more managea%le than li+ing ones# *ince the *econd .orld .ar, for e$ample,
Churchill and de 0aulle ha+e %een claimed %y "ritish and French political leaders of all hues when
it suited the day's agenda# "ut in democratic societies, this is a high-risk strategy, as ndrew /arr,
the political commentator, points out9
GThe more democratic a culture is, the harder it is to appropriate a pre+ious leader # # # 2 mean it's
+ery interesting at the moment to see the re+i+al of *talin for instance in 8utin's Dussia as an
admired figure, ha+ing %een knocked down as a %loodthirsty tyrant %efore# *o the possi%ility of
taking a figure from the past is always open, %ut as 2 say the more con+ersational, the more
confrontational, more democratic, the more argumentati+e a political culture is, the harder it is#
GHou can see this in the case of Churchill, %ecause there are still lots and lots of people who know
a great deal a%out what Churchill thought and said# ny mainstream party which tried to say 'we
are the party of Churchill' would get into trou%le, %ecause Churchill changed his mind so much
that he can %e 5uoted against you as often as he can %e 5uoted in fa+our of you#G
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@ead rulers are still +ery present, and they're still on the currency# thoughtful alien handling the
%anknotes of China and the Cnited *tates today might well assume that one was ruled %y /ao and
the other %y 0eorge .ashington# nd in a sense, that's e$actly what the Chinese and merican
leaders want us all to think# 8olitical giants like these lend an aura of sta%ility, legitimacy, and
a%o+e all of un5uestiona%le authority, to modern regimes struggling with huge pro%lems#
:ysimachus's gam%it still sets the pace for the world's superpowers#
nd it worked for :ysimachus himself, up to a point# 1e's a mere historical footnote in comparison
to le$ander - he didn't get an empire# "ut he did get, and he hung on to, a kingdom# Twenty years
after le$ander's death, it was clear that his empire would ne+er %e reconstituted, and for the ne$t
three hundred years the /iddle &ast would %e ruled %y many cultured %ut competiti+e 0reek-
speaking kings and dynasties# 2n a later programme this week 2'll %e looking at pro%a%ly the most
famous monument of any of these 0reek-speaking states, the Dosetta *tone, %ut in the ne$t
programme 2'll %e in 2ndia, where the great emperor shoka linked himself to a different kind of
authority to strengthen his political position# 'ot the authority of a great warrior, %ut of one of the
greatest of all religious teachers # # # the "uddha#
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Episode 32 - -illar of 'sho(a
/illar of *sho+a B2% ('C erected in 6ttar /radeshE 7ndia
2n 164= on her 21st %irthday, the future Bueen &li,a%eth 22 made a heartfelt speech dedicating her
adult life to the ser+ice of her people# *he did it in a ""C radio %roadcast from *outh frica9
GThere is a motto which has %een %orn %y many of my ancestors) a no%le motto9 '2 ser+e'# Those
words were an inspiration to many %ygone heirs to the throne, when they made their knightly
dedication as they came to manhood#G
s she went on to point out in her speech, none of her fore%ears could ha+e spoken so directly to
their su%3ects# *he and other rulers now ha+e a huge range of mediums for their messages, %ut
without any of these modern communication tools, how do rulers reach out and speak to their
people, and tell them of their commitment to their welfare- Two thousand years ago, the 2ndian
&mperor shoka the 0reat car+ed his messages in stone#
G1e is associated with the unity of 2ndia as one of the first emperors ruling all o+er the land### the
entire land#G >martya *en?
G2t really puts at its heart the welfare, the happiness and the harmony of the people#G >/ichael
Dutland?
This week 2'm looking at the great powers of &urope and sia around two thousand years ago, and
the leaders whose legacies are still with us in the world today# The o%3ects pose perennial
5uestions# .hat is the right way for a leader to rule- 1ow should rulers construct their image and
pro3ect their power- 1ow does a ruler actually change the way the people think- Today's leader,
shoka the 0reat, took on a +ast empire and through the strength of his ideas %egan a tradition
which leads directly to the ideals of 0andhi, and still flourishes today - a tradition of pluralistic,
12=
humane, non-+iolent statecraft# nd it's those ideas that are carried, literally, %y the o%3ect for this
programme#
2'm with the o%3ect now - it's a fragment of stone, sandstone to %e e$act, and it's a%out the si,e of a
large cur+ed %rick - not much to look at all, %ut it opens up the story of one of the great figures of
world history# 7n the stone are two lines of te$t, inscri%ed in round spindly-looking letters -
appropriately first descri%ed as Gpin-man scriptG - and these two lines are the remains of a much
larger, longer te$t that was originally car+ed on a great circular column, a%out 3( feet high >6m?
and 3 feet >1m? in diameter#
shoka had pillars like this put up across the whole of his empire# They're great feats of
architecture, and they would stand either alone %y the side of the highways or in the city centres -
much as pu%lic sculpture does in our city s5uares today# These pillars are different from the
classical columns that most of us in &urope are familiar with9 they'+e got no %ase, and they're
crowned with a capital in the shape of lotus petals# nd on top of the most famous of all shoka's
pillars are the four lions facing outward - the lions that are still one of the em%lems of 2ndia today#
The pillar that our fragment comes from was originally erected in /eerut, a city 3ust north of
@elhi, and that pillar was destroyed in an e$plosion in the early eighteenth century at the palace of
a /ughal ruler# "ut many pillars ha+e sur+i+ed, and they range across shoka's empire, which
co+ered the great %ulk of the su%-continent#
These pillars were in fact a sort of pu%lic address system9 their purpose was to carry, car+ed on
them, proclamations or edicts from shoka, which could then %e promulgated all o+er 2ndia and
%eyond# .e now know that there are se+en ma3or edicts that were car+ed on pillars, and our
fragment is from what's known as the Gsi$th pillar edictG) it declares the &mperor shoka's
%ene+olent policy towards e+ery sect and e+ery class in his empire9
G2 consider how 2 may %ring happiness to the people, not only to relati+es of mine or residents of
my capital city, %ut also to those who are far remo+ed from me# 2 act in the same manner with
respect to all# 2 am concerned similarly with all classes# /oreo+er, 2 ha+e honoured all religious
sects with +arious offerings# "ut 2 consider it my principal duty to +isit the people personally#G
2 presume that there must ha+e %een some%ody to read these words out to the mostly unlettered
citi,ens, and 2 think they would pro%a%ly ha+e %een recei+ed with pleasure and considera%le relief,
for shoka had not always %een so concerned for their welfare# 1e'd started out not as a gentle,
generous philosopher %ut as a ruthless and %rutal youth, following in the military footsteps of his
grandfather# 1is name was Chandragupta, and he'd risen to the throne following a military
campaign that created a huge empire - reaching from <andahar in modern fghanistan in the west
to "angladesh in the east, and including the great ma3ority of modern 2ndia# 2t was the largest
empire in 2ndian history#
2n 24; "C shoka took his place on the throne - %ut not without considera%le struggle# "uddhist
writings tell us that he killed G66 of his %rothersG - presuma%ly metaphorical as well as actual
%rothers - in order to o%tain the kingship, and the same writings create a legend of shoka's pre-
"uddhist days, filled with self-indulgent fri+olity and cruelty# .hen he %ecame emperor he set out
to complete the occupation of the whole su%continent, and attacked the independent state of
<alinga - modern-day 7rissa on the east coast# 2t was a sa+age, %rutal assault and one which seems
afterwards to ha+e thrown shoka into a state of terri%le remorse# 1e changed his whole way of
life, em%racing the defining concept of '@harma', a +irtuous path that guides the follower through a
life of selflessness and piety, duty, good conduct and decency# @harma is applied in many
religions, including *ikhism, !ainism and of course 1induism - %ut shoka's idea of @harma was
filtered through the "uddhist faith# 1e descri%ed his remorse and announced his con+ersion to his
people through a rock edict9
12;
GThe <alinga country was con5uered %y the <ing, "elo+ed of the 0ods, in the eighth year of his
reign# 15(,((( persons were carried away capti+e, 1((,((( were slain, and many times that
num%er died# 2mmediately after the <alingas had %een con5uered, the <ing %ecame intensely
de+oted to the study of @harma###
GThe "elo+ed of the 0ods, con5ueror of the <alingas, is mo+ed to remorse now# For he has felt
profound sorrow and regret %ecause of the con5uest of a people pre+iously uncon5uered in+ol+es
slaughter, death and deportation#G
From now on, shoka sets out to redeem himself - to reach out to his people# nd to do so, he
writes his edicts not in *anskrit, the official language of the state, %ut in local dialect - depending
where they're placed - and in e+eryday speech as spoken %y the people#
.ith his con+ersion shoka renounced war as an instrument of state policy, and adopted human
%ene+olence as the solution to the world's pro%lems# "ut while he was inspired %y the teachings of
"uddha - and his son was in fact the first "uddhist missionary to *ri :anka - he didn't impose
"uddhism on his empire# shoka's state was in a +ery particular sense a secular one# 1ere's 'o%el
pri,e-winning 2ndian economist, martya *en9
G'ow secularism, that's a +ery %ig thing### The state has to keep a distance from all religion#
"uddhism doesn't %ecome an official religion, e$cepting it's the emperor's religion# "ut all other
religions ha+e to %e tolerated and +iewed with respect# *o secularism in the 2ndian form - not 'no
religion in go+ernment matters', %ut 'no fa+ouritism of any religion o+er any other'#G
Deligious freedom, con5uest of self, the need for all citi,ens and leaders to listen to others and to
de%ate ideas, human rights for all - men and women - the importance gi+en to education and
health9 these are all ideas which are still central in "uddhist thinking# There's still today a kingdom
in the 2ndian su%-continent that is run on "uddhist principles - the small kingdom of "hutan -
sandwiched %etween northern 2ndia and China# /ichael Dutland is a "hutanese citi,en and the
official en+oy to "ritain from this "uddhist monarchy# 1e also tutored the former king, and we
asked him how shoka's ideas might play out in a modern "uddhist state# 1e %egan %y offering us
a 5uote9
G ###'Throughout my reign 2 will ne+er rule you as a king# 2 will protect you as a parent, care for you
as a %rother and ser+e you as a son# s the king of a "uddhist nation, my duty is not only to ensure
your happiness today, %ut to create the fertile ground from which you may gain the fruits of
spiritual pursuit and attain good karma#' 'ow 2 wonder if you can guess who wrote that- 2t could
well ha+e %een written %y the &mperor shoka# "ut it wasn't# 2t was actually an e$cerpt from the
coronation speech, two years ago, of the 2=-year-old fifth king of "hutan#
GThe fourth king, the king that 2 had the great pri+ilege to teach, he li+ed and continues to li+e, in a
small log ca%in# There is no ostentation to the monarchy# 1e is pro%a%ly the only e$ample of an
a%solute monarch who has +oluntarily persuaded his people to take away his powers and he has
instituted electi+e democracy# The fourth king also introduced the phrase 'gross national happiness'
- it arose to %e a contrast to the concept of 'gross national product'# gain, as shoka would ha+e
felt, the happiness and contentment of the people was more important than con5uering other lands#
:et's put that into today's terminology of gross national product# nd the fifth king has followed
+ery much the "uddhist precepts of monarchy#G
shoka's political and moral philosophy - as he e$pressed it in his imperial inscriptions - initiated a
tradition of religious tolerance, non-+iolent de%ate and a commitment to the idea of happiness
which ha+e animated 2ndian political philosophy e+er since# "ut - and it's a %ig %ut - his
%ene+olent empire scarcely outli+ed him# nd that lea+es us with the uncomforta%le 5uestion of
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whether such high ideals can sur+i+e the realities of political power# 'e+ertheless, this was a ruler
who really did change the way that his su%3ects and their successors thought# 0handi was an
admirer, as was 'ehru, and shoka e+en today finds his way on to the currency - on all the 2ndian
%anknotes we see 0andhi facing the four lions of shoka's pillar# The architects of 2ndian
independence had him often in their mind# 1ere's martya *en again9
G*o that's one part - the duty of the ruler to do good to the world and to his su%3ects - that's the
point that 1# 0# .ells picks up in locating shoka as a %ig figure in the history of the world# "ut
the one that the 2ndians particularly emphasised at the time of independence is his secularism and
democracy in shokan thought# "ut he is a %ig figure also in China, in !apan, in <orea, in
Thailand, in *ri :anka, and so he is also in that sense a pan-sian figure#G
2n the ne$t programme we are dealing with another inscription and another ruler closely linked
with a religious system, %ut in this case the religion is now dead and the ruler is no longer of any
conse5uence - indeed he ne+er really was# "ut the inscription is one of the most famous o%3ects in
the "ritish /useum - and possi%ly in the world - %ecause it's written on the Dosetta *tone#
13(
Episode 33 - 8osetta tone
9osetta #tone Berected in 106 ('C found at al-9ashidE Egypt
&+ery day 2 walk through the &gyptian sculpture gallery at the "ritish /useum, and e+ery day
there are tour guides, speaking e+ery imagina%le language, addressing groups of +isitors who are
craning to see the o%3ect that 2 will %e talking a%out in this programme#
2t is on e+ery +isitor's itinerary and, with the mummies, it is the most popular o%3ect in the "ritish
/useum# .hy- To look at, it is decidedly dull - it is a grey stone, a%out the si,e of one of those
large suitcases you see people trundling around on wheels at airports, and the rough edges show
that it's %een %roken from a larger stone, with the fractures cutting across the te$t that co+ers one
side# nd when you read that te$t, it's pretty dull too - it's mostly %ureaucratic 3argon a%out ta$
concessions# "ut, as so often in the "ritish /useum, appearances are decei+ing, %ecause this
dreary %it of %roken granite has played a starring role in three fascinating and different stories9 the
story of the 0reek kings who ruled in le$andria after le$ander the 0reat con5uered &gypt) the
story of the French and "ritish imperial competition across the /iddle &ast after 'apoleon
in+aded &gypt) and the e$traordinary %ut peaceful scholarly contest that led to the most famous
decipherment in history - the cracking of hieroglyphics#
G2n the /emphis @ecree, we find a 0reek +iew of the world in &gyptian terms#G >@orothy
Thompson?#
G2 think it's 5uite weird# .hy you would put this sort of statement, which is %asically a statement
of ta$ e$emption, on such a hea+y stoneA 2t is =4( kilograms# .hy did they do that-G >hdaf
*oueif?
This is a week of o%3ects connected to shifting empires and legendary rulers, from le$ander the
0reat to the &mperor ugustus# 7+er two thousand years ago, from the /editerranean and the
/iddle &ast to 2ndia and China, these leaders found different ways of physically pro3ecting their
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power and their authority# Today's programme is particularly fascinating though, %ecause it's a
special case# 2t's a%out a ruler who is not strong %ut weak, a king who has to %argain for and protect
his power %y %orrowing the in+inci%le strength of the gods or, more precisely, the priests# .e're in
&gypt, with 8tolemy E, a 0reek %oy-king who came to the throne as an orphan in 2(5 "C, at the
age of si$#
8tolemy E was %orn into a great dynasty# The first 8tolemy was one of le$ander the 0reat's
generals who, around a hundred years earlier, had taken o+er &gypt following le$ander's death#
The 8tolemies didn't trou%le to learn &gyptian, they simply made all their officials speak 0reek,
and so 0reek would %e the language of state administration in &gypt for a thousand years# 8erhaps
their greatest achie+ement was to make their capital city le$andria into the most %rilliant
metropolis of the 0reek-speaking world - for centuries it was second only to Dome# 2t was a
cosmopolitan magnet for goods, people and ideas# The +ast :i%rary of le$andria was %uilt %y the
8tolemies - in it, they planned to collect all the world's knowledge# nd 8tolemies 2 and 22 created
the famous 8haros lighthouse, which %ecame one of the *e+en .onders of the .orld# *uch a
li+ely, di+erse city needed strong leadership# .hen 8tolemy E's father died suddenly, lea+ing the
%oy as king, the dynasty and its control of &gypt looked fragile# The %oy's mother was killed, the
palace was stormed %y soldiers, and there were re+olts throughout the country which delayed the
young 8tolemy's coronation for years#
2t was in these +olatile circumstances that 8tolemy E issued the Dosetta *tone, and others like it#
The *tone is not uni5ue) there are another 1= similar inscriptions 5uite like it, all in three
languages and all proclaiming the greatness of the 8tolemies# These were put up in ma3or temple
comple$es across &gypt#
The Dosetta *tone was made in 164 "C, on the first anni+ersary of the coronation of 8tolemy E, %y
then a teenager# 2t's a decree issued %y &gyptian priests, ostensi%ly to mark the coronation and to
declare 8tolemy's new status as a li+ing god - di+inity went with the 3o% of %eing a pharaoh# The
priests had gi+en 8tolemy a full &gyptian coronation at the sacred city of /emphis, and this
greatly strengthened his position as the rightful ruler of &gypt# "ut there was a trade-off# 8tolemy
may ha+e %ecome a god, %ut to get there he'd had to negotiate some +ery unhea+enly politics with
his e$tremely powerful &gyptian priests# @orothy Thompson, &meritus 8rofessor at Cam%ridge
Cni+ersity, e$plains9
GThe occasion which resulted in this decree was in some respects a change# There had %een
pre+ious decrees, and they take much the same form, %ut in this particular reign - the reign of a
+ery young king whose kingdom was under attack from many 5uarters - one of the clauses of the
/emphis @ecree, the Dosetta *tone, is that priests should no longer come e+ery year to le$andria
- le$andria was the new 0reek capital# 2nstead they could meet at /emphis, the old centre of
&gypt# This was new and it may %e seen perhaps as a concession on the part of the Doyal
household#G
The priests were critical in keeping the hearts and minds of the &gyptian masses on side for
8tolemy, and the Dosetta *tone was their reward# 'ot only does the decree allow the priests to
remain in /emphis, rather than coming to le$andria, it also gi+es them a num%er of +ery
attracti+e ta$ %reaks# 7f course no teenager is likely to ha+e thought this up, some%ody %ehind the
throne was clearly thinking strategically on the %oy's %ehalf and, more importantly, on the
dynasty's %ehalf# *o the stone is simultaneously an e$pression of power and of compromise,
although to read the whole content is a%out as thrilling as reading a new &C treaty written
simultaneously in se+eral languages# The content is %ureaucratic, priestly and dry - %ut that of
course is not the point#
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.hat matters a%out the Dosetta stone is not what it says %ut that it says it three times and in three
different languages# 2n Classical 0reek, the language of the 0reek rulers and the state
administration, and then in two forms of ncient &gyptian - the e+eryday writing of the people
known as @emotic, and the priestly hieroglyphics which had for centuries %affled &uropeans# 2t
was the Dosetta *tone that changed all that) and while the te$t of the stone itself is pretty
une$citing, it dramatically opened up the entire world of ncient &gypt#
"y the time of the Dosetta *tone, 164 "C, hieroglyphs were no longer in general use, they were
used and understood only %y the priests in the temples# Fi+e hundred years later, e+en this
restricted knowledge of how to read and write them had disappeared - the script of ncient &gypt
was lost#
The Dosetta *tone sur+i+ed unread through two thousand years of further foreign occupations -
Domans, "y,antines, 8ersians, /uslim ra%s and 7ttoman Turks, all had stretches of rule in
&gypt# t some point the stone was mo+ed from the temple at *ais in the 'ile @elta, where we
think it was first erected, to el-Dashid, or the town of Dosetta as we now know it, a%out 4( miles
away# Then, in 1=66, 'apoleon arri+ed# The French in+asion was not only military %ut intellectual#
.ith the French army came scholars# *oldiers re-%uilding fortifications in Dosetta dug up the stone
- and the scholars knew immediately that they had found something of great significance#
The French took the stone as a cultural trophy of war, %ut it ne+er made it %ack to 8aris# 8ursued
%y 'elson, 'apoleon was defeated, and in 1;(1 the terms of the Treaty of le$andria, signed %y
the French, "ritish and &gyptian generals, included the handing o+er of anti5uities - and the
Dosetta *tone was one of them#
/ost %ooks will tell you that there are three languages on the Dosetta *tone, %ut if you look on the
%roken side, you can see that in fact there are four# "ecause there, stencilled on in &nglish, you can
read9 GC8TCD&@ "H T1& "D2T2*1 D/H 2' 1;(1) 8D&*&'T&@ "H <2'0 0&7D0& 222G#
'othing could make it clearer that if the te$t on the front of the stone is a%out the first &uropean
empire in frica, le$ander the 0reat's, the finding of the stone stands at the %eginning of another
&uropean ad+enture - the %itter ri+alry %etween "ritain and France for dominance in the /iddle
&ast and in frica, which had continued from 'apoleon until the *econd .orld .ar# .e asked the
&gyptian writer hdaf *oueif for her +iew of this history9
GThis stone so makes me think of how often &gypt has %een the theatre of other peoples' %attles#
2t's one of the earliest o%3ects through which you can trace .estern colonial interest in &gypt,
%ecause of course it was found %y the French in the conte$t of 'apoleon's in+asion of the country,
and then appropriated %y the "ritish when they defeated him, and the French and the "ritish
argued o+er it# 'o-one seems to ha+e considered that it %elonged to neither of them# "ut &gypt's
foreign rulers, from the Domans to the Turks to the "ritish, ha+e always made free with &gypt's
heritage# &gypt, for two thousand years, had foreign rulers and in '52 much was made of the fact
that 'asser was the first &gyptian ruler since the pharaohs, and 2 guess we'+e had two more since,
although with +arying results#G
The *tone was %rought %ack to the "ritish /useum and immediately put on display - in the pu%lic
domain, freely a+aila%le for e+ery scholar in the world to see - and copies and transcriptions were
pu%lished worldwide# &uropean scholars now set a%out the task of understanding the mysterious
hieroglyphic script# The 0reek inscription was the one that e+ery scholar could read, and was
therefore seen to %e the key# "ut e+ery%ody was stuck# %rilliant &nglish physicist and polymath,
Thomas Houng, correctly worked out that a group of hieroglyphs repeated se+eral times on the
Dosetta *tone wrote the sounds of a royal name - that of 8tolemy# 2t was a crucial first step, %ut
Houng hadn't 5uite cracked the code# French scholar, !ean-Franois Champollion, then realised
that not only the sym%ols for 8tolemy %ut all the hieroglyphs were %oth pictorial and' phonetic -
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they recorded the sound' of the &gyptian language# For e$ample - on the last line of the
hieroglyphic te$t on the stone, three signs spell out the sounds of the word for stone sla%' in
&gyptian - aha3', and then a fourth sign gi+es a picture showing the stone as it would originally
ha+e looked9 a s5uare sla% with a rounded top# *o sound and picture work together#
"y 1;22, Champollion had finally worked the whole thing out# From now on the world could put
words to the great o%3ects - the statues and the monuments, the mummies and the papyri - of
ncient &gyptian ci+ilisation#
"y the time of the Dosetta *tone, &gypt had already %een under 0reek rule for o+er a hundred
years, and the 8tolemies' dynasty would last for another 15(# The dynasty ended infamously with
the reign of Cleopatra E22 - the' Cleopatra who %eguiled and seduced %oth !ulius Caesar and
/ark nthony# "ut with the death of nthony and Cleopatra, &gypt was con5uered %y ugustus,
whose image 2'll %e talking a%out later this week, and the &gypt of the 8tolemies %ecame part of
the Doman &mpire#
2n the ne$t programme, 2'll %e in Dome's great contemporary - China - looking at how the 1an
@ynasty operated a super-state, and e$panded their frontiers, while keeping close control o+er
e+ery aspect of society# ll this through a lac5uer cupA
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Episode 34 - #hinese Han lac:uer cup
'hinese Han lac;uer cup Bmade around " *4C found near /yongyangE @orth 3orea
This is a week a%out different kinds of power - a%out how to achie+e it and how to keep it#
/illions of words ha+e %een written on the su%3ect of influencing others, %ut two thousand years
ago - which is the period of this week's programmes - leaders weren't gi+en many handily-
packaged tips e$plaining their methods) no %ooks at the airport, then, on how to %e a %etter
emperor - rulers 3ust had to get on with itA
2n our less confident times, a new ruler could find lots of literature on 3ust this su%3ect, and one
%est-seller has %ecome so famous that its title has entered the language9 '1ow to .in Friends and
2nfluence 8eople' has sold o+er 15 million copies, telling us all how to do e$actly what it says on
the co+er# "ut, strangely, nowhere in that %ook does it mention one +ery o%+ious strategy that the
power-%rokers in 2mperial China of two thousand years ago knew +ery well, and practised
%rilliantly9 don't 3ust 'say' encouraging things) 'gi+e' your target a hugely e$tra+agant present#
Throughout history, as any anthropologist will tell you, the simplest way to %ind people to you has
%een to gi+e them a special gift - a present that only you can gi+e, and only they are worthy to
recei+e) a present like the o%3ect in this programme#
G:ac5uer-ware in cups such as these would ha+e %een the e5ui+alent of sil+er plates for the
Domans, or %lue and white porcelain in &urope in the se+enteenth and eighteenth century#G >Doel
*terck$?
G2 mean what you ha+e here is a +ery high standard %oth of craftsmanship and of technology -
e$5uisite artisanship, e$5uisite decoration with simple lines, +ery %eautiful, com%ined in this one
intriguing o%3ect#G >2sa%el 1ilton?
135
2n the last few programmes 2'+e %een considering how the leaders of +ast kingdoms and empires
%uilt and retained their supremacy, whether %y %orrowing the image of le$ander the 0reat,
preaching the ideals of the "uddha in 2ndia, or %uying off the priesthood in &gypt# 2n this
programme, we are in 1an @ynasty China, two thousand years ago, e$ploring the gi+ing of
2mperial gifts - an acti+ity which straddles the murky %oundary %etween diplomacy and %ri%ery#
7ur cup comes from a tur%ulent period in the 1an @ynasty, when at the centre the emperor was
under se+ere threat and, at the edges of the &mpire, he was struggling to keep control# The 1an had
e$tended Chinese power as far south as Eietnam, west to the steppes of Central sia and north to
<orea, and in each of these places they had set up military colonies# s 1an commerce and
settlements grew in these outposts, so their go+ernors gained in power, and there was always a risk
that they might turn into independent fiefdoms - what the Chinese now call 'splittism' was a worry
e+en then# The go+ernors' loyalty to the &mperor needed to %e secured# nd one of the ways the
emperor kept them on-side was to gi+e them gifts that carried huge 2mperial prestige# 2n the "ritish
/useum we ha+e an e$5uisite lac5uer wine cup, which was pro%a%ly gi+en %y the 1an emperor to
one of his military commanders in 'orth <orea around the year 4 @#
2'+e got it with me now# 2t's +ery light to hold, and it's less like a wine cup and more like a small
ser+ing %owl - a %owl that would hold the e5ui+alent of a +ery large glass of wine# 2t's a shallow
o+al a%out se+en inches >1; cm? long, so roughly the si,e and shape of a large mango# nd on each
of the long sides there's a gilded handle, and it's these handles that gi+e the cup its name - it's
known as an ear cup# The core of the cup is wood, and through some of the damage you can 3ust
see that wood, %ut of course most of it's co+ered in layer after layer of reddish-%rown lac5uer# The
inside is plain %ut the outside has %een decorated with gold and %ron,e inlay - pairs of %irds face
each other, each sporting e$aggerated claws against a %ackground of geometric shapes and
decorati+e spirals# The whole effect is of a costly highly wrought o%3ect - elegant, stylish,
confident# &+erything a%out it speaks of assured taste and controlled opulence# Doel *terck$,
8rofessor of Chinese 1istory at Cam%ridge, knows e$actly how much effort would go into making
one of these drinking cups9
G:ac5uerware takes an enormous amount of time to make# 2t's a +ery la%our-intensi+e and a +ery
tedious process, %ecause there's the e$traction of the sap of the lac5uer tree, followed %y all sorts of
procedures, mi$ing with all sorts of pigments, letting it cure, applying successi+e layers on to a
wooden core, to finally produce a %eautiful piece# nd it would ha+e in+ol+ed se+eral sets of
artisans#G
1igh-5uality lac5uer was %rilliantly smooth and +irtually indestructi%le# Fine pieces like our cup
re5uired up to 3( or more separate coats, with long drying and hardening times %etween each, and
so it could ha+e taken up to a%out a month to make# 1ardly surprising, then, that they were
inordinately e$pensi+e - you could %uy more than ten %ron,e cups for the price of one in lac5uer -
so lac5uer cups were strictly reser+ed for top management, the 2mperial go+ernors controlling the
frontiers of the &mpire# lthough the 1an Chinese and the Doman empires co+ered roughly the
same land area, a census conducted in China, only two years %efore our cup was made, came up
with the wonderfully precise figure of a population of 5=,4=1,4(( indi+iduals# 1ere's Doel *terck$
again9
G7ne of things we need to keep in mind, of course, is that the Chinese &mpire is immense, and that
it straddles a hugely di+erse geographic region# nd in the case of the 1an, we're talking a%out a
distance that stretches from 'orth <orea to Eietnam# Contact %etween people is o%+iously not
always +ery o%+ious, and so the circulation of goods, the circulation of imperially sanctioned
o%3ects, together of course with te$ts, is part of that sym%olical assertion of what it means to %e an
empire# Hou might not see people who are part of the same empire, %ut you might actually - %y
134
witnessing the goods that are produced across the empire - feel, or ha+e a sense of %elonging to,
that greater imagined community in many ways#G
Fostering that sense of an imagined community was a key 2mperial strategy - and it didn't come
cheap# Typically, the emperor paid out a large chunk of state re+enue e+ery year to pro+ide allies
and +assal states with lu$ury gifts, including thousands of rolls of silk and hundreds of lac5uer
cups# *o, our cup is +ery much part of a system - it was gi+en either as an 2mperial gift or in lieu of
a salary, to a senior official at the 1an military garrisons near present day 8yongyang in 'orth
<orea# .e can %e pretty sure that, apart from its sheer monetary +alue, it was intended to %estow
prestige and to suggest a personal link %etween the commander and the emperor#
t this point in the 1an's history, howe+er, the affairs of state were not in the hands of the emperor
%ut of the dowager empress, the formida%le 0rand &mpress @owager .ang, who effecti+ely ran
the state for 3( years, as none of the emperors had much time for %usiness# *he had one emperor
son - who spent most of his time with his concu%ine, Flying *wallow, who, it was said, was so
light that she could dance on the palm of his hand - one grandson emperor - who was %esotted with
his male lo+er - and another grandson the one on the throne at the time of our cup, who had
acceded at the age of nine, and was to %e poisoned with pepper wine at the age of fifteen, two
years after our cup was made# *o this cup li+ed in interesting times, and its making was almost
certainly organised %y the 0rand @owager &mpress#
The machinery of the state, and the production of lu$ury goods, was so well structured that it could
work perfectly well despite any foi%les at the top# This cup is remarka%le for the supreme
craftsmanship of its making, and e+en more so %ecause it was su%3ected to a le+el of 5uality
control that far e$ceeds any designer hand%ag today#
:ooking at the cup again, 2 can see that around the o+al %ase runs a thin %and with 4= Chinese
characters on it# 'ow in &urope you might e$pect this kind of %and to %e a motto or a dedication,
or something like that, %ut in fact here the characters list si$ craftsmen in+ol+ed in the different
processes in+ol+ed in manufacturing the cup - making the wooden core, undercoat lac5uering, top-
coat lac5uering, gilding the ear handles, painting, and then final polishing - the name of e+ery one
of the craftsmen# nd then - and this could surely happen only in China - it goes on to list the
se+en product inspectors, whose responsi%ility was to guarantee 5uality# *i$ craftsmen, se+en
super+isors - this is the stuff of real %ureaucracy# The list reads9
GThe wooden core %y Hi, lac5uering %y :i, top-coat lac5uering %y @ang, gilding of the ear-
handles %y 0u, painting %y @ing, final polishing %y Feng, product inspection %y 8ing, super+isor-
foreman Nong# 2n charge were 0o+ernment 1ead *uper+isor Nhang, Chief dministrator :iang,
his deputy Feng, their su%ordinate &$ecuti+e 7fficer :ong, and Chief Clerk "ao#G
.hat 2 find fascinating a%out this cup, is that it is such a powerful document of the link %etween
craft production and state administration) %ureaucracy as a guarantee of %eauty# 2t's not something
that's familiar to the modern &uropean, %ut for the 3ournalist and China e$pert 2sa%el 1ilton, it's a
continuing tradition in Chinese history9
G.ell in 1an times, the go+ernment had a ma3or role in industry, partly to deal with its military
e$penditure in order to finance the kind of e$peditions that it re5uired against the aggressi+e
peoples of the north and the west, again echoes of today# The go+ernment nationalised some ma3or
industries, and it regulated ma3or industries for 5uite a long time, so they were often run %y pri+ate
entrepreneurs, or people who had %een pri+ate entrepreneurs, %ut under state control# nd again, if
you like, there are modern parallels here, %ecause what we'+e seen in the past three to four
decades, is the emergence of a hy%rid system in China) from an economy that was completely
under state control on a socialist model and a planned economy model, to a more market-oriented
13=
model - connecting with the glo%al economy %ut ne+ertheless +ery firmly under state direction#
nd if you look at where the capital gets in+ested, and what the structure of ownership is of
Chinese industry, it is still largely state-controlled#G
*o, e$ploring this lac5uer cup of two thousand years ago, takes us into territory that turns out to %e
disconcertingly familiar - pri+ate enterprise under Chinese state control, cutting-edge mass
production allied to high technology, deft management of relations %etween the Chinese capital
and 'orth <orea, and the skilful deployment of diplomatic gifts# The Chinese still know that the
%est gifts are always the ones that only the gi+er can command# 2n the time of the 1an @ynasty,
that was silk and lac5uer cups# Today, when China wants to esta%lish friendly relations, it still
gi+es the present that no%ody else can match - it's known as 8anda @iplomacy#
2n the ne$t programme, we mo+e from gift-gi+ing as a power strategy to image-making9 2'll %e
looking at how the Doman emperors struggled to control their outlying pro+inces - we'll %e on the
'ile with the &mperor ugustus#
13;
Episode 3" - Head of 'ugustus
Head of *ugustus Bmade 2E000 years agoCD (ron1e statueE found in MeroE northern #udan
2'm looking into the eyes of one of the most famous leaders in the history of the world - Caesar
ugustus, the first Doman &mperor# .e ha+e his %ron,e head here in the Doman galleries in the
"ritish /useum and, tarnished as it is, it radiates charisma and raw power# 2t is impossi%le to walk
past# The eyes are dramatic and piercing# nd where+er you stand, they won't look at you - he is
looking past you, %eyond you, to something much more important9 his future#
G.ell he was a%out the greatest politician the world has e+er seen# 2f you wanted to ha+e a first
ele+en of the world's leading politicians, most accomplished diplomats and ideologues of all time,
you'd ha+e ugustus as your kind of mid-field playmaker, captain of the ele+en#G >"oris !ohnson?
The curling hair is short and %oyish, slightly tousled, %ut it's a calculated tousle - one that clearly
took a long time to arrange, %ecause this is an image that has %een carefully constructed, pro3ecting
3ust the right mi$ of youth and authority, %eauty and strength, will and power#
GThe portrait was +ery +ery recognisa%le, and +ery enduring# nd it was a +ery successful
marketing of an image %ecause ugustus has ne+er had a %ad press#G >*usan .alker?
1is head is a %it o+er life-si,e, and tilts as if he's in con+ersation, so that for a minute you could
%elie+e that he's 3ust like you and me - %ut he's not# This is the &mperor ugustus# 1e has recently
defeated nthony and Cleopatra, he has con5uered &gypt, he is well on his way now to imperial
glory, and is firmly em%arked on an e+en greater 3ourney - to %ecome a god#
2n this week's programmes we'+e %een looking at how rulers commissioned o%3ects that asserted
their power - somewhat o%li5uely, and essentially %y association# 2n China, the 1an @ynasty used
e$5uisite craftsmanship as an em%lem of imperial wealth and order) in 2ndia, the &mperor soka
in+oked philosophical ideals# "ut in this programme we ha+e something completely different - a
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ruler, the one in whose empire Christ was %orn, who 5uite simply pro3ects himself and uses his
own %ody and his own likeness to assert his personal power - the Doman &mperor ugustus#
1is %ron,e, o+er life-si,ed head gi+es a %rutally clear message9 2 am great) 2 am your leader and 2
stand far a%o+e e+eryday politics# nd yet, ironically, we ha+e this commanding head here at the
/useum only %ecause it was captured %y an enemy and then humiliatingly %uried# The glory of
ugustus is not 5uite as unalloyed as he wanted us to %elie+e#
ugustus was !ulius Caesar's great-nephew# The assassination of Caesar in 44 "C left ugustus
the heir to his fortune and to his power# 1e was only 16, and he was suddenly catapulted into a key
role in the politics of the Doman Depu%lic# <nown at that point as 7cta+ian, he 5uickly outshone
all his peers in the scram%le for a%solute power#
The pi+otal moment in his rise was the defeat of /ark nthony and Cleopatra at the %attle of
ctium in 31 "C# lready holding 2taly, France, *pain, :i%ya and the "alkans, ugustus now
followed the e$ample of le$ander the 0reat and sei,ed the richest pri,e of them all - &gypt# The
immense wealth of the 'ile kingdom was now at his disposal# 1e made &gypt part of Dome - and
then turned the Doman Depu%lic into his personal empire# cross that empire, statues of the new
ruler would now %e erected# There were already hundreds of statues portraying him as 7cta+ian,
the man-of-action party leader, %ut in 2= "C the *enate acknowledged his political supremacy, and
awarded him the honorific title of ugustus - Gthe re+ered oneG# This new status called for a 5uite
different kind of image, and that is what our head shows#
7ur head comes from this time, a year or two after ugustus %ecame emperor# 2t was once part of a
full-length statue that showed him as a warrior, slightly larger than life-si,ed# 2t's %roken off at the
neck %ut otherwise the %ron,e is in +ery good condition# 2t's an image that in one form or another
would ha+e %een familiar to hundreds of thousands of people, %ecause statues like this were set up
in cities all o+er the Doman &mpire# This is how ugustus wanted his su%3ects to see him# nd
although e+ery inch a Doman, he wanted them to know that he was also the e5ual of le$ander and
heir to the legacy of 0reece# The distinguished Doman historian *usan .alker e$plains what is
going on9
G.hen he had %ecome master of the /editerranean world and took the name ugustus, he really
needed to find a new image# nd he really couldn't copy Caesar's image, %ecause Caesar looked
like a crusty old Doman# 1e had a real warts-and-all portrait - +ery thin and scraggy, and %ald, and
+ery austere, +ery much in the manner of traditional Doman portraiture# *o that image had %ecome
a little %it discredited, and in any case ugustus - as he now was - was setting up an entirely new
political system, so he needed to ha+e a new image to go with it# nd ha+ing assumed this image
when he was still in his thirties, he stayed with it until he died aged =4, so there's no suggestion in
his portraits, e+en any su%tle suggestion such as we see in the portraits of our Bueen, for e$ample,
of any aging process at all#G
This was an ugustus fore+er powerful, fore+er young# 1is deft, some might say de+ious, mi$ of
patronage and military power, which he concealed %ehind the familiar offices and titles of the old
Depu%lic, has ser+ed as a model and a master-class for am%itious rulers e+er since# 1e %uilt new
roads and de+eloped a highly effecti+e courier system, so that the empire could %e effecti+ely ruled
from the centre and so that he could %e +isi%le to his su%3ects e+erywhere# 1e rein+igorated the
formida%le Doman army to defend and e$tend the 2mperial %orders, and he esta%lished a long-
lasting peace during his 4( years of steady rule, initiating a golden period of sta%ility and
prosperity famously known as the '8a$ Domana'# 1e'd %rutally fought and negotiated his way to
the top, %ut now he was there, he wanted to reassure people that he would not %e a tyrant# *o he set
to work to make people %elie+e in him, and more astonishingly want to follow him, %rilliantly
14(
turning su%3ects into supporters# .e asked "oris !ohnson, a classicist and a political leader, how he
rated ugustus9
G1e %ecame a +ital part of the glue that held the whole Doman &mpire together# Hou could %e out
there in *pain or 0aul or Cyrenaica - you could %e all o+er the world - and you could go to a
temple and you would find women, with images of ugustus, of this man, in this %ust sewn onto
their cowls# 8eople at dinner parties in Dome would ha+e %usts e$actly like this a%o+e their
mantelpieces - that was how he was a%le to infuse the entire Doman &mpire with that sense of
loyalty and adherence to Dome# 2f you wanted to %ecome a local politician, in the Doman &mpire,
you %ecame a priest in the cult of ugustus#G
2t was a cult sustained %y constant propaganda# ll across &urope, towns were named after him#
The modern Narago,a is the city of Caesar ugustus, while ugs%urg, utun and osta all deri+e
from ugustus# 1is head was on coins, and e+erywhere there were statues# "ut the "ritish
/useum's head is a head from no ordinary statue, it takes us into another story - one that shows a
darker side of the 2mperial narrati+e, for it tells us not only of Dome's might, %ut of the pro%lems
that threatened and occasionally o+erwhelmed it#
This head was once part of a complete statue that stood on Dome's most southerly frontier, on the
%order %etween modern &gypt and *udan, pro%a%ly in the town of *yene near swan# 2t's a region
that has always %een a geo-political fault line, where the /editerranean world clashes with frica#
2n 25 "C, so the writer *tra%o tells us, an in+ading army from the *udanese kingdom of /eroe, led
%y the fierce one-eyed 5ueen Candace, captured a series of Doman forts and towns in southern
&gypt# Candace and her army took our statue %ack to the city of /eroe and %uried the se+ered
head of the glorious ugustus %eneath the steps of a temple dedicated to +ictory# 2t was a super%ly
calculated insult# From now on, e+ery%ody walking up the steps and into the temple would literally
%e crushing the Doman &mperor under their feet# nd if you look closely again at the head, you
can see tiny grains of sand from the frican desert still em%edded in the surface of the %ron,e - a
%adge of shame still +isi%le on the glory of Dome#
"ut there was further humiliation to come# The indomita%le Candace sent am%assadors to negotiate
the terms of a peace settlement# The case ended up %efore ugustus himself, who granted the
am%assadors pretty much e+erything they asked for# 1e had secured the 8a$ Domana, %ut at a
considera%le price# 2t was the action of a shrewd, calculating political operator, who then used the
official Doman propaganda machine to air%rush this set%ack out of the picture#
ugustus's career %ecame the imperial %lueprint of how to achie+e and retain power# nd a key
part of retaining power was the management of his image# 1ere's *usan .alker again9
G1e always looked e$actly as he did on the day that he %ecame 'ugustus', and he presented
himself +ery modestly# 1e often showed himself wearing the Doman toga, and drew it o+er his
head to show his piety# nd sometimes he was shown as a general leading his troops into %attle,
e+en though he ne+er actually personally did so# nd this was a +ery enduring image) we ha+e
sur+i+ing e+en today o+er 25( images of ugustus, which come from all o+er the Doman &mpire,
and they are pretty much the same - the +ariations are really not +ery significant# *o the portrait
was +ery, +ery recognisa%le, and +ery enduring#G
This eternal image would %e coupled with an eternal name# fter his death, ugustus was declared
a god %y the *enate, to %e worshipped %y the Domans# 1is titles ugustus and Caesar were
adopted %y e+ery su%se5uent emperor, and the month of *e$tilius was officially renamed ugust in
his honour# 1ere's "oris !ohnson again9
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Gugustus was the first emperor of Dome, and he created from the Doman Depu%lic an institution
that in many ways e+ery%ody has tried to imitate for the succeeding centuries# 2f you think a%out
the Tsars, the <aiser, the Tsars of "ulgaria, /ussolini, 1itler and 'apoleon, e+ery%ody has tried to
imitate that Doman iconography, that Doman approach, a great part of which %egan with ugustus
and the first 'principet' as it was called, the first imperial role that he occupied#G
ll through this week, we'+e %een looking at how a few pri+ileged indi+iduals imposed their will
on the world around them# 'e$t week, we'll still %e looking at the world in the time of the 8a$
Domana, %ut the o%3ects will %e focussing on the passions, pastimes and appetites that ha+e always
go+erned more ordinary people's li+es# 2t will %e a week of +ices, and spices# nd we %egin with a
sil+er cup, made for a pederast in 8alestine#
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'n.i*n) @<*asu+*s" M12*+n 3Bi.* (9 'C $ D## 'C)
Episode 3$ - >arren #up
?arren 'up B& - 1& *4C from (ittirE near 2erusalem
2'm in Tate /odern in :ondon, and 2'+e %een standing for a while looking at Dodin's famous
sculpture, 'The <iss' - it's a life-si,e white mar%le car+ing of a naked man and woman engaged in a
passionate em%race# lmost e+ery%ody here circles the statue with unem%arrassed curiosity, %ut
3ust a hundred years ago this amorous couple was seen +ery differently - as unforgi+a%ly and, more
important, Gune$hi%ita%lyG erotic# .hen the wealthy merican, &dward .arren, who'd
commissioned the statue from Dodin, offered it to the *usse$ town of :ewes, the townspeople
re3ected it as pornographic, as did the city of "oston# 2n 1614 neither "oston nor *usse$ was ready
for Dodin, and neither may yet %e ready for the other famous artwork that .arren owned and also
kept in his *usse$ home9 it's a Doman sil+er cup, two thousand years old, with scenes of se$ual
coupling %etween adult men and adolescent %oys#
G2 think this is one of the most %eautiful o%3ects in the "ritish /useum# 2 lo+e it %ecause 2 3ust
think it is so tender# 2'+e got two daughters, and 2'+e actually determined that this is how 2'm going
to introduce the su%3ect of homose$uality to them, %ring them to ha+e a look at the .arren Cup
and then e$plain what's going on#G >"ettany 1ughes?
GThere is certainly an idea that the 0reeks and Doman were a much more se$y culture than we
are#G >!ames @a+idson?
:ast week we looked at power and how it was e$ercised around the world two thousand years ago#
The theme of this week's programmes is pleasure - social acti+ities# .e're spinning the glo%e
again, taking in pipe-smoking and %all games in 'orth and *outh merica, and in China a kind of
@e%rett's 0uide to court eti5uette for women# .e start and end the week, though, with the Doman
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&mpire, and with spice - %oth actual and metaphorical# .e end with pepper ### and we're going to
%egin with porn#
The .arren Cup is made of sil+er, it's a go%let, and it looks as though it would hold a pretty large
glass of wine# 2t's in the shape of a small sporting trophy, standing on a small %ase, a %it wonkily
now, and it would once ha+e had two handles, although those are now lost# "ut you can see at once
that this is a work of supreme craftsmanship# The scenes on the cup are in relief, and they'+e %een
created %y %eating out the sil+er from the inside# 0i+en the su%3ect-matter, it must ha+e %een used
at pri+ate parties, %ut it would certainly ha+e commanded the admiration and the attention of
e+ery%ody present#
:a+ish eating and drinking was one of the key rituals of the Doman world which, two thousand
years ago, ran from *pain to *yria# Throughout the &mpire, Doman officials and local %igwigs
would use %an5uets to oil the wheels of politics and %usiness, and to show off wealth and status#
Doman women were generally e$cluded from e+ents such as the drinking parties where our cup
would ha+e %een found, and 2 think we can assume that it was intended for an all-male guest list#
*o 2'm afraid you'll ha+e to imagine that you're a man, arri+ing at a grand +illa near !erusalem,
somewhere around the year 1(#
*la+es lead you through to an opulent dining area, where you recline with the other guests# The
dining ta%le is set with %eautifully em%ellished sil+er platters and ornate +essels, and this is the
conte$t in which our cup would ha+e %een passed around among the guests# 7n it are shown two
scenes of male lo+e-making, set in a sumptuous pri+ate house# The lo+ers are depicted on draped
couches similar to the ones that you, the guest, are lounging on# nd you can see a lyre and pipes
waiting to %e played as the participants settle to their sensual pleasure# 1ere's Classical historian
"ettany 1ughes9
G.hat you ha+e on this cup are two different +arieties of a homose$ual act# 7n the front you'+e got
an older man, and we know he's older %ecause he's got a %eard# *itting astride him is a +ery
handsome young man, it's all +ery +igorous and +irile# This is kind of 'camra +rit' if you
like, 2 mean it's +ery realistic - this isn't an idealised +iew of homose$uality# .hat's 5uite
interesting, if you go around the %ack, is here you'+e got something which is more a kind of
standard portrayal of homose$uality) two +ery %eautiful young men - we know that they're young
%ecause they'+e got locks of hair hanging down their %acks - one is lying on his %ack, and the
slightly older man is looking away# 2t's a lot more kind of lyrical, a rather idealised +iew of what
homose$uality was#G
lthough the homose$ual scenes on the cup are ones that today strike us as e$plicit - some might
say shocking and ta%oo - homose$uality was +ery much part of Doman life# "ut it was a
complicated part, tolerated %ut not entirely accepted# The standard Doman line on what was
accepta%le in same-se$ coupling is neatly summarised %y the Doman playwright 8lautus in his
comedy 'Curculio'9
G:o+e whate+er you wish, as long as you stay away from married women, widows, +irgins, young
men and free %oys#G
*o if you wanted to show se$ %etween men and youths who weren't sla+es, it made sense to look
%ack to the age of Classical 0reece, where it was normal for older men to teach younger free-%orn
%oys a%out life in general, in a mentoring relationship that included se$# The early Doman &mpire
had idealised 0reece and adopted much of her culture, and the cup shows what is clearly a 0reek
scene# 2s this a Doman se$ual fantasy of a Classical 0reek male coupling- 8erhaps %y placing it in
a 0reek past, any moral discomfort is put at a safe distance, while adding to the titillation of the
144
for%idden and e$otic# nd perhaps e+ery%ody e+erywhere %elie+es that the %est se$ happens
somewhere else# 8rofessor !ames @a+idson, author of 'The 0reeks and 0reek :o+e' e$plains9
G.hat's interesting is that although this +ase looks %ack to the Classical period, the 0reek +ase
painters - who were %y no means prudish or modest when it came to depicting se$ - ne+ertheless
carefully a+oided scenes of homose$ual intercourse, at least penetrati+e intercourse# *o, in a way,
the Domans are showing what couldn't %e shown fi+e hundred years earlier# *o you can say if you
like that the 0reek world, as it did for .arren and as it did since the eighteenth century or e+en in
the /iddle ges, pro+ided an ali%i for societies to think a%out homose$uality, to talk a%out
homose$uality, to represent homose$uality# 2t made it into a piece of art more than pornography, so
it's a kind of co+er, if you like, for something which is not necessarily +ery easy to depict# 2t needs
some kind of e$cuse, if you like, and the e$cuse is pro+ided %y Classical imagery#G
:ooking at the scenes on the cup more closely, there's no dou%t where these encounters are taking
place# The musical instruments, the furniture, the clothes and the hairstyles of the lo+ers, all point
to the past - and indeed to the Classical 0reece of se+eral centuries earlier# 2nterestingly, we can
tell that the two adolescents shown here were not sla+es# The style of their hair-cut, with a long
lock of hair trailing down the neck, is typical of free-%orn 0reek %oys# "etween 14 and 1;, their
hair would %e cut and dedicated to the gods as part of their passage into manhood# *o %oth the
%oys that we see here are free, and from good families# "ut we can also see another figure, who
might ha+e %een part of the Doman %an5uet at which the cup was used# 1e stands in the
%ackground, peeping at one of the scenes of lo+e-making from %ehind a door - we only see half his
face# 1e is clearly a sla+e, although it is impossi%le to know whether he is simply indulging in a %it
of +oyeurism, or apprehensi+ely responding to a call for Groom ser+iceG# &ither way he's a
reminder that what he and we are witnessing are acts to %e conducted only in pri+ate %ehind closed
doors# 1ere's "ettany 1ughes again9
G2n Dome there's a kind of notion that you ha+e good wi+es, and that you should somehow manage
without resorting to male se$, %ut we know, we know from the poetry, we know from the laws, we
know from the kind of %ack references to homose$ual relations, that actually this was something
that did happen throughout the Doman world# nd the .arren Cup is a good %it of e$5uisite hard
e+idence that pro+es that# This cup is telling us what actually went on, how homose$ual acti+ity
was something which took place in high aristocratic circles# 2 think it's +ery interesting with this
cup, %ecause it's actually physically made from the inside out, so it's %eaten from the inside and
that's how you get the form on the outside, and that is almost what the .arren Cup is - it's a co+ert
demonstration of what was actually going on in the real world outside#G
*il+er cups of this date are now e$ceptionally rare, as so many were melted down, and among the
sur+i+ors, few in the world can match the +irtuoso skill of the .arren Cup# To %uy a cup like this
you would ha+e had to %e rich, for it would ha+e cost you somewhere around 25( denarii - and for
that money you could ha+e %ought 25 large 3ars of the %est wine, two thirds of an acre of land, or
e+en an unskilled sla+e like the one we see peering round the door# *o this indulgent little dining-
piece places its owner firmly in the echelons of high society, in that +ery world that *t 8aul was so
elo5uently condemning for its drunkenness and its fornication#
.e don't know for certain, %ut it's thought that the .arren Cup was found %uried at "ittir, a town a
few miles south-west of !erusalem# 1ow it got to this location is a mystery, %ut we can make a
guess# .e can date the making of the cup to around the year 1(# %out 5( years later, the Doman
occupation of !erusalem sparked tensions %etween the rulers and the !ewish community, and in @
44 that e$ploded and the !ews took %ack the city %y force# There were +iolent confrontations, and
it is thought that our cup may ha+e %een %uried at this date %y the owner fleeing from the fighting#
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fter this, the cup disappears for almost two thousand years, until it was %ought %y &dward .arren
in Dome in 1611# For years after his death in 162;, it pro+ed impossi%le to sell - the su%3ect-matter
was 3ust too shocking for any potential collector# 2n :ondon, the "ritish /useum declined to %uy
it, as did the Fit,william /useum in Cam%ridge and, at one point, it was e+en refused entry to the
Cnited *tates of merica, when the e$plicit nature of its imagery offended a customs official# 2t
was only in 1666 - long after pu%lic attitudes to homose$uality, and indeed the law, had changed -
that the "ritish /useum %ought the .arren Cup, then the most e$pensi+e ac5uisition it had e+er
made# cartoon at the time showed a Doman %arman saucily asking a customer, '@o you want a
straight go%let or a gay go%let-'#
hundred years after he %ought it, .arren's cup is now on permanent pu%lic display here in the
"ritish /useum, and it ser+es 2 think a +ery useful purpose# 2t's not 3ust a super% piece of Doman
2mperial metalwork - from party cup to scandalous +essel and finally to an iconic museum-piece -
this o%3ect reminds us that the way societies +iew se$ual relationships is ne+er fi$ed#
nd it's not only changing +iews of se$ that the /useum can demonstrate# 2n the ne$t programme,
we ha+e an o%3ect that once carried enormous social importance, %ut which is now +irtually
%anned from all pu%lic gatherings ### the to%acco pipe#
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Episode 3& - ?orth 'merican otter pipe
@orth *merican otter pipe B200 (' to 100 *4CD #toneF from Mound 'ityE Ohio
8ick up a packet of cigarettes and you're confronted at once with predictions of ine+ita%le
impotence, disease and death# To smoke, we're told, is to %e in danger, %ut no modern go+ernment
health warning can %egin to match the +er+e of the great 'Counter%laste to To%acco' pu%lished %y
!ames 1 in 14(4, 3ust months after he'd come from &din%urgh to succeed &li,a%eth# The newly
arri+ed king denounced smoking as9
G custome lothsome to the eye, hatefull to the 'ose, harmefull to the %raine, dangerous to the
:ungs, and in the %lacke stinking fume thereof, nearest resem%ling the horri%le *tigian smoke of
the pit that is %ottomlesse#G
*moking, with its pleasures and its perils, has a long history# 2t's one that %egins two thousand
years ago in 'orth merica#
GThey are power o%3ects, and they're not sym%olic, they're actually considered to %e ali+e# For
e$ample, if it's a pipe that's made of the red pipestone, it's considered to %e the %lood and %ones of
%uffalo#G >0a%rielle Tayac?
G2n the morning the first thing 2 do %efore 2 ha+e %reakfast is perhaps light my pipe, and the last
thing 2 do %efore 2 go to %ed at night is to ha+e a few puffs of my pipe# nd it's a great comfort and
a friend - 2 li+e alone#G >Tony "enn?
This week 2'm looking at the pleasures that %ound people together around two thousand years ago,
in the centuries following the %irth of Christ# 2n China and merica, &urope and /e$ico people
shared many of the pleasures and pastimes, the o%sessions and the into$ications, that continue to
connect us across the millennia# 2n the last programme, we had alcohol and se$) today we are with
smoking and altered states#
14=
lthough smoking now is largely seen as a fatal +ice, two thousand years ago, in 'orth merica,
pipe-smoking was a fundamental ceremonial and religious part of human life# @ifferent groups of
'ati+e mericans li+ed across the continent - in ways much more +aried than what's %een
caricatured since in the westerns# Those mericans li+ing in /iddle merica - the lands around the
mighty /ississippi and 7hio ri+ers, from the 0ulf of /e$ico to the 0reat :akes - were farmers#
They had no cities %ut they did re-shape their +ast landscape with e$traordinary monuments# .hile
the small farming and trading communities seem to ha+e li+ed apart, they died together, 3oining
forces to %uild enormous earthworks as gathering places for ceremonies and to %ury their dead#
nd within them, were gra+es rich with weapons and decorati+e o%3ects, crafted from e$otic raw
materials traded o+er huge distances# There were the teeth of gri,,ly %ears from the Docky
/ountains, conch shells from the 0ulf of /e$ico, mica from the ppalachian /ountains, and
copper from the 0reat :akes# These spectacular sculpted %urial mounds would later astonish
+isiting &uropeans# 7ne in particular is in present-day 7hio - popularly known as G/ound CityG -
an enclosed 13-acre site with 24 separate %urial mounds# nd in one of them there were around
2(( stone pipes - one of which is our otter pipe#
The pipe 2 ha+e here is a%out the si,e and shape of a ka,oo, the children's toy music pipe that
makes %u,,ing sounds when you %low through it# *o it's not like any normal modern pipe with a
long stem and a %owl at one end# This one is car+ed in reddish stone and has a flat %ase a%out four
inches >1( cm? long, so it's almost e$actly the colour and the si,e of a %our%on %iscuit, and at one
end is car+ed a small hole to ser+e as the mouth piece# The pipe %owl is halfway down, %ut it's no
simple hollow for holding the to%acco, %ecause it's in the shape of the upper half of a swimming
otter, with its paws perched on the %ank of a ri+er, and it looks as though it's 3ust popped up out of
the water to look around# The stone is smooth, and to me it %eautifully suggests the sleek wet fur of
the animal# The otter looks along the pipe so that, as you smoke it, %oth you and the otter would %e
looking into each other's eyes# "ut in fact you are e+en closer to this animal than that suggests,
%ecause if 2 try to smoke it now and put it to my mouth, 2 disco+er that 2 am literally nose-to-nose
with the otter# nd that contact would ha+e %een e+en more striking than it is now, %ecause the
empty eye sockets would ha+e %een inlayed with fresh water pearls# This wonderfully crafted and
e+ocati+e o%3ect pinpoints in history the world's earliest use of to%acco pipes# *herlock 1olmes
pro%a%ly didn't know it, %ut this is where the story of pipe-smoking %egins#
7ur pipe is a%out two thousand years old, which is the period from which we ha+e the earliest
e+idence for to%acco use in 'orth merica# To%acco was first culti+ated in Central and *outh
merica, smoked wrapped in the lea+es of other plants, and then en3oyed like a cigar# 2n the colder
north, though, there were no wrapping lea+es to %e had through the long winters, so smokers had
to find another way of containing their to%acco - and so they made pipes# The cigarIpipe di+ide
seems +ery much to ha+e %een a result of climate#
*tone pipes are found consistently in the 7hio %urial mounds# This indicates, 2 think, that they
must ha+e had some special place in the li+es of the people that made and used them# lthough
archaeologists ha+en't yet understood their precise meaning, we can get an insight into how they
may ha+e %een regarded# 1ere's the 'ati+e merican historian 0a%rielle Tayac9
GThere's a whole cosmology and theology that go with pipes, that are e$tremely comple$# They
carry with them all of the meanings of religious teachings# They are definitely considered to %e
li+ing %eings that should %e treated as such, rather than 3ust o%3ects, or e+en sacred o%3ects, that
particularly come ali+e and come into their own power when the %owl is united with the stem#
There are rituals and initiations that go along with it, there are tremendous responsi%ilities that go
along with %eing a pipe-carrier in particular places# 2 e+en hesitate to call them o%3ects#G
.e know that two thousand years ago only select mem%ers of the community were %uried in the
mounds, and that many of these people must ha+e played a part in rituals, %ecause fragments of
14;
ceremonial costumes ha+e %een found with the %odies - headdresses made from %ear, wolf and
deer skulls# The animal world appears to ha+e had a central role in the spiritual life of these people,
and perhaps the animals on the pipes had a role in some kind of shamanic ritual that would connect
the physical and the spiritual worlds# The to%acco smoked at the time was ''icotiana Dustica', and
we know that it produces a heightened state of awareness, and e+en has a hallucinogenic effect#
7ur otter pipe is 3ust one of a whole pipe menagerie9 there are %owls which are shaped as wild
cats, turtles, toads, s5uirrels, %irds, fishes and e+en %irds eating fishes# nd gi+en that you would
%e eye%all-to-eye%all with the creature sculpted on it, we can imagine the smoker entering into a
kind of transcendent state in which the animal would come to life# 8erhaps each animal ser+ed as
spirit guide or totem to the person smoking) certainly for later 'ati+e merican peoples, it's known
that they might dream of an animal whose spirit would then protect them throughout their life#
1ere's 0a%rielle Tayac again9
G'ati+e people still use to%acco, it's a +ery sacred item# The usage of to%acco smoke, it's a way of
transforming prayer and thought and community e$pression, and could either %e smoked
indi+idually or passed around a community or a family, so that it's a way of unifying the mind and
then sending up the power of the mind into the +ast uni+erse or to the creator or to the intercessors
for the creator# .hen you talk a%out what is called the Gpeace pipeG at a treaty negotiation, that is
more meaningful than to sign a document, so it's a way of sealing a deal not 3ust legally %ut %y
gi+ing a +ow, and confirming that to the larger uni+erse - so it's not 3ust %etween humans, it's
%etween humans and the greater powers that are there#G
&+en today in 'ati+e merica smoking to%acco can still %e a spiritual act - the smoke rises and
mingles, %earing unified prayers skyward and, as it does so, it com%ines the hopes and wishes of
the whole community# For &uropeans, though, who disco+ered smoking +ery late, in the si$teenth
century, smoking to%acco 5uickly %ecame less a%out religion than a%out rela$ation9 it was first of
all a%out en3oyment, and then a%out money#
.hen the "ritish colonised Eirginia, the growing to%acco market in &urope rapidly %ecame of
prime economic importance - "remen and "ristol, 0lasgow and @ieppe all grew rich on merican
to%acco# s &uropeans e$plored deeper into the continent in the eighteenth and nineteenth
centuries, to%acco %ecame an article of trade and currency in its own right# The &uropean
ac5uisition of to%acco, and &uropean pipe-smoking, sym%olise for many 'ati+e mericans the
e$propriation of their homeland#
From then on, in &urope and indeed in most of the world, smoking %ecame an acti+ity associated
with pure pleasure, daily ha%it and considera%le cool# For most of the twentieth century, film stars
puffed away on screen, while their cinema audiences admired them through answering clouds of
smoke# *moking was not only sophisticated, it was intellectual and meditati+e, and *herlock
1olmes famously descri%ed one particularly testing case as G5uite a three-pipe pro%lemG# nd there
was, of course, also the intensely en3oya%le personal engagement with the physical o%3ect# 1ere's
the politician Tony "enn9
G2t's a %eautiful o%3ect# 2'+e ne+er seen it %efore, and 2 do find it 5uite hard to imagine how you
would smoke anything like that, %ut still 2'm sure if you had to, you would ### *tanley "aldwin
smoked a pipe, 1arold .ilson smoked a pipe - it was a +ery normal thing to do, and of course the
pipe of peace, and sitting round together, and friendship pipes associated with friendship, and so
on# *o they do ha+e a meaning o+er and a%o+e the satisfaction of smoking# 2t's a sort of ho%%y in a
way - you scrape it, and clean it and fill it and tap it and light it, and it goes out and you light it
again, and if you are asked a 5uestion at a meeting - not that you can smoke in meetings any more
- %ut if you were asked a 5uestion, light your pipe and say 'that's a +ery good 5uestion' - it gi+es
you a little %it of time to think of the answer# "ut 2 wouldn't recommend any%ody else to start
smoking#G
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The o+erthrow of smoking in the western world in the last 3( years has %een an e$traordinary
re+olution) in 1ollywood now, only the G%addiesG smoke, and the audience not at all - any%ody
caught smoking would %e hounded out of the cinema# !ames 2 would %e delighted# s with the
.arren Cup in the last programme, what is allowa%le as pleasure is constantly redefined) we can
only guess what lies in store for alcoholA
2f this story of the merican pipe is a%out community, passion, heightened senses and an almost
religious fer+our, then those same characteristics might %e as easily applied to sport ### in the ne$t
programme, 2'll %e with an e$traordinary game that prompted a passionate following o+er two
thousand years ago# 2t's not yet foot%all, %ut it is the first known organised team sport ### and it
%egan in Central merica#
15(
Episode 3, - #eremonial 4allgame 4elt
'eremonial 5allgame 5elt Bmade 5et$een 100 and &00 *4CD #tone carvingF made in Me!ico
The stirring sound of .elsh rug%y fans singing hymns at Cardiff rms 8ark # .hether it's
/aradona's infamous Ghand of godG, which he claimed scored the goal against &ngland in the 16;4
.orld Cup, or the carrying of the flame from the sanctuary at 7lympia in 0reece at the start of
each 7lympic 0ames, competiti+e sport and religion seem often to %e closely and disconcertingly
related# 2t's a connection that goes +ery far %ack# 2 suspect that few supporters today, singing
hymns or cheering for their teams with fanatical enthusiasm, know that the world's earliest known
team sport also had a strong religious dimension - or that the story %egins not in ncient 0reece
%ut in Central merica#
G ### it was a team sport, in fact it was the first team sport that we know of in world history, and it
was played with ru%%er#G >/ichael .hittington?
G2t looks more like something that would ha+e %een in+ented when e+ery other game had already
%een thought of first, you know, that this is a sort of gimmicky thing introduced %y may%e the
mericans in the 16;(s, rather than the first organised sport#G >'ick 1orn%y?
This week 2'm e$ploring the world around two thousand years ago, looking at what fuelled our
en3oyment and spiced up our daily li+es# Today, from the woodlands pipe smokers of 'orth
merica that we had in the last programme, 2'm mo+ing south to the playing fields of Central
merica#
2'm in the /e$ican gallery in front of what looks like a giant stone horseshoe - it's a%out 2( inches
>5( cm? long and a%out 4 inches >1( cm? thick and is made of a +ery %eautiful grey-green speckled
stone# .hen it first came to the "ritish /useum in the 1;4(s they thought that it was a yoke for
something like a carthorse - %ut there were two immediate pro%lems with this theory9 first the
o%3ect is +ery hea+y, it's a%out fi+e or si$ stone >35 kg? - too hea+y e+en for a horse's neck - and
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secondly, there were no carthorses or draught animals in Central merica until the *paniards
%rought them from &urope in the si$teenth century#
2t was only 3ust o+er 5( years ago that it was generally understood that these stone car+ings had
nothing to do with animals) they were meant to %e worn %y men# They represent the padded %elts
made of cloth or %asketwork worn to protect the hips during ancient Central merican %all games#
2ndeed some of these stone %elts may ha+e %een moulds used to shape lighter cloth or leather
padding, %ut the one we ha+e in the "ritish /useum is made of solid stone, so hea+y that if it was
worn it can only ha+e %een +ery %riefly# 'owadays it would perhaps %e for a 5uick photo call, %ut
we don't actually know e$actly when or how it might originally ha+e %een worn#
.e asked the leading e$pert on these games, /ichael .hittington, what he thought these stone
%elts were for9
G2 %elie+e these were ceremonial o%3ects# .earing an o%3ect that's =5-1(( l%s around your waist
during an athletic competition will slow you down considera%ly, so they pro%a%ly were worn as
part of the ritual ceremonies at the %eginning of the game# They do represent the real yokes that
were worn during the %all game, %ut those real yokes were of perisha%le materials and they
pro%a%ly, in almost all circumstances, ha+e not sur+i+ed#G >/ichael .hittington?
.e know a %it a%out the Central merican %all game %ecause it was 5uite fre5uently represented
%y local artists, who o+er hundreds of years made sculptures of player figures, and models of
pitches, with the pu%lic sitting on the walls of the court watching the players# :ater &uropean
+isitors wrote accounts of the game, and a num%er of stadia %uilt specially for it still sur+i+e today#
The *paniards, when they arri+ed, were ama,ed %y the actual %all that the game was played with#
2t was made of a su%stance entirely new to &uropeans ### ru%%er# The +ery first +iew of a %ouncing
%all must ha+e %een e$tremely disconcerting - this round o%3ect, defying gra+ity and shooting
around in random directions# The *panish @ominican Friar @iego @uran reported a sighting9
GThey call the material of this %all 'hule' >ru%%er? ### 3umping and %ouncing are its 5ualities, upward
and downward, to and from# 2t can e$haust the pursuer running after it %efore he can catch up with
it#G
These %alls also %ecame a kind of currency# *paniards recorded the ,tecs' e$acting tri%ute
payments of 14,((( ru%%er %alls# 'ot many ha+e sur+i+ed, %ut e$ca+ations and finds made %y
farmers across /e$ico and Central merica ha+e turned up a few, as well as hundreds of stone
%elts like ours - and stone reliefs and sculptures showing players with these 'yokes' or %elts around
their waists#
This was not an easy game# The aim was to keep the hea+y ru%%er %all in the air and to land it
e+entually in the opponents' end of the court, and the %all itself could weigh anywhere from ; l%s
to an immense 3( l%s - almost 15 kg# nd you're not allowed to use your hands, head or feet#
8layers had to use their %uttocks, forearms and a%o+e all their hips, which is where a padded %elt
would %e most useful# The actual %elts used in the game, pro%a%ly made of leather, wood and
wo+en plants, had to %e strong in order to protect the wearer from the hea+y ru%%er %all, %ut light
enough to allow the wearer to mo+e a%out the court in them# 2n 152;, the *panish %rought two
,tec players to &urope, and a 0erman artist painted them in mid-game, %ack-to-%ack, +irtually
naked, wearing what looks like specially reinforced %riefs, with the %all in flight %etween their
%uttocks# The e$act rules of the game are unclear, and they may ha+e changed o+er the centuries as
well as +arying throughout Central merica's different communities# .hat we do know is that it
was played in teams of %etween two and se+en players, and scoring was %ased on the result of
faults, as in tennis today# These faults could %e touching the %all with a prohi%ited part of the %ody
such as the head or the hand, failing to return it, or sending it out of the court#
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"y the time our %elt was made, around two thousand years ago, ela%orate stone courts %uilt
specially for the game were %eing used# /any were rectangular in shape and se+eral had long
sloping walls, off which the %all could %e %ounced# *pectators could also sit along the top of these
great stone structures and watch the matches unfold# Clay models show supporters cheering on the
players and en3oying the game, 3ust as foot%all fans do today#
"ut these games were far more than 3ust competiti+e sports, they held a special place in the %elief
system of the ancient Central mericans, and our stone %elt is a clue to these hidden %eliefs# long
the outside of the %elt are car+ed designs, and on the front of the cur+e of the horseshoe shape, cut
into the polished stone, is the stylised image of a toad# 2 can see a %road mouth stretching the
whole length of the cur+e, and %ehind the eyes %ul%ous glands that e$tend %ack to the crouched
hind legs# Noologists ha+e e+en %een a%le to identify the species as the 0iant /e$ican Toad - '"ufo
marinus'# "ut to us it's 3ust an ugly, rather sinister animal#
8erhaps the key to understanding this o%3ect is that this toad e$cretes a hallucinogenic su%stance,
and Central mericans %elie+ed that it represented an earth goddess# "elts for %all games were
made with +arious underworld animals car+ed into them, and this tells us that they were meant to
%e +iewed not indi+idually %ut rather as part of a %roader ritual# 2t seems that the painful intensity
of the %all game sym%olised the constant cosmic struggle %etween the forces of life and death#
1ere's /ichael .hittington again9
G.ell 2 think it's a%solutely a metaphor for how /esoamericans +iew the world# .hen you look at
one of the great creation stories in /esoamerica - the 8opol Euh - there are twins# Their names
were R%alan5ue and 1unahpuh# They were %all players, they li+ed in the underworld, and they
played %all with the lords of death, regardless of who was playing that game# 2t re-emphasised how
/esoamericans +iewed themsel+es in the cosmos and in relation to the gods# *o they were playing
out a game of gods and the lords of death e+ery time they took to the %all court#G
2t used to %e thought that the losing team was always sacrificially slaughtered, %ut while this did
later occasionally happen, at the time of our %elt we don't know what lay in store for the losers#
/ostly the games were an opportunity for a community to feast, to worship and to create and
reaffirm social ties# 2t's thought that early on this was a game that %oth men and women could play,
%ut %y the time the *panish encountered the ,tecs in the si$teenth century the game was %eing
played only %y men# The %all courts were designed to %e sacred spaces in which offerings were
%uried, so making the %uilding a li+ing entity# The *panish recognised the religious significance of
the courts and of course wanted to replace the old local pagan religion with their new, superior,
Catholic one# 2t cannot ha+e %een %y accident that they %uilt their cathedral in what is today
/e$ico City on the site of the 0reat "all Court of the ancient ,tec city, Tenochtitlan# "ut if the
courts were destroyed, the game sur+i+ed the %rutal con5uest of /e$ico and the destruction of the
,tec culture# form of it is e+en played today, called 'ulama', proof, if any was needed, that once
a sport em%odies national identity as this one does, it has enormous staying power# The author
'ick 1orn%y has written a%out the passion and the camaraderie of organised sport9
G2 think there are +ery few things that we care a%out collecti+ely - 2 don't think we do care a%out
religion or 0od in the same way that we used to, 2 don't think we care a%out politics in the same
way# "ut when the &ngland foot%all team plays, then there is a great collecti+e desire, and there is
a sense that we're all pulling in the same direction, we all want the same thing# There is a kind of
contemplation in+ol+ed in that# The e$perience of su%3ugating one's will to a collecti+e, whether
that's a crowd or a team, is pro%a%ly akin to a religious ser+ice, %ecause there is this sense that time
has stopped and that e+ery%ody is focussed on the one thing# Hou can feel the collecti+e will inside
the stadium, and 2 think there is some displacement in+ol+ed with sport - where it matters 3ust
enough for us to care a great deal, while at the same time it empties our minds of other things# 2
153
want my foot%all team to win, and while 2'm wanting them to win e+erything else is forgotten, and
2 think this has an enormous +alue - especially in stressful times#G
nd one of the striking characteristics of organised games throughout history is their capacity to
transcend cultural differences, social di+isions and e+en political unrest# *traddling the %oundary
%etween the sacred and the profane, they can %e great social unifiers and di+iders# s 'ick 1orn%y
says, perhaps there are few other things that we collecti+ely care a%out so much in our society
today# 7ur /e$ican ceremonial %elt acts as a powerful sym%ol of e$actly how far all societies can
take the o%session for mass, organised sport#
Tomorrow we stay with pleasure# "ut we're a world away from +ast crowds %onding in almost
mystic union as they watch the shifting fortunes of a %all game) we're with the rarefied, e$5uisite
and +ery pri+ate pleasures of 2mperial China#
154
Episode 3. - 'dmonitions croll
*dmonitions #croll Bsi!th - eighth century *4CD 'hinese painting
This week we're roaming the glo%e around two thousand years ago, looking at what occupied us
when we were at leisure# .e'+e had %an5ueting and gay se$ in the early Doman &mpire, smoking
and ceremony in 'orth merica, %all games and %elief in /e$ico# Today we're with what is, for
me certainly, one of the greatest pleasures of all - looking at painting# nd this programme is a%out
a masterpiece of painting from China# 2t's a scroll, painted around the years 4(( or 5((, and it
em%races three separate art forms, known in China lyrically as the Gthree perfectionsG9 painting,
poetry and calligraphy#
s a handscroll it was made to %e +iewed in pri+ate, and as a fine work of art it was cherished %y
emperors o+er hundreds of years# 2t's known as the dmonitions of the 2nstructress to the Court
:adies - or the dmonitions *croll for short - and it's a kind of ancient guide to manners, and
a%o+e all to morals, for ladies of the Chinese court - it tells powerful women how to %eha+e#
GTo me it's an incredi%ly seducti+e artwork# 2t's %oth delightful and frustrating at the same time#G
>*hane /cCausland?
Gnd it tells a story of o%+iously a +ery powerful woman#G >Charles 8owell?
common theme that's emerged from the o%3ects of this week has %een the changing +iews of
what constitutes an accepta%le pleasure - at different times in world history spice has turned into
+ice - or +ice +ersa# "ut en3oying a work of art like the dmonitions *croll has always %een
entirely accepta%le, and the scroll itself carries the record of those who, through the centuries, ha+e
%een lucky enough to look at it and en3oy it#
155
nd today, astonishingly, 2 am one of their num%er# 2'm in the specially %uilt &ast sian painting
conser+ation studio here at the "ritish /useum - where the entire painting is laid out# 2t's a%out 2(
feet >4m? long#
The story of its creation is a process that %rings together artists of different periods, and since it
was completed this scroll has %een continually cherished# The starting point was a long poem
written %y the courtier Nhang 1ua in 262 @# Then a%out one hundred years later, so around 4((, a
famous painting - now %elie+ed to %e lost - incorporated the poem# The painted scroll that 2 ha+e in
front of me now was pro%a%ly completed a hundred years or so after that, %ut it faithfully copied
and captured the spirit of the great painting - and there are indeed some who think that this may %e
the cele%rated original painting itself# "ut whate+er its precise status, this scroll is one of the most
cele%rated e$amples of early Chinese painting to ha+e come down to us#
%out half of the scroll is made up of painted scenes, each one di+ided from the ne$t %y lines from
the poem# s the scroll was slowly unrolled for you, you would ha+e read the poem and then %een
a%le to see only one part at a time, and that sense of unfolding is a key part of the pleasure# The
frame in front of me now shows a distur%ing scene# %eautiful and seducti+e woman of the court
harem is approaching the &mperor# The %illowing ro%es and red ri%%ons that she's wearing
accentuate her mo+ement as she flutters co5uettishly towards him# "ut as we look more closely,
we can see that she's actually 3ust faltering9 she's 3ust %een %rought up short %y the &mperor's
outstretched arm and hand, raised in an uncompromising gesture of re3ection# 1er %ody twists as
she a%ruptly %egins to turn away, and on her face is the e$pression of a shocked, thwarted +anity#
t the time that the poem was written, China was in a state of fragmentation - following the
collapse of the 1an &mpire - and competing forces 3ostled for supremacy, constantly threatening to
dethrone the &mperor# The &mperor himself was mentally deficient, and so his wife, &mpress !ia,
had a great deal of power, which she spectacularly misused# The poem was written %y her courtier,
Nhang 1ua, who was a minister at court and, according to a written history of the time, Nhang 1ua
was increasingly horrified %y the way the &mpress and her clan were usurping the authority of her
hus%and) she was 3eopardi,ing the sta%ility of the dynasty and of the state %y murder, intrigue and
riotous se$ual affairs# Nhang 1ua wrote the poem ostensi%ly to educate all the women of the court,
%ut his real target was of course the &mpress herself# 1e hoped, through the inspiring and %eautiful
form of poetry, that he'd %e a%le to lead his wayward ruler to a life of moral correctness, restraint
and decorum9
G<eep an eager guard o+er your %eha+iour)
For thence happiness will come#
Fulfil your duties calmly and respectfully)
Thus shall you win glory and honour#G
The painting that illustrates this poem also has a high moral purpose and interestingly, although the
lessons are ostensi%ly for women, they can also speak to men# .hen the &mperor refuses to %e
seduced %y his +ain wife, he sets an e$ample of male 3udgement and strength# @r *hane
/cCausland, a leading e$pert on early Chinese painting, has studied the dmonitions *croll in
detail9
G2 think it's a%out positi+e criticism, he's trying to not tell people what not to do, %ut to tell them
how to do something %etter, and each of the scenes descri%es ways in which ladies of the court
could impro+e their conduct, their %eha+iour, their character# dmonition is really a%out learning,
impro+ing yourself, %ut in order to do that, if your audience is +ery 3aded, 2 think you need to
in3ect 5uite a lot of wit and humour into it, and 2 think that's e$actly what this artist has done#
154
G2t %ears +ery closely on kingship, on the tradition of statecraft, of principled go+ernment# 2t's a
really incredi%ly insightful portrayal of the human interactions which go to go+erning#G
Cnfortunately &mpress !ia was imper+ious to the poem's moral message, and she carried on with
her scandalous se$ual e$ploits and her murderous acti+ities# *ome of her ruthlessness may ha+e
%een warranted, since there were re%els stirring up ci+il war, and ultimately in 3(( @ there was a
successful coup# *he was captured and forced to commit suicide#
hundred years later, around the year 4((, the court was once again %eset %y the same old
pro%lems# 7ne day the &mperor Riaowudi o%ser+ed to his fa+ourite consort, G'ow that you are 3(
years old, it's time 2 e$changed you for some%ody youngerG# 1e meant it as a 3oke, %ut she didn't
take it well, and she murdered him that e+ening# The court was scandalised# 2t was o%+iously time
to remind e+ery%ody how to %eha+e %y re-pu%licising Nhang 1ua's poem in a scroll painted %y the
greatest artist of the day, 0u <ai,hi# The resulting masterpiece was the dmonitions *croll# !an
*tuart leads the @epartment of sia here at the "ritish /useum, and is +ery familiar with this
painting and its purpose9
GThe scroll %efore us fits into a tradition of didactic imagery esta%lished in the 1an @ynasty and
influenced %y the great philosopher Confucius# .hen you read the te$t alongside the images, you
realise that there's a deep message %eing communicated here# Confucius had the idea that e+eryone
in society has a proper role and place, and if they follow that, then a +ery healthy and effecti+e
society is ensured# 'ow that message must ha+e %een especially important at the time that the
poem that this scroll is %ased on was written, and at the time it was painted, %ecause these were
times of social chaos# *o what the message is, is that the woman, e+en one with great %eauty, must
always e+ince humility, she must always a%ide %y rules, and ne+er forget her position in
relationship to her hus%and and family) and %y doing so, she is a positi+e and acti+e force in
promoting social order#G
d+isers to the powerful ha+e always attempted to guide their leaders, %oth male and female#
Charles 8owell knows +ery well how to ad+ise artfully and loyally one powerful woman in
particular9 he was /argaret Thatcher's foreign policy ad+isor in the 16;(s, and he fre5uently
worked with her on China9
G.ell this magnificent o%3ect tells a story of a +ery powerful woman# nd powerful women in
modern history are actually 5uite rare - really powerful women# /argaret Thatcher was an
e$ception, an e$ception 2 don't think is going to %e repeated any time soon in this country# 2t
shouldn't %e difficult to approach superiors9 after all, if one's chosen to %e an ad+isor to some%ody,
then you'+e got to gi+e them your honest ad+ice and %e fearless in doing so# *o the idea that
ad+isers are simply courtiers who say what the leader wants to hear is not true at all# "ut it is true
that /argaret Thatcher %enefitted from the fact that most of her ca%inet ministers were pu%lic-
school-educated "ritish men, %rought up not to %e rude to a lady and to defer to the other se$, and
perhaps sometimes this unconsciously 5ualified their willingness to go head-to-head with her on
difficult issues#
2n the dmonitions scroll we find that a lady ought ne+er to e$ploit the manners or weaknesses of
her man# The only time that a lady should put herself %efore the emperor is to protect him from
danger# nother scene in the scroll illustrates a true e+ent, when a ferocious %lack %ear escaped
from its enclosure, during a show put on for the emperor and the ladies of his harem# 2n this
particular scene we first see two harem ladies, running away from the wild %east %ut looking %ack
in horror# .e ne$t see the emperor seated, fro,en with shock, and in front of him the +aliant lady,
who has not run away %ut has rushed to place herself %etween the emperor and the %ear, which is
leaping at her, snarling fiercely# "ut the emperor is safe# This, the picture tells us, is the kind of
self-sacrifice we need and e$pect from our great ladies#
15=
This scroll %ecame the pri,ed possession of many emperors, who may ha+e found it to %e a useful
aid in su%duing trou%lesome wi+es and mistresses, %ut who also admired its sheer %eauty, and used
the act of collecting this precious masterpiece as a way of showing 3ust how culturally astute and
powerful they were# .e can know e$actly whose courts it was +iewed in, %ecause each imperial
ruler has left their mark on it, in the form of a stamp carefully placed in the %lank spaces around
the paintings and the calligraphy# *ome of the pre+ious owners ha+e also added their own
comments to the scroll# nd this %rings a kind of pleasure you can ne+er find in &uropean painting9
the sense that you are sharing this delight with people from centuries past, that you now are 3oining
a community of discerning art-lo+ers o+er centuries who'+e cherished this painting# For e$ample,
the eighteenth-century Bianlong &mperor - the contemporary of 0eorge 222 - sums up his
appreciation of the scroll and that of his predecessors9
G0u <ai,hi's picture of the dmonitions of the 2nstructress, with te$t# uthentic relic# treasure of
di+ine 5uality %elonging to the 2nner 8alace#G
2t was such a treasured relic that only +ery small audiences would e+er ha+e %een gi+en access to it
- and that's true now as well, %ut for a different reason9 the silk that this is painted on suffers
greatly if e$posed to light, and it's too delicate to %e put on display e$cept +ery rarely# "ut thanks
to digital imagery e+eryone can now share this pleasure, which was once the preser+e of the few#
nd although we're not allowed to put our own stamp on it to record our delight, we can all 3oin
the Bianlong &mperor and the other people who through the decades ha+e so en3oyed ga,ing at the
dmonitions *croll# The pri+ate pleasure of the Chinese imperial court has %ecome uni+ersal#
From the pri+ileged en3oyment of high art on the eastern coast of China, tomorrow we mo+e to
high dining among friends in *uffolk# .e e$plore the ,enith of the Doman &mpire in "ritain and
its fall ### through a little sil+er pepper pot#
15;
Episode 40 - Hoxne pepper pot
Ho!ne pepper pot Bmade fourth century *4CD #ilverF found in #uffol+E England
For thousands of years western &uropeans ha+e %een entranced %y the spices of the east# :ong
%efore curry %ecame the "ritish national dish, we dreamed of transforming our dull island food
with e$otic fla+ours from 2ndia# For the poet 0eorge 1er%ert, the phrase Gthe land of spicesG
e+oked a metaphorical perfection at once unimagina%ly remote and infinitely desira%le# *o it's
perhaps not surprising that spice has, through the centuries, always %een not 3ust high poetry %ut
%ig %usiness# The spice trade %etween the Far &ast and &urope funded the 8ortuguese and @utch
empires and pro+oked many %loody wars# lready at the %eginning of the fifth century, it was a
trade that em%raced the whole of the Doman &mpire# .hen in 4(; %ar%arian Eisigoths attacked the
city of Dome, they were induced to lea+e only on the payment of a huge ransom that included
gold, sil+er, large 5uantities of silk and one further lu$ury, a ton of pepper# This precious spice had
made its lucrati+e way all o+er the Doman &mpire, from 2ndia to &ast nglia# nd that's where this
programme's o%3ect was found#
GThe trade was +ery important to the Domans and they made a lot of profit from it#G >Do%erta
Tom%er?
GThey 3ust couldn't get enough of it, wars were fought o+er it# nd if you look at Doman recipes,
e+ery one starts with9 'Take pepper and mi$ with ###'#G >Christine /cFadden?
This week we'+e tra+elled the glo%e, looking at o%3ects of leisure and pleasure from around the
world a%out two thousand years ago# .e %egan with se$ and feasting near !erusalem in what was
then the Doman /iddle &ast# .e'+e %een to 'orth merica for to%acco smoking, mo+ed to
/e$ico for early team sports, and then went on to the moralising pleasures of painting and poetry
in China# Today, 2'm %ack with the Domans, in what they might ha+e called the Far .est, what we
think of as *uffolk#
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.e are around the year 4((, and in &ngland centuries of unprecedented peace and prosperity are
a%out to end in chaos# cross .estern &urope the Doman &mpire is fragmenting into a series of
failed states, and in "ritain the Doman leadership is conducting a phased withdrawal# t moments
like this it is tricky to %e rich# There was no longer any organised military or ci+il force to protect
them or their possessions, and as they fled, they left %ehind them some of the finest treasure e+er
found# 7ur o%3ect %elongs to a fa%ulous collection of gold and sil+er %uried in a field at 1o$ne,
*uffolk, around 41(, and found nearly 1,4(( years later ### in 1662#
2'm holding a small statue of the upper half of a Doman matron, wearing +ery ela%orate clothes and
long dangly earrings# 1er hair is fantastically complicated, it's twisted and plaited in an ela%orate
Gup-doG, and she is o%+iously a seriously 'grande dame' and +ery, +ery fashiona%le# *he's a%out
three inches >; cm? high, so the si,e of a sil+er pepper pot - and indeed that is e$actly what she is -
a sil+er pepper pot# .hen 2 pick it up 2 can see that on the underside there is a cle+er mechanism
which allows you to determine how much pepper will come out# Hou turn the handle and you can
either close it completely, ha+e it fully open, or in a kind of sprinkling mode#
This pepper pot would clearly ha+e %een owned %y +ery wealthy people and it's o%+iously
designed to amuse# lthough the face is of sil+er, the eyes and the lips are picked out in gold, so
that as the candles flickered the eyes and the lips would ha+e appeared to mo+e# *he would ha+e
%een 5uite a talking point at *uffolk %an5uets - on a ta%le laden with nosh for the posh she is,
without 5uestion, a %it of kitsch for the rich#
"ritain had %ecome part of the Doman &mpire in the year 43, so %y the time of our pepper pot it
had %een a Doman pro+ince for o+er three hundred years# 'ati+e "ritons and Domans had
intermingled and inter-married and in &ngland e+eryone did as the Domans did# 1ere's Doman
trade e$pert, Do%erta Tom%er9
G.hen the Domans came to "ritain they %rought a lot of material culture, and a lot of ha%its, with
them that made the people of "ritain feel Doman, that they identified with the Doman culture#
.ine was one of these, oli+e oil was another, and pepper would ha+e %een a more +alua%le one in
this same sort of 'set' of Domanitas#G
The Domans were seriously interested in food and sla+e chefs would man the kitchens to create
great delicacies# high-end Doman menu could include dormice sprinkled with honey and poppy
seeds, followed %y a whole wild %oar %eing suckled %y piglets made of cake, inside which were
placed li+e thrushes# To finish, 5uince apples and pork, disguised as fowls and fish# 'one of these
opulent culinary in+entions could ha+e %een created without ample seasoning and the primary
spice would ha+e %een pepper# .hy has this particular spice remained so constantly attracti+e- .e
asked the author and academic Christine /cFadden a%out the importance of adding a %it of pepper
to your recipe9
Gs an early twentieth-century French chef said - no other spice can do so much for so many
different types of food, %oth sweet and sa+oury# 2t contains an alkaloid called piperine, which is
responsi%le for the pungency, and what it does to the %ody is ### it promotes sweating, which cools
the %ody, which is essential for comfort in hot climates# 2t also aids digestion, it titi+ates the taste
%uds and makes the mouth water# nd the other thing - there is research which suggests that it
might %e a factor in transforming the chemical energy we get from food into what is called heating
energy, so in other words, it keeps us warm#G
The closest place to Dome where pepper actually grew was 2ndia, and so the Domans had to find a
way of sending ships to and fro across the 2ndian 7cean and then carrying their cargo o+erland to
the /editerranean# .hole fleets and cara+ans laden with pepper would tra+el from 2ndia to the
Ded *ea, then across the desert to the 'ile# 2t was then traded around the Doman &mpire %y ri+er,
14(
sea and road# This was an immense network of trade) complicated and dangerous, %ut highly
profita%le# 1ere's Do%erta Tom%er again9
G.e ha+e *tra%o in the first century @ saying that 12( %oats left e+ery year from /yos 1ormos -
that's a port on the Ded *ea - to 2ndia# 7f course there were other ports on the Ded *ea and other
countries sending ships to 2ndia# The actual +alue of the trade was enormous - one hint we ha+e of
this is from a second-century papyrus known as the /u,iris papyrus# nd in that they discuss the
cost of a shipload - and it is estimated today at se+en million sestertia# !ust to put that in conte$t, at
that same time a soldier in the Doman army would ha+e earned a%out ;(( sestertia a year#G
*o regularly filling a large sil+er pepper pot like ours would ha+e taken its toll on the grocery %ills#
nd the household that owned our pepper pot had another three sil+er pots, for pepper or other
spice - one shaped as 1ercules in action, and two in the shape of animals# This is di,,ying
e$tra+agance, the stuff of %ankers' %onuses# "ut the pepper pots are 3ust a tiny part of the great
hoard of %uried treasure - they were found in a chest containing =; spoons, 2( ladles, 26 pieces of
spectacular gold 3ewellery - and o+er 15,((( gold and sil+er coins# Fifteen different emperors are
represented on the coins - the latest is Constantine 222, who came to power in 4(=, and it is this that
helps us to date the hoard# 2t must ha+e %een %uried for safekeeping sometime after that year - a
time when Doman authority in "ritain was rapidly %reaking down#
.hich %rings us %ack to our pepper pot which, you will remem%er, is in the shape of a high-%orn
Doman matron# .ith her right forefinger she points to a scroll, and she holds this +ery proudly,
rather like a graduate showing off a degree scroll in a graduation photograph# nd it's this that tells
us that this woman is not only from a wealthy family, %ut that she is also highly educated# There's
no dou%t that this lady's lunches would ha+e had a +ery literary fla+our# lthough Doman women
were not allowed to practice professions such as the law or politics, they were taught to %e
accomplished in the arts# nd so singing, playing musical instruments, reading, writing and
drawing were all accomplishments e$pected of a well-%red lady# nd while a woman like this
could not ha+e held pu%lic office, she would certainly ha+e %een in a position to e$ercise real
power#
.e don't know who the woman on the pepper pot was, %ut there are clues to %e found on other
o%3ects from the 1o$ne hoard - a gold %racelet is inscri%ed 'CT&D& F&:2R @7/2' 2C:2'&',
meaning 'Cse this happily :ady !uliane'# .e will ne+er know if the :ady !uliane is the lady on our
pepper pot, %ut she may well ha+e %een its owner# nother name, 'urelius Crsicinus', is found on
se+eral of the other o%3ects - could this perhaps ha+e %een !uliane's hus%and- ll the o%3ects are
small %ut e$tremely precious# This was the mo%ile wealth of a rich Doman family - and it's
precisely this type of person who is in danger when a state fails# There were no *wiss %ank
accounts in the ancient world - the only thing to do with your wealth in time of danger was to %ury
it, and hope that you li+ed to come %ack and find it# "ut !uliane and urelius ne+er did come %ack,
and the %uried treasure remained in the ground until 1,4(( years later a farmer, &ric :awes, went to
look for a missing hammer# .hat he found, with the help of his metal detector, was this
spectacular hoard# nd he did find the hammer - which is now also part of the "ritish /useum's
collection#
2t's perhaps worth noting that many of the o%3ects in this series we wouldn't know much a%out,
were it not for the work of thousands of people - archaeologists, anthropologists, historians, and
many others# nd we wouldn't e+en ha+e found many of these o%3ects without metal detectorists
like &ric :awes, who in recent years ha+e %een re-writing the history of "ritain# .hen he found
the first few o%3ects, he alerted local archaeologists, so that they could record the detail of the site
and lift the whole hoard out in %locks of earth#
141
.eeks of careful micro-e$ca+ation in the la%oratories of the "ritish /useum re+ealed not only the
o%3ects, %ut the way in which they had %een packed# lthough their original container, a wooden
chest a%out two feet >4( cm? wide, had largely perished, its contents remained in their original
positions# 7ur pepper pot was %uried alongside a stack of ladles, some small sil+er 3ugs and a
%eautiful sil+er handle in the shape of a prancing tigress# Dight at the top, lo+ingly wrapped in
cloth, were necklaces, rings and gold chains, placed there %y people uncertain of when or whether
they would e+er wear them again# These are o%3ects that %ring us +ery close to the terrifying e+ents
that must ha+e %een o+erwhelming these peoples' li+es#
.ritten on one of the spoons in the hoard are the words 'E2E* 2' @&7' - '/ay you li+e in 0od' -
a common Christian prayer# nd it is likely that our fleeing family was Christian# "y this date
Christianity had %een the official religion of the &mpire for nearly a hundred years and, like
pepper, it had come to "ritain +ia Dome# Faith and trade often tra+el together, and %oth the
peppercorn and the cross had a reach far wider than the Doman &mpire itself#
'e$t week 2 shall %e mo+ing away from earthly pleasures to e$amine some of the new spiritual
structures that humanity was creating around the world a%out two thousand years ago# .e will %e
starting in 2ndia - with an image that sits most happily in our contemporary .estern imagination ###
a seated "uddha#
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T,* Ris* 1( =1+<2 0ai),s (!## $ D## 'C)
Episode 41 - eated %uddha from 9andhara
#eated (uddha Bmade 5et$een 100 and 00 *4CD #tone statueF from :andharaE /a+istan
2t's morning in "attersea 8ark in :ondon, and 2'm standing near the ri+er, ne$t to the 8eace 8agoda#
&+ery day, watched %y four gilded "uddha statues, a !apanese "uddhist monk drums his way o+er
the grass# 1is name is the De+erend 0yoro 'agase, and he knows these gilded "uddhas +ery well#
"ut then so, in a sense, do we all9 here, looking out o+er the Thames, is the "uddha sitting cross-
legged, his hands touching in front of his chest# 2 hardly need to descri%e the figure any further,
%ecause the seated "uddha is one of the most familiar and most enduring images in world religion#
Today you can find statues of the "uddha - seated and serene - all o+er the world, %ut it hasn't
always %een like this# The "uddha has not always %een there for us to contemplate# For centuries
he was represented only through a set of sym%ols# The story of how this changed, and how the
"uddha came to %e shown in human form, %egins in 8akistan around 1,;(( years ago#
GThe presence of the image of the "uddha creates a +ery interesting and deep spiritual and calm
am%iance, on the site where you ha+e it#G >Thupten !inpa?
G2t's really the need for worshipping +isually, for 'seeing' the gods, for ha+ing them +isi%le, and not
only thinking of the "uddha as a man who li+ed four, fi+e hundred years %efore, and who has
initiated a new way of looking at life#G >Claudine "aut,e-8ictron?
This week in our history we're with the gods or, in this case, as near to the gods as it's possi%le for
humans to get# ll religions ha+e to confront the key 5uestion - how can the infinite, the %oundless,
%e apprehended- 1ow can we, humans, draw near to the other, 0od- *ome aim to achie+e it
through chanting, some through words alone, %ut most faiths ha+e found images useful to focus
143
human attention on the di+ine# 2n this week's programmes, 2'll %e looking at how, a little under two
thousand years ago, great religions used the +isual as a route to prayer# 2s it more than an
e$traordinary coincidence that at a%out the same moment Christianity, 1induism and "uddhism all
start showing Christ, 1indu gods and the "uddha in human form- Coincidence or not, all three
religions esta%lished then artistic con+entions which are still +ery much ali+e today#
round 1,;(( years ago, "uddhism had already %een in e$istence for centuries# The historical
"uddha was a prince of the 0anges region in 'orth 2ndia in the fifth century "C, who a%andoned
his royal life to %ecome a wandering ascetic, wanting to comprehend and therefore to o+ercome
the roots of human suffering# fter many e$periences he finally sat under a pipal tree and
meditated without mo+ing for 46 days until, at last, he achie+ed enlightenment - freedom from
greed, hate, and delusion# t this moment, he %ecame the "uddha - the G&nlightenedG or the
Gwakened 7neG# 1e passed on his dharma >his way, his teaching? to monks and to missionaries
who e+entually tra+elled across the +ast e$panses of sia# s the "uddhist message spread north, it
passed into the region known as 0andhara, the area in what is now north-eastern 8akistan, around
8eshawar, in the foothills of the 1imalayas#
From the 1;5(s onwards it was in 0andhara that +ast num%ers of "uddhist shrines and sculptures
were disco+ered and in+estigated, in fact more "uddhist sculpture and architecture comes from
0andhara than from any other part of ancient 2ndia# nd here, in the "ritish /useum, we ha+e a
"uddha sculpture that perfectly matches the pose of the one in "attersea 8ark# "ut this one isn't
gold - it's car+ed from grey schist, a rock that contains fragments of crystal which make the stone
glint and gleam in the light# The "uddha's hands and face are more-or-less life-si,e, %ut the %ody is
smaller, and he sits cross-legged in the lotus position with his hands raised in front of him# 7n %oth
shoulders he wears an o+er-ro%e, and the folds of the drapery form thick rounded ridges and
terraces# This drapery hides most of his feet, e$cept for a couple of the toes on the upturned right
foot, which you can 3ust see# 1e looks serenely into the distance, his eyelids lowered# nd his hair
is gathered up into what seems to %e a %un, %ut which is in fact a sym%ol of the "uddha's wisdom
and enlightened state# Dising from the top of his shoulders, surrounding his head, is what looks like
a large grey dinner-plate - %ut of course is, in fact, his halo#
This +irtually life-si,ed and lifelike figure must ha+e %een a startling sight for any "uddhist 1,;((
years ago# Cntil shortly %efore then, the "uddha had %een represented only %y sets of sym%ols - the
tree under which he achie+ed enlightenment, a pair of footprints, and so on# To gi+e him human
form was entirely new# The mo+e towards representing "uddha as a man is descri%ed %y the
historian Claudine "aut,e-8ichron9
GThere is a mo+ement going towards the representation of, 2 would say in %rackets, 'gods and
goddesses', %ecause the "uddha was in fact a real historical character, so he was not a god# nd so
there was this mo+ement two thousand years ago when they started representing these +arious
deities and human wise-men, who had li+ed a few hundred years %efore# The first e+ocation of the
"uddha's presence is car+ed around the circular monuments which are called stupas# There the
"uddha is referred to through the tree %elow which he sat, where he %ecame awakened, which is
the meaning of "uddha in fact - to %e awakened#
GThe worship of footprints are a ma3or element in 2ndia still today, they refer to a person who is no
more there, %ut who has left their traces on earth# This will de+elop towards e+en a more
ela%orated structure, where you can ha+e, in place of the tree, a flaming pillar, which means that
out of the "uddha emerges light# *o there were sym%ols which were creeping in to the artistic
world, and which really opened the way to the physical image of the "uddha#G
2t's still not entirely clear 3ust why the %odily image appears at this time# 7ur sculpture, one of the
earliest known, pro%a%ly dates to the third century @, when 0andhara was ruled %y the <ushan
144
kings of northern 2ndia, whose empire stretched from <a%ul to 2slama%ad# 2t was a wealthy region,
thanks to its position on the *ilk Doad - the trade routes linking China, 2ndia and the
/editerranean# From 0andhara the main route ran west through 2ran to le$andria in &gypt#
0andhara's prosperity and political sta%ility allowed the construction of a great landscape of
"uddhist shrines, monuments and sculpture, and further missionary e$pansion# 2t's something that
will %e a recurring feature through this week - the religions that sur+i+e today are the ones that
were spread and sustained %y trade and power# 2t's profoundly parado$ical9 "uddhism, the religion
founded %y an ascetic who spurned all comfort and riches, flourished thanks to the international
trade in lu$ury goods# .ith the lu$ury goods like silk went the monks and the missionaries, and
with them went the "uddha, in human form, perhaps %ecause such an image helps when you're
teaching across a language %arrier#
There are four standard poses for the "uddha that we know today# 1e can %e shown lying, sitting,
standing and walking) and each pose reflects a particular aspect of his life and acti+ity, rather than
a moment or an e+ent# 7ur sculpture shows him in his enlightened state# 1e's ro%ed as a monk, as
might %e e$pected, %ut unlike a monk his head is not sha+ed# 1e's dispensed with finery and
remo+ed his princely 3ewellery# 1is ears are no longer weighted down with gold - %ut the
elongated lo%es still ha+e the empty holes that show that this man was once a prince# 1e's seated
cross-legged in the lotus position, a pose used for meditation and, as here, for teaching#
"ut this statue - and the thousands made later that look so like it - has a purpose# Ti%etan Thupten
!inpa, a former monk and interpreter to the @alai :ama, e$plains how you use an image like this
one as a help on your 3ourney towards enlightenment9
G.hat the religious practitioners do is to %ring the image of the "uddha - %y first looking at the
image, and then %ringing that image of the "uddha within oneself - in a sort of a mental image#
nd then reflect upon the 5ualities of the "uddha - "uddha's %ody, speech and mind# The image of
the "uddha plays a role of recalling in the mind of the de+otee, the historical teacher, the "uddha,
and his e$perience of awakening, and also the key e+ents in his life# There are different images,
forms of the "uddha, that actually kind of sym%olise those e+ents# For e$ample, there is a +ery
famous posture of the "uddha, which is seated %ut with his hand in a gesture of preaching#
Technically, this hand gesture is referred to as the gesture of turning the wheel of dharma,
@harmachakra#
nd this is the hand gesture of our seated "uddha# The @harmachakra, or .heel of :aw, is a
sym%ol that represents the path to enlightenment, and it's one of the oldest known "uddhist
sym%ols found in 2ndian art# 2n the sculpture "uddha's fingers stand in for the spokes of the wheel,
and he's setting in motion the .heel of :aw to his followers, who will e+entually %e a%le to
renounce the material states of illusion, suffering and indi+iduality for the immaterial state of the
highest happiness9 nir+ana# 1ere's an old "uddhist teaching9
G2t is only the fool who is decei+ed %y the outward show of %eauty) for where is the %eauty when
the decorations of the person are taken away, the 3ewels remo+ed, the gaudy dress laid aside, the
flowers and chaplets withered and dead- The wise man, seeing the +anity of all such fictitious
charms, regards them as a dream, a mirage, a fantasy#G
ll "uddhist art aims to detach the faithful from the physical world, e+en if it uses a physical
image like our statue to do so# 2n the ne$t programme, we ha+e a religion that %elie+es in the
delights of material a%undance, and it has a profusion of gods co+ered in decorations, flowers and
garlands - it's 1induism#
"ut for the moment, let's end with this statue of the "uddha, the thing which leads us to no thing,
nothing # # # and to the greatest sound of all # # # silence#
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Episode 42 - 9old coin of 2umaragupta 6
:old coins of 3umaragupta 7 Bmade fifth century *4C from 7ndia
This week 2 am looking at how, almost two thousand years ago, many of the great religions of the
world %egan reimagining the di+ine - creating new, human forms for the gods, in order to focus the
de+otion of their followers#
Today, 2'm in north-west :ondon, in 'easden, walking into what must %e one of the most startling
%uildings in the capital# 2t's the "8* *hri *waminarayan /andir, the 'easden 1indu temple, and
it's a +ast white %uilding, ela%orately car+ed in 2ndia %y o+er 1,5(( craftsmen, and then shipped to
&ngland#
2'+e taken my shoes off and come inside - into a large hall, sumptuously decorated with sculptures
of the 1indu gods, car+ed in white Carrara mar%le# 2mages like these, of *hi+a, Eishnu and the
other 1indu gods, strike us as timeless, %ut there was one particular moment when this way of
seeing the gods %egan# The +isual language of 1induism, 3ust like "uddhism and Christianity,
crystallises somewhere around the year 4((, and this e$u%erant crowd of deities in 'easden can %e
traced %ack, pretty well directly, to 2ndia's great 0upta &mpire of around 1,4(( years ago###
G&+ery culture, e+ery ci+ilisation, had to ha+e a 'golden age', so the 0upta period was latched on to
as the 'golden age'# >Domila Thapar?
G0od is a person in your life, and you're manifesting that in your life# 2f the Bueen was to come to
your home, how would you treat her- 2t's the %est china, it's the %est tea, etc etc# *ame thing with
0od, e$cept this is a daily occurrence#G >*haunaka Dishi @as?
2'm here in the temple at four in the afternoon - 2 couldn't %e here %efore, %ecause the gods were
asleep, and what 2'm hearing now is the music played e+ery day to waken them up# They are
woken up now, and so 2'm allowed to go and engage with them# 2t's rather o%+ious 2 suppose, %ut to
interact with a god in this intimate way, we need to %e a%le to recognise them - %ut how are they to
%e identified- .ell, 2'+e already found the great gods *hi+a and Eishnu, %ecause 2'm familiar with
them from the "ritish /useum# 1ere's *hi+a, with his wife 8ar+ati and his trident, and here is
144
Eishnu, sitting with his four arms, holding discus and lotus flower# nd on a pillar near%y is a god
who was particularly important for the 0upta kings - *hi+a's son <umara# ll these 1indu gods
%egan to assume the shapes we recognise today in the %rand-new temples %uilt %y the 0upta kings#
The 0upta @ynasty %egan a little after the year 3((, and it rapidly e$panded from its %ase in
northern 2ndia, until it co+ered a good deal of the su%continent# *o that %y 45(, the 0upta &mpire -
along with 2ran and the &astern Doman &mpire, "y,antium - was one of the world's three
superpowers#
'ot long after Constantine in Dome had esta%lished Christianity, the 0upta kings in 'orth 2ndia set
many of the enduring forms of 1induism - creating the comple$ apparatus of faith, with temples
and priests, and commissioning the images of the gods that we know now#
.hy does this happen at this point in history- s with Christianity and "uddhism, which around
the same time portray %oth Christ and "uddha in human form, it seems to %e to do with empire,
wealth and the power of art# 7nly sta%le, rich and powerful states can commission great art and
architecture, which unlike te$t or language, can %e instantly understood %y anyone - +ery +alua%le
in multi-lingual empires# "ut, whereas in Dome Christianity was soon imposed as the e$clusi+e
religion of the &mpire, for the 0upta kings worship of the 1indu gods was always only one of the
ways in which the di+ine could %e apprehended and em%raced# This is a world that seems to %e at
ease with comple$ity, happy to li+e with many truths, and indeed to proclaim them all as an
official part of the state, and we can glimpse something of the richness of this 0upta religious
landscape through two gold coins#
2'm in the study room of our Coins and /edals @epartment, and in front of me 2'+e got two coins
of the 2ndian king <umaragupta 2, who ruled from @ 414 to 455# nd they're two coins that show
+ery different aspects of this king's religious life# They're each almost e$actly the si,e of a one
penny coin, %ut they're made of solid gold and, like all small gold o%3ects, they sit 5uite hea+ily in
the hand# 7n the first coin, where you'd normally e$pect to see the king, there's a horse - a
magnificent standing stallion# 1e's decorated with ri%%ons, and a great pennant flutters o+er his
head, and around the coin, in *anskrit, is the inscription that translates9 G<ing <umaragupta, the
supreme lord, who has con5uered his enemiesG#
.hy put a horse on the coin, instead of the king- This looks %ack to an ancient sacrificial ritual -
esta%lished long %efore 1induism - that had %een o%ser+ed %y the 2ndian kings of the past, and was
preser+ed and continued %y the 0uptas# 2t was an awesome and ela%orate year-long process that a
king might opt to do once in his reign# 2t cost a fortune, and culminated in a massi+e theatrical
e+ent9 the sacrifice itself# <umaragupta decided that he would perform this rite#
stallion was selected and ritually purified, then released to roam for a year, followed and
o%ser+ed %y a +ast escort of princes, heralds and attendants# key part of their 3o% was to pre+ent
it from mating9 the stallion had to remain pure# t the end of its year of se$ually-frustrated
freedom, the horse was retrie+ed in a comple$ set of ceremonies %efore %eing killed %y the king
himself, using a gold knife, in front of a +ast audience# 7ur gold coin commemorates
<umaragupta's performance of this ancient pre-1indu ritual, that had reaffirmed his legitimacy and
his supremacy# "ut at the same time, <umaragupta was +igorously promoting other, newer,
religious practices, in+oking other gods in support of his earthly power# 1e was spending large
amounts of money on %uilding temples and filling them with statues and paintings of the 1indu
gods, making them manifest to the worshippers in a new and striking form# 1e was, in fact,
creating the gods anew#
14=
.hat sort of relationship, %etween de+otee and deity, was %eing encouraged during this flourishing
of 1induism under the 0uptas- *haunaka Dishi @as, 1indu cleric and @irector of the 7$ford
Centre for 1indu *tudies e$plains9
G1indus will see a deity on the whole as 0od present# 0od can manifest anywhere, so the physical
manifestation of the image is considered to %e a great aid in gaining the presence of 0od# "y going
to the temple, you see this image that is the presence, or you can ha+e the image in your own
home# *o they'll in+ite 0od to come into this deity form, they will wake 0od up in the morning
with an offering of sweets# The deity will ha+e %een put to %ed, in a %ed, the night %efore, raised
up, will %e %athed in warm water, ghee, honey, yoghurt, and then dressed in hand-made dresses -
usually made of silk - and garlanded with %eautiful flowers, and then set up for worship for the
day# *o it's a +ery interesting process of practicing the presence of 0od#G
The god whose presence <umaragupta chose to practise most intensely is o%+ious from his name#
1e chose as his special god, the god of war, <umara, and it's <umara that we see on our second
gold coin# 'aked to the waist, he holds a spear and is mounted on a sacred peacock# 'ot the
+ainglorious peacock of western tradition, %ut an aggressi+e and terrifying %ird that he's riding into
war# This image, created 1,4(( years ago, is still immediately recognisa%le today, you can see it in
many shrines# "ut there's one final detail that's worth mentioning - <umara and his peacock are
shown standing on a plinth# .hat we're looking at is a statue of the god as you would see it in a
temple, 3ust the sort of statue that <umaragupta himself might ha+e commissioned# 2t's a tradition
of temple imagery that emerges here, and continues to the present day#
nd on the other side of the coin is <ing <umaragupta, also with a peacock %ut, unlike <umara,
he doesn't ride this peacock# 2nstead, he elegantly offers grapes to his god's sacred %ird# Crowned
and haloed, the king wears hea+y earrings and an ela%orate necklace and the inscription tells us
that this is9 G<umaragupta, deser+edly +ictorious with an a%undance of +irtuesG#
The gold coin does what coins ha+e always done uni5uely well9 they tell e+eryone who handles
them that their ruler en3oys the special fa+our of hea+en and, in this case, the special fa+our of
hea+en's commander-in-chief, %ecause he is linked in a particular way to the god <umara# 2t's a
form of mass communications, in+ented around the death of le$ander, that rulers ha+e e$ploited
e+er since# The G0race of 0odG claimed for the Bueen on e+ery "ritish penny stands in the same
tradition as <umaragupta's coin# "ut <umaragupta's image of his god is a%out much more than the
theology of power - it also speaks of a uni+ersal human desire# :ike all the o%3ects this week, it's
e+idence of the longing for a direct personal connection with the di+ine, which e+eryone - not 3ust
the king - could access# /ediated %y statues and images, it's a relationship that's %een central to
1induism e+ery since#
Cnder the 0uptas, the central deities of 1induism and their worship assumed a form that has
dominated the religious landscape of 2ndia from that day to this, and in recent years, this 1indu
aspect of the 0upta's religious acti+ities has loomed large in historians' accounts of their reign# s
the @elhi-%ased historian Domila Thapar e$plains, the 0uptas continue to make their presence felt
in 2ndia today, not only in the monuments left %ehind, %ut also in the way that the period is used
politically9
G.hen colonial history %egan to %e written, and then there was nationalist historical writing, the
0upta period was latched on to as the 'golden age'# There has grown in 2ndia in the last few
decades, a way of thinking which has %een called 1indut+a, which is an attempt to suggest that the
only person that has legitimacy as a citi,en of 2ndia, is the 1indu, %ecause the 1indu is supposed
to %e the indigenous inha%itant# &+ery%ody else - the /uslims, the Christians, the 8arsees - all
came later and came from outside, they were foreign# 'e+er mind the fact that they are all, 66 per
14;
cent of them, of 2ndian %lood# nd the 0upta period then came in for a great deal of attention as a
result of this kind of thinking#G
This seems surprising, %ecause as the two coins we'+e looked at show, the 0uptas not only
esta%lished temple 1induism in something like its modern form, %ut they also honoured older
religious traditions, and were generous protectors of %oth "uddhism and !ainism# 2n short,
<umaragupta takes his place in the great 2ndian tradition inspired %y shoka, the "uddhist king of
si$ hundred years earlier# tradition that sees the state as tolerant of many faiths, a tradition later
em%raced %y the 2slamic /ughal emperors, %y the "ritish, and %y the founders of modern 2ndia#
2n the ne$t programme, we'll %e looking at a completely different way of thinking and +isualising
the relationship %etween 0od and the world# .e'll %e with 2ndia's powerful western neigh%our and
fellow super-power, 2ran### and with an image that takes us to the heart of the enduring Noroastrian
struggle %etween good and e+il#
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Episode 43 - ilver plate sho!ing hapur 66
#ilver plate sho$ing #hapur 77 Bfourth century *4CE made in 7ran
/any of you will recognise the resounding opening music of the film '2((19 *pace 7dyssey' -
Dichard *trauss's symphonic poem, 'Thus *pake Narathustra' - %ut these days most of us are pretty
unsure a%out what Narathustra actually did speak, or e+en who he was# .hich is perhaps
surprising, %ecause Narathustra, or, as he is more widely known, Noroaster, was the founder of one
of the great religions of the world# For centuries, along with !udaism, Christianity and 2slam, it was
one of the four dominant faiths of the /iddle &ast# 2t was the oldest of the four, the first of all the
te$t-%ased religions, and it profoundly influenced the other three#
There are still significant Noroastrian communities all o+er the world, especially in the religion's
homeland, 2ran# 2ndeed, the 2slamic Depu%lic today guarantees reser+ed seats in its parliament for
!ews, Christians - and Noroastrians# 2n the 2ran of two thousand years ago, Noroastrianism was the
state religion of what was then the /iddle &astern superpower#
/y o%3ect today is a dramatic +isualisation of power and faith in that 2ranian empire# 2t's a sil+er
dish from the fourth century, and it shows the king apparently out hunting - %ut in fact, he's
keeping the world safe from chaos#
GThis is the image of what the 8ersians call *hah n *hah - <ing of <ings# 1e rules %ecause he is
strong, %ecause he is mighty, %ecause he is powerful# nd this was a%solutely fundamental to the
way that the 8ersians saw the functioning of the world#G >Tom 1olland?
This week's programmes are a%out ways in which people all o+er the world around 1,=(( years
ago found new ways of gi+ing physical e$pression to religious %elief, constructing images that
would %ecome so widespread that we're still familiar with them today# 1ow those images came to
%e made, and the role that political and economic power played in spreading and sustaining these
religions, are still matters of passionate de%ate#
1=(
2n Dome at this time Christianity %ecame the state religion, and almost contemporaneously, in 2ran,
the *asanian @ynasty %uilt a highly centralised state, in which secular and religious authority were
%ound together# t its height, this 2ranian empire stretched from the &uphrates to the 2ndus - in
modern terms, from *yria to 8akistan# nd for se+eral centuries it was the e5ual, and the ri+al, of
Dome, in the long struggle to control the /iddle &ast#
The *asanian king out hunting on this programme's sil+er dish is *hapur 22, who ruled with
resounding success for =( years, from 3(6 to 3=6# 2t's a shallow sil+er dish, 2 suppose it's a%out the
si,e and the shape of a small Fris%ee, %ut it's made of +ery high 5uality sil+er, and as you mo+e it
around you can see that it's got highlights in gold# The <ing sits confidently astride his mount, and
on his head he wears a +ery large crown, with what looks like a winged glo%e on the top of it#
"ehind him, ri%%ons flutter o+er the sil+er, gi+ing an impression of mo+ement# &+erything a%out
his dress is rich - pendant earrings, long-slee+ed tunic with carefully em%roidered shoulder pads,
highly decorated trousers and ri%%oned shoes# .hat we're looking at is an ela%orate, carefully
worked out ceremonial image of wealth and power#
*o far, you might think that this is all pretty predicta%le stuff9 kings ha+e always shown themsel+es
dominating animals, and o+erdressed# "ut as we'll see, this is much more than a con+entional
display of prowess and pri+ilege# For the *asanian kings were more than 3ust secular rulers# They
were agents of 0od, and *hapur's full titles emphasise his religious role9 G### the good worshipper
of 0od, *hapur, the <ing of 2ran and non-2ran, of the di+ine race of 0od, the <ing of <ingsG# The
god here is of course the god of Noroastrianism, the religion of the state# 1istorian Tom 1olland
tells us a%out the great prophet and poet Noroaster9
GNoroaster is the +ery first prophet, in the sense that you would descri%e /oses or /ohammed as a
prophet# 'o one is entirely sure when, or indeed if, he li+ed, %ut if he really did e$ist then he
pro%a%ly li+ed in Central sian steppes in around 1((( "C# nd gradually, o+er the course of the
centuries and then the millennia, his teachings %ecame the focus for what we could pro%a%ly call a
Noroastrian church# nd this increasingly %ecame the state faith of the 2ranian people, and
therefore of the *asanian &mpire when it was esta%lished#
GThe teachings of Noroaster will sound +ery familiar to anyone who has %een %rought up as a !ew,
or a Christian or a /uslim# Noroaster is the first prophet to teach that the uni+erse is a %attleground
%etween ri+al forces of good and e+il# 1e is the first to teach that time will not go round in an
endless cycle, %ut will come to an end - that there will %e an end of days) there will %e a day of
3udgement# nd all of these notions ha+e of course passed into the %rahamic mainstream of
!udaism, Christianity and 2slam# The difference is that Noroaster doesn't teach that there is one god#
1e teaches that there are two# There is the good god, and there is the e+il god, and the whole of
creation is di+ided up %etween these - e+en through the animal kingdom#G
nd it's when you come to the animal that the <ing is riding on the sil+er dish that you get a
shock, %ecause he's not on a horse %ut on a fully-antlered stag# 1e straddles the %east without either
stirrups or saddle, gripping it %y the antlers with his left hand, while his right hand deftly plunges a
sword right into its neck - %lood sprays out, and at the %ottom of the plate we see the same stag in
the throes of death# This whole image is 5uite clearly a fantasy, from the great crown at the top
which would 5uite clearly ha+e fallen off if you'd %een riding, to the idea of killing your own
mount in full leap# .e're in the realm of sym%ol#
.hat's really going on here- 2n the /iddle &ast, for centuries, hunting scenes ha+e %een a
common way of representing royal power# ssyrian kings, well protected in their chariots, are
shown %ra+ely killing lions, from a safe distance# "ut *hapur is doing something else# This is the
monarch in single com%at with the %east, and he's risking himself not out of pointless %ra+ado, %ut
for the %enefit of his su%3ects# s protecti+e ruler we see him killing certain kinds of animals, the
1=1
%easts that threatened his su%3ects9 %ig cats which preyed on cattle and poultry, wild %oar and deer
which ra+aged crops and pastures# *o images like this one are +isual metaphors for royal power,
concei+ed in Noroastrian terms# 2n killing the wild deer the hunter-king is imposing di+ine order on
demonic chaos# *hapur, acting as agent for the supreme Noroastrian god of goodness, will defeat
the forces of primal e+il and so fulfil his central role as king# 1ere's 0uitty ,arpay, 8rofessor of
sian rt at the Cni+ersity of California9
G2t is %oth a secular image - %ecause of course hunting was en3oyed %y most people, %y most
nations and especially in 2ran - it was also an e$pression of the Noroastrian ideology of the time#
/an is 0od's weapon against darkness and e+il, and he ser+es towards the ultimate +ictory of the
creator %y following the principle of right measure, leading a life that is prescri%ed as ha+ing good
speech, good words and good actions# 2n this way, the pious Noroastrian can hope for the %est of
e$istence in this life and the %est paradise spiritually in the hereafter# The %est king is one who, as
head of state and guardian of religion, creates 3ustice and order, is a supreme warrior and a heroic
hunter#G
This dish is 5uite clearly meant not 3ust to %e seen, %ut to %e shown off# 2t's an ostentatiously
e$pensi+e o%3ect, made from a hea+y single piece of sil+er, and the figures ha+e %een hammered
out from the %ack in high relief# The different surface te$tures ha+e %een %eautifully rendered %y
the craftsman, who's chosen different kinds of stippling for the flesh of the animal and the clothing
of the <ing# nd the key elements of the scene - the <ing's crown and clothing, the heads, tails and
hoo+es of the stags, are highlighted in gold# .hen this was displayed in the flickering candlelight
of a %an5uet, the gold would ha+e animated the scene and focussed attention on the central conflict
%etween the <ing and the %east# This is how *hapur wanted himself to %e seen, and his kingdom to
%e understood# nd sil+er dishes like this one were used %y the *asanian kings in +ast 5uantities,
sent as diplomatic gifts across the whole of sia#
s well as sending sil+er dishes with sym%olic images, *hapur also sent Noroastrian missionaries#
2t was an identification of the faith with the state that was ultimately to pro+e +ery dangerous,
especially after the *asanian @ynasty was swept away and 2ran was con5uered %y the armies of
2slam# 1ere's the historian Tom 1olland again9
G.ell Noroastrianism has really pinned its colours to the *asanian mast# 2t has defined itself
through the &mpire and through the monarchy# nd so when those collapse, Noroastrianism is
really crippled# nd although o+er time it is accepted that Noroastrianism should %e tolerated,
2slam ne+er affords it the measure of respect that they gi+e to Christians or to !ews# further
pro%lem is that Christians of course, e+en those that ha+e %een con5uered %y /uslims, can look to
independent Christian empires, independent Christian kingdoms, and know that there is such a
thing as Christendom still in e$istence# Noroastrians don't ha+e that option, e+erywhere that is
Noroastrian has %een con5uered %y 2slam# nd so as a result there is an increasing, sort of, spiral of
decline to the degree that now in the land of its %irth - in 2ran - Noroastrians are a tiny, tiny
minority#G
"ut if Noroastrians today are relati+ely few in num%er, some of their faith's core teachings a%out
the eternal conflict of good and e+il, a%out the ending of the world, are still +ery powerful today#
The politics of the /iddle &ast are still haunted, and in some measure shaped, %y %elief in an
e+entual apocalypse and the triumph of 3ustice - an idea that !udaism, Christianity and 2slam all
deri+ed from Noroastrianism# nd when politicians in Teheran talk of the 0reat *atan, and
politicians in .ashington denounce the &mpire of &+il, one's tempted to point out that9 GThus
*pake NarathustraG#
2n the ne$t programme, we mo+e from 2ran to "ritain of almost e$actly the same date# From
today's sil+er dish that sym%olically com%ines power and faith at the heart of empire, 2 shall %e
1=2
with an o%3ect that offers us a +ery different +iew of sacrifice and redemption# .e'll %e in @orset###
with one of the earliest representations of the face of Christ#
1=3
Episode 44 - Hinton t Mary Mosaic
Hinton #t Mary Mosaic Bmade fourth century *4CE from a 9oman villa in 4orsetE England
2'm walking with the gods - 2'm in the gallery that's got o%3ects from the time when "ritain was part
of the Doman &mpire , around 1,=(( years ago# 1ere is /ars, there's "acchus with his wine cup,
8an piping on a sil+er dish### and now 2'+e arri+ed at what looks like another pagan god, this time
in mosaic# 2t's a shoulder-length portrait# 1e's roughly life-si,e, clean sha+en, has fair hair swept
%ack, and he's wearing a tunic and a ro%e tightly wrapped around his shoulders# "ut which god is
this- There's a clue, %ecause this is a man with a monogram# "ehind his head are the two 0reek
letters 'chi' and 'rho' and that tells me at once who he is, %ecause they're the first two letters of the
word Christos, and this is in fact Christ# 2t's one of the earliest images we ha+e of him anywhere,
and it's an astonishing sur+i+al - made not for a church in the eastern /editerranean or in 2mperial
Dome, %ut for the floor of a +illa in @orset, somewhere around the year 35(#
G2 think this is an e$periment# 2t's an e$periment in how to depict Christ in familiar iconographic
form#G >@ame +eril Cameron?
G2 think 2 find it a rather distant o%3ect - the image of Christ is not, 2 think, an attracti+e one) there's
that '@esperate @an' chin#G >&amon @uffy?
G2 like the way that the eyes of the face are so### not 5uite staring, %ut they are +ery piercing#G
>@ame +eril Cameron?
G2 can't imagine any%ody nominating it as their fa+ourite image of Christ#G >&amon @uffy?
This week we're looking at how, a%out 1,=(( years ago, a num%er of great religions %egan to use
human images to aid our prayers# "ut for the first two or three Christian centuries, the +ery idea of
looking on the face of 0od, e+en of a god in human form, would ha+e %een inconcei+a%le# Firstly
%ecause there was no record of Christ's appearance that artists could ha+e %ased a likeness on, %ut
1=4
e+en more %ecause the !ewish inheritance of a god to %e worshipped in spirit and in truth, %ut
emphatically not to %e represented in art, inhi%ited the early Christians from any such attempt# Het
now we all li+e in a world where the likeness of Christ is commonplace, a face that can %e
instantly recognised# 1ow did we get there- The decision to try to show the face of Christ -
pro%a%ly taken %ecause the Doman elite were so used to seeing their gods in statues, paintings and
mosaics - was %oth a ma3or theological step and one of the decisi+e turning-points in &uropean
+isual culture#
This face of Christ from @orset was made in the last century of Doman rule in "ritain, which was
in many ways a golden age# 2t was a la+ish world, in which the ruling class could spend enormous
sums of money, decorating their +illas and putting their wealth on display in the form of
spectacular ta%leware# 2n the cases around us you can see the hoards of sil+er +essels, spoons and
e+en pepper pots, like the ones 2 talked a%out last week, that show a society that seems to ha+e
accommodated itself comforta%ly to %oth paganism and Christianity# The great sil+er dish found at
/ildenhall in *uffolk shows "acchus drunkenly ca+orting with pliant nymphs, while the spoons
found in the same hoard carry Christian sym%ols# pagan dish with Christian spoons - that pretty
well sums up "ritain at this period, and it wouldn't ha+e disconcerted any%ody at the time# 2n
"ritain of the third and fourth century, Christ is merely one god among many others#
The floor was mostly made of local @orset materials - %lack, red and yellowish stones, all of them
set in that greatest of Doman %uilding in+entions, cement# s you went into the room, the first
thing you'd ha+e seen on the floor was a roundel, with the mythical hero "ellerophon riding the
flying horse 8egasus and o+ercoming the Chimaera, a monster com%ining a lion, a goat and a
serpent# 2t was a popular image in the Doman world, the hero ,apping the forces of e+il# "ut at the
far end of the room, facing in the other direction, was another roundel# 2n earlier times in this sort
of position you'd ha+e e$pected to find either 7rpheus, charming the world with his music, or the
uni+ersally popular wine god "acchus# "ut here we find Christ#
The pairing of Christ with "ellerophon is not as incongruous as it might initially seem to us# 1ere's
historian &amon @uffy9
G2 think, as a historian, what impresses me a%out it is the 3u$taposition of powerful imagery from
pagan mythology - the whole story of "ellerophon, 8egasus, the Chimaera - and the way in which
Christianity adapts that material for its own purposes to con+ey the message of resurrection, of the
triumph of life o+er death# nd the implicit comparison of Christ's work on the cross to a hero
slaying a monster) that parado$ that the defeat of the founder of Christianity is actually a heroic
+ictory#
G*o "ellerophon's a figure of life triumphing o+er the powers of darkness# &+entually that kind of
sym%olic imagery would find its own Christian +ersions in people like *t 0eorge killing the
dragon, or *t /ichael the archangel fighting the de+il# "ut at this stage it seemed natural to adopt
the pagan story, the myth which people would know from plays, from poetry, from pagan
imagery#G
2 wonder how many of the people that crossed this floor realised that they were in fact walking
from one world to another, from the familiar realm of myth to the new modern world of faith#
&+ery%ody would recognise the energetic "ellerophon# They'd %e less sure who was represented %y
the still figure facing away from them on the other side of the room# "ecause +ery few of them
would e+er %efore ha+e seen Christ represented# 'ow how do you represent a god that you ha+e
ne+er seen- There was nothing to go on - no likeness, no model, no description of what Christ
looked like# 2t's a testing conundrum, %oth theologically and artistically, and 2 think we can all
sympathise with the @orset artist who had to confront it# 7rpheus and "acchus would ha+e %een
easy in comparison# 7rpheus would %e wistful, young, artistic looking, "acchus, energetic and
1=5
se$y, clearly ready for a good time# nd %oth of these would %e recognisa%le %y their attri%utes)
7rpheus would ha+e his lyre, "acchus a %unch of grapes or something similar# .hat is the
physical attri%ute that !esus would hold-
t this point few people would ha+e wanted to show the +ictorious, all-powerful Christ with that
shameful instrument of suffering, the cross# 1e had told his disciples that he was the way, the truth
and the life, %ut it's +ery difficult to show any of these physically# 1e had announced that he was
the light of the world, %ut it's really hard to show light in a mosaic, especially if, as here, you're
dealing with a not +ery good artist# The mosaicist at 1inton *t /ary, instead of a sym%ol, ga+e him
a monogram, the 'Chi Dho' - those two letters of the 0reek alpha%et that %egin Christ's name in
0reek, written as though they were R and 8 in our alpha%et# 2n our mosaic, they lie like a halo
%ehind Christ's head# 2t was the sym%ol adopted %y the Doman emperor Constantine, after his
con+ersion to Christianity in the year 313#
7ur floor was almost certainly made a%out 4( years later# .e can %e pretty confident of that,
%ecause %oth Christ and "ellerophon wear their hair in the fashion of a%out 35(# 2t was
Constantine's con+ersion at the %attle of the /il+ian "ridge that in fact made our floor possi%le#
"efore he con+erted, no +illa owner would ha+e dared display their Christian faith so %ra,enly -
practising Christians had %een persecuted# "ut now, e+erything was different# 8rofessor @ame
+eril Cameron of 7$ford Cni+ersity e$plains9
GThe &mperor Constantine seems to ha+e con+erted himself to Christianity, and started to fa+our
the Christians# 1e is supposed to ha+e seen a +ision of a cross in the sky some time %efore the
%attle, and thereafter he ne+er de+iated from gi+ing pri+ileges to Christians, which was a complete
o+erturning of what had %een happening when Christians had not e+en %een legal# nd what he did
was to gi+e ta$ pri+ileges to Christian priests, to inter+ene in Christian disputes, to declare
Christianity a legal religion, to gi+e money to Christian churches, to start %uilding Christian
churches# *o all of those actions together ga+e a great sort of fillip to Christianity#G
nd it was this fillip that must ha+e gi+en the owner of our +illa the confidence to show us Christ
looking out at us, full face, une5ui+ocally a man of power# 1e wears the rich ro%es and the stylish
hairdo that might well ha+e %een sported %y the +illa owner himself, %ut this is no local ruler and
indeed no local god# The Chi Dho monogram makes it clear that what we're %eing shown is !esus
Christ# nd there's a further clue to this man's true nature# 7n either side of Christ's head the artist
has put pomegranates# 'ow, to any educated +isitor, this would recall at once the myth of
8ersephone, carried off to the underworld, rescued %y her mother, and %rought %ack to the land of
the li+ing as a great allegory of the cycle of the seasons, of death and re%irth, of descent into hell
and return to the light# "y the inclusion of this simple fruit, the artist links !esus to the pagan gods
who'd also %een gods of dying and returning) to 7rpheus, who went to the underworld in search of
&urydice and returned, and to "acchus who was similarly associated with resurrection#
This @orset Christ pulls together all the hopes of the ancient world, the deepest of all human
hopes9 that death is only part of a larger story that will culminate in a%undance of life and e+en
greater fruitfulness#
.hat kind of room was this mosaic in- .e 3ust don't know# 2n grand Doman +illas the room with
the %est mosaic was usually the dining room, %ut in this case that seems unlikely# There was no
under-floor heating in this room and it faced north, so it would ha+e %een far too cold for @orset
dining# 'ormally the walls, as well as the floor, would indicate a room's purpose, %ut the walls of
this room are long gone# There's one intriguing possi%ility9 the figure of Christ faces east, and there
would %e 3ust enough space for an altar %etween it and the wall# *o this room might ha+e %een an
early house church#
1=4
8eople ha+e often worried a%out the idea of Christ %eing shown on a floor, and e+entually this
worried the Domans too# 2n 42= the emperor specifically %anned the making of images of Christ on
mosaic floors, and he ordered all e$isting ones to %e remo+ed# "ut %y the date of this proclamation
"ritain had of course ceased to %e a part of the Doman &mpire# The +illa at 1inton *t /ary had
pro%a%ly long %een a%andoned, and so its floor remained untouched# 7n the whole the withdrawal
of Doman power spelt cultural catastrophe, %ut in this instance we should %e grateful, %ecause it's
that which allowed this astonishing sur+i+al#
*o far this week we'+e %een looking at religions that now ha+e followers all round the world#
Tomorrow we'll %e looking at a faith that died, and at one local god who was swept away %y the
great glo%alising religions# .e'll %e in Hemen### with the %ron,e hand of .aha% Ta'la%#
1==
Episode 4" - 'ra4ian 4ron/e hand
*ra5ian 5ron1e hand Bmade second to third century *4CE from >emen
ll this week 2'+e %een looking at the ways in which, around 1,=(( years ago, the great religions of
the age created images that would %ring the faithful closer to their gods, and how those religions
%ecame em%edded in the great empires of the time# .e'+e had images of the "uddha, 1indu gods
and Christ# Today's o%3ect is part of a human %ody %ut it doesn't %elong to a god) it's a gift to a god,
it's a right hand, cast in %ron,e#
.e all know the e$pressions### to gi+e your right hand for something, to %e sitting at someone's
right hand, or to %e someone's right-hand man# .ell, we can imagine the man whose hand this
represented, wishing +ery much to %e at the right hand of his particular god - he e+en %ears the
god's name, Ta'la%#
G:ooking at a hand like this - it's an o%3ect that you could see in so many cultures through the
/iddle &ast o+er the last two thousand years# The la%els change - !udaism, 2slam, Christianity,
paganism - %ut the o%3ects endure#G >8hilip !enkins?
G2 suppose, %eing a hand surgeon, 2 don't actually regard it as %eing 5uite so dis5uieting as
someone who isn't used to this sort of thing, %ut a cut-off hand has eerie sort of features a%out it,
and one has a slight concern that it might mo+eAG >!eremy Field?
The first four programmes this week ha+e %een a%out religions that ha+e millions, or hundreds of
millions, of followers, %ut 1,=(( years ago there were far more religions in the world than today,
and many, many more gods# 0ods at this date tended to ha+e strictly local responsi%ilities, not the
worldwide em%race that we're used to now# 2n /ecca, for e$ample, %efore /ohammed, pilgrims
worshipped in a temple which had a statue of a different god for e+ery day of the year# Today's
programme is a%out one of those num%erless ra%ian gods, that didn't sur+i+e the coming of
/ohammed#
1=;
1is full name was Ta'la% Diyam, meaning Gthe strong one of DiyamG - a Hemeni hill town - and he
protected the local hill people# Hemen in the third century was a prosperous place, a hu% of
international trade that produced some of the most sought-after commodities for the +ast market of
the /editerranean, the /iddle &ast and 2ndia# 2t was Hemen that supplied the whole Doman
&mpire with frankincense and myrrh#
2'm in the study room of the "ritish /useum, and 2'm holding the hand of a man called .aha%
Ta'la%# 2t's a life-si,ed hand, 3ust slightly smaller than my own, made of %ron,e, and it is
surprisingly hea+y# 2t's +ery lifelike, %ut as it's got no arm attached to it, it does look as though it's
%een se+ered# "ut according to !eremy Field, orthopaedic and hand surgeon at Cheltenham
0eneral 1ospital, this is not the case9
G.hat they ha+e done so carefully is the impression of the +eins, which would pro%a%ly go against
it %eing some form of amputation, %ecause if a hand was amputated the +eins would %e empty,
%ecause o%+iously the %lood drains out# These are +ery carefully crafted, and really 5uite %eautiful#
G2'm sure this is a human hand, %ut there are certain things that are slightly odd a%out it# The nails,
the 'spoon-shaped' nails, are really indicati+e of someone who potentially might ha+e anaemia, for
some reason) the fingers are really thin and spindly, and also there is this deformity of the little
finger, which 2 think has pro%a%ly %een %roken at some stage, at the end of it#G
2t's small medical details like these that, after 1,=(( years of o%li+ion, %ring .aha% Ta'la% %ack to
life# 2 find myself wondering how old he was# The +eins on the %ack of the hand are +ery
prominent# nd, a%o+e all, wondering how he %roke his little finger# .as it perhaps in %attle- 2t
doesn't look as though it was in the fields - this doesn't seem like the hand of a la%ourer# fortune-
teller of course would look at once for the lines on the palm of the hand, %ut the palm of this hand
has %een left unworked# There are lines, though, %ut they're on the %ack, and they're lines of te$t#
They're written in an ancient Hemeni language which is linked %oth to modern 1e%rew and to
ra%ic, and the inscription tells us what this o%3ect was for, and where it was displayed9
G*on of 1isam, JtheK Hursamite, su%3ect of the "anu *ukhaym, has dedicated for his well-%eing
this his right hand to their patron in his the god's shrine dhu-Ba%rat#G
2t's a pretty %affling series of names and places, %ut if you're a historian trying to reconstruct the
society and the religion of ancient Hemen, pretty well all you ha+e to go on is inscriptions like this
one# There are a%out 1(,((( of them known, each one, it has to %e said, more opa5ue than the
other# "ut if you actually unpick the inscription on this hand, it does in fact contain a great deal of
information# From it we learn that this %ron,e hand was dedicated at the temple of the god Ta'la%
Diyam, in a place called Nafar, high in the Hemeni hills# The owner of the hand, .aha% Ta'la%, tells
us that he %elongs to a clan, and that that clan in turn is part of a larger tri%al organisation, whose
god was Ta'la%#
*o, .aha% Ta'la% had o%+iously %een named after his own god# nd as a further sign of faith he's
dedicated his hand pu%licly to Ta'la%, at the centre of the city of Nafar, where it would ha+e %een
seen along with other offerings of gold, %ron,e or ala%aster, representing human figures, animals,
arrows, spear heads, that sort of thing# "ut in return for these offerings, the god Ta'la% was
e$pected, in general terms, to see the donors alright#
"ut .aha% Ta'la% must ha+e %een pretty alright to start with, only a man of real wealth could offer
a %ron,e hand as %eautifully made as this# This is the cast of a hand that Gall the perfumes of
ra%iaG certainly did sweeten# "ut, %y the international standards of the day, his whole society was
wealthy# t the time of our hand most of south ra%ia was effecti+ely one state - a confederation of
tri%es like .aha% Ta'la%'s, known to historians as the 1imyarite kingdom# /any monumental
1=6
%uildings sur+i+e, and along with them numerous inscriptions, which are e+idence of a rich,
sophisticated and in some measure literate society# Hemen at this point is no %ackwater) it
dominates the entrance to the Ded *ea, and with it the great trade route that linked &gypt and the
rest of the Doman &mpire to 2ndia# .riting in =6 @, the Doman author 8liny the &lder e$plained
why the Hemenis were so rich9
GThe chief productions of ra%ia are frankincense and myrrh### they are the richest nations in the
world, seeing that such +ast wealth flows in upon them from %oth the Doman and the 8arthian
empires) for they sell the produce of the sea or of their forests, while they purchase nothing
whate+er in return#G
The G2ncense DoadG was in its way as important for the e$change of goods and ideas as the *ilk
Doad# Frankincense was used %y the Domans in a%solutely +ast 5uantities, and was the principal
form of incense in the ancient world# The altar of e+ery god in the Doman &mpire, from *yria to
Cirencester, %urned with Hemeni incense# /yrrh had +arious uses9 as an antiseptic for dressing
wounds, for em%alming - it was essential for &gyptian mummification - and in perfume# lthough
it's not a strong fragrance, it has the longest life of any scent known# 2ndeed it was myrrh that lay
%ehind Gall the perfumes of ra%iaG which could not sweeten :ady /ac%eth's %loodstained hand,
although they would certainly ha+e washed and sweetened .aha% Ta'la%'s# "oth frankincense and
myrrh were +ery e$pensi+e# pound of frankincense cost the e5ui+alent of a Doman la%ourer's
salary for a month, and a pound of myrrh twice as much# *o when the magi %ring frankincense and
myrrh to the infant !esus, they're %ringing not only gifts fit for a god - they're also as +alua%le as
their other gift, gold#
.e'+e got no contemporary written sources, %ut this hand, other pieces of %ron,e sculpture of
similar 5uality, and the ancient industrial slag recently disco+ered in south ra%ia, show that
Hemen was then a ma3or centre of %ron,e production# .aha% Ta'la%'s hand is clearly the product of
skilled metal-workers# 2f you look at it carefully you can see that it's %een cast using the lost wa$
techni5ue, and +ery %eautifully finished at the wrist# *o our %ron,e hand is definitely a complete
o%3ect, not a fragment %roken off from a larger sculpture#
7ffering replica %ody parts to the gods is %y no means peculiar to ra%ia# Hou find them in 0reek
temples, in medie+al pilgrim shrines and in many modern Doman Catholic churches - used to ask a
god or a saint for %odily healing or as a thank-you for reco+ery# *o perhaps .aha% Ta'la% wanted
his %roken finger healed, although the inscription suggests that it was a %roader prayer, for general
good health#
.aha% Ta'la%'s hand speaks to us from a religious world that was dominated %y local gods, who
looked after particular places and peoples# "ut it was a world that wasn't going to last# ra%ian
aromatics had powered the religious life of the pagan Doman &mpire, %ut when that empire
con+erted to Christianity and no longer needed frankincense for worship, the incense trade was
dealt a massi+e %low, contri%uting to a collapse in the Hemen economy# :ocal gods, like Ta'la%,
disappeared, perhaps %ecause they were no longer deli+ering the promised prosperity# *uddenly, in
the 3=(s, offerings to traditional gods 3ust stop, and their place is taken %y other gods with a wider,
uni+ersal reach - these are the religions of today# .ithin the ne$t couple of centuries the rulers of
Hemen shift from !udaism to Christianity to Noroastrianism and finally, in 42;, to 2slam, which has
remained the dominant religion of Hemen e+er since# 0ods like Ta'la% no longer stood a chance#
"ut some elements of Ta'la%'s world did li+e on# .e know for e$ample that, like many ra%ian
gods, he was +enerated through pilgrimages to his shrine# The religious historian 8hilip !enkins, of
8ennsyl+ania *tate Cni+ersity, is fascinated %y elusi+e sur+i+als like this9
1;(
GThere are aspects of the old pagan ra%ian religion which do li+e on into 2slam, and into /uslim
times# &specially in the practice of the pilgrimage, the 1a33 - what goes on at /ecca# /uslims
would a%solutely re3ect any pagan conte$t, o%+iously - they frame it in terms of %raham and his
story, %ut pro%a%ly the e+ents of the 1a33 closely recall what would ha+e happened in pagan times
at that centre#
G2'+e suggested that religions die, %ut, as when people die, perhaps they lea+e ghosts - and you can
see across the /iddle &ast many ghosts, many sur+i+als of older religions, in the newly successful
religions# *o as you look at 2slam, for e$ample, you see many, many sur+i+als from Christianity
and !udaism# The Bur'an is a%solutely littered with stories which make no sense, e$cept in terms of
what the Christians and !ews of that time would ha+e understood, the sacred stories# lso in terms
of the %uildings of 2slam, the institutions of 2slam, the mystical practices of 2slam, you can see a
great many of these ghostly sur+i+als# Then, as 2slam spreads, it carries on drawing new kinds of
pattern in from older religions, and e+okes new ghosts#G
&+entually that spreading 2slam would con5uer most of the world that we'+e %een talking a%out
this week# 2ndeed, it would con5uer all the places from which our o%3ects ha+e come, e$cept
@orset#
'e$t week we'll %e looking at how the +ictorious 2slamic rulers administered their con5uests# .e'll
%e in @amascus with the ninth caliph### and with two gold coins#
1;1
T,* 3i<k R1a2 an2 &*E1n2 (7## $ :## 'C)
Episode 4$ - 9old coin of '4d al-Mali(
:old coins of *5d al-Mali+ Bminted 5et$een 606 and 60) *4C from 4amascusE #yria
lmost e+ery day a news %roadcaster tells us that the world has 3ust suddenly changed# The
hyper%ole of 24-hour news co+erage is littered with clichs9 e+ery day, it seems, the world is
ne+er going to %e 5uite the same again# "ut there 'ha+e' %een moments in history when the world
was indeed suddenly changed, and the people li+ing at the time knew it#
GThis was a new %eginning#G >1ugh <ennedy?
G2 think it is a way of imagining not only the past %ut the future#G >8rofessor /adawi al-Dasheed?
G.hat went on %efore wasn't really rele+ant, this was a new dispensation#G >1ugh <ennedy?
This series is a history told through 'things', and this programme is a%out two coins - a%out what
we would now call a currency change# "ut they're two coins that sum up one of the greatest
political uphea+als e+er - the permanent transformation of the /iddle &ast in the years following
the death of the 8rophet /uhammad# For /uslims, the clock of history was reset when, in 422 in
the Christian calendar, /uhammad and his followers mo+ed from /ecca to /edina# That e+ent,
the 1i3ra, %ecame for 2slam Hear 1 of an entirely new calendar# For his followers, the prophet's
teachings had so transformed society that time had %egun again#
The o%3ects we'll encounter this week will show something of what the world looked like at this
particular moment# They were all made in the years around /uhammad's death in the year 1i3ra
1;2
11, 432 @, and we're tra+elling to China and /e$ico, &ngland and <orea# &+erywhere we'll %e
looking at the interaction of power and faith#
2n the 5( years after the death of the 8rophet, ra%ian armies shattered the political status 5uo
across the /iddle &ast, con5uering &gypt and *yria, 2ra5 and 2ran# The power of 2slam had spread
as far in a few decades as Christianity and "uddhism had in as many centuries#
.e're in @amascus in the mid-46(s, and the inha%itants of the city all ha+e a strong sense that their
world is in transition# *till in appearance a Christian Doman metropolis, @amascus now is turning
into the capital of a huge new 2slamic empire# The head of this %urgeoning empire, the caliph, is
remote in his palace, and the 2slamic armies are segregated in their %arracks, %ut the people in the
%a,aars and streets of @amascus are a%out to ha+e their new reality %rought home to them in
something they handle e+ery day - money#
2n the 46(s, @amascus merchants might not ha+e understood that their world had changed
permanently# @espite decades of 2slamic rule, they were still after all using the coins of their
former rulers - the Christian "y,antine emperors - and those coins were full of Christian
sym%olism# 2t was 5uite reasona%le to think that, sooner or later, the emperor would return to
defeat his enemies, as he had se+eral times %efore# "ut he did not# @amascus has remained a
/uslim city to this day, and perhaps the most +isi%le sign that this new 2slamic regime was going
to last, was the change in the coinage#
2 want to talk a%out two coins# The man who issued them was %d al-/alik, 'inth Caliph, :eader
of the Faithful, to rule in succession to the 8rophet /uhammad# "oth coins were issued in
@amascus within 12 months, across the 1i3ra years =4 and == - that is, 464 - 46= @# They're %oth
of gold, and they're the same si,e# "ut they're utterly different# 7ne coin shows the Caliph# The
other coin has no image at all, and this change re+eals how 2slam was defining itself as a political
system in these critical early years#
2 am in the *tudy Doom of the @epartment of Coins and /edals of the "ritish /useum, holding
one of these new coins# 2t's %right gold, it's almost e$actly the si,e of a "ritish penny, and a little
%it hea+ier# 7n the front, where a "y,antine coin would ha+e had the emperor, it has a full-length
figure of the Caliph, %d al-/alik# nd on the %ack, where the "y,antines would ha+e put a cross,
there is a column with a sphere at the top#
l-/alik is shown full-figure, standing and %earded, wearing ra% ro%es and a "edouin scarf
headdress, with his hand resting on a sword at his waist# 2t's a fascinating image# 2t's a uni5ue
source for our knowledge of the dress and the regalia of the early caliphs, and it's pro%a%ly the
oldest known depiction of a /uslim# 1is pose is menacing, he looks as though he's a%out to draw
his sword, and the lines %elow his waist are almost certainly meant to represent a whip# .hat we
ha+e is an image to inspire fear and respect, an image that makes it clear that the eastern
/editerranean now has a new faith, and a formida%le new ruler# letter from one of his go+ernors
echoes the image's implicit message9
G2t is %d al-/alik, the commander of %elie+ers, a man with no weaknesses, from whom re%els
can e$pect no indulgenceA 7n the one who defies him falls his whipAG
1e cuts an impressi+e awe-inspiring figure - although a less re+erential source tells us that he had
such appalling halitosis, that he was nicknamed the Gfly-killerG# "ut, %ad %reath or not, %d al-
/alik was the most important /uslim leader since /uhammad himself, %ecause he transformed
what might ha+e %een merely a string of ephemeral con5uests into an a%iding state, a state that
would sur+i+e in one form or another until the end of the First .orld .ar#
1;3
%d al-/alik was a new %reed of 2slamic leader# 1e had no personal memory of /uhammad, and
he shrewdly saw how %est to e$ploit the administrati+e traditions of earlier empires - especially
Dome and "y,antium - in order to esta%lish his own, as 8rofessor 1ugh <ennedy, of the *chool of
7riental and frican *tudies, e$plains9
G2n the years that followed the 8rophet /uhammad's death in 432, the caliphs were essentially the
political and religious leaders of the /uslim community# ll ra% /uslims in the first century of
2slam, realised that this was a new state - that what went on %efore wasn't really rele+ant# These
caliphs were not the successors of the "y,antine emperors or of the *assanian king of kings# They
might look to these people for solutions to administrati+e pro%lems - how you collect money, and
indeed what sort of money you make - %ut they wouldn't see themsel+es as performing the same
sort of role# This was a new dispensation#G
7ne of the administrati+e solutions that %d al-/alik %orrowed from the "y,antine emperors was
how to manage the currency# Cp until now, the new 2slamic empire had used hand-me-down coins
from the pre-con5uest era, or imported, and especially "y,antine, gold coins, %ut %d al-/alik
5uickly saw what e+ery chancellor of the e$che5uer has seen since, namely that there'll %e
economic insta%ility if a ruler does not control the 5uantity and the 5uality of his own money
supply# 1e understood that coins are literally the stamp of authority, asserting the dominant power
in the society using them - and that power was now his#
2t's worth remem%ering that in the pre-modern world, coinage was often the only mass-produced
item in use, and it was therefore a hugely significant element in the +isual culture of a society -
money was a %ill%oard for the %oss# nd so the %oss, %d al-/alik, was stamped on this first
o+ertly 2slamic coinage# The :eader of the Faithful had ousted and replaced the emperors of
"y,antium# "ut something 5uite une$pected happened to those coins with %d al-/alik standing
on them# fter a few years, they simply +anished# @uring the 1i3ra year == >46= @?, the *tanding
Caliph coin was suddenly replaced with a design that could hardly %e more different# There's no
caliph, there's no figure, only words# This is the defining moment for 2slamic pu%lic art# From now
on no human image would %e used in such a pu%lic arena for well o+er a thousand years#
"ack in the Coins and /edals department, 2'm e$amining the reformed coin in more detail# 2t's
e$actly the same si,e and weight as the earlier coin, it's also made of solid gold, %ut it says that it
was made in the year ==, so one year later than the pre+ious coin# nd now there's nothing to see
%ut te$t# 7n the front it reads9 GThere is no god e$cept 0od alone, he has no partner) /uhammad is
the /essenger of 0od whom he sent with guidance and the religion of truth that he may make it
+ictorious o+er e+ery other religion#G This is an adaptation of a te$t from the Bu'ran#
nd on the %ack of the coin is another Bu'ranic te$t9 G0od is 7ne, 0od is the &ternal# 1e %egets
not, neither is he %egotten#G
The inscriptions on this coin make, 2 think, two e$traordinarily interesting points# Firstly, this is
almost the oldest Bu'ranic te$t to ha+e sur+i+ed# "efore /uhammad, ra%ic was %arely a written
language at all, %ut now there was of course a +ital need to record 0od's words accurately, and so
the first de+eloped ra%ic script - the GkuficG script - was created# nd it appears on this coin# "ut
this coin also tells us something else# 2f coins reflect the dominant power in a society, it's clear that
the dominant power in this empire is now not the emperor %ut the word of 0od# 8ortraiture or
figurati+e art has no place in the official documents of such a state# The tradition of placing the
ruler on the coin, familiar across the /iddle &ast since the days of le$ander, had %een decisi+ely
a%andoned# nd the te$t-only coin remained the norm in all 2slamic states until the First .orld
.ar# ra%ic, the language of 0od, inscri%ed on an 2slamic coinage, %ecame a fundamental tool for
the integration and sur+i+al of the first 2slamic state#
1;4
%d al-/alik, <halifah llah, @eputy of 0od, 'inth Caliph and Duler of the Faithful, died in =(5#
"ut the message proclaimed on his coins of a uni+ersal empire of faith still resonates strongly#
Today there is no caliph - long claimed %y the Turkish sultans, the office was a%olished in 1624# 2n
fact, a uni+ersally accepted caliph has always %een a rare thing, %ut the dream of a single 2slamic
empire - a caliphate - remains potent in the modern 2slamic world# .e asked the social
anthropologist 8rofessor /adawi al-Dasheed to comment9
G/uslims today, at least some sections of the /uslim community worldwide, aspire to this ideal of
the caliphate as the em%odiment of the /uslim community# 2t is related to the spread of the
internet, of new communication technology, that allows /uslims from different %ackgrounds to
imagine some kind of relationship with other /uslims, regardless of their culture, language or
ethnic group# *o among your second-generation /uslims in "ritain, let's say, they ha+e lost the
cultural %ackground of their parents, and they ha+e actually de+eloped linkages with other
/uslims of their age, who may ha+e come from different parts of the /uslim world# 2t aspires
towards a glo%alised identity, an identity where you ha+e %onds %ased on %elief, rather than ethnic
%ackground or e+en nationality#G
The yearning for one 2slamic community, inspired and guided %y the word of 0od alone - that
dream, first clearly articulated in physical form on the coin struck in @amascus o+er 1,3(( years
ago - is clearly still +ery much ali+e#
1;5
Episode 4& - utton Hoo helmet
#utton Hoo helmet Bmade seventh century *4C found in #uffol+E England
Hesterday we were in the heat of ra%ia, tracking the rise of the 2slamic &mpire and the reshaping
of /iddle &astern politics after the death of the 8rophet /uhammad# Today, we're still in the
se+enth century, %ut 2'm shi+ering in the chill of &ast nglia, at a place where, in the summer of
1636, poetry and archaeology une$pectedly intersected and transformed our understanding of
"ritish national identity#
ll the hundred o%3ects in this series are, 2 hope, e+ocati+e of distant worlds, %ut some, like today's
o%3ect, possess an almost magical power to carry us into the past# 2t's a helmet# 2ts disco+ery was
part of one of the great archaeological finds of modern times, and it speaks to us across the
centuries with a haunting intensity#
Gn em%ossed ridge, a %and lapped with wire, arched o+er the helmet, head protection to keep the
keen ground cutting edge from damaging it when danger threatened, and a man was %attling
%ehind his shield#G >*eamus 1eaney?
2'm in &ast nglia, a few miles from the *uffolk coast, and the wind is howling straight from the
Crals# 2'm at *utton 1oo, where in 1636 one of the most important and most e$citing
archaeological disco+eries in "ritain was made# 2t unco+ered the tom% of an nglo-*a$on who had
%een %uried here in the early 4((s, and it completely changed the way we thought a%out what had
%een called the G@ark gesG - those centuries that followed the collapse of Doman rule in "ritain#
2'm with ngus .ainwright, the 'ational Trust archaeologist for the &ast of &ngland### what can
we see of the site now-9
G.ell we're standing amongst a num%er of large mounds, high up on an e$posed ridge looking
down towards the Di+er @e%en# .e're a%out 1(( feet >3( m? up here, and we're standing ne$t to
1;4
one of the %iggest mounds, which we call, e$citingly, /ound 1, which is where the great ship
gra+e was disco+ered in 1636# nd we'+e got a%out 1; or 2( other mounds around us#G
2t was in this ship gra+e that the famous *utton 1oo helmet was found# *urprisingly, there was no
%ody, %ut in the ship's %urial cham%er there was an astonishing range of +alua%le goods drawn
from all o+er &urope9 weapons and armour, ela%orate gold 3ewellery, sil+er +essels for feasting,
and many, many coins# 'othing like this from nglo-*a$on &ngland had e+er %een found %efore#
The disco+ery of this ship %urial in the summer of 1636 captured the "ritish pu%lic's imagination#
2t was hailed as the G"ritish TutankhamunG# "ut the politics of 1636 lent a distur%ing dimension to
the disco+ery9 not only did the e$ca+ation ha+e to %e hurried %ecause of the approaching war, %ut
the %urial itself spoke of an earlier, and successful, in+asion of &ngland %y a 0ermanic-speaking
people# 1ere's ngus .ainwright again### what did they actually disco+er when they e$ca+ated in
1636-9
GThe first thing they disco+ered +ery early on in the e$ca+ation were ship ri+ets - these are the iron
ri+ets that hold together the planks of a ship# They also disco+ered that the wood that had made up
the ship had rotted completely away, %ut %y a rather mysterious process, the shape of the wood was
preser+ed in a kind of crusted %lackened sand, so %y careful e$ca+ation they gradually unco+ered
the whole ship# nd the ship is 2= metres long, so it's longer than the %iggest of the ocean-going
yachts# 2t's a really massi+e ship, it's the %iggest, most complete nglo-*a$on ship e+er found#G
.e're inland# .hy would any%ody here want to %e %uried in a ship-
G*hips were +ery important to these people# The ri+ers and the sea were their means of
communication# 2t was much easier to go %y water than it was %y land at this time, so that people,
say, in modern *windon, would ha+e %een on the edge of the world to these people# .hereas
people in @enmark and 1olland would %e close neigh%ours#G
nd the %ig 5uestion of course - for any%ody looking at the gra+e and what was found in the gra+e
- is that there's no %ody# .here do you think the %ody is-
G.ell, the a%sence of the %ody was a %it of a mystery when the e$ca+ation happened, and people
wondered whether this could %e a cenotaph - i#e# a %urial where the %ody had %een lost - so it's a
sort of sym%olic %urial if you like# "ut nowadays we think a %ody was %uried in the gra+e, %ut
%ecause of these special acidic conditions of this soil it 3ust dissol+ed away# .hat you ha+e to
remem%er is that a ship is a water-tight +essel, and when you put it in the ground the water
percolating through the soil %uilds up in it and it %asically forms an acid %ath in which all these
organic things like the %ody and the leatherwork and the wood dissol+e away, lea+ing nothing#G
.e still don't know who that owner was, %ut the *utton 1oo helmet put a face on an elusi+e past, a
face that has e+er since ga,ed sternly out from %ooks, maga,ines and newspapers# 2t's %ecome one
of the iconic o%3ects of "ritain's history#
2t's the helmet of a hero, and when it was found, people were immediately reminded of the great
nglo-*a$on epic poem '"eowulf'# Cntil 1636, it had %een taken for granted that "eowulf was
essentially fantasy, set in an imaginary world of warrior splendour and great feasts# The *utton
1oo gra+e ship, with its cauldrons, drinking horns and musical instruments, its highly wrought
weapons and la+ish skins and furs, and not least its hoard of gold and sil+er, was e+idence that
'"eowulf', far from %eing 3ust poetic in+ention, was a surprisingly accurate memory of a splendid,
lost, pre-literate world#
1;=
Think for a moment of the helmet, decorated with animal motifs made out of gilded %ron,e and
sil+er wire and %earing the marks of %attle) now listen to the poet *eamus 1eaney reading from
'"eowulf'9
GTo guard his head he had a glittering helmet
that was due to %e muddied on the mere-%ottom
and %lurred in the upswirl# 2t was of %eaten gold,
princely headgear hooped and hasped
%y a weapon-smith who had worked wonders
in days gone %y and adorned it with %oar shapes)
since then it had resisted e+ery sword#G
>'"eowulf', lines 144; - 54?
Clearly the nglo-*a$on poet must ha+e looked closely at something +ery like the *utton 1oo
helmet# *eamus 1eaney was reading from his own translation of '"eowulf' - what does the *utton
1oo helmet mean to him now-9
G2 ne+er thought of the helmet in relation to any historical character# 2n my own imagination it
arri+es out of the world of "eowulf, and gleams at the centre of the poem and disappears %ack into
the mound# The way to imagine it %est is when it goes into the ground with the historical king, or
whoe+er it was %uried with, then its gleam under the earth gradually disappearing#
GThere's a mar+ellous section in the "eowulf poem itself - the :ast Eeteran it's called - the last
person of his tri%e, %urying treasure in the hoard and saying9 ':ie there treasure, you %elong to
earls, the world has changed'# nd he takes farewell of the treasure, and %uries it in the ground#
That sense of elegy - a farewell to %eauty and farewell to the treasured o%3ects - that hangs round
the helmet, 2 think#
G*o it %elongs in the poem, %ut o%+iously it %elonged within the %urial cham%er in *utton 1oo# "ut
it has entered imagination, it has left the tom% and entered the entrancement of the readers, 2 think,
of the poem - and of the +iewers of the o%3ect in the "ritish /useum#G
The *utton 1oo helmet %elonged of course not to an imagined poetic hero, %ut to an actual
historical ruler# The pro%lem is we don't know which one# 2t's generally supposed that the man
%uried with such style must ha+e %een a great warrior chieftain, and %ecause all of us want to link
finds in the ground with names in the te$ts, for a long time the fa+oured candidate was Daedwald,
king of the &ast ngles, mentioned %y the Eenera%le "ede in his 1istory of the nglo-*a$ons and
pro%a%ly the most powerful king in all &ngland around 42(#
"ut we can't %e sure, and it's 5uite possi%le that we may %e looking at one of Daedwald's
successors or, indeed, at a leader who's left no record at all# *o the helmet still floats intriguingly in
an uncertain realm on the margins of history and imagination# 1ere's *eamus 1eaney again9
G&specially after 11 *eptem%er 2((1, when the firemen were so in+ol+ed in 'ew Hork, the helmet
attained new significance for me personally, %ecause 2 had %een gi+en a fireman's helmet way %ack
in the 16;(s %y a "oston fireman which was hea+y, which was classically made, made of leather
with copper and metal spine on it and so on# 2 was gi+en this, and 2 had a great sense of recei+ing a
ritual gift, not unlike the way "eowulf recei+es the gift from 1rothgar after he kills 0rendel#G
2n a sense, the whole *utton 1oo %urial ship is a great ritual gift, a spectacular assertion of wealth
and power on %ehalf of two people - the man who was %uried there and commanded huge respect,
1;;
and the man who organised this la+ish farewell and commanded huge resources# .e are clearly in
the presence of power#
The *utton 1oo gra+e ship %rought the poetry of "eowulf une$pectedly close to historical fact# 2n
the process it profoundly changed our understanding of this whole chapter of "ritish history# :ong
dismissed as the @ark ges, this period - the centuries after the Domans withdrew - could now %e
seen as a time of high sophistication and e$tensi+e international contacts, that linked &ast nglia
not 3ust to *candina+ia and the tlantic, %ut ultimately to the eastern /editerranean and %eyond#
The +ery idea of ship %urial is *candina+ian, and the *utton 1oo ship was of a kind that easily
crossed the 'orth *ea, so making &ast nglia an integral part of a world that included modern
@enmark, 'orway and *weden# The helmet is, as you might e$pect, of *candina+ian design# "ut
the ship also contained gold coins from France, Celtic hanging %owls from the west of "ritain,
2mperial ta%le sil+er from "y,antium, and garnets which may ha+e come from 2ndia or *ri :anka#
nd while ship %urial is essentially pagan, two sil+er spoons clearly show contact - direct or
indirect - with the Christian world#
These disco+eries force us to think differently, not 3ust a%out the nglo-*a$ons, %ut a%out "ritain#
For whate+er may %e the case for the tlantic side of the country, on this side of the island, the
&ast nglian side, we ha+e always %een part of the wider &uropean story, with contacts, trade and
migrations going %ack thousands of years#
s 2 lea+e *utton 1oo 2'm struck %y a parado$# 2 tra+elled here through Consta%le country - the
landscape that's %ecome for us all synonymous with &nglishness# The nglo-*a$on ship %urial
here takes us at once to the world of "eowulf, the foundation stone of &nglish poetry# Hou can't
help feeling that here you are near the heart of &nglish national identity# Het not a single one of the
characters in "eowulf is actually &nglish# They're *wedes and @anes, warriors from the whole of
northern &urope, while the ship %urial here contains treasures from the eastern /editerranean and
from 2ndia# The history of &ngland that you can tell from these o%3ects is a history of the sea as
much as of the land# 7f an &ngland long connected to &urope and to sia which, e+en in 4(( @,
was %eing shaped and re-shaped %y the world %eyond itself#
1;6
Episode 4, - Moche !arrior pot
Moche $arrior pot Bmade 5et$een 100 and )00 *4CE from /eru
*o far this week, we'+e %een in @amascus handling the first 2slamic coinage, and in *uffolk with
the great nglo-*a$on %urial ship at *utton 1oo# The famous helmet found there lea+es no dou%t
that it was the gra+e of a warrior chief# 2f pursuing this week's themes of war, empires and faith,
we spin the glo%e of the world around 45( @ on its a$is, and if we keep mo+ing west to what is
now 8eru, we're going to find there another warrior commemorated#
1ere in 8eru, a forgotten people ha+e left to history not 3ust a face, %ut an entire three-dimensional
portrait of their fallen warrior# nd from this small sculpture - from the clothes and the weapons it
shows, from the way it was made and %uried - we can %egin to unra+el the mystery of a lost
ci+ilisation# 2t couldn't possi%ly ha+e had any contact with the societies then flourishing in &urope
and sia %ut, astonishingly, it shows a great num%er of similarities with them# .hat does that say
a%out what it means to %e human-
G2 suppose you could sort of compare them in our culture to To%y 3ugs, %ecause you sort of
imagine people sort of sitting round getting smashed really, and each ha+ing their own
characteristic drinking +essel#G >0rayson 8erry?
G.e had indeed a smoking gun, and also a plethora of sacrificial acts on the human remains
themsel+es, on the %ones#G >8rofessor *te+e "ourget?
1istory has %een kind to only some merican cultures# The ,tecs and the 2ncas ha+e an
unshaka%le place in our collecti+e imagination, %ut if 2 were to ask you where the /oche called
home, you might %e a little more hesitant# &$perts in early merican history are slowly coming to
terms with ci+ilisations that ran in parallel with, and were e+ery %it as sophisticated as, their most
ad+anced &uropean counterparts, and the /oche are at the centre of that rethinking of the
merican past#
16(
round two thousand years ago, the /oche people %uilt a society that was pro%a%ly the first real
state structure in the whole of *outh merica# 2t de+eloped in the narrow strip of almost desert
land %etween the 8acific 7cean and the ndes /ountains# 2t was a ci+ilisation that lasted o+er
eight hundred years - from the rise of the Doman &mpire around 2(( "C to the 2slamic e$pansions
around 45( @, and it's a history accessi%le to us now only through archaeology, as the /oche
ha+e left no writing# "ut what we do ha+e from them is pots#
2'm in the &nlightenment 0allery at the "ritish /useum, where we ha+e an array of these *outh
merican pots on show# They're o+er 1,3(( years old, and they're an e$traordinary sight to look at,
ranged on the shel+es9 a series of small sculptures a%out 6 inches >25cm? high, made out of clay,
%rown with cream painting on it, and they con3ure up a whole world# There's a pair of owls, there's
a %at, there's a sea-lion eating a fish, there are priests and warriors, and all of them sit like small
sculptures, %ut with a looped handle and a spout %ecause, as well as %eing statues, they're 3ugs#
.hat we ha+e here in fact is a pottery representation of the /oche uni+erse, and 2 want to choose
one of these pots to take us further into that world of 8eru 1,3(( years ago#
1e's a kneeling figure of a young /oche warrior# 2n his right hand he holds something that actually
looks 5uite like a microphone %ut is actually a mace, it's a head-cracker, and on his left forearm he
carries a small circular shield# 1is skin is a deep copper colour, and his eyes are staring white - a
+ery, +ery arresting ga,e#
"efore we try to s5uee,e e+idence from them a%out the society they represent, 2 want to take a
moment to admire these pots simply as great works of art# The /oche were master-potters, and so
their creations can %est %e 3udged %y another master-potter - the pri,e-winning 0rayson 8erry9
G.ell, he's a dumpy little fellow, and they're %eautifully modelled - they almost look like they'+e
%een %urnished# 2f 2 was to get this effect, 2'd pro%a%ly use the %ack of a spoon, %ut they'+e
pro%a%ly used some sort of %one implement or something# "ut they were e$perts in mould
technology, and they used a lot of moulds to replicate these things a num%er of times - something 2
always call a sort of rela$ed fluency, in that you imagine the person who's made it has made
hundreds of these things, and they're kind of riffing on it, and so they're incredi%ly confident when
they're making it# nd 2 suppose there's something for me a%out this figurine, and /oche pottery in
general, that feels kind of familiar to me as an &nglishman# 2t feels like a culture that has a +ery
strong community %ond, with lots of 3oking and human sacrificeAG
.ell, may%e he's rightA 0rayson 8erry naturally warms to the accomplished confidence of these
potters, %ut 2'm not 5uite so certain as he is a%out the 3okey side of /oche pottery# These pots seem
to ha+e %een made entirely for %urials and sacrifice - and to %e a%out life and death at its most
solemn#
&$ca+ations of /oche %urials often unco+er large num%ers of these decorated pots, sometimes
many do,ens of them, all carefully ordered and organised around repeated themes and su%3ects#
The sheer 5uantity of pots that sur+i+e tell us that /oche society must ha+e operated on a
considera%le scale# 8ots like this must ha+e %een an industry, with ela%orate structures of training,
mass-production and distri%ution#
/oche territory stretched for around 35( miles >54( km? along the 8acific coast, and theirs was,
literally, a narrow e$istence - %ounded %y the ocean on one side and the mountains on the other,
usually with 3ust desert in %etween# "ut their largest settlement, at /oche itself, was the first real
city in *outh merica, with streets, canals, pla,as and industrial areas that any contemporary
Doman town would ha+e %een proud of# The remains of the canal network that they used to
channel the ri+ers flowing from the mountains are still +isi%le today# They also e$ploited the
e$tremely rich waters of the 8acific for fish, shellfish, seals, whales and %irds# There's one pot for
161
e$ample, in the "ritish /useum, that shows a /oche fisherman in a large %oat catching tuna#
Carefully managing and irrigating their en+ironment, the /oche grew mai,e and %eans, farmed
llamas, ducks and guinea-pigs, and as a result, were a%le to sustain a population three times as
large as the area does today#
nd yet, as is usually the case in human history, it is not the great acts of water engineering or
agriculture that a society honours in its works of art# 2t's war#
The cele%ration of war and warriors is a central aspect of /oche art, and this certainly reflects the
importance of the warrior to their society - 3ust as to the Domans or the nglo-*a$ons in &urope#
For the /oche, though, war and religion were 3oined together in a way that would perhaps %e less
familiar to &uropeans# Fighting, for the /oche, held a +ery strong ritual aspect to it# For protection
the warrior carries a small round shield, not much %igger than a dinner plate, and a hea+y wooden
clu% that could crack a skull with ease# 1is decorated clothes suggest he is a young man of high
status, %ut he is clearly a foot soldier# There were no horses at this time in *outh merica - that
came later with the &uropeans - and llamas, as you'll imagine, don't make great ca+alry# *o e+en
the elite among the /oche tra+elled and fought on foot#
7ther pots show scenes of warriors fighting each other in single com%at, armed, like this figure,
with clu%s and small shields# These may well %e scenes of real fighting, %ut they also appear to %e
part of a common /oche myth that we can piece together from groups of pots# Taken as a whole,
they tell a gruesome story# To lose a contest like this meant much more than 3ust losing face# The
defeated warrior would %e sacrificed, decapitated %y an animal-headed figure and his %lood then
drunk %y others# This %loody narrati+e, told %y the /oche pots, is %y no means 3ust an artistic
in+ention# s *te+en "ourget, a leading archaeologist, has found at his archaeological e$ca+ations,
it happened9
G.e e$ca+ated this sacrificial site, which included a%out =5 male warriors sacrificed during
+arious rituals, and we also found the tom%s of two sacrificers# nd in one of the tom%s was also
included a wooden clu%, co+ered with human %lood - so we had indeed the 'smoking gun' - and
also the +ictims themsel+es, side %y side within the temple#
G.e found that these were male warriors# Do%ust, strong, males aged %etween 1; to more or less
36 years of age# They had a lot of ancient in3uries consistent with %attles, %ut also had a lot of fresh
in3uries, a lot of cut marks on the throats, on the arms, on the faces, indicating that most of them
ha+e had their throat cut# nd a few of them had the skin of their face remo+ed, arms separated
from their %odies, some of them were de-fleshed completely and transformed into skeletons - e+en
in one case two human heads transformed into some kind of container#G
2t's grim and gripping stuff# nd there's a lot of mystery still to unra+el# The /oche stopped
making these horror-mo+ie pots, and indeed pretty much e+erything else, in the se+enth century -
roughly a%out the same time as the *utton 1oo ship %urial# .hy- There are no written records of
course, we'+e got to guess, and the %est %et at the moment seems to %e climate change# 2t appears
there were se+eral decades of intense rain, followed %y a drought that upset the delicate ecology of
their agriculture, and wrecked much of the infrastructure and farmlands of the /oche state# 2f that's
what did happen, there would clearly %e neither the time nor the resources to make pots# 8eople did
not entirely a%andon the area, %ut their skills seem to ha+e %een used a%o+e all for the %uilding of
fortresses, which suggests a world splintering in a desperate competition for diminishing natural
resources# .hate+er the cause, in the decades around 4(( @, the /oche state and ci+ilisation
collapsed#
To most of us in &urope today, the /oche and other *outh merican cultures are unfamiliar and
unner+ing# 2n part, that's %ecause they %elong to a cultural tradition that followed a +ery different
162
pattern from frica, sia and &urope# For thousands of years, the mericas ha+e a separate
parallel history of their own# "ut as e$ca+ation unearths more of their story, we can see that they
are caught in e$actly the same predicaments as e+ery%ody else - harnessing nature and resources,
a+oiding famine, placating the gods, waging war# nd as e+erywhere else, they addressed these
pro%lems %y trying to construct coherent and enduring states# 2n the mericas, as all o+er the
world, these ignored histories are now %eing reco+ered to shape modern identities# 1ere's *te+en
"ourget again9
G2 think one of the fascinating things that 2 am looking at when 2 look at 8eru today, is that they are
in fact in the process of doing what also happens in /e$ico, perhaps in &gypt, and e+entually 2
would %elie+e China # # # where these countries who ha+e a great ancient past %uild their identity
through this past, and it %ecomes part of their present# *o the past of 8eru will %e its future# nd
e+entually the /oche will, 2 think, %ecome a household name, 3ust as much as the /aya or the
2nca or the ,tec for that matter# &+entually it will %ecome part of the world legacy#G
The more we look at these merican ci+ilisations, the more we can see that their story is part of a
coherent and strikingly similar worldwide pattern# story that seems destined to ac5uire an e+er
greater modern political significance# nd in the ne$t programme, we're going to see what e+ents
of 1,3(( years ago mean in contemporary <orea#
163
Episode 4. - 2orean roof tile
3orean roof tile Bmade eighth century *4CD 'eramicF from #outh 3orea
2f, in the course of today, you use a mo%ile phone, dri+e a car or watch TE, or if you find your
children playing with their ro%ot pet, the chances are that at least one of these o%3ects will ha+e
%een made in <orea# s we all know, <orea is one of sia's GtigerG economies, pro+ider of high
technology to the world# .e tend to think of it as a new player on the glo%al stage - %ut that of
course is not how <oreans see themsel+es, for <orea has always %een pi+otal in relations %etween
China and !apan, and it has a long tradition of technological in+entions# 2t was <orea, for e$ample,
that pioneered mo+ea%le metal type, and it did it so well %efore it was in+ented in &urope# "esides
its technology, the other thing that we all know a%out <orea today is that, since the end of the
*econd .orld .ar in 1645, it has %een %itterly and dangerously di+ided %etween a communist
north and a capitalist south#
Today's o%3ect takes us to <orea around the year =(( @, to a state, newly unified, that was
en3oying great prosperity# To a moment in its history that is ine+ita%ly now read differently %y
north and south, %ut is still central to any modern definition of <orean identity#
"y =((, <orea was already a rich, ur%anised country, a ma3or trade player at the end of the famous
*ilk Doad# "ut this programme's o%3ect isn't made of precious silk) it's earthy clay - %ut clay that
tells us a great deal a%out <orea's Ggolden ageG#
G:ooking at this <orean roof tile, 2 think it's great that it represents <orean culture#G >!ane 8ortal?
GThe culture of *illa is the %est well preser+ed # # # it was the first time when all aspects of <orean
culture merged together#G >translated words of Choe <wang *hik?
This week, we're looking at the world of the *ilk Doad, around the years %etween 4(( and =((,
when silk produced in China tra+elled to the furthest edges of the known world - east to <orea and
164
!apan, west to the &ngland of *utton 1oo# 7ne of the things 2 find fascinating a%out this period, is
that on %oth edges of the &urasian landmass, similar political de+elopments are underway# Tri%es
and little kingdoms are coalescing into larger units, ones that will e+entually %ecome the nation
states that we know today# &ngland, *cotland and @enmark on one side, !apan and <orea on the
other# For all these countries, these are the critical centuries#
:ying %etween north-east China and !apan, the <orean peninsula was, like &ngland at the same
date, fragmented %y competing kingdoms# 2n 44;, the southernmost kingdom, *illa, with the
%acking of China - then, as now, the regional superpower - con5uered its neigh%ours and imposed
its rule from the far south to 5uite a %it north of what is now 8yongyang# 2t ne+er controlled the far
north, %ut the unified *illa kingdom for the ne$t three hundred years ruled most of what is now
<orea from its imperial capital in the south, <yong3u, a city splendidly adorned with grand new
%uildings#
The o%3ect in this programme is a roof tile that comes from one of those new %uildings, in this case
a temple, and it tells us a great deal a%out the achie+ements and the apprehensions of the young
*illa state#
2'+e got the tile in my hand now# 2t's a%out the si,e of a large old-fashioned roof slate, so 3ust under
a foot >3( cm? s5uare, and it's made of hea+y cream-coloured clay# The top and the sides are edged
with a roughly decorated %order, and in the middle of the tile is a fearsome face looking straight
out at me# 2t's got a s5uashed nose, %ulging eyes, small horns, and a%undant whiskers# 2n fact, the
face looks like a cross %etween a Chinese dragon and a 8ekingese dog, and not friendly at allA 2t
looks a %it like an oriental gargoyle, and that is pretty well what it was# 2t would ha+e had a similar
position to a gargoyle, high up on a temple or a grand house# The features of the face when you
look at them closely are pretty rough, and it's o%+ious that it's %een made %y pushing the wet clay
into a fairly simple mould# This is clearly a mass-produced o%3ect# "ut that is why it's so
interesting, %ecause this is 3ust one of tens of thousands designed to co+er roofs that would once
ha+e %een thatched, %ut in prosperous *illa <orea, were tiled with o%3ects like this#
.hy did the *illa want to %uild such a grand capital, and why did they need so many new houses-
The <orean specialist !ane 8ortal e$plains9
GThe city of <yong3u was %ased on the Chinese capital Chang'an, which was at the time the
%iggest city in the world, and <yong3u de+eloped hugely once *illa had unified the <orean
peninsula, or most of it# lot of the aristocrats from the kingdoms which were defeated %y *illa
had to come and li+e in <yong3u, and they had magnificent houses with tiled roofs# nd this was a
new thing, to ha+e tiled roofs, so this tile would ha+e %een a sort of status sym%ol for them#G
Tiles like this were sought after not only %ecause they were e$pensi+e to make %ut, a%o+e all,
%ecause they didn't catch fire like traditional thatch, and %urning thatch was pro%a%ly the greatest
threat to any ancient city# "y contrast, a tiled city was a safe city, and so it's perfectly
understanda%le that a ninth-century <orean commentator, singing the splendours of the city at the
height of its prosperity, should dwell lyrically on its roofs9
GThe capital <yong3u consisted of 1=;,634 houses # # # There was a +illa and pleasure garden for
each of the four seasons, to which the aristocrats resorted# 1ouses with tiled roofs stood in rows in
the capital, and not a thatched roof was to %e seen# 0entle rain came with harmonious %lessings
and all the har+ests were plentiful#G
This tile, though, wasn't intended merely to protect you against the Ggentle rainG# That was the 3o%
of the more prosaic, undecorated tiles co+ering the whole roof# *itting at the decorated end of a
165
ridge, glaring out across the city, our dragon tile was meant to ward off a teeming in+isi%le army of
hostile spirits and ghosts - protecting you not 3ust against the weather %ut against the forces of e+il#
The dragon on our roof tile was, in a sense, 3ust a hum%le foot-soldier in the great %attle of the
spirits that was %eing perpetually fought out at roof le+el, high a%o+e the streets of <yong3u# nd it
was only one of 4( different classes of protecti+e %eings, that formed a kind of defensi+e shield
against spirit missiles, and that could %e deployed at all times to protect the people and the state#
"ut, at ground le+el, there were other threats# There were always potential re%els within the state,
the aristocrats who had %een forced to li+e in <yong3u for e$ample, and on the coast there were
!apanese pirates# 1ere again, as on our tile, a dragon would pro+ide security, %ut e+ery *illa king
had to negotiate one great and ongoing political predicament - how to maintain freedom of action
in the lowering shadow of his mighty neigh%our, Tang China#
The Chinese had supported the *illa in their campaign to unify <orea, %ut only as a preliminary to
China taking o+er the new kingdom itself, so the *illa had to %e %oth nim%le and resolute in
holding the Chinese emperor at %ay while maintaining his political alliance# 2n cultural terms, the
same su%tle %alancing act %etween dependence and autonomy has %een going on for centuries, and
continues to this day, and we can see it in our tile#
The tile is +ery similar to ones made in Tang China at the same time, %ut this is emphatically not a
Chinese o%3ect# Cnlike the %road grin of a Chinese dragon, the mouth here is small and aggressi+e,
and the modelling of the tile has a rough +igour that's +ery un-Chinese#
nd it's this ro%ust energetic engagement with the clay that made <orean ceramics so appealing to
twentieth-century &uropeans, and especially to potters# 1ere's !ane 8ortal again9
Gll throughout <orean history, <orean ceramics tend to %e lumpier, less perfect, more sort of
spontaneous, whereas Chinese ceramics are perfect - and dead, in a way# nd this is what attracted
people in the twentieth century - folk potters, such as "ernard :each - and they copied them, made
studio pots which were +ery influenced %y <orean ceramics#G
The united *illa kingdom, prosperous and secure at the end of the *ilk Doad, stands as one of the
great periods of creati+ity and learning in <orean history, a Ggolden ageG of architecture and
literature, astronomy and mathematics# Fearsome dragon roof tiles like the one here at the "ritish
/useum long continued to %e a feature of the roofscape in <yong3u and %eyond# nd the legacy of
the *illa is apparent in <orea e+en today, as Choe <wang *hik, @irector 0eneral of the 'ational
/useum of <orea, tells us, +ia an interpreter9
GThe cultural aspect of the roof tile still remains in <orean culture # # # and e+en if you go to the
city of <yong3u now, you can see in the streets that the patterns still remain on the road, for
instance# *o, in that aspect, the artefact has now %ecome ancient, %ut it sur+i+es through the
culture# nd, in a sense, 2 think <oreans feel that it is an entity, as if it's a mother figure# *o 2 think
in that sense *illa is one of the most important in <orean history#G
"ut in spite of sur+i+ing street patterns and strong cultural continuities, not e+eryone in <orea
today will read the *illa legacy in the same way, or indeed claim the *illa as their mother culture#
1ere's !ane 8ortal again9
G2t depends where you li+e in <orea, what people think a%out *illa today# 2f you li+e in *outh
<orea, the *illa represents this proud moment when the *illa were a%le to repel aggression from
China, and it meant that the <orean peninsula could de+elop independently from China# "ut if you
li+e in the north of <orea, they feel that *illa has %een o+er-emphasised historically, %ecause
actually *illa only unified two-thirds of the peninsula, the southern two thirds of the peninsula, so
164
in the north it wasn't *illa# *o, actually, what *illa means today depends on which side of the @/N
you li+e#G
*o among the 5uestions at issue %etween 'orth and *outh <orea today, not the least is what really
was going on 1,3(( years ago, and, as so often, how you read history depends on where you're
reading it from# ll through this week, we'+e %een considering the world of the *ilk Doad, and in
&ngland and <orea we'+e +isited its outer edges to west and to east# 2n the ne$t programme, we're
at its heart# For thousands of years the secret of silk was a Chinese monopoly and, as always, with
a highly lucrati+e technology like that, there was a race on to steal it# &+entually, as we know, the
Chinese monopoly was %roken# 1ow the secret first escaped from China %ecame the su%3ect of
legend and myth, and tomorrow we'll %e talking a%out one particularly popular legend - an e$otic
fairy tale with the o%ligatory princess# nd then, my "est "elo+eds, you will hear a '!ust-*o' story #
# # of how the oasis kingdom of <hotan got its silk#
16=
Episode "0 - il( princess painting
#il+ princess painting Bmade eighth century *4CE from 'hinese central *sia
7nce upon a time, in the high and far off days of long ago, there was a %eautiful princess who li+ed
in the land of silk# 7ne day her father, the emperor, told her she must marry the king of the distant
land of 3ade# The 3ade king could not make silk, %ecause the emperor had kept the secret to
himself# nd so the princess decided that she would %ring the gift of silk to her new people# *he
thought of a trick, she hid e+erything that was needed - the silk worms, the mul%erry seeds,
e+erything - in her royal headdress# *he knew that her father's guards would not dare to search her
as she left for her new home# nd that, my "est "elo+ed, is the story of how <hotan got its silk#
The tale 2 ha+e 3ust told you - a '!ust *o' story of one of the greatest technology thefts of history - is
one that is presented to us in paint on a plank of wood that's around 1,4(( years old# 2t's known as
the ':egend of the *ilk 8rincess' and it is now in the "ritish /useum# "ut it was found in a long-
deserted city on the fa%led *ilk Doad#
G2 think the *ilk Doad, in terms of the mo+ement of goods and ideas, is the 'internet of anti5uity'#G
>Ho Ho /a?
G### %ecause it wasn't 3ust silk that tra+elled, and frankincense, and rhinoceros horn, and all these
wonderful products which we associate with it, %ut a much more hum%le %ut continuous trade - of
people locally, trading to people with rather different needs and situations#G >Colin Thu%ron?
2 am listening to the noise of the people and the goods of the whole world on the mo+e, passing
through 1eathrow irport### we all spend part of our li+es now on highways or airways - some real,
some +irtual - and as well as tra+elling them oursel+es, we know that they fuel not 3ust the
economy %ut our imagination# 2n this, surprisingly little has changed since the eighth century# 2n
the world we'+e %een looking at this week, a world of enormous mo+ement of people and of
goods, one of the %usiest highways of all, then as now, ran from China9 the *ilk Doad - not in fact
16;
one single road, %ut a network of routes that spanned 4,((( miles >4,5(( km? and effecti+ely linked
the 8acific to the /editerranean# The goods on that highway were rare and e$otic - gold, precious
stones, spices, silk# nd with the goods came stories, ideas, %eliefs, and - key to our story today -
technologies#
2n this programme we're in the oasis kingdom of <hotan in Central sia, which is where our
painting was found# <hotan is now in western China, %ut it was then a separate kingdom and the
%eating heart of the *ilk Doad, +ital for water and refreshment, and a ma3or manufacturer of silk#
<hotanese story-tellers created a legend to e$plain how the secrets of silk production - for
thousands of years a Chinese monopoly - had came to <hotan# The result was the story of the silk
princess, as told in our painting#
The picture is on a wooden %oard, and it was found in a small a%andoned "uddhist shrine in
<hotan# The shrine was 3ust one in a small city of shrines and monasteries which had +anished
%eneath the sand for o+er a thousand years# They were redisco+ered in a%out 16(( %y the %rilliant
polymath *ir urel *tein, one of the pioneering archaeologists of the *ilk Doad, and it was *tein
who re+ealed <hotan's importance as a pi+otal trading and cultural centre#
2 am sitting with the painting now# 2t's painted on a rough plank that is almost e$actly the si,e of a
computer key%oard - and the figures are 5uite simply drawn in %lack and white, with here and
there touches of red and %lue# 2t's pretty unprepossessing as a work of art, %ut then it was ne+er
intended to %e a work of art, %ecause this painting was made entirely to help a story-teller tell their
story# Dight in the middle is the silk princess herself, with her large and prominent headdress# nd
to make a%solutely sure that we don't miss it, and that we don't fail to recognise that this is the
focal point of the story, on the left a ser+ant woman is melodramatically pointing at the headdress#
The story-teller would then ha+e told us that inside it there is e+erything you need to produce silk9
worms of the silk moth, and the silk cocoons that they produce, and mul%erry seeds - %ecause
mul%erry lea+es are what silk worms need to eat# Then we see what happens ne$t# 2n front of the
princess, the silk cocoons are piled up in a %asket, and on the far right there is a man hard at work
wea+ing the silk threads into cloth# *o, the princess has o%+iously arri+ed safely in <hotan, and her
trick has worked# This story, simply set out in three scenes, is a key document of what was in fact a
transforming shift of knowledge and skill from the east to the west#
.e'+e known for a long time that the *ilk Doad was +itally important in the de+eloping world of
the eighth century, %ut it is only relati+ely recently that it has secured its romantic reputation, as the
tra+el-writer and no+elist Colin Thu%ron knows well9
GThe place of the *ilk Doad in history - it's almost impossi%le to e$aggerate its importance, 2 think,
in the mo+ement of peoples, the mo+ement of goods, the transport of in+entions in particular, and
ideas - and of course in the mo+ement of religions# .hether it's "uddhism north from 2ndia and
eastward into China, or the ad+ance of 2slam deep into sia, all this is a *ilk Doad phenomenon#
GThe term '*ilk Doad' was coined %y a 0erman geographer called Ferdinand +on Dichtho+en as
late as 1;;=# 2t was ne+er called the *ilk Doad %efore then, and then of course that fed into it all the
romance of silk itself, its %eauty, its lu$ury#
G2 think the place of the *ilk Doad in the western imagination, the romance that it has, is actually
5uite a recent thing# 7%+iously certain products on the *ilk Doad gathered a kind of mysti5ue,
particularly when they came from a long way away# 'ot 3ust a great cost, %ut also a strangeness,
%ecause people perhaps did not know the ci+ilisations that had produced them#G
s Colin Thu%ron implies, mysteries often generate stories to e$plain them, and since silk was %y
far the most important product tra+elling along this route, it ine+ita%ly inspired - in fact it needed -
166
its own myth# :u$urious, %eautiful and enduring, silk is almost synonymous with the land that first
produced it o+er four thousand years ago and monopolised it for so long - ancient China# :ong
%efore the Doman &mpire appeared, silk was already culti+ated in China and e$ported on an
industrial scale# The mysteries of its production were a highly protected secret) %ut secrets as
profita%le as this one ne+er last, and <hotan was one of the %eneficiaries#
Coming %ack to our painted plank, we can see that there is a fourth figure in the story - it's a man
with four arms holding a silk wea+er's com% and a shuttle# 1e is the god of silk, who presides o+er
the whole scene, and gi+es spiritual sanction, ensuring that we see the princess not as an industrial
thief %ut as a %ra+e %enefactress# nd so the fairy-tale takes on the status of myth# The silk princess
may not %e 5uite on a par with 8rometheus stealing fire from the gods, %ut she is firmly in the
tradition of great mythological gift-gi+ers, %ringing knowledge and skill to a particular people#
The written +ersions of our painted story tell us what happened ne$t# The princess ga+e thanks to
the gods, and ensured that <hotan would keep the secrets of silk fore+er9
GThen she founded this monastery, on the spot where the first silkworms were %red) and there are
a%out here many old mul%erry tree trunks, that they say are the remains of the trees first planted#
From old time till now, this kingdom has possessed silkworms, which no%ody is allowed to kill#G
nd silk production is still a ma3or industry in <hotan, employing more than a thousand workers
and producing around 15( million metres of silk a year as cloth, clothes and carpets# 7f course,
we'+e actually got no idea how silk in fact came to <hotan, %ut we do know that ideas, stories,
gods and silk all mo+ed along the *ilk Doad in %oth directions# The cellist and composer Ho-Ho
/a has long %een in+ol+ed in *ilk Doad studies, looking at how, through the centuries, ideas of all
sorts, and particularly music, ha+e mo+ed %etween the 8acific and the /editerranean9
G2 think, o+er the years, mem%ers of the *ilken &nsem%le ha+e %een all o+er - from &gypt to 2srael,
to 2ndia, to <yrgy,stan, to China, to <orea, %ut there is so much to learn# .hat we are trying to do
is constantly learn# 7ld traditions, we don't want them to get lost, %ut we need to put them in a
contemporary form# "eing a musician, 2 was particularly interested in how music may ha+e
tra+elled# .e ha+e recordings only from a%out a hundred years ago, and so to look at that you ha+e
to look at the oral traditions, and to look at other kinds of iconography, such as, you know, what's
in museums, what people wrote a%out - stories - and to %e a%le to get a picture of how things were
traded %ack and forth, %oth in the idea realm as well as material o%3ects#
GThe *ilk Doad is a metaphor for looking at anything that has mo+ed through time and geography#
lot of people talk a%out the purity of things# "ut actually the more 2 look at anything, and you
look at the origins of where things come from, 2 think most of the things that actually - if you go
deep enough - you find elements of the world within the local# 2 think that's a %ig thing to think
a%out, %ut it actually is reduced to common o%3ects - stories, fa%les, materials - and silk is also one
of those stories#G
2t's a story that is still with us centuries on, and 2 think that 2'm using the painted panel 3ust as it
was intended to %e used, as a +ehicle for story-telling, to gi+e you my +ersion of the tale of silk#
.ho used the panel originally we don't know, %ut we do know that urel *tein was surprised and
mo+ed %y the shrine in which he found it9
GThese painted ta%lets, like all the others su%se5uently disco+ered### were undou%tedly still in the
same position in which they had originally %een deposited as +oti+e offerings %y pious
worshippers# The last days of worship at this small shrine were +i+idly recalled %y far hum%ler yet
e5ually touching relics# 7n the floor near the principal %ase, and near the corners, 2 disco+ered
2((
se+eral ancient %rooms, which had manifestly %een used %y the last attendants to keep the sacred
o%3ects clear of the in+ading dust and sand#G >'ncient <hotan', p# 251?
nd it was not 3ust the painting of the silk princess that these %rooms kept clean# This "uddhist
shrine also contained painted images of the "uddha, as well as the 1indu gods *hi+a and "rahma#
7ther shrines in the comple$ ha+e pictures of "uddhist, 1indu and 2ranian gods, as well as +ery
local deities# The gods that tra+elled the *ilk Doad were, like the traders themsel+es, happy to
share accommodation#
2n this programme, we'+e %een in the company of a legendary princess, unco+ering the meaning of
her story# 'e$t week we will %e with other princesses and great ladies - real ones - praying and
plotting, suffering and singing, in the courts of the world's great powers around ;(( @#
nd we'll %egin with an e$traordinary tale of %lood-letting, a long way from the *ilk Doad### we'll
%e with a /aya 5ueen, in /e$ico#
2(1
-nsi2* ),* @a<a.*/ 3*.+*)s a) C1u+) (:## $ %6# 'C)
Episode "1 - Maya relief of royal 4lood-letting
Maya relief of royal 5lood-letting Bmade early eighth century *4CD #toneF from Me!ico
2t's tough at the top - at least, that's what those at the top like us to think - the long hours, the pu%lic
e$posure, the responsi%ility# 2n return though, most of us would argue, they get the status and the
pay - and most people it seems are willing to settle for that particular trade-off#
"ut, we'd all think twice, 2 suspect, a%out en+ying anyone, howe+er pri+ileged, whose regular duty
was to go through an ordeal that sounds like this cry of pain # # # in this case that of a man in the
8hilippines, seeking and enduring e$cruciating physical pain, in order to achie+e a transformed
spiritual state# These days most of us take 5uite a lot of trou%le to a+oid pain# nd wilful Gself-
harmG suggests to most people an unsta%le psychological condition# *ado-masochism gets, on the
whole, a %ad press, %ut around the world there are, as there always ha+e %een, %elie+ers who see
self-inflicted pain as a route to transcendental e$perience# To the a+erage 21st-century citi,en, and
certainly to me, this willed suffering has a%out it something deeply shocking# nd so 2 find it hard
e+en to look at the image that 2'm going to %e discussing in this programme#
G.hat 2 find startling a%out this horrific image is how +isi%le the woman's pain is#G >*usie 7r%ach?
GHou can tell from her clothing, her 3ewellery and her ela%orate head ornament that this is a woman
of great status and wealth#G >Eirginia Field?
ll the o%3ects in the programmes this week are from the great royal courts of the world, around
;(( @# They're not o%3ects that were made for pu%lic +iew - they're intimate, pri+ate e$pressions
of great pu%lic power, o%3ects created so that the rulers of the world could state and re-state the full
2(2
e$tent of their authority to themsel+es, to their courtiers and to their gods# nd, it must %e said, the
+ery real o%ligations that they saw as going with that authority#
2'm looking at a limestone relief car+ing, a%out the si,e of a small coffee ta%le# 2t's rectangular, and
it shows two human figures# man,is standing holding a %la,ing torch o+er the kneeling figure of
a woman, and %oth are ela%orately costumed, with wonderful e$tra+agant headdresses#
*o far, so innocuous - %ut when 2 look more closely at the woman, the scene %ecomes horri%ly
disconcerting# "ecause 2 can see that she is pulling a rope 'through' her tongue - and the rope
contains large thorns, which are piercing and lacerating her#
/y s5ueamish &uropean eye keeps focusing on this stupefying act, %ut for the /aya, what would
ha+e %een important was the whole scene# For this is the king and his wife, together in a de+otional
partnership, 3ointly performing a ceremony that is of fundamental significance for their position
and for their power# 2t was commissioned %y the king to go into the 5ueen's pri+ate %uilding# nd it
was certainly intended to %e seen %y only a +ery select few#
The great /aya ci+ilisation collapsed not long after this stone sla% was car+ed, and their great
cities, left deserted, %ewildered the first *panish +isitors when they arri+ed in the si$teenth century#
For hundreds of years afterwards, e$plorers tra+elling in southern /e$ico and 0uatemala came
across huge a%andoned cities hidden in dense 3ungle# 7ne of the first modern +isitors, the
merican !ohn :loyd *tephens, tried to descri%e his wonderment in 1;369
G7f the moral effect of the monuments themsel+es, standing as they do in the depths of the tropical
forest, silent and solemn, different from the works of any other people, their uses and purposes and
whole history so entirely unknown, with hieroglyphs e$plaining all %ut perfectly unintelligi%le, 2
shall not pretend to con+ey any idea#G
Thanks to the relati+ely recent decipherment of /aya script, we can now read the images and the
writing on their monuments as the names and histories of actual rulers# 2n the course of the
twentieth century, the /aya ceased to %e a mythologi,ed lost race and %ecame a historical people#
/aya territory co+ered modern 1onduras, 0uatemala, "eli,e and southern /e$ico# The first /aya
cities ha+e their %eginnings around 5(( "C - so 3ust a little %efore the 8arthenon was %eing %uilt in
thens - and the /aya ci+ilisation continued for well o+er a thousand years# The greatest /aya
cities had tens of thousands of inha%itants, and at their centre were pyramids, pu%lic monuments
and palaces#
7ur stone sculpture of the 5ueen lacerating her tongue comes from the city of Ha$chilan# "etween
4(( and ;(( @, so late in the classic /aya age, Ha$chilan %ecame a large and important city, the
ma3or power in the region# 2t owed its new eminence to the king shown on the stone lintel, *hield
!aguar# t the age of =5, he commissioned a %uilding programme to cele%rate the successes of
what would e+entually %e his 4(-year reign# The lintel sculpture comes from a temple that seems to
ha+e %een dedicated to his wife, :ady <'a%al Rook#
7n the car+ing, <ing *hield !aguar and his wife are %oth magnificently dressed, with spectacular
headdresses, pro%a%ly made of 3ade and shell mosaic, and decorated with the shimmering green
feathers of the 5uet,al %ird# 7n top of the <ing's headdress you can see the shrunken head of a past
sacrificial +ictim# 7n his %reast he wears an ornament in the shape of the sun god, his sandals are
of spotted 3aguar pelt, and at his knees there are %ands of 3ade# 1is wife, meanwhile, has
spectacularly ela%orate necklace and %racelets#
2(3
This image is one of three found in the temple, each one positioned a%o+e an entrance# Together
they make it clear that the act of pulling thorns through the tongue was not 3ust to make the
Bueen's %lood flow as an offering, %ut was deli%erately intended to create intense pain - pain
which, after due ritual preparation, would send her into a +isionary trance# For the Bueen to inflict
such suffering on herself was a great act of piety - it was her pain that summoned and propitiated
the kingdom's gods, and that ultimately made possi%le the king's success# 1ere's psychotherapist
and writer on women's psychology, *usie 7r%ach9
G2f you can create a feeling of pain in the %ody and you sur+i+e it, you can mo+e into either a state
of, not 5uite ecstasy, %ut out-of-the-ordinariness, a sense that you can transcend, you can do
something rather special#
G.hat 2 find interesting a%out this image, which is 5uite startlingly horrific, is how +isi%le the
woman's pain is# 2 think that, in the present day, we'+e come to hide our pain# .e ha+e the 3okes
a%out our capacity for pain, %ut we don't really show it#
G.hat we see there is something that women can understand and can reflect, although it's +ery
e$aggerated, the kind of relation to self and to a hus%and that a woman often makes - or to her
children# nd it's not that men are e$tracting them# 2t's that women e$perience their sense of self
%y doing these things, %y enacting them# They gi+e them a sense of their own identity# nd 2'm
sure that was true for her#G
The ne$t lintel in the series shows us the conse5uence of the Bueen's self-mortification# The ritual
%lood-letting, and the pain, ha+e com%ined to transform :ady <'a%al Rook's consciousness, and
ena%le her to see, rising from the offering %owl that holds her %lood, a +ision of a sacred serpent#
From the mouth of the snake a warrior %randishing a spear appears - the founding ancestor of the
Ha$chilan royal dynasty, esta%lishing the <ing's connection with his ancestors, and therefore his
right to rule#
For the /aya, %lood-letting was an ancient tradition, and it marked all the ma3or points of /aya
life - especially the path to royal and sacred power# 2n the si$teenth century, ;(( years after this
lintel was car+ed, and long after the /aya ci+ilisation had collapsed, the *panish encountered
similar %lood-letting rites that still sur+i+ed, as the first Catholic %ishop of Hucatan reported9
GThey offered sacrifices of their own %lood, sometimes cutting themsel+es around in pieces, and
they left them in this way as a sign# *ometimes they scarify certain parts of their %odies, at others
they pierce their tongues in a slanting direction from side to side, and pass %its of straw through the
holes with horri%le suffering# 7thers slit the superfluous part of the +irile mem%er, lea+ing it as
they did their ears#G
The unusual thing a%out our sculpture is that it shows a woman playing the principal role in the
ritual# 1ere's Eirginia Fields, e$pert on /aya iconography and art9
GThis particular lintel at the "ritish /useum is 3ust an e$traordinary e$ample of the kinds of rights
and ceremonies that a 5ueen would engage in, they are e$tremely unusual# .e don't ha+e a series
like this from another /aya city#
G.e know that the royal women were part of lineages in e+ery city# :ady <'a%al Rook actually is
from a local lineage in Ha$chilan, %ut %y taking her as a wife, they may ha+e %een 3oining two
powerful lineages# nd then %ringing in another wife from a foreign city e$tended the alliances
that he had %een creating with different powerful cities around the realm#G
2(4
<'a%al Rook's hus%and, *hield !aguar, had an immensely long reign for the age, %ut within a few
decades of their deaths, all the great cities of the /aya were in chaos# 7n the later /aya
monuments, warfare is the dominant image, and the last monuments we know are around 6(( @#
n ancient political system that had lasted for more than a thousand years had disintegrated, and a
landscape where millions had li+ed %ecame desolate# .hy, remains one of the great historical
mysteries#
&n+ironmental factors are a popular e$planation# There is some e+idence of a prolonged drought,
and gi+en the density of the population, the decline in resources a drought would cause could well
ha+e %een catastrophic# "ut, in all e+ents, the /aya people of course, did not +anish# /ayan
settlements continued in a num%er of areas and a functioning /ayan society lasted right up to the
*panish Con5uest#
Today there are a%out si$ million /ayans, and their sense of their heritage is strong# Hou ha+e 3ust
heard the sound of a /aya uprising in 1664, when the Napatista rmy of 'ational :i%eration, as
they call themsel+es, declared war on the /e$ican *tate# Their independence mo+ement
profoundly shook modern /e$ico# G.e are in the new 'Time of the /ayas' G, a local play
proclaimed, as statues of the *panish con5uistadors were toppled and %eaten into ru%%le# Today,
the /aya use their past to renegotiate their identity, and seek to restore their monuments and
language to centre-stage in pu%lic life# 'ew roads now open up access to the formerly GlostG cities#
Ha$chilan, where our sculpture came from, used to %e accessi%le only %y light plane or a ri+er trip
across hundreds of miles, %ut since the 166(s it's 3ust an hour's %oat ride, and it's a %ig draw for
tourists#
The distur%ing image on our sculpture shows a powerful woman using self-mutilation to induce a
+ision of di+inely ordained authority# 2n the ne$t programme, we're going to %e looking at an
altogether more appealing aspect of pri+ilege# .e're mo+ing from the politics of pain in /e$ico to
the politics of pleasure in the /iddle &ast### to the world of the ra%ian 'ights#
2(5
Episode "2 - Harem !all painting fragments
Harem $all painting fragments Bmade ninth century *4CE from #amarraE 7ra;
This week we are entering the hidden places of powerful men and women around the world, in the
years a%out ;(( @# For the last programme we were in /e$ico, with a /ayan 5ueen in a pri+ate
ritual of self-inflicted pain) today we're in the /iddle &ast, and we catch a glimpse of the li+es of
the harem - the fantasy, and the reality of pleasure# .e're in the world of the ra%ian 'ights - the
1((1 tales supposedly told %y the %eautiful *chehera,ade to stop the king from killing her9
GThe girls sat around me, and when night came, fi+e of them rose and set up a %an5uet with plenty
of nuts and fragrant her%s# Then they %rought the wine +essels and we sat to drink#G
G.ith the girls sitting all around me, some singing, some playing the flute, the psalter, the lute, and
all other musical instruments, while the %owls and cups went round# 2 was so happy that 2 forgot
e+ery sorrow in the world, saying to myself, 'This is the life) alas, that it is fleeting'# Then they said
to me, '7 our lord, choose from among us whome+er you wish to spend this night with you'#G
*o *chehera,ade entertains the king, with tantalising tales which are always to %e continued# The
girls of this tale ha+e their real counterparts in some fragmentary portraits held here at the "ritish
/useum, and these pieces of painted plaster take us %ack into the heart of the 2slamic &mpire,
1,2(( years ago#
Today, we mostly know the ra%ian 'ights through the distorted filter of 1ollywood and
pantomime# They summon up a kaleidoscope of characters# *in%ad, laddin and the Thief of
"aghdad, caliphs and sorcerers, +i,iers and merchants, and lots of girls - many of them sla+es, %ut
still talented, and outspoken# .e see all of them within the +ast %ustling landscapes of the great
/uslim cities of the age9 "aghdad at its height, of course, %ut also Cairo and - most important for
this programme - *amarra, the city which straddles the Di+er Tigris north of "aghdad in modern
2ra5#
2(4
.e treat the ra%ian 'ights as e$otic fiction, %ut in fact they tell us a lot a%out real life in the court
of the %%asid caliphs, the supreme rulers of the +ast 2slamic &mpire that in the eighth to tenth
centuries stretched from Central sia to *pain# The %%asid name doesn't often make it into
1ollywood, %ut we can learn something a%out it through the tales# The historian Do%ert 2rwin has
written a companion to the ra%ian 'ights, and has traced its +arious historical connections9
G*ome of these stories do reflect the realities of "aghdad in the eighth and ninth centuries# The
%%asid caliphs employed a group of people known as 'nudema' - these were professional cup
companions, their 3o% was to sit with the caliph as he ate and drank, and entertain him with
edifying information, 3okes, discussions of food, and stories# *o, some of the stories in the ra%ian
'ights are part of the repertoire of these cup companions#
G2t's a closed society) few people +entured within its walls, and it's %een said that when a pious
/uslim was summoned to see the caliph, he took with him his shroud# 7rdinary people rather
feared what went on within the walls of the caliph's palaces, and 2 say 'palaces' ad+isedly - the
%%asid caliphs seem to ha+e had rather a '<leene$' attitude towards their palaces, once they had
used one up they went and %uilt another, and then a%andoned it# *o you get a succession of
palaces, one after another, in "aghdad, which are %uilt, are magnificent, and then are dropped in
fa+our of a new site, and then of course, they mo+ed to *amarra where they do the same thing#G
/ost of the %%asid palaces, %oth in "aghdad and in the new capital *amarra, are now in ruins#
"ut some elements sur+i+e#
2n front of me, 2'+e got a few fragments of painted plaster - they come from the harem 5uarters of
an %%asid caliph# The harem is, of course, where the caliphs' women were kept, and for me these
fragments ha+e more magic than any mo+ie could ha+e# They're haunting glances across the
centuries, and they could themsel+es inspire 1((1 stories#
The little portraits that 2'+e got here are all of women, although some %elie+e that some of these
show %oys as well, and they're fragments of larger wall paintings# They link us directly to medie+al
2ra5# 2n "aghdad itself hardly anything architectural sur+i+es from this great age of glory around
;(( @, %ecause the city was later destroyed %y 0enghis <han# "ut luckily we can still get 5uite a
good idea of what the %%asid court looked like, %ecause for almost 4( years, its capital was
mo+ed =( miles >11( km? north to a %rand new city called *amarra# nd luckily, a lot of ancient
*amarra sur+i+es, that lets us get much closer to this empire that dominated so much of the glo%e,
1,2(( years ago#
Hou might think at first that these paintings are not +ery much to look at - they're really 3ust scraps
of paintings, and the largest is no %igger than a C@ disc# They are drawn fairly simply, with %lack
outlines on a yellow ochre %ackground, with 3ust a few sketchy lines to catch the features# "ut
there are flecks of gold in the painting, which gi+e us a hint of their original la+ishness#
:ike random pieces from a 3igsaw pu,,le, it's difficult to guess what the %igger picture that they
once came from might ha+e %een, and, indeed, they're not all portraits - some of the fragments
show animals, some show %its of clothing and %odies# "ut the faces that are caught here ha+e, 2
think, a definite sense of personality - there's a clear air of melancholy in the eyes, as they look out
at us from a lost world#
These small %its of plaster were e$ca+ated %y archaeologists from the ruins of the @ar al-<hilafah
palace - the main residence of the caliph in *amarra and the ceremonial heart of the new purpose-
%uilt capital city# nd pleasure was %uilt into the +ery name of the city, which was interpreted at
the court as a shortened form of '*urra /an Da'a' - '1e who sees it is delighted'#
2(=
"ut %eneath the frolicking, there were ominous undercurrents# The decision in ;34 to mo+e the
court from "aghdad to *amarra was taken in order to defuse a tricky situation# There were
dangerous tensions %etween the caliph's armed guards and the inha%itants of "aghdad - tensions
that had already ignited a string of riots# nd *amarra was intended to pro+ide %oth a ha+en for the
court and a safe %ase for the caliph's army#
The new city of *amarra was +ast, with gigantic palaces %y the standards of any age, %uilt at
enormous cost# 7+er si$ thousand different %uildings ha+e %een identified - and a contemporary
description gi+es some impression of the spectacular nature of one of the palaces of the caliph al-
/utawakkil, perhaps the greatest %uilder of all the %%asids9
G1e made in it great pictures of gold and sil+er, and a great %asin, whose surfacing outside and
inside was plates of sil+er, and he put on it a tree of gold in which %irds twittered and whistled###
There was made for him a great throne of gold, on which were two depictions of great lions, and
the steps to it had depictions of lions and eagles and other things# The walls of the palace were
co+ered inside and outside with mosaics and gilded mar%le#G
"ut this was %uilding mania with a purpose# This city of palaces and %arracks was intended to
da,,le +isitors, to %e the unforgetta%le centre of the huge 2slamic &mpire# nd, hidden away in a
warren of small rooms in the caliph's palace, were the harem 5uarters with the wall paintings
showing scenes of en3oyment and entertainment# 2t's here that our portrait fragments were found#
They show us the faces of the caliph's sla+es and ser+ants, the women and the %oys of his intimate
world and of his pleasures# The women housed in these rooms were sla+es, %ut sla+es that en3oyed
considera%le pri+ileges# mira "ennison, who teaches 2slamic studies at the Cni+ersity of
Cam%ridge, comments on the portraits that ha+e sur+i+ed9
GThey hint at the entertainment the caliphs en3oyed, which would ha+e ranged from ha+ing salon
sessions with intellectuals and religious scholars, to lighter e+ents where characters such as those
depicted in the wall paintings, dancing or singing girls, would ha+e performed %efore the rulers#
7ne thing that is important to note is that these kind of women were +ery, +ery highly trained - in a
sense a little %it similar to geishas# To %ecome part of the caliph's household - perhaps household is
a %etter word than harem - was actually something women could aspire to, and if you were of
hum%le origins %ut you were good at singing or dancing, and you got properly trained, this was
+ery much a career mo+e#G
1ere, there could %e self-indulgence and %oisterousness# Caliph al-/utawakkil's sense of humour
doesn't seem to ha+e %een especially sophisticated, and he had a court poet, %u al-'l%ar, repeatedly
catapulted into one of his ornamental ponds# :ess happily, a tale in the ra%ian 'ights records al-
/utawakkil's assassination following a night of music performed %y his singing girls# fter the
drunken caliph had 5uarrelled +iolently with his son, so the story tells us, his Turkish soldiers
killed him - and his pages, courtiers and girls scattered in horror#
nd this story from the ra%ian 'ights is true# l-/utawakkil was murdered %y his Turkish
commanders in ;41, and his death was the %eginning of the end for *amarra as a capital# .ithin a
decade, the army had left the city, and "aghdad resumed its status as capital, lea+ing the palace at
*amarra as a decaying ghost# The court lions were put down, and the sla+e girls and singers of our
portraits were dispersed# The last coin to %e struck in *amarra is dated ;62#
*amarra was %uilt at the end of the heroic days of the %%asids %ut, in a sense, it is a monument to
their political failure# The tensions that led to the assassination of al-/utawakkil ultimately led to
the fragmentation of the empire# poet, e$iled in the now decaying *amarra, mused elegiacally on
its decline9
2(;
G/y ac5uaintance with it, when it was peopled and 3oyous,
was heedless of the disasters of Time and its calamities#
There lions of a realm strutted
round a crowned 2mam)
Then his Turks turned treacherous - and they were transformed
2nto owls, crying of loss and destruction#G
*amarra was the capital of a world empire for less than 5( years, %ut it is still a significant place of
pilgrimage in the world of *hi'a 2slam, for it's the %urial place of two of the great imams# "ut
modern *amarra also has a tragic history# 2n 2((4 the great dome of the famous al-skari mos5ue
was destroyed %y %om%s# year later, perhaps too late, its historical glories, which include the
0reat /os5ue with its famous ,iggurat-shaped minaret, were recognised and protected as a .orld
1eritage *ite %y C'&*C7#
The anonymous faces of the girls and %oys of *amarra were ne+er meant to %e +iewed %y anyone
other than the familiars of a caliph# They ha+e sur+i+ed as a rare record of the people of the
%%asid age, and they now remain to look at us, as we look at them# 2ronically, and rather
wonderfully, instead of the images of the grand caliphs who %uilt *amarra, we see their sla+es and
their ser+ants - restored from 1ollywood cartoon caricature to mo+ing historical reality#
2(6
Episode "3 - +othair #rystal
-he .othair 'rystalE depicting #usannah and the Elders B%&& - %60 *4CE pro5a5ly from
:ermany
Doyal di+orces generally mean political trou%le# The marital pro%lems of 1enry E222 plunged
&ngland into decades of religious strife and, as we all know, when &dward E222 wanted to marry a
di+orced woman there was a constitutional crisis that cost him his throne# The o%3ect in this
programme is associated with a king whose protracted attempts to di+orce his 5ueen were, on the
contrary, intended to safeguard the kingdom# 1is failure to do so pro%a%ly killed him and it
certainly led to the termination not only of his line %ut of his kingdom as well# The o%3ect, an
engra+ed rock crystal, tells us his name# .ritten in :atin, it reads9 G:othair, <ing of the Franks,
caused me to %e madeG#
GThis is the most stunning representation of a "i%lical story, car+ed %eautifully, meticulously and
+ery, +ery finely#G >Dosamund /c<itterick?
G2 think this crystal is an o%3ect of e$ceptional interest#G >:ord "ingham?
The o%3ects this week allow us glimpses into the intimate surroundings of the most powerful rulers
of the world around ;(( @ and, perhaps %ecause we're in a pri+ate realm, it's not surprising that
women feature prominently# 2n /e$ico the /ayan 5ueen ser+ed her hus%and and the gods %y
causing herself great physical pain) in *amarra the harem women ser+ed their 2slamic masters with
nothing %ut pleasure# Today we're in the heart of &urope, and once again we're at a point when
power and personal life intersect, with enormous conse5uences#
2'm with the *usannah Crystal now# 2t's a flat disc a%out four and a half inches >11 cm? in diameter,
and car+ed into it is a "i%lical story in eight separate scenes, so if you think of a crystal cartoon,
you're pretty close to what we're looking at#
21(
.e are in "a%ylon, where the %eautiful, young *usannah is the wife of a rich merchant# .hile she
is %athing in her hus%and's orchard, two older men intrude and try to %ully her into ha+ing se$ with
them# *he calls her ser+ants for help, and the furious elders falsely claim that they saw her in the
act of adultery# .e then see *usannah %eing led away to almost certain death %y stoning, %ut at that
point the %rilliant young prophet @aniel inter+enes, and challenges the e+idence for her con+iction#
*eparating the elders, @aniel asks each of them one searching 5uestion, in a classic courtroom
drama9 under what kind of tree did they see *usannah ha+ing se$- The men gi+e conflicting
answers, their story is e$posed as fa%ricated, and it is they who are stoned to death, for per3ury# 2n
the final scene *usannah is declared innocent and gi+es thanks to 0od# .e asked :ord "ingham,
formerly "ritain's most senior 3udge, to gi+e us a lawyer's take on the story9
G@aniel did what Dumpole at the 7ld "ailey would do if he thought he was cross-e$amining
witnesses who were telling lies# 7ne has to say that in real life @aniel would ha+e %een e$tremely
lucky to ha+e %een thought to ha+e demolished the witnesses, and to demonstrate their dishonesty
%y asking them one 5uestion each, %ut the principle is 5uite clear, and @aniel was clearly a +ery
skilful cross-e$aminer#G
&ach scene on the crystal is a masterpiece of miniature car+ing, and in e+ery scene, the artist has
still found space for a small te$t in :atin, e$plaining what is going on# 2n the final scene is the
ringing phrase, G&t sal+atus est sanguis inno$ius in die illaG - Gnd that day, innocent %lood was
sa+edG#
The king who commissioned the *usannah Crystal was descended from one of the great figures of
medie+al &urope - Charlemagne# round ;((, Charlemagne, <ing of the Franks, had created an
empire that co+ered most of western &urope, including northern 2taly, western 0ermany and
modern France# This was the largest state that western &urope had seen since the disintegration of
the Doman &mpire, and the sta%ility and prosperity of Charlemagne's empire allowed a great
flourishing of the arts in the years after ;((# 7ur crystal is a magnificent e$ample of this so-called
Carolingian Denaissance# This is a 3ewel that has always %een +alued and, for most of its e$istence,
it was in the a%%ey of .aulsort in modern "elgium, in the centre of Charlemagne's empire# 2t was
certainly there in the twelfth century, when the a%%ey's chronicle clearly descri%es it9
GThis desira%le treasure was made at the re5uest of the famed <ing of the Franks# %eryl stone
placed in the middle contains a depiction of how, in @aniel, *usannah was e+illy condemned %y
the old 3udges# JThe stoneK### shows the skill of its art %y the +ariety of its work#G
2t pro%a%ly remained at .aulsort until French De+olutionary troops looted the a%%ey in the 1=6(s#
8erhaps it was they who threw the crystal - clearly made for a hateful king - into the near%y Di+er
/euse# .hen it was found it was cracked, %ut otherwise completely undamaged, %ecause rock
crystal is astonishingly tough# 2t is +ery hard and cannot %e chiselled, %ut must %e ground instead
with a%rasi+e powders# The whole thing would ha+e taken an immense amount of time and great
skill to work, which is why these crystals were such lu$ury o%3ects# .e don't know what the
original purpose of our *usannah Crystal was, possi%ly it was an offering to a shrine, %ut it was in
e+ery sense an o%3ect fit for a king#
"y the time the crystal was made, Charlemagne's empire had %roken down, and the whole of
north-west &urope was di+ided %etween three mem%ers of his s5ua%%ling and profoundly
dysfunctional family# The s5ua%%les ultimately resulted in the empire %eing di+ided into three
parts9 an eastern kingdom that would later %ecome 0ermany, a western one that would %ecome
France, and :othair's /iddle <ingdom, called :otharingia, which ran from modern "elgium down
through 8ro+ence into 2taly# "ut :othair's /iddle <ingdom was always the weakest of the three,
fore+er threatened %y wicked uncles on either side# :otharingia needed to %e a%le to defend itself#
2t needed a strong king# 1ere's 8rofessor Dosamund /c<itterick from Cam%ridge Cni+ersity9
211
G.e know almost nothing a%out the court of :othair 22 simply %ecause most of our sources
de+oted to him are in two particular categories# 7ne - narrati+e sources descri%ing the +ulnera%ility
of his own little kingdom in the middle of the west and the east Frankish kingdoms, where his
uncles, Charles the "ald on the west and :ouis the 0erman on the east, were in fact casting their
greedy eyes upon his kingdom with the hope of taking it# The other category of information is
much more pertinent to this crystal, in that it is concerning the attempts :othair 22 made to get rid
of his wife Theut%erga# 1e appears to ha+e married her +ery soon after he inherited the throne,
e+en though he had a long-standing mistress called .aldrada, from whom he had two children, a
son and a daughter# .hen he married Theut%erga she had no children, and she continued to %ear no
children, and :othair appears to ha+e decided .aldrada would %e a %etter %et# *o he recruited his
two %ishops, of Cologne and Trier, to ha+e the marriage annulled, on the grounds of incest with
Theut%erga's %rother#G
:othair's %id to di+orce his wife and marry his mistress was no self-indulgent whim) he needed to
ha+e a legitimate heir# 2t was his only chance to preser+e his inheritance and his kingdom# "ut
royal di+orce, then as now, was political dynamite#
The %ishops of Cologne and Trier had actually o%tained confessions from the Bueen - possi%ly
through torture - that she had committed incest with her %rother, %ut Theut%erga appealed to the
8ope, who in+estigated the case and declared her innocent# This was a huge dynastic set%ack for
:othair, %ut he seems to ha+e accepted the 8ope's decision# lthough he continued to try to find
another way of di+orcing her, he seems to ha+e acknowledged pu%licly that the claims against
Theut%erga were groundless, and that the slandered woman was entirely innocent#
"ecause of the strong parallels with the *usannah story, it's always %een tempting to see the
:othair Crystal as connected to this royal drama - perhaps it was made as a present for Theut%erga
to show :othair's sincerity in accepting that she was %lameless# 2f so, it's a kind of pri+ate
statement marking a temporary truce in their marital hostilities# "ut it is almost certainly
something much more significant#
Two striking aspects of the way the final scene is treated suggest that this is in fact a pu%lic
declaration of the central role of 3ustice in the state# 2n this last scene, the artist a%andons the
"i%lical te$t and shows *usannah %eing declared innocent %y a king sitting in 3udgement, and the
inscription specifically names :othair# The message is clear9 one of the key duties of the king is to
ensure that 3ustice is done# 2n short, the king must secure and respect the rule of law, e+en at great
personal cost to himself# !ustice is almost 'the' defining royal +irtue# treatise, pro%a%ly written for
:othair himself, spells this out9
GThe 3ust and peaceful king carefully thinks a%out each case, and not despising the sick and poor of
his people, speaks 3ust 3udgements, putting down the wicked and raising the good#G >*edulius
*cottus, '@e Dectori%us Christianis'?
These ideals, articulated o+er a thousand years ago, are still central to &uropean political life today#
1ere's :ord "ingham again9
G2n the centre of the J:othairK Crystal, one sees the king who commissioned it to %e made in the
role of 3udge, and this is of considera%le interest and importance, %ecause historically the crown
and monarchy has always %een regarded as the fount of 3ustice# 2nterestingly, the Bueen, when she
took her Coronation 7ath in 1653, swore - it's a +ery old oath prescri%ed %y an ct of 14;; - %ut
she swore to do 3ustice and mercy in all her 3udgements# nd this is e$actly the role in which one
sees <ing :othair, in the role of actually personally administering 3ustice which, of course, the
Bueen no longer does# "ut the 3udges who do it in her name are +ery proud to %e called 1er
/a3esty's 3udges, recognising that they're e$ercising their 3udicial functions on her %ehalf#G
212
The *usannah Crystal was made for a king without an heir, in a kingdom without a future# 2n ;46,
when :othair died un-di+orced, his uncles did indeed partition his lands, and all that remains of
:otharingia today is the name of :orraine# For o+er a thousand years, indeed until 1645, :othair's
/iddle <ingdom was %itterly fought o+er %y the successors of the wicked uncles, France and
0ermany# *tand today on the %anks of the Dhine and imagine a powerful state separating the two#
2t's an odd thought#
"ut if :othair had succeeded in di+orcing his wife, and had a legitimate heir, :orraine might now
rank with *pain, France and 0ermany as one of the great states of continental &urope# :otharingia
perished, %ut the principle that :othair's Crystal proclaims has sur+i+ed# central duty of the ruler
of the state is to guarantee that 3ustice is done, dispassionately and in open court# 2nnocence must
%e protected# The :othair Crystal is one of the first &uropean images of the notion of the rule of
law#
213
Episode "4 - tatue of *ara
#tatue of -ara Bmade 5et$een eighth and ninth century *4CD (ron1eF from #ri .an+a
That's the sound of "uddhist monks chanting - and as you could perhaps hear they are in+oking the
name of Tara, the spirit of generous compassion# .e all need help to tackle the predicament of life,
e+en the powerful and the pri+ileged, whose pri+ate worlds 2 am focusing on this week# nd pretty
well e+ery religion has spirits or saints, gods or goddesses that can %e called upon to see us
through# 2f you were a *ri :ankan around ;(( @ you would pro%a%ly ha+e turned, like the monks
we'+e 3ust heard, to Tara# 7+er the centuries many artists ha+e gi+en Tara physical form, %ut it's
hard to imagine many more %eautiful than the golden, nearly life-si,e, figure that now serenely
presides o+er the long sian gallery at the "ritish /useum#
G2 am not a religious person so 2 3ust see it as a wonderfully %eautiful, and indeed 5uite sensuous,
figure of a woman, and you can also see it is a work of e$traordinary technical perfection#G
>Dichard 0om%rich?
The statue of Tara is cast in one piece of solid %ron,e, that has %een co+ered in gold# .hen new,
she must ha+e %een da,,ling when she was seen under the *ri :ankan sun# nd e+en now, when
her gilding is rather worn, and she stands in the cool light of "looms%ury, she still has a
compelling lustre# *he is a%out three 5uarters life-si,e, and she stands, as she always would ha+e,
on a plinth, so that as you look up at her, she %enignly ga,es down at you# 1er face tells you at
once that she comes from south sia# "ut that's not the first thing that strikes +isitors as they look
at her#
*he's got a 5uite impossi%le hour-glass figure, and her upper %ody is completely naked# 1er full
and perfectly rounded %reasts float a%o+e a tiny wasp waist, while %elow, a flimsy sarong is draped
in gleaming folds, which cling to and %eguilingly re+eal her shapely lower %ody#
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*o you will hardly %e surprised to learn that when Tara arri+ed at the "ritish /useum, from
Ceylon as it was then known, in the 1;3(s, she was seen as so dangerously erotic and +oluptuous
that she was at once put into the store-rooms, and kept there for 3( years, +isi%le only to specialist
scholars on re5uest# "ut this statue was a%solutely not made to titillate# *he is a religious %eing,
one of the spiritual protectors to whom the "uddhist faithful can turn in distress, and from a
religious tradition that has no difficulty at all in happily com%ining di+inity and sensuality# The
statue of Tara takes us into a world where faith and %odily %eauty con+erge, to mo+e us %eyond
oursel+es# 2t also tells us a great deal a%out the world of *ri :anka and south sia, 1,2(( years ago#
The island of *ri :anka, separated from 2ndia %y only 2( miles >32 km? of shallow water, has
always %een an important hu% in the sea%orne trade that stitches the lands of the 2ndian 7cean
together# 2n the years around ;(( @ *ri :anka was in close, indeed constant, contact with the
neigh%ouring kingdoms of south 2ndia, %ut also with the 2slamic %%asid &mpire in the /iddle
&ast, with 2ndonesia, and with Tang China# *ri :ankan gems were particularly highly pri,ed, and
1,2(( years ago ru%ies and garnets from here were %eing regularly traded to east and west,
reaching the /editerranean and possi%ly e+en "ritain# *ome of the gems from the great nglo-
*a$on ship %urial at *utton 1oo may well ha+e come from *ri :anka#
"ut it was not only goods that tra+elled# The teachings of the "uddha, who li+ed and preached in
north 2ndia some time around 5(( "C, had gradually e+ol+ed into a comple$ philosophical and
spiritual system of conduct, designed to li%erate the indi+idual soul from the illusion and suffering
of this world# The new faith spread rapidly along the trade routes of 2ndia# *o that when this
sculpture of Tara was made around ;(( @, *ri :anka had %een predominantly "uddhist for o+er a
thousand years# The particular strand of "uddhism that flourished in *ri :anka at this time ga+e a
special place to di+ine %eings called %odhisatt+as, who could help the faithful li+e %etter li+es# Tara
is one of them#
1ere's 8rofessor Dichard 0om%rich, a leading e$pert on "uddhist history and thought9
G'ow, who e$actly is this "uddhist image called Tara-### *he is a personification# *he represents in
person, sym%olically, the power of a "uddha to sa+e you, to take you across the ocean which is this
world, into which, according to most "uddhists, you are continually re%orn, until you find your
way out# There is a particular future "uddha, a %odhisatt+a called +alokitesh+ara, and he is first
found in te$ts which pro%a%ly date from the first century @# 2nitially he operates %y himself, %ut
after a few centuries the idea came that his power to sa+e could %e personified as a goddess# *he
represents his compassion and his power# Tara is simply an aspect of +alokitesh+ara#G
Tara pro%a%ly stood inside a temple, and there must ha+e %een a matching sculpture of her male
consort, +alokitesh+ara, near%y, %ut his image has not sur+i+ed# *trictly speaking Tara was not
made to %e worshipped, %ut to %e a focus for meditation on the 5ualities she em%odies -
compassion and the power to sa+e# *he would ha+e %een seen essentially %y priests or monks from
a pri+ileged elite - so in fact relati+ely few would actually ha+e %een a%le to meditate on her
image#
*tanding in front of her now, in the gallery, we can# nd knowing something of what she meant to
%elie+ers, we can %etter understand why her makers chose to represent her as they did# 1er %eauty
and her serenity speak of her endless compassion# 1er right hand, held down %y her side, is not at
rest, %ut in the position known as '+arada mudra', the gesture of granting a wish - a clear
demonstration of her prime role as the generous helper of the faithful# 1er gilded skin, and the
3ewels that once adorned her, make it clear that this statue of Tara can only ha+e %een
commissioned %y people in command of enormous wealth#
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2t's +ery rare for a statue of this scale to sur+i+e) indeed, we know of no other e$ample of this si,e
from medie+al *ri :anka# t this date most large %ron,e statues would %e cast %y pouring the metal
around a hollow clay core# Tara %y contrast is %ron,e through and through, so whoe+er made her
must ha+e had a great deal of %ron,e, rare skill and a lot of e$perience of this +ery challenging
kind of work# Tara is not 3ust %eautiful) she is a remarka%le technical achie+ement, and she must
ha+e %een +ery, +ery e$pensi+e#
.e don't know who paid for Tara to %e made# 2t could ha+e %een the ruler of any one of se+eral
kingdoms that s5ua%%led and fought o+er territory in *ri :anka around ;(( @# .hoe+er it was
clearly wanted her help on the path to sal+ation# "ut in *ri :anka, as anywhere else, gifts to
religious institutions were also an important part of political strategies of rulers, a means of
asserting their pri+ileged links to the di+ine#
7ne of the things that 2 find fascinating a%out this sculpture is that, at the time it was made, Tara
was a relati+ely recent con+ert to "uddhism# *he had originally %een a 1indu mother goddess, and
was only later adopted %y "uddhists - a typical %ut particularly %eautiful e$ample of the constant
dialogue and e$change %etween "uddhism and 1induism that went on for centuries, and which can
%e seen today in statues and %uildings all o+er south-east sia# Tara shows that "uddhism and
1induism are not tightly defined codes of %elief, %ut ways of %eing and acting that can, in different
conte$ts, a%sor% aspects of other faiths# Tara is, in modern parlance, a strikingly inclusi+e image
made for a "uddhist, *inhala-speaking, court in *ri :anka, %ut stylistically part of the wider world
that em%raced the Tamil speaking, 1indu courts of southern 2ndia# 2ndeed *ri :anka was shared,
then as now, %etween *inhala and Tamil, 1indu and "uddhist, and there were close links and many
e$changes through diplomacy, marriage and, fre5uently, war#
'ira .ickramasinghe, professor in history and international relations, spoke to us a%out what this
long-esta%lished pattern means for the region today9
G2 think in many ways you can speak of a south 2ndianI*ri :ankan region with many points in
common, culturally and politically as well# There has also %een a two-way flow of influences in
art, religion, technology# 7f course it has not always %een a peaceful relationship) there ha+e also
%een in+asions and wars %etween southern states and chiefdoms in *ri :anka#
G2t's really trade that %rought people from 2ndia to *ri :anka# Hou ha+e certain communities which
are really fairly recent migrants from south 2ndia, so they would ha+e come in the ninth to
thirteenth centuries# 2n fact, they merged their south 2ndian identity with a more *ri :ankan
identity, and what is curious now is that many of these are the most ardent *inhala nationalists# 2
mean if you look at their roots, their roots are +ery much in south 2ndia#G
nd so it goes on, 1,2(( years later, the comple$ working-out of the relationships that we see
em%odied in Tara, %etween *inhalese and Tamil, %etween *ri :anka and south 2ndia, %etween
"uddhists and 1indus# Delationships that in *ri :anka ha+e tragically included the recent long and
%loody ci+il war#
"ut Tara may in fact ha+e sur+i+ed thanks to earlier warfare# /arks on the surface of the sculpture
suggest that she was %uried at some point, perhaps to a+oid her %eing looted %y in+aders and then
melted down# Cnfortunately, nothing is known a%out how or when the statue was later found, nor
how it came to %e owned %y the then 0o+ernor of Ceylon, the soldier *ir Do%ert "rownrigg, who
%rought Tara to "ritain# Ceylon had %een taken o+er %y the "ritish from its @utch rulers during the
'apoleonic wars, and in 1;15 Do%ert "rownrigg had con5uered the last remaining independent *ri
:ankan kingdom on the island#
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/any centuries %efore, the island had a%andoned the particular strand of "uddhism in which Tara
had played such a prominent part, and her statue may well ha+e %een remo+ed from the temple and
%uried for safekeeping during that religious uphea+al# "ut if no longer re+ered in *ri :anka, Tara is
in many places +ery much a li+ing force, especially in 'epal and Ti%et# nd today millions of
people, all o+er the world, still turn - as they did in *ri :anka 1,2(( years ago - to Tara, to see them
through#
21=
Episode "" - #hinese *ang tom4 figures
-ang tom5 figures Bmade around )2% *4CD Earthen$are sculptureE from 'hina
2t's a sure sign of middle age they say if, when you pick up the newspaper, you turn first to the
o%ituaries# "ut middle-aged or not, most of us, 2 suspect, would lo+e to know what people will
actually say a%out us when we die# The pri+ileged people 2'm focusing on this week were all, one
way or another, eager to fi$ posterity# "ut nowhere was it so deftly done as in Tang China around
=(( @, where powerful figures didn't 3ust wonder what would %e said a%out them when they died,
they simply wrote or commissioned their own o%ituaries, so that the ancestors and the gods would
know precisely how important and how admira%le they were#
GThey tested people in poetry, in essay writing, in the literary lyrical genres, %ecause the most
successful officials would %e people who would write the words of the emperor#G >7li+er /oore?
2'm in the sia 0allery at the %ack of the "ritish /useum# "ehind me stand two statues of the
3udges of the Chinese underworld, recording the good and the %ad deeds of those who had died#
nd these 3udges were e$actly the people that the Tang elite wanted to impress# 2n front of me, 2'm
looking at a gloriously li+ely troupe of ceramic figures# They're all %etween two and three feet >4(
to 6( cm? high, and there are 12 of them - human, animal and somewhere in %etween# They're from
the tom% of one of the great figures of Tang China, :iu Ting$un, general of the Nhongwu army,
lieutenant of 1enan and 1uinan district and 2mperial pri+y councillor, who died at the ad+anced
age of =2 in =2;#
:iu Ting$un tells us this, and a great deal more %esides, in a glowing o%ituary that he had
commissioned himself and which was %uried along with his ceramic entourage# Together, figures
and te$t gi+e us a mar+ellous glimpse of China 1,3(( years ago, %ut a%o+e all, they're a
shamelessly %arefaced %id for e+erlasting admiration and applause#
21;
.anting to control your own reputation after death isn't unknown today, as nthony 1oward, for
years o%ituaries editor at 'The Times', recalls9
G2 used, oddly enough, to get lots of letters - in the almost decade 2 ran The Times o%ituaries -
saying, '7h, 2 do not seem to %e getting any younger, and 2 thought it might %e helpful to let you
ha+e a few notes on my life'# nd they were un%elie+a%le# 8eople's self conceit - saying things like,
'Though a man of unusual charm', and this kind of thing# 2 mean, 2 couldn't %elie+e that people
would write this a%out themsel+es# *o of course no-one nowadays self-commissions their own
o%ituary, and those that were sent in always ended up straight in the waste-paper %asket#
G2 think that pro%a%ly they are designed as part of the history of our time# 2 mean one of the rows 2
used to ha+e was whether you could put criminals into the o%ituaries page# *ome people regard
%eing on the o%ituaries page as the e5ui+alent of %eing awarded the 7"&, or the C"& e+en, and
think it was 5uite wrong that you should put in, say, the <ray %rothers# "ut 2 said, ''o, 2'm sorry,
that is they are part of the climate that's created the age in which we li+e, and therefore you can't
ha+e a moral test as to whether you get an o%ituary or not'# nd 2 think that's right#
G2 used to rather %oast, and say that on the o%its page of 'The Times', '.e are writing the first
+ersion of history of our generation'# nd that is what 2 think it ought to %e# 2t certainly isn't for the
relati+es, or the family, or e+en the friends#G
The Tang o%ituaries were not for family and friends, either# "ut nor were they the first +ersion of
history for their generation# The intended audience for the o%ituary of :iu Ting$un was not earthly
readers, %ut the 3udges of the underworld, who would recognise his rank and his a%ilities, and
award him the prestigious place among the dead that was his due#
:iu's o%ituary ta%let is a model of colourful self-praise, and he aims a great deal higher than
nthony 1oward's Gman of unusual charmG# 1e tells us that his %eha+iour set a standard which
was destined to cause a re+olution in popular manners# 2n pu%lic life he was an e$emplar of,
G%ene+olence, 3ustice, statesmanship, modesty, loyalty, truthfulness and deferenceG, and his
military skills were compared to the fa%led heroes of the past# 2n one great feat, we're assured, he
%eat off in+ading troops Gas a man %rushes flies from his noseG# 2t's great stuffA
:iu Ting$un pursued his illustrious, if tur%ulent, career in the high days of the Tang @ynasty,
which ran from 41; to 6(4 @# The famous *ilk Doad was in full swing# The Tang era represents
for many Chinese a Ggolden ageG of achie+ement, %oth at home and a%road# This great outward-
looking empire, along with the %%asid 2slamic &mpire in the /iddle &ast, together created what
was effecti+ely a huge single market for lu$ury goods, that ran from /orocco to !apan# Hou won't
find it written in many &uropean histories, %ut these two giants, in effect, shaped and dominated
the early medie+al world# .estern &urope, %y contrast, when :iu Ting$un died in =2; and our
tom% figures were created, was a remote and underde+eloped %ackwater, an unsta%le patchwork of
small kingdoms and precarious ur%an communities# The Tang ruled a unified state that stretched
from <orea in the north, to Eietnam in the south, and far west along the *ilk Doad into Central
sia# The power and the structure of this state - along with its enormous cultural confidence - are
+i+idly em%odied in :iu Ting$un's ceramic tom% figures#
They're arranged in si$ pairs, and all of them are 3ust three colours9 am%er-yellow, green and
%rown# 2t's a two-%y-two procession, and at the front are a pair of monsters, dramatic half-human
creatures with clownish grimaces, spikes on their heads, wings, and hoofed legs# They're fa%ulous
figures heading up the line, in order to protect the tom%'s occupant# "ehind them come another pair
of guardians, these ones entirely human in shape, and their appearance clearly owes a great deal to
2ndia# 'e$t in line, contained and austere, and definitely Chinese, are two ci+il ser+ants, who
stand, arms politely folded, %raced for their specific 3o% - to draft and to present the case for :iu
216
Ting$un to the 3udges of the underworld# The last human figures in this procession are two little
grooms, %ut they're completely o+erwhelmed %y the magnificent %easts in their charge that come
%ehind them# Firstly, two splendid horses, 3ust under three foot >6( cm? high - one cream ,splashed
with yellow and green, and the other entirely %rown - and, %ringing up the rear, a wonderful couple
of camels, "actrian ones with two humps, and their heads thrown %ack as though whinnying# :iu
Ting$un was setting off for the ne$t world magnificently accompanied#
Ceramic figures like these were made in huge num%ers for a%out 5( years, around =((# Their sole
purpose was to %e placed in high-status tom%s# They ha+e %een found all around the great Tang
cities of north-west China, where :iu Ting$un held office# The ancient Chinese %elie+ed you
needed to ha+e in the gra+e all the things which were essential to you in life# *o the figures were
3ust one element in the total contents of :iu Ting$un's tom%, which would also ha+e contained
sumptuous %urial o%3ects of silk and lac5uer, sil+er and gold# .hile the animal and human statues
would ser+e and entertain him, the supernatural guardian figures warded off male+olent spirits#
Hou could hardly make %etter preparation for %eing deadA
"etween their manufacture and their entom%ment, the ceramic figures would ha+e %een displayed
to the li+ing only once, when they were carried in the funeral cortege# They were ne+er intended to
%e seen again# 7nce in the tom%, they took up their unchanging positions around the coffin, and
then the stone door was firmly closed for eternity# Tang poet of the time, Nhang Hue,
commented9
Gll who come and go follow this road,
"ut li+ing and dead do not return together#G
:ike so much else in eighth-century China, the production of ceramic figures like these ones was
controlled %y an official %ureau, 3ust one small part of the enormous ci+il ser+ice that powered the
Tang state# :iu Ting$un, as a +ery high-ranking official in that state, %rought two ceramic
%ureaucrats with him into his tom%, presuma%ly to take care of the e+erlasting admin# 7li+er
/oore has studied this elite %ureaucratic class, which has %ecome so synonymous with the Chinese
state that we still refer to senior ci+il ser+ants as mandarins9
Gdministration was a %ureaucratic operation# 2t com%ined +ery old aristocratic families with what
we could call new men# They were di+ided into +arious ministries - pu%lic works, the economy,
there was a military %oard - and then the largest of all, the one in which more officials were
in+ol+ed than in any other acti+ity, was ritual, with something like %etween 3( - 5( per cent# nd
they would organise recurrent annual or monthly rituals, cele%rations of the emperor's %irthday, or
princes' and princesses' %irthdays, seasonal o%ser+ances - things like the ploughing rite, where the
emperor would open the agricultural season %y sym%olically ploughing a field somewhere in the
palace#
GThere was a +ery small group, whose significance grew throughout the @ynasty, who took
e$aminations and competed for state degrees# :ater on, this system %ecomes magnified# *o that %y
a%out the year 1(((, you ha+e something like 15,((( men coming to the capital to take e$ams, of
whom only around 1,5(( would get a degree# *o this is a system in which the largest num%er, well
o+er 6( per cent, will fail - repeatedly for the whole of their li+es# nd at the same time, this is a
system which fosters loyalty to the @ynasty - which is 5uite remarka%le really#G
:iu Ting$un was a loyal ser+ant of the @ynasty, and his tom% figures, %oth human and animal, sum
up many aspects of Tang China at its ,enith# They show the close link %etween the military and the
ci+il administration, the orderly prosperity that allowed, and controlled, such sophisticated artistic
production, and the confidence with which power was e$ercised %oth at home and a%road#
22(
The horses and the camels in the general's entourage show that :iu Ting$un was, as you might
e$pect, seriously rich, %ut they also underline Tang China's close commercial and trading links
with Central sia and the lands %eyond, through the *ilk Doad# The ceramic horses almost
certainly represent a pri,ed new %reed, tall and muscular, %rought to China from the west along
what was then one of the great trade routes of the world# nd if the horses are the glamorous end
of *ilk Doad traffic - the "entleys or the 8orsches, so to speak - the two "actrian camels are the
hea+y-goods +ehicles, each capa%le of carrying up to 12( kilograms of high-+alue goods - silk,
perfumes, medicines, spices - o+er huge stretches of inhospita%le terrain#
The whole assem%lage of :iu Ting$un's tom% - figures, animals and o%ituary te$t -speak of China's
steady westward e$pansion under the Tang, the wealth that came to it from its domination of the
trade routes, and the social and intellectual sophistication of its go+erning elite#
This week 2'+e %een concentrating on lu$ury o%3ects made %y the powerful to assert their status in
this world and the ne$t - great resources e$pended to create %eautiful works of art for a restricted
audience that usually included the gods# "ecause these %eautiful things were admired, they
sur+i+ed, and they'+e shaped the way much of history has %een written# "ut what a%out the story of
more anonymous humdrum li+es, li+ed out among less glamorous o%3ects- 'e$t week we'+e got a
few %its of %roken pot and some chopped-up sil+er, which will tell us a 5uite different, %ut 2 hope
e5ually fascinating, tale#
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@i<g+is" Rai2*+s an2 T+a2*+s (%## $ 95## 'C)
Episode "$ - @ale of =or( Hoard
Aale of >or+ Hoard B5uried around 02) *4CD Ai+ing o5jectsF found near HarrogateE
>or+shire
7n the surface, e+erything is idyllic # # # imagine a %road green field in Horkshire# 2n the distance
rolling hills, woods and a light morning mist - it's the epitome of a peaceful, unchanging &ngland#
"ut scratch this surface - or more appropriately, wa+e a metal detector o+er it - and a +ery different
&ngland emerges, a land of +iolence and panic, not at all secure %ehind its defending sea, %ut
terrifyingly +ulnera%le to in+asion# nd it was in a field like this, 1,1(( years ago, that a frightened
man %uried a great collection of sil+er, 3ewellery and coins, that linked this part of &ngland to what
would then ha+e seemed unimagina%ly distant parts of the world - to Dussia, the /iddle &ast and
sia# The man was a Eiking, and this was his treasure#
G*uddenly, a metal detector in a field in 1arrogate unco+ers this e$traordinary treasure###G >/ichael
.ood?
G2 crouched down in the soil and you could see the edge of a few coins sticking out of the top of
it###G >ndrew .helan?
GThere, packed in, are these hundreds of coins and these arm-rings, these pieces of sil+er#G >/.?
G### put it in a sandwich %o$, wrapped it all up, and took it home#G >.?
GHou're right there with this material, that can take you %ack to that tremendous moment in &nglish
history, when the kingdom of &ngland was first created#G >/.?
222
G### things you dream of, %ut you don't actually e$pect to happen#G >.?
This week we're sweeping across the +ast e$panse of &urope and sia %etween the ninth and the
thirteenth centuries# nd once again we're not going to %e focussed on the /editerranean9 we're
dealing with two great arcs of trade - one that %egins in 2ra5 and fghanistan, rises north into
Dussia and ends here in "ritain, and another in the south, spanning the 2ndian 7cean from
2ndonesia to frica# The week's o%3ects range from today's precious Eiking treasure from Horkshire
to a few pottery fragments from a %each in frica# "etween them, they %ring to life the tra+ellers,
the traders and the raiders who helped to shape this world#
.hen you use the words Gtraders and raidersG, one group of people a%o+e all springs to mind9 the
Eikings# Eikings ha+e always e$cited the &uropean imagination and their reputation has fluctuated
+iolently# 2n the nineteenth century, the "ritish saw them as sa+age %ad guys - horn-helmeted
rapers and looters# For the *candina+ians, of course, it was different9 the Eikings there were the
all-con5uering heroes of 'ordic legend# The Eikings then went through a stage of %eing seen %y
historians as rather ci+ilised - more tradesmen and tra+ellers than pillagers - in fact they %ecame
almost cuddly# This recent disco+ery of the Eale of Hork 1oard makes them seem a %it less cuddly
and looks set to re+i+e the aggressi+e Eikings of popular tradition, %ut now with a dash of
cosmopolitan glamour# nd the truth, 2 think, is that that's what the Eikings ha+e always %een
a%out9 glit, with +iolence#
The &ngland of the early 6((s was di+ided %etween territories occupied %y the Eikings - most of
the north and the east - while the south and the west were controlled %y the great nglo-*a$on
kingdom of .esse$# The re-con5uest of the Eiking territories %y the nglo-*a$ons was the great
e+ent of tenth-century "ritain, and our treasure %oth pinpoints one tiny part of this national epic,
and connects it to the immense world of Eiking trade#
The hoard was found in the winter of 2((=# 1ere's father and son, @a+id and ndrew .helan, who
were metal-detecting in a field to the south of 1arrogate, in north Horkshire#
G2t was a typical dreary !anuary day, in a muddy rough ploughed field# 2t was a field that we
wouldn't normally go in %ecause we're ne+er really found anything good in there, we tend to find
do,ens of Eictorian %uttons, %ut it was either that or go home, so###G >ndrew .helan?
GThis time we were there a%out ten minutes and that's when 2 got my signal - the %ig oneA 2 started
finding lead at first# 2 dug down a %it more, and 2 kept going, and 2 get more lead, more lead, and
all of a sudden, this round thing fell into the %ottom of the hole - came out from the side, so 2'd
actually 3ust missed it# 2t fell into the %ottom of the hole and 2 thought, '7h dear, 2'+e found an old
%all cock, 2'+e got a lead cistern with an old %all cock'# *o 2 picked this round thing up, and put it
on top of the ploughed land, 2 put my glasses on, and 2 looked at it, and 2 could see all these
animals on the cup, and all these %its of sil+er in the top#G >@a+e .helan?
G2 crouched down in the soil, and you could see the edge of a few coins sticking out of the top of
it### and there was a coin of &dward the &lder, 2 think### on top#G >ndrew .helan?
The hoard that @a+id and ndrew .helan had found was contained in this %eautifully worked
sil+er %owl, a%out the si,e of a small melon# stonishingly, it contained o+er 4(( coins, all sil+er,
and roughly the same si,e as a modern pound coin, %ut wafer thin# They're mostly from nglo-
*a$on territory, %ut there are also some Eiking coins produced in Hork, as well as e$otic imports
from western &urope and Central sia# long with the coins was 3ewellery9 arm-rings - one gold
and fi+e sil+er ones# nd then, there's the ingredient that makes it a%solutely certain that this is not
an nglo-*a$on %ut a Eiking hoard) there's what we call hack sil+er - chopped-up fragments of
223
sil+er %rooches and rings and thin sil+er %ars, mostly a%out an inch >2#5 cm? long, that the Eikings
used as currency#
The hoard pitches us into a key moment in the history of &ngland, when an nglo-*a$on <ing -
thelstan - at last defeated the Eiking in+aders and %uilt the %eginnings of the kingdom of
&ngland# %o+e all, it shows us the range of contacts en3oyed %y the Eikings while they were
running northern &ngland# These *candina+ians were tremendously well connected, as the
historian /ichael .ood makes clear9
GThere's a Eiking arm-ring from 2reland, there's coins minted as far away as *amarkand and
fghanistan and "aghdad# nd this gi+es you a sense of the reach of the age) these Eiking kings
and their agents and their trade routes spread across western &urope, 2reland, *candina+ia# Hou
read ra% accounts of Eiking sla+e dealers on the %anks of the Caspian *ea) 0uli the Dussian - so-
called %ecause of his Dussian hat, and he was 2rish this guy, you knowA - dealing in sla+es out there
on the Caspian, and those kind of trade routes) the ri+er routes down to the "lack *ea - through
'o+gorod and <ie+ and these kind of places) you can see how in a +ery short time, coins minted in
*amarkand, say, in 615, could end up in Horkshire in the 62(s#G
The Eale of Hork hoard makes it clear that Eiking &ngland did indeed operate on a trans-
continental scale# 1ere is a dirham from *amarkand, and there are other 2slamic coins from central
sia# :ike Hork, <ie+ was a great Eiking city, and there merchants from 2ra5, 2ran and fghanistan
traded their goods +ia Dussia and the "altic to the whole of northern &urope# 2n the process, the
people around <ie+ %ecame +ery rich# n ra% merchant of the time descri%es them making neck-
rings for their wi+es %y melting down the gold and sil+er coins they'd amassed from trade9
GDound her neck she wears gold or sil+er rings) when a man amasses 1(,((( dirhams, he makes
his wife one ring) when he has 2(,((( he makes two### and often a woman has many of these
rings#G
nd, indeed, there's a fragment of one of these Dussian rings in the hoard# lthough <ie+ and Hork
were %oth Eiking cities, contact %etween them would only +ery rarely ha+e %een direct# 'ormally
the trade route would %e constructed through a series of relays, with spices and sil+er coins and
3ewellery mo+ing north, as am%er and fur mo+ed in the other direction, and at e+ery stage there
would %e a profit# "ut this trade route also carried the dark side of the Eikings' reputation# ll
through eastern &urope, the Eikings captured people to sell as sla+es in the great market of <ie+ -
which e$plains why in so many &uropean languages the words for sla+e and *la+ are to this day
still so closely connected#
"ut this hoard also tells us a great deal of what was happening %ack in Hork# There, the Eikings
were %ecoming Christian %ut, as so often, the new con+erts were reluctant to a%andon the sym%ols
of their old religion - the 'orse gods were not entirely dead# nd so, on one coin minted at Hork
around 62(, we find the sword and name of the Christian *t 8eter, %ut intriguingly the 'i' of 8etri -
8eter - is in the shape of a hammer, the em%lem of the old 'orse god, Thor# 2t's a coin that shows
us that the new faith uses the weapons of the old#
.e can %e pretty certain that this treasure was %uried soon after 62=# 2n that year, the nglo-*a$on
thelstan, <ing of .esse$, finally defeated the Eikings, con5uered Hork, and recei+ed the homage
of rulers from *cotland and .ales# 2t was the %iggest political e+ent in "ritain since the departure
of the Domans# nd the hoard contains one of the sil+er coins that thelstan issued to cele%rate it#
7n it, he gi+es himself a totally new title, ne+er used %efore %y any ruler9 'thelstan De$ totius
"ritanniae' - thelstan, <ing of all "ritain# The modern idea of a united "ritain starts here# 1ere's
/ichael .ood again9
224
GThe wonderful thing a%out the treasure is that it hones in on the +ery moment that &ngland was
created as a kingdom and as a state# The early tenth century is the moment when these, what we
might call 'national identities', start to %e used for the first time# nd that's why all the later kings
of the &nglish, whether it was 'ormans or 8lantagenets or Tudors, looked %ack to thelstan as the
founder of their kingdom# nd in one sense you could say they go %ack to that moment in 62=#G
"ut it was a pretty messy moment, and the hoard demonstrates that the struggle %etween Eiking
and nglo-*a$on wasn't yet o+er# The treasure certainly %elonged to a rich and powerful Eiking,
%ut he must ha+e stayed on in Horkshire under the new regime, %ecause some of the coins in his
hoard were minted %y thelstan in Hork in 62=# *omething must then ha+e gone wrong for our
Eiking, which led him to %ury the hoard - %ut he did it so carefully that he must ha+e intended to
return# .as he killed in the ongoing skirmish %etween Eikings and nglo-*a$ons- @id he go %ack
to *candina+ia, or on to 2reland- .hate+er happened to the treasure-owner, most of the Eikings in
&ngland stayed on and, in due course, were assimilated# 2n north-east &ngland today, places with
names ending in G%yG and GthorpeG - like 0rims%y and Cleethorpes - are li+ing sur+i+als that still
speak of the long Eiking presence# nd the Eale of Hork 1oard reminds us that these places were
also the end - or the %eginning - of a huge trade route that around 6(( stretched from *cunthorpe to
*amarkand#
2n the ne$t programme, we'll %e on a different trade route, %ut one that also links the /iddle &ast
and northern &urope# .e'll %e in 8oland, with a Christian saint and a miraculous glass### that turned
water into wine#
225
Episode "& - Hed!ig glass 4ea(er
Hed$ig glass 5ea+er Bmade t$elfth centuryCE pro5a5ly from #yria
For most &nglish speakers, the name 1edwig, if it means anything at all, con3ures up the o%liging
owl that deli+ers messages to 1arry 8otter# "ut if you come from central &urope - and especially if
you come from 8oland - 1edwig means something 5uite different9 she's a royal saint who, around
12((, %ecame a national and religious sym%ol, and who through the centuries has deli+ered not
messages, %ut miracles#
The most famous of all the 1edwig miracles was that the water in her glass turned regularly into
wine, and across central &urope there is to this day a small, pu,,ling group of distincti+e glass
%eakers alleged to %e the +ery glasses from which she drank the miraculous li5uid#
7ne of 1edwig's %eakers is now in the "ritish /useum, and it takes us at once to the high religious
politics of the Crusades, the great age of Dichard the :ionheart and *aladin, and to the une$pected
fact that the war %etween Christians and /uslims was accompanied %y a great flourishing of trade#
nd recent research is now leading us to think that 1edwig's %eakers, re+ered in central &urope as
e+idence of a Christian miracle, were most pro%a%ly made %y 2slamic glass-workers in the /iddle
&ast#
Gcre on the 8alestinian coast %ecame the chief terminus of the siatic spice trade, and was an
enormous re+enue generator#G >!onathan Diley-*mith?
GThere were +ery +igorous attempts to resol+e this parado$, as it was, that the Christians seemed to
%e %enefitting so much from their trade with the /uslim world while, at the same time, a whole
series of crusades was %eing fought against the /uslims#G >@a+id %ulafia?
GThat one port - according to an &nglish contemporary, actually - pro+ided for the crown of
!erusalem more than the total re+enues of the kingdom of &ngland#G >!onathan Diley-*mith?
224
This week we're looking at how, a%out a thousand years ago, o%3ects mo+ed around the world in
the conte$t of war, trade and faith, and 1edwig's glass %eaker is an e$traordinary e$ample of the
intersection of all three#
1edwig was married to 1enry the "earded, @uke of *ilesia - a territory that straddles the 8olish,
0erman and C,ech %orders# 1enry and 1edwig had se+en children, including the deliciously
named <onrad the Curly, and then in 12(6 - perhaps not surprisingly - they took +ows of
a%stinence# "y then, the @uchess was already displaying distinctly saintly tendencies) she founded
a hospital for female lepers, and she treated the nuns in the local con+ents with disconcerting
re+erence9
G*he used the water in which the nuns had washed their feet to wash her eyes, often her entire face#
nd more wonderful yet, she used this same water to rinse the faces and heads of her small
grandchildren, her son's children# *he was firmly con+inced that the sanctity of the nuns who had
touched the water would profit the children's sal+ation#G >from 'Eita 1edwigis'?
lthough a duchess she dressed poorly, she went %arefoot, e+en in the snow, where it was reported
that she left %loody footprints, and, almost unheard of in those days, she drank only water# This
teetotal %eha+iour worried her hus%and a good deal) drinking wine was much safer than water that
was usually unclean, and he was worried that she would fall ill or fade away# "ut one day, so the
legend goes, the @uke watched her raise her glass of water to her lips, and saw that it miraculously
turned into wine# 1er sainthood, and presuma%ly her health, was pretty much assured from then
on#
nd so was the fame of her glass# /edie+al &urope had an insatia%le hunger for relics connected
to miracles# mong the most famous of them all was a cup which had %een used at the .edding at
Cana, where Christ performed his first miracle of turning water into wine# "ut what a%out
1edwig's cup-
2 ha+e it in my hand or, at least, 2 ha+e in my hand one of the do,en or so glass %eakers, all
strikingly similar, which were identified %y the pious as the +essels from which 1edwig had drunk#
2t's a thick glass, a smoky topa, colour, and it's a%out eight inches >2( cm? high, and it's really
much more like a small +ase# Hou need two hands to grasp it, and it's not at all easy to drink out of#
2f 2 put some water in to it, and then try to take a proper gulp, the rim is so wide that it spills# nd
sadly, 2 ha+e to tell you, that when 2 drink from this it does not turn into wine#
"ut a miracle of a different sort has ensured that a do,en or so +ulnera%le or fragile glass o%3ects
like this should all ha+e sur+i+ed the centuries intact# They must ha+e %een +ery carefully
cherished, and we know that many of them were preser+ed in princely collections and in church
treasuries# *o it's pro%a%le that many of them were in fact used as chalices in royal chapels and
churches# /any of the sur+i+ing 1edwig %eakers ha+e %een mounted with precious metal for use
in the mass, and when you look at the foot and the sides of our %eaker, you can see that it, too,
once had metal mounts#
Fascinatingly, 1edwig was one of a new kind of saint# "y the time she was canonised, in 124=, the
num%er of women saints had hit an all-time high in the history of the church# Hou really can say
that this is the point where women %roke through the glass ceiling of sanctity# 5uarter of all new
saints were now female# This may well ha+e had something to do with the religious re+i+al
fostered %y the new preaching orders, the Franciscans and the @ominicans# They %elie+ed that the
true Christian life should %e li+ed not in the cloister %ut in the town, and they insisted that women
should play a full part in this# *o they encouraged royal women to do good works# 1edwig's
support of the lepers was typical and, e+en today, we all know from the 8rincess of .ales's work
with ids sufferers how powerful such a royal e$ample can %e# The medie+al Church strengthened
22=
that e$ample %y then making the women saints after their death, and the roll-call of royal saints is
impressi+e# *t Cunegunda 1oly Doman &mpress, *t /argaret 8rincess of 1ungary, *t gnes
8rincess of "ohemia, and *t 1edwig @uchess of *ilesia# ll of them were credited with miracles,
%ut only 1edwig recei+ed the miracle of the wine#
"ut the friars were calling not 3ust for good works %ut for a good war, as another demonstration of
religious renewal, and the Franciscans and @ominicans were among the most effecti+e ad+ocates
of the Crusades# s *t 1edwig drank her wine, the Crusades were in full swing and, in 121=, her
%rother-in-law, the <ing of 1ungary, took the cross and led an armed e$pedition to the 1oly :and#
nd yet the curious thing is that, despite this military acti+ity - or perhaps e+en %ecause of it -
trade seems to ha+e flourished# 1ere's the economic historian @a+id %ulafia9
GThe contact %etween &urope and the /iddle &ast in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries was %uilt
around some 5uite intense trading contact) the Eenetians, 0enoese, 8isans in particular, managed
to carry on their %usiness# This sometimes caused a certain amount of scandal, as you can imagine
- that they were still present in the port in le$andria, for instance, whilst *aladin was preparing
his campaigns against the Christians in the 1oly :and# "ut the %asis of this trade was the e$change
of raw materials, really, which came out of the 2slamic world - nota%ly silks, glassware, ceramics,
things like this which could not %e produced to anything like the same 5uality within western
&urope#G
nd it's this phenomenon of trade coe$isting with war that e$plains one of the most e$traordinary
things a%out the 1edwig %eaker# The design of the 1edwig %eakers all feature similar images9 a
lion, a griffin, an eagle, flowers and geometric motifs, %ut this %eaker is the only one that com%ines
all these elements# There is a lion and a griffin, each raising a paw in homage to the eagle that
stands %etween them, and the deep-cut design runs all the way round the glass# mould must ha+e
%een pressed into the glass while it was still hot and soft, and then details of the te$ture and pattern
were meticulously car+ed# Hou get a real sense of feather and fur, %ut a%o+e all, when you look at
this you're struck %y the style#
2 think many people, if shown this cold, would think it was a great piece of 163(s rt @eco,
possi%ly from *candina+ia, and the 1edwig %eakers certainly don't look like anything that was
produced in medie+al &urope# .hich may well %e why this e$traordinary group of glasses was
associated with a miracle# These %eakers clearly don't %elong to the world that they were found in#
*o where were they made- 2t's a 5uestion people ha+e %een asking for o+er two hundred years, and
we may now %e nearer an answer, %ecause scientific analysis of this glass, and of other 1edwig
%eakers, shows that they were made not out of the potash glass of &uropean tradition, %ut out of
soda-ash glass, made on the coast of :e%anon and *yria#
The 1edwig %eakers are so similar in shape, material and style that they must ha+e %een produced
together, in a single workshop# nd that workshop must ha+e %een in one of those coastal cities)
the glass was almost certainly made %y /uslim craftsmen# .e know that at this period lots of
2slamic glass was made for e$port to &urope) @amascus glass appears in the in+entories of many
medie+al treasuries, and cre, the main trading centre of the Crusader kingdom of !erusalem, was
the principal port for this trade# 1ere's 1istorian of the Crusades, 8rofessor !onathan Diley-*mith9
Gcre, which is now in 2srael, %ecame the most important commercial port in the eastern
/editerranean, which meant that shipping from the .est was %ringing out &uropean cloth and
%ringing %ack to the .est spices# nd we ha+e a fascinating list of commodities traded in the port
of cre in the middle of the thirteenth century, with the customs duties that were due on each
commodity# nd that mentions /uslim pottery# 2t doesn't actually mention these glass %eakers, %ut
it mentions /uslim pottery as one of the main items that would ha+e %een ta$ed# *o the
appearance or sur+i+al of %eakers of this sort in &urope has to %e seen in the conte$t of the
22;
enormous trade %etween the .est and the :e+ant, and further east to furthest sia, that was
passing through a Crusader port#G
ll this opens up an intriguing possi%ility) we know that 1edwig's %rother-in-law, the <ing of
1ungary, spent some time in the city of cre# Could he ha+e commissioned the %eakers while he
was there- 2t would e$plain why they were later connected to 1edwig, the family saint, and how
they came to central &urope# fragment from a 1edwig %eaker has %een found in his royal palace
in "udapest, so it's a realistic possi%ility# 2t can't, of course, %e any more than 3ust a guess, %ut 2
must confess that 2'm %eguiled %y the idea, and 2 feel it might 3ust %e the solution to the pu,,le of
the 1edwig %eakers# "ut research, as always, continues - and a different answer may well appear
in due course, so watch this space#
2n the ne$t programme, we'll %e with another lu$ury o%3ect connected with rich women, and also
freighted with spiritual meaning# .e'll %e in !apan### with a group of mirrors thrown into a sacred
lake#
226
Episode ", - 1apanese 4ron/e mirror
(ron1e mirror Bmade t$elfth centuryCE from 2apan
2 am listening to the sound of the famous Tre+i fountain in Dome, where e+ery day tourists throw
coins worth a%out 3,((( euros to secure good luck and a return +isit to Dome# 8eople ha+e %een
throwing +alua%le things into water for thousands of years# 7n the face of it, it's an e$traordinary
compulsion, %ut it seems to %e a uni+ersal one, and it's not only coins into fountains with a light-
hearted wish, it's often a deadly serious plea to the gods# 2n ri+ers and ponds across "ritain
archaeologists regularly disco+er weapons, 3ewellery and precious metals that were gi+en to the
gods thousands of years ago# 2n the "ritish /useum we ha+e o%3ects from all o+er the world that
were once solemnly deposited in water# 7ne of the most fascinating o%3ects - and the su%3ect of
this programme - is a mirror thrown into a temple pool around nine hundred years ago, in !apan#
G2 think that people who are interested in aesthetics, and art, and taste, look %ack to the 1eian
period as one of the great cultures, not only in !apanese history %ut in the history of man#G >2an
"uruma?
G2 am a plain old-fashioned mirror from a %ygone age, made of good white metal that stays clear
without %eing polished# 2 am going to discuss serious matters now# 8ay close attention, e+eryone#
Hou should think, as you listen to me, that you are hearing the 'Chronicles of !apan'#G
That last 5uote is from a famous !apanese history called 'The 0reat /irror' written around 11((, in
which the mirror not only has a +oice, %ut the power to re+eal !apan to itself# 2 hope it's not too
fanciful to make the same claim for the mirror in this programme, which was made at a%out the
same time, although - as always with mirrors - we can't necessarily trust what we think we see#
nd, as we all know only too well, historical truth is a shifting thing, not least %ecause o%3ects are
constantly yielding up new knowledge# 7ur mirror is no e$ception, it's only in the in the last year
that we'+e found out e$actly where it came from, and what that new information tells us a%out the
23(
!apan of eight hundred years ago# The story our mirror can now tell is a%out lo+ers and poets, court
women and goddesses, priests and emperors#
The mirror is circular, it's a%out the si,e of a saucer, and it sits comforta%ly in my hand# There isn't
a handle, %ut it would ha+e had a loop fi$ed to it, so that you could hang it from a hook# "ut it's not
a mirror as you or 2 would think of it - the modern, sil+er-%acked reflecting mirror doesn't really
come into the world until around the si$teenth century# &arly mirrors like this %ron,e one were all
made of metal, which was then so highly polished that you could literally see your face in it#
:ike so much else in !apanese culture, mirrors originally came to !apan from China# This week's
programmes are focussed on how, around a thousand years ago, cultures across the world were
trading goods and spreading new ideas and %eliefs# Throughout the eighth and ninth centuries
!apan had %een an energetic participant in these e$changes, particularly with China# "ut lying right
at the end of all the great sian trade routes, and isolated %y sea, !apan, unlike almost any other
culture, was a%le to opt out of this interconnected world# 2t's an option !apan has e$ercised se+eral
times in its history, and it did it most strikingly in the year ;64, when it stopped all official contact
with China and effecti+ely cut itself off from the rest of the world#
Cntrou%led %y outside influences or new arri+als, !apan turned inwards for se+eral centuries - a
fact which still resonates today - and de+eloped its own highly idiosyncratic culture# t the court in
<yoto e+ery aspect of life was constantly refined and aestheticised in the pursuit of e+er more
sophisticated pleasure# 2t was a society in which women played a key cultural role# 2t's also the
time of the first significant literature written in !apanese - written, in fact, %y women# *o it's a
world we know 5uite a lot a%out, and it's the world of our mirror# The person who first used it
could well ha+e %een reading that first great !apanese no+el - indeed one of the first great no+els of
the world - the 'Tale of 0en3i' written %y the court lady /urasaki *hiki%u# 1ere's the no+elist and
e$pert on !apanese culture, 2an "uruma9
G:ady /urasaki was a little %it like !ane usten### the 'Tale of 0en3i' gi+es you an e$traordinary
insight into what life was like in that aristocratic hothouse of the 1eian period#
G7ne thing that distinguishes medie+al !apanese culture, is that it was e$tremely aestheticised, it
turned %eauty into a kind of cult# nd that included e+erything in daily life, not 3ust o%3ects like
mirrors, or chopsticks, or whate+er it was, %ut life itself, which was of course highly ritualised - in
an aristocratic society it always is# That's true of all aristocratic societies, %ut possi%ly the
aristocracy of the 1eian period went further than any other culture, %efore or since# 8eople
communicated %y writing poetry, and they had incense-smelling contests) they were connoisseurs
of e+ery kind of aesthetic pursuit, and that included the relations %etween men and women# nd of
course feelings came into it, and so that led to 3ealousies and all the normal forms of human
%eha+iour which /urasaki recorded so %eautifully#G
nd we can see something of :ady /urasaki's world of aesthetic refinement and incense-smelling
contests in our mirror# 7n the %ack, the elegant decoration shows a pair of cranes in flight, their
heads thrown %ack, their wings outstretched, and pine %ranches in their %eaks# Their necks
elegantly cur+e, to match e$actly the cur+e of the circular mirror# nd on the outer edge are more
decorati+e pine fronds# 2t's a %eautifully %alanced, perfectly composed, work of art# "ut as well as
%eing %eautiful, our mirror also had a meaning, %ecause cranes had a reputation for longe+ity - the
!apanese %elie+ed that they li+ed for a thousand years# :ady /urasaki tells us of one of her
contemporaries, who at a particular court e+ent wore a gown decorated with cranes on a seashore#
G"en-no-'aishi showed on her train a %each with cranes on it, painted with sil+er# 2t was
something new# *he had also em%roidered pine %ranches) she is cle+er, for all these things are
em%lematic of a long life#G
231
nd the cranes also carry another meaning - %ecause these %irds mate for life, and so are sym%ols
of marital fidelity# The message on the %ack of our mirror is 5uite simply one of enduring lo+e#
.hich %rings us %ack to the 'Tale of 0en3i'# t one point in the %ook 0en3i, the princely hero,
%efore setting off for a long a%sence, takes a mirror, recites into it a passionate lo+e poem and then
gi+es it to his %elo+ed - so that, holding the mirror once he is gone, she will %e a%le to hold %oth
his message of lo+e and, within its polished surface, the image of 0en3i himself# 7ur mirror, with
its faithful cranes, would ha+e %een a particularly appropriate +ehicle for such a declaration of
lo+e#
"ut !apanese mirrors can also communicate more alarming messages, and not 3ust %etween
humans - through them we can enter the world of the spirits, and, indeed, speak to the gods# 1ere's
2an "uruma again9
GThe mirror in !apanese culture does ha+e se+eral meanings, and some of them may seem
contradictory# 7ne is that it's an o%3ect to ward off e+il spirits# 7n the other hand it can also attract
them, which is why, if you go into a rather traditional household in !apan e+en today, people often
co+er up their mirror when they don't use it# They ha+e a cloth that they hang in front of it, %ecause
it might attract e+il spirits# t the same time, it's a sacred o%3ect# 2n the holiest shrine in !apan, in
2se, the holiest of holy parts inside the shrine, that no%ody e+er gets to see, has one of the three
great national treasures, which is indeed a mirror#G
2n fact, it's the mirror of the great !apanese sun goddess, materasu# "y ancient tradition,
materasu at the dawn of time ordered her grandson to descend from hea+en to rule o+er !apan,
and to help him in this imperial task she ga+e him a sacred mirror, which would gi+e him and his
successors perpetual access to the di+ine sun# To this day the sacred mirror of materasu is used in
the enthronement ceremonies of the !apanese emperor#
nd it's this particular a%ility of !apanese mirrors to allow humans to speak to gods that has
ensured the sur+i+al of our mirror, which, along with 1; others, was gi+en to the "ritish /useum
in 162= %y a great !apanese collector of mirrors# ll of these mirrors are made of %ron,e, and all
ha+e the same distincti+e matt surface# "ut it was only in the last few months, while we were
preparing for this programme, that a !apanese scholar researching in the "ritish /useum was, for
the first time, a%le to tell us why they all looked like this# 2t's %ecause all of them came from the
same place, all of them were found in a sacred pond %eneath the mountain shrine of 1aguro-san in
the north of !apan# t the %eginning of the twentieth century this pond was drained, in order to
%uild a %ridge for pilgrims# To the astonishment of the engineers, they found, deep in the mud at
the %ottom of the pond, around 4(( mirrors, ours among them, which o+er the centuries had %een
consigned to the water# 1ere's that same +isiting !apanese scholar, the archaeologist 1arada
/asayuki9
G8eople started to JmakeK pilgrimages to the mountain, %ecause they thought there was a god in
this mountain# They did consider the landscape 5uite holy and spiritual) for e$ample, looking at the
white snow that stays for a long time, they thought it something mysterious and 5uite spiritual# *o
people thought that in that pond there was a god#
GThere was a %elief among the !apanese people that in order to %e re-%orn Jit depended onK how
much good # # # you can do# *o it was pro%a%ly a similar idea, that these e$5uisitely made and +ery
e$pensi+e mirrors### to offer in order to %e re-%orn### to entrust to a "uddhist priest to dedicate to
the god, so that they could come %ack to the world again#G
*o now we can pretty confidently guess at the entire life story of our mirror# 2t was made in the
sophisticated %ron,e casting workshops of <yoto around 11((, to %e used in the rarefied world of
courtly ritual and display, an indispensa%le tool for any lady or gentleman to prepare themsel+es
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for an aesthetic pu%lic appearance# t some point, its owner decided to dispatch it in the care of a
priest on a long 3ourney to the northern shrine, and there it was thrown into the sacred pond, still
holding within it the likeness of its owner and carrying a message to the other world# .hat neither
owner nor priest could e+er ha+e guessed was that it would one day %e a message to us# nd like
the mirror we heard speaking at the %eginning of the programme, it tells to a modern audience a
chronicle of 7ld !apan#
2n the ne$t programme we mo+e away from the deli%erate isolation of !apan, %ack to the great
trade routes# .e'll %e on the sea lanes around south sia, from China to 2ndia, with, in the middle,
the 2ndonesian island of !a+a### and one of the greatest "uddhist monuments in the world,
"oro%udur#
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Episode ". - %oro4udur %uddha head
(oro5udur (uddha head B5et$een )%0 and %"0 *4CD #toneF from 2avaE 7ndonesia
2 am in the 2ndonesian island of !a+a - 3ust a few degrees south of the e5uator# 2t's hot and it's
humid, %ut 2, and hundreds of other people on this steamy early morning, am a%out to set off on a
walk that will take us around the world - or at least, around a sym%olic representation of the world,
as it was imagined and %uilt here sometime around ;(( @# 2'm at "oro%udur, one of the greatest
"uddhist monuments in the world, and the huge, s5uare, terraced pyramid in front of me, is
nothing less than the "uddhist +iew of the cosmos, in stone# nd as 2 clim% it, 2 shall %e treading a
physical path that mirrors the spiritual 3ourney sym%olically transporting the walker from this
world to a higher plane of %eing# 2t's 5uite a 3ourney#
G.hen you are at "oro%udur, you are standing on this great monument# Hou can see the entire
world around you, %eneath you - it's an enormous e$perience of spaciousness, of freedom, and a
far +aster perspecti+e#G >*tephen "achelor?
This week we're tracing the great arcs of trade that linked sia, &urope and frica around a
thousand years ago# /y o%3ect today is a stone head of the "uddha, from "oro%udur# Through it
we can plot the huge network of connections across the China *ea and the 2ndian 7cean, %y which
goods and ideas, languages and religions, were e$changed among the peoples of south-east sia#
2 want to focus on the immensely rich and strategically important island of !a+a# "ecause it's in
!a+a, at the monument of "oro%udur, that we witness a spectacular e$ample of how this network of
international trade allowed "uddhism to spread %eyond the %oundaries of its %irth and %ecome a
world religion#
@ominating a +olcanic plane in the middle of !a+a, "oro%udur is a stepped pyramid, made from
o+er one and a half million %locks of stone# "uilt around the year ;((, it's concei+ed as se+en
234
mounting terraces getting smaller as they rise9 four s5uare terraces %elow, then three circular ones
a%o+e - and at the top of the whole structure is a large domed shrine#
s you clim% through the different le+els, you take the material road to a spiritual enlightenment#
7n the lowest le+el, the sculptured reliefs present us with the illusions and disappointments of
ordinary life, with all its trou%les and shortcomings# They show us the punishments meted out to
adulterers, murderers and thie+es - a @ante-like +ision of sin and its ine+ita%le punishment# 1igher
up, the reliefs show the life of the historical "uddha himself, as he negotiated this imperfect world,
mo+ing from his princely %irth and family wealth to renunciation and, e+entually, enlightenment#
fter that, come single statues of the "uddha, meditating and teaching, showing pilgrims how to
continue their 3ourney towards the realms of the spirit# The monument, or stupa, is decorated with
well o+er a thousand stone relief car+ings, and peopled with hundreds of statues of the "uddha#
"oro%udur is without 5uestion one of the great cultural achie+ements of humanity#
"ut when 2slam %ecame the dominant religion in !a+a in the si$teenth century, "uddhist
"oro%udur was a%andoned, and for centuries it lay o+ergrown and almost in+isi%le# Three hundred
years later, in 1;14, it was redisco+ered %y the first modern +isitor to descri%e it, the "ritish
administrator, scholar and soldier *ir *tamford Daffles# Daffles had %een appointed lieutenant
go+ernor of !a+a after the "ritish captured the island during the 'apoleonic wars, and he %ecame
passionate a%out the people and their past# 1e heard a%out a Ghill of statuesG and he ordered a team
to go to in+estigate# The news they %rought %ack was so e$citing that Daffles went to see for
himself the monument which he at that stage knew as "oro "oro9
G"oro "oro is admira%le as a ma3estic work of art# The great e$tent of the masses of %uilding,
co+ered in some parts with the lu$uriant +egetation of the climate, the %eauty and delicate
e$ecution of the separate portions, the symmetry and regularity of the whole# The great num%er
and interesting character of the statues and reliefs, with which they are ornamented, e$cite our
wonder that they were not earlier e$amined, sketched and descri%ed#G
"ut the monument had %een %adly damaged %y earth5uakes, and had %een largely %uried under
+olcanic ash# &+en today many stone fragments stand in rows around the site, surrounded %y grass
and flowers# 'e+ertheless, Daffles was enraptured# 1e knew at once that this was a supreme
architectural and cultural achie+ement, and he collected two of the fallen stone heads of the
"uddha#
Daffles' redisco+ery of "oro%udur, and his later unco+ering of important 1indu monuments on the
island - for !a+a had em%raced %oth 1induism and "uddhism - led to a fundamental reassessment
of !a+anese history# Daffles wanted to persuade &uropeans that !a+a was indeed a great
ci+ilisation, as the anthropologist 'igel "arley tells us9
GDaffles %elie+ed fer+ently in the concept of ci+ilisation, he ne+er defines it %ut it has a num%er of
clear markers# 7ne of them is the possession of a writing system, another is social hierarchy, and
yet another is the possession of comple$ stone architecture# *o if you like, "oro%udur was one of
the proofs that !a+a was a great ci+ilisation, the e5ual of ancient 0reece and Dome# nd the whole
of his collection at the "ritish /useum, the Daffles collection, and the whole of that %ook he
wrote, the '1istory of !a+a', is an attempt to esta%lish that proposition#G
The Daffles collection consists of the two heads and some fragments gathered at "oro%udur, and a
modest num%er of ancient 1indu and 2slamic works of art# "ut, in addition, he collected o%3ects
that for him summed up the !a+anese culture of his own day - indeed in a later programme 2'll %e
talking a%out some of his shadow puppets, the star attractions of popular theatre# This was a +ery
particular kind of collecting9 Daffles hoped that the o%3ects themsel+es would plead the cause of
235
this 2ndonesian ci+ilisation, and would make it clear that the culture of !a+a was part of a greater
*outh sian cultural tradition#
"ack in the "ritish /useum, 2'm standing in the section of the &ast sia 0allery de+oted to !a+a,
with one of the fallen stone heads of the "uddha that Daffles found in the ruins at "oro%udur# 2t's
slightly larger than life-si,e and it shows the "uddha, with his eyes lowered, in a state of peaceful
inner contemplation# 1is mouth has the classic serene half-smile, his hair is tightly curled, and
we're reminded of his life as a prince - %efore he %ecame enlightened - %y the elongated earlo%es,
intended to suggest long years of wearing hea+y gold earrings# :ooking at this head, 2'm
immediately reminded of the first human images of the "uddha made a%out fi+e hundred years
earlier, in north-western 2ndia, which 2 talked a%out in an earlier programme# Daffles of course
knew 2ndia +ery well, and it was immediately clear to him that the statues of "oro%udur - and
indeed much of !a+anese culture - owed a great deal to long and sustained contacts with 2ndia#
These contacts had %een going on for well o+er a thousand years %efore "oro%udur was %uilt#
8eople used to think that these connections were the result of con5uest or emigration from 2ndia,
%ut we now see them as part of a great maritime trading network, which ine+ita%ly carried not 3ust
people and goods, %ut skills, ideas and %eliefs# 2t was this network that %rought "uddhism to !a+a
and %eyond - tra+elling along the *ilk Doad to China, <orea and !apan, and sailing across the
*outh sian seas to *ri :anka and 2ndonesia# Hou can, 2 think, say that "uddhism was the first
religion to go glo%al, %ut it was ne+er an e$clusi+e faith, and at roughly the time that "oro%udur
was rising out of the landscape, great 1indu temples were also %eing %uilt on a compara%le scale#
To construct monuments like these, of course, re5uired manpower and money# /anpower has
ne+er %een a pro%lem in !a+a# 2t is so fertile, it has always supported a huge population, and in the
years around ;(( the island was immensely rich# "esides its agriculture, it was a key staging post
for international trade, especially the ine+ita%le spices - clo+es a%o+e all - coming from further
east# From !a+a these lu$ury goods would %e shipped on to China, and all o+er the 2ndian 7cean#
2'm now standing in front of the one of the reliefs at "oro%udur that gi+es us the %est possi%le, and
most +i+id, e+idence for this kind of sea%orne contact# 2t's a super% car+ed panel, showing a ship of
around ;((, and it's one of se+eral you can find here at "oro%udur# 2t's an image of great +igour
and skill, deeply car+ed, with a lot of energy, and indeed humour - %ecause right at the front, at the
%ows under the figurehead, you can see a sailor grimly clinging on to the anchor# "ut a%o+e all, it
offers us +isual e+idence for the kind of ship that was a%le to make these long sea 3ourneys, with
multiple sails and masts - a kind of ship perfectly a%le to make those long sea runs from China and
Eietnam to !a+a, *ri :anka and 2ndia#
2 suppose it's true of all great religious %uildings, %ut at "oro%udur 2 was particularly struck %y
what 2 think is a uni+ersal parado$9 you need huge material wealth, ac5uired only through intense
engagement with the affairs of the world, to %uild monuments that inspire us to a%andon wealth
and to lea+e the world %ehind# 1ere's the "uddhist teacher and writer *tephen "achelor9
G2t clearly was a +ery grandiose e5ui+alent to one of those great 0othic &uropean cathedrals, and it
would ha+e taken pro%a%ly =5 to 1(( years to construct it, similar to the cathedrals here in &urope#
nd so it's a great sym%ol of the "uddhist world, the "uddhist +ision, and it's an intellectual
e$ercise at some le+el# "ut %ecause it is so %rutally physical, it is so concrete, it is more than that#
2t somehow em%odies something, in a way, that goes %eyond 3ust metaphysics or religious
doctrine, and stands for something +ery +ital a%out what the human spirit can achie+e#G
The e$perience of clim%ing the terraces of "oro%udur is a powerful one# s you emerge from the
enclosed corridors of the lower terraces, into the clear open spaces a%o+e, surrounded only %y a
circle of +olcanoes, you are +ery conscious of ha+ing entered a different world# &+en the most
234
hardened tourist has the sense that this is not a site +isit, %ut a pilgrim's progress# The %uilders of
"oro%udur understood perfectly how stone can shape thought#
2'+e now reached the three circular terraces on the top, and at this point the teaching stops, there are
no longer any reliefs telling stories, there is simply a series of %ell-shaped stupas, and inside each
one, a seated "uddha# .e are in the world of formlessness, ha+ing left %ehind us and %elow us the
illusory world of representation and reality# nd at the +ery summit of "oro%udur, a huge %ell-
shaped stupa# 2nside it, nothing - the +oid# The ultimate goal of this spiritual 3ourney#
2n the ne$t programme we follow the path of the trading ship car+ed in the reliefs of "oro%udur#
.e mo+e from !a+a around the 2ndian 7cean, to finish on a %each on the east coast of frica# nd
once again we'll find a great religion, tra+elling with the traders - %ut this time it's 2slam# 2'll %e
talking a%out a handful of pottery fragments### %ut it's ama,ing what a few %roken pots and plates
can tell us#
23=
Episode $0 - 2il!a pot sherds
3il$a pot sherds Bmade 5et$een tenth and fourteenth centuryCD 'eramic fragmentsF found
on a 5each in -an1ania
@on't worryA .e'+e 3ust heard the sound of a piece of crashing china, %ut that was not a priceless
piece of porcelain from the "ritish /useum's collection, it was a chipped old mug from the staff
kitchen# 2 3ust wanted to remind you of that terri%le moment when one of your fa+ourite plates,
pots or +ases plunges to the floor and is destroyed, %eyond the help of glue, fore+er# This
programme is a%out pottery - %ut it's not a%out the high ceramic art which usually sur+i+es only in
treasuries or in ancient gra+es, it's a%out the crockery of e+eryday life, which as we all know
usually sur+i+es only in fragments# 2t's a parado$ that while a plate or a +ase is whole it's
alarmingly fragile, %ut once it's smashed, the pieces of pottery are almost indestructi%le - and
%roken %its of pot ha+e told us more than almost anything else a%out the daily life of the distant
past#
2'+e got a handful of fragments with me now which ha+e sur+i+ed for a%out a thousand years on a
%each in &ast frica# n alert %eachcom%er picked them up and presented them to the "ritish
/useum, knowing that these %roken oddments - of no financial +alue at all - would open up not
3ust life in &ast frica a thousand years ago, %ut the whole world of the 2ndian 7cean#
GThis is the history of the first e+idence for international trade that e$isted %etween &ast frica and
the rest of the world#G >"ertram /apunda?
G<nowing a%out 2ndia, knowing a%out China, knowing a%out all these places - that was really
important#G >%dulra,ek 0urnah?
For much of history, history itself has %een landlocked# /ost of us tend to think in terms of towns
and cities, mountains and ri+ers, continents and countries, %ut if we stop thinking a%out, say, the
23;
sian land mass or a history of 2ndia, and put the oceans in the foreground instead, then we get a
completely different perspecti+e on our past# This week we'+e %een looking at the ways in which
ideas, %eliefs, religions and people tra+elled along the great trade routes across &urope and sia
%etween the ninth and the thirteenth centuries# Today we're not on land, %ut on the high seas -
sailing around the 2ndian 7cean# 2n the last programme we were at its eastern edge, in 2ndonesia)
today 2'm on the opposite shore, in frica#
frica and 2ndonesia are nearly fi+e thousand miles apart, and yet they can reach each other easily,
3ust as they can also reach the /iddle &ast, 2ndia and China - thanks to the ocean winds# 2n stark
contrast to the tlantic, where the winds make crossing e$tremely difficult, the winds of the 2ndian
7cean o%ligingly %low north-easterly for one half of the year and south-westerly for the other# This
means that traders can sail long distances knowing they're going to %e a%le to come %ack# /erchant
sailors ha+e %een criss-crossing these seas for thousands of years and, as always, they carried not
3ust cargoes of goods, %ut plants and animals, people, languages and religions# The shores of the
2ndian 7cean, howe+er di+erse and howe+er far apart, nonetheless %elong to one great community#
nd we can glimpse the e$tent and the comple$ity of this community in our %roken %its of pot#
There are a lot of %its here in this drawer in the "ritish /useum, %ut the handful that 2'+e 3ust
picked out can tell us a great deal# The largest piece is a%out the si,e of a postcard, and the smallest
roughly half the si,e of a credit card# nd the pieces fall easily into three distinct groups# There's a
couple of smooth, pale green pieces that look +ery like modern e$pensi+e china# Then there are
other small pieces with %lue patterning - and then there's a third group, that are of ungla,ed natural
clay, decorated in 5uite high relief# The pots that these fragments were once part of, in fact, come
from widely different parts of the world, %ut %etween si$ and nine hundred years ago all these
fragments were thrown away in one place - on the same %each in &ast frica# They were found at
the %ottom of a low crum%ling cliff at <ilwa <isiwani island, in Tan,ania#
Today <ilwa is a 5uiet Tan,anian island with a few small fishing +illages, %ut around the year
12(( it was a thri+ing port city, and you can still find the ruins of its great stone %uildings and of
the largest mos5ue of its time in su%-*aharan frica# later 8ortuguese +isitor here descri%es the
city as he found it in 15(29
GThe city comes down to the shore and is surrounded %y a wall and towers, within which there
may %e 12,((( inha%itants# The streets are +ery narrow, as the houses are +ery high, of three and
four stories, and one can run along the tops of them upon the terraces, as the houses are +ery close
together# nd in the port are many ships#G
<ilwa was the southernmost, and the richest, of a chain of towns and cities strung along the &ast
frican coast, running from Tan,ania north though /om%asa in modern <enya to /ogadishu in
*omalia# These communities were always in touch with each other, sailing up and down the coast,
and they also mi$ed constantly with traders coming across the ocean#
"ack with the e+idence of all this trade - the %roken crockery - it's 5uite clear e+en to me that the
pale green sherds are Chinese porcelain, fragments from %eautiful, lu$ury %owls or 3ars - Celadon
ware, which the Chinese were manufacturing in industrial 5uantities and e$porting not 3ust to
south-east sia %ut across the 2ndian 7cean to the /iddle &ast and to frica# 'o+elist %dulra,ek
0urnah remem%ers finding his own %its of Chinese pottery on the %each as a child9
G.e used to see these things, these %it of pottery, we used to see them on the %eaches# nd
sometimes older people would say to us, That's Chinese pottery', and we'd think, Heah, yeah' -
we'd heard lots of stories of this kind of thing - you know, flying carpets, princes lost etc# *o we
took it as 3ust another one of those stories# 2t was only later on, when you %egin to go into
museums or hear these persistent stories of great Chinese armadas that +isited &ast frica, that the
236
o%3ect then %ecomes something +alua%le, something that is a signifier of something important - a
connection# nd then you see the o%3ect itself, and you see its completeness, and its weight, and its
%eauty, and it makes this inescapa%le - this presence o+er centuries of a culture as far away as
China#G
s well as the Chinese porcelain, there are other %its of pot here that ha+e clearly tra+elled a long
way to get to <ilwa# 2'm looking at the moment at a %lue piece with %lack geometric patterning on
it, that o%+iously comes from the ra% world and, when you look at this fragment under the
microscope, you can see that the composition of the clay means that it was made in 2ra5 or *yria#
nd there are other pieces here that come from 7man or different parts of the 0ulf# These
fragments alone would %e enough to demonstrate the strength and the e$tent of <ilwa's links with
the 2slamic /iddle &ast#
The people of <ilwa clearly lo+ed foreign pottery# They used it for dining and they also adorned
their houses and mos5ues with it, setting decorated %owls into walls and arches# 8ottery, of course,
was only one element in the thri+ing import-e$port trade that made <ilwa's fortune - %ut it happens
to %e the toughest and the most enduring# lso coming in, though, were cottons from 2ndia - a trade
that continues to this day - Chinese silks, glass, 3ewellery and cosmetics# 2n e$change, <ilwa was
trading lu$uries, commodities and sla+es# later 8ortuguese +isitor con3ured up the rich e$changes
that took place at har%ours like <ilwa9
GThey are great traders in cloth, gold, i+ory and di+erse other wares, with the /oors and other
heathen of 2ndia# nd to their ha+en come e+ery year many ships with cargoes of merchandise,
from which they get great store of gold, i+ory and wa$#G
7ther e$ports included iron ingots much in demand in 2ndia, tim%er used for %uilding in the 0ulf,
rhino horn, turtle shell and leopard skin# /any of these were %rought o+er huge distances from
inland frica# 0old, for instance, came from Nim%a%we far to the south, and it's the trade from
<ilwa that eight hundred years ago made Nim%a%we such a rich and powerful kingdom, that it
could construct that supreme, mysterious monument, 0reat Nim%a%we#
ll this trade made <ilwa +ery rich, %ut it changed it in more than material ways, %ecause this was
a trade with a distinct and unusual annual rhythm# "ecause the ocean winds %low north-east for
one half of the year and southwest for the other, merchants from the 0ulf and 2ndia usually had to
spend months waiting for the wind home# nd in these months they ine+ita%ly mi$ed closely with
the local frican community, and transformed it# 2n due course, thanks to these ra% traders, the
coastal towns were con+erted to 2slam, and ra%ic and 8ersian words were a%sor%ed into the local
"antu language to create a new lingua franca - *wahili# The result was a remarka%le cultural
community running through the coastal cities from *omalia to Tan,ania, from /ogadishu to <ilwa
- a kind of *wahili strip, if you like, 2slamic in faith and cosmopolitan in outlook# "ut the core of
*wahili culture remains un5uestiona%ly frican# s the historian "ertrum /apunda e$plains9
G.e know that when these immigrants came to &ast frica they came here %ecause there were
attractions here# nd one of the attractions was trade# 2t was %ecause of these local people who had
attracted them, that the *wahili culture later on was %orn# *o it's not true to say that this is
something which was %ought from outside, when we know that there were local people here who
had contri%uted the starting point, and from there, then people from outside came and were
interested#G
The last piece of pottery makes this point +ery well# 2t's %rown, it's a fragment of fired clay, and it's
got %old raised decoration# 2t's pottery clearly made for cooking and for e+eryday use, the clay is
local and the manufacture is distinctly frican# nd it shows that the frican inha%itants of <ilwa,
while happily en3oying and collecting foreign pottery, continued, as people always do, to cook in
24(
their own traditional way with their own traditional pots# nd it's pots like this one that also tell us
that the fricans were themsel+es sailing and trading across the 2ndian 7cean, %ecause fragments
like these ones ha+e %een found in ports across the /iddle &ast# nd we know from other sources
that frican merchants traded to 2ndia, and that cities of the *wahili strip were sending their own
en+oys to the Chinese court#
s 2 said at the start of this programme, when we put an ocean and not a country at the centre of
our histories, it can radically change our perceptions of what happened in the past, and why# 2t's a
theme that's %een e$plored %y %dulra,ak 0urnah9
G.ell 2 ha+e tried to write a%out this, and that sense of %eing in the world - partly, for e$ample, in
the kind of stories that were common to many of these cultures# .hereas you'd imagine that these
were your stories, they turn out to %e actually stories that %elong to all sorts of other people as well#
Hou felt as much that you %elonged to 2stan%ul as you did to @ar es *alaam# That sort of sense of
%eing in the world, that's really what 2 mean#G
:ike all seas, the 2ndian 7cean unites far more than it separates the people li+ing round its rim# 2n
the ne$t programme, we'll %e with another sea - the tlantic# .e'll %e in the 1e%rides, with a %oard
game in+ented in 2ndia, played in 8ersia, taken to medie+al &urope, and played there with pieces
made of the i+ory of tlantic whales and rctic walrus ### we'll %e with the :ewis Chessmen#
241
3)a)us 3EF1<s (9!## $ 97## 'C)
Episode $1 - +e!is #hessmen
.e$is 'hessmen Bmade t$elfth centuryCD ?alrus ivory and $hales, teethF found on the 7sle of
.e$isE #cotland
2n 16=2 the world was gripped %y one of the great %attles of the Cold .ar# 2t was fought in 2celand
and it was a chess match - one %etween the merican "o%%y Fischer and the Dussian "oris
*passky#
G2'm 3ust going to go in there# 2'm not going stay up nights worrying# 2t's going to %e o+er pretty
soon# This little thing %etween me and *passky's a sort of a microcosm of the whole world political
situation, you know, you always read a%out this# They suggest that the two world leaders should
sort of fight it out hand-to-hand or something# This is that kind of thing now#G >""C archi+e
inter+iew with "o%%y Fischer?
t the time, Fischer declared Gchess is war on a %oardG, and at that moment in history it certainly
seemed like it# "ut then it always has# 2f all games are to some degree a surrogate for +iolence and
war, no game so closely compares to a set-piece %attle as chess# Two opposing armies line up to
march across the %oard, foot-soldier pawns in front, officers %ehind# &+ery chess-set shows a
society at war# .hether that society is 2ndian, /iddle &astern or &uropean, the way the pieces are
named and shaped tells us a great deal a%out how that society functions# *o, if we want to +isualise
&uropean society around the year 12((, we could hardly do %etter than look at how they played
chess# nd no chess pieces offer richer insights than the =; mi$ed pieces found on the 1e%ridean
island of :ewis in 1;31, and known e+er since as the :ewis Chessmen#
*i$ty-se+en are in the "ritish /useum# &le+en are owned %y the 'ational /useums of *cotland#
"etween them, these much-lo+ed pieces take us into the heart of the medie+al world#
242
G2 was trying to define what chess is, and 2 asked Tony /iles, grandmaster# 1e said, '2t's not an
art ### if 2 can find a way to win that's crude and %lunt, 2'll do it that way'# 2t's not an art, it's a
fight ### it's a fightAG >/artin mis?
GThe :ewis Chessmen, they are so perfect, there are so many of them, a real family# They are so
e$5uisitely made# They come from so far, far and cold away#G >/iri Du%in?
This week, we're making an almost full turn of the glo%e around se+en or eight hundred years ago,
with porcelain in China, sculpture in frica, and a throne from the Cari%%ean# .e're also in *pain
with a !ewish scientific instrument, %ut in this programme we're in *candina+ia and *cotland#
Ealua%le o%3ects are always markers of high status - %ut this week's o%3ects show more than 3ust
wealth or power) the people who owned them were also showing off knowledge, taste and
intellect#
For o+er fi+e thousand years people ha+e %een playing %oard games, %ut chess is a relati+e
newcomer - it seems to ha+e %een in+ented in 2ndia at some point after the year 5(( @# 7+er the
ne$t couple of hundred years, the game spread through the /iddle &ast and on into Christian
&urope, and in e+ery place, the chess pieces were changed to reflect the society that played it# *o
in 2ndia, there are pieces named Gwar elephantsG, while in the /iddle &ast, 2slamic reser+ations
a%out the human image ensured that all the pieces were +irtually a%stract# &uropean pieces, %y
contrast, are often intensely human, and the :ewis Chessmen not only appear to show us particular
kinds of characters, %ut strikingly reflect the structures of the great medie+al power game as it was
fought out across northern &urope, from 2celand and 2reland to *candina+ia and the "altic#
They're much %igger than the figures that most of us play with today# The king, for instance, is
a%out three inches >=#5 cm? high, and he comforta%ly fills a clenched fist# /ost of them are car+ed
out of walrus tusks, there are a few that are made out of whales' teeth, and some of the pieces
would originally ha+e %een coloured red, rather than the %lack that we're used to today - %ut all of
them are now a pale creamy %rown#
:et's %egin with the pawns# 7ne of the pu,,les of the :ewis Chessmen is that there are lots of
ma3or pieces and +ery few pawns# .hat we'+e got are pieces from a num%er of different
incomplete sets - =; pieces in all - %ut only 16 pawns among them# The pawns are the only pieces
that aren't human) they're simply small i+ory sla%s that stand upright like gra+estones# 2n medie+al
society, these are the peasants, %rutally conscripted on to the %attle-field# ll societies tend to think
of the people at the %ottom of the heap as interchangea%ly identical, and the foot-soldiers here are
shown with no indi+iduality at all#
The main pieces, on the other hand, are full of personality# &lite guards, knights on horse%ack,
commanding kings and meditati+e 5ueens# 8ride of place goes of course to the ultimate source of
legitimate power - the king# Capture him, and all fighting stops# ll the :ewis kings sit on ornate
thrones, a sword across their knees# 0uarding the kings are two kinds of specialist warriors# 7ne is
immediately familiar to us - he is the knight, fast-mo+ing, +ersatile and mounted on horse%ack#
From the +ery %eginnings of chess in 2ndia, the mounted warrior is a constant - he's in e+ery age
and in e+ery country and he's pretty well unchanged today# "ut these familiar knights are flanked
%y something much more sinister# t the edges of the %oard, where we now ha+e castles, are the
ultimate shock troops of the *candina+ian world# They stand menacingly, some of them working
themsel+es into a fren,y of %loodlust %y chewing the tops of their shields#
2'+e got one in my hands now, and they are pretty terrifying - these are the fighters called
G%erserkersG# 2t's an 2celandic word for a soldier wearing a shirt made of %ear skin and the word
G%erserkG e+en today is synonymous with wild, destructi+e +iolence# /ore than any other piece on
this %oard, the %erserkers take us to the terrifying world of 'orse warfare#
243
The :ewis Chessmen were disco+ered in what is now modern *cotland, and recently some
politicians ha+e ad+anced the case that some or all of the Chessmen should %e returned %ack to the
2sle of :ewis# That's a comparati+ely modern contro+ersy though#
round 12((, the 2sle of :ewis, on the north-west edge of what's now *cotland, was at the heart of
the 'orse world# 2t was part of the kingdom of 'orway# The language was 'orwegian, and its
arch%ishop had his cathedral in Trondheim, 25( miles north of 7slo# Trondheim was one of the
great centres for car+ing walrus i+ory, and the style of the :ewis Chessmen is +ery close to pieces
made there# .e know that similar chess pieces ha+e also %een found in 2reland, and :ewis was a
staging post on the thri+ing sea route %etween Trondheim and @u%lin# 1ere's medie+al historian
/iri Du%in9
G2 personally %elie+e that they come from 'orway, and 2 personally %elie+e they pro%a%ly came
from somewhere around Trondheim, it looks like so much that's produced there# "ut the thing is, if
we think of 0reat "ritain not as - as it is now - +ery much connected to the central and southern
&uropean sphere, %ut if we think of the 'orth *ea as a sort of GconnectorG of regions, there is that
whole 'orth *ea region ### that's where the Eikings came from, that's where the predecessors of the
'ormans who ultimately con5uered &ngland came from# *o if we think of that as a sort of
commonwealth, a northern commonwealth, that traded in those ### and that %ecame rich %ecause it
had these ### ama,ing raw materials of wood, and am%er, and fur, and metals, then we can imagine
%etter how something produced in 'orway can end up on the west end of *cotland#G
The :ewis chess pieces were disco+ered in 1;31, at Cig "ay on :ewis, in a small stone cham%er
concealed in a sand%ank# "y far the most likely e$planation for their %eing there, is that they were
hidden for safety %y a merchant, who may ha+e %een intending to sell them on :ewis itself#
thirteenth-century poem, for e$ample, names a powerful figure, ngus /or of 2slay, as <ing of
:ewis, and has him inheriting his father's set of i+ory chess pieces9
GTo you he left his position, yours his %reastplate ### each treasure ### his slender swords, his %rown
i+ory chessmen#G
"y playing chess, a ruler like ngus /or indicated that although his local power %ase was on the
e$treme outer edge of the continent, he was nonetheless part of an elite high culture that em%raced
all the courts of &urope# nd the figure on the %oard that more than any other represents those
&uropean courts is, of course, the 5ueen#
Cnlike 2slamic society, where the rulers' wi+es would generally ha+e remained hidden from pu%lic
+iew, the &uropean 5ueen en3oyed a pu%lic role and the high status of ad+iser to the king# *o, on
the 2slamic chess %oard the king is accompanied %y his male ad+iser, the +i,ier, while the &uropean
king sits %eside his 5ueen# 2n the :ewis chess pieces, the 5ueens all sit staring into the distance,
holding their chin in their right hand - suggesting to their contemporaries intense thought and wise
counsel, %ut to us looking comically glum#
nd perhaps these 5ueens had something to %e glum a%out# 2n medie+al chess, the 5ueen doesn't
actually ha+e much power, she can mo+e only one diagonal space at a time# 1er modern sister, on
the other hand, is the most powerful person on the %oard# 2n the world of chess, feminism came
early#
"ut apart from the 5ueen, surprisingly little has actually changed in chess since medie+al times,
least of all the formida%le mathematics of the possi%le mo+es# nd this sedentary, cere%ral game
has always aroused passionate emotion# The writer /artin mis has long %een fascinated %y %oth
aspects9
244
GThe maths of chess is +ery interesting in that after four mo+es, each of the possi%ilities are already
in the %illions# 2t is the supreme %oard game# ll 2 can say of my achie+ements on the %oard is 2'm
not a complete mug, %ut +ery occasionally you do glimpse a com%ination, that a great player
would %e seeing all the time# nd suddenly the %oard looks tremendously rich, it seems to %ristle
with possi%ilities# nd com%ati+e will is what you see in all the great players# They'+e all got the
killer instinct#G
nd sometimes, it is literally the killer instinct# 2n 12=6 an &nglish court record tells us that when
@a+id de "ristoll was playing chess against !uliana le Cordwaner, they 5uarrelled so +iolently that
he struck her in the thigh with a sword, and she died immediately# n early e$ample of chess rageA
There's one piece 2 ha+en't looked at yet, %ut it's perhaps it's the most fascinating figure of all the
:ewis Chessmen, and it's one that gi+es us a crucial insight into the society that made it# 2t's the
%ishop, who in medie+al &urope was one of the great powers of the state, controlling not only
spiritual life, %ut commanding land and men# The %ishops of the :ewis Chessmen are the oldest
ones still in e$istence, and they're powerful reminders that across &urope, the Church was a key
participant in the great military campaigns - and this was a &urope hungry for a fightA .e all know
a%out the Crusades to the 1oly :and and the role that the Church played in them, %ut at the same
time there was also a northern crusade -led %y the Teutonic knights - that con5uered and
Christianised eastern &urope# nd in the south, Castile and central *pain were %eing reclaimed for
Christendom from their 2slamic rulers#
2t's from that *pain, newly Christian %ut with /uslim and !ewish citi,ens, that the ne$t
programme's o%3ect comes# 2t's the +ersatile, multi-functional, smart phone of its time ### it's an
astrola%e#
245
Episode $2 - He4re! astrola4e
He5re$ astrola5e Bmade fourteenth centuryCE pro5a5ly from #pain
2'+e got the whole world in my hands - in fact, not 3ust the world, %ut the cosmos# .hat 2'm
holding is a porta%le model of the hea+ens, in the shape of an e$5uisite, circular %rass instrument
that looks a %it like a large %rass pocket watch, and it's called an astrola%e# .ith an astrola%e in my
hands, 2 can tell the time, do a %it of sur+eying, work out my position in the world %y sun or stars
and, if that's not enough, 2 can also de+ise my horoscope#
lthough perfectly familiar to the ancient 0reeks, this was an instrument that was particularly
important for the 2slamic world, as it allowed the faithful to find the direction of /ecca, and so it's
not surprising that the oldest astrola%e to sur+i+e is an 2slamic one from the tenth century# "ut the
astrola%e 2'm holding is, in fact, a !ewish one# 2t was made a%out =5( years ago, in *pain# 2t's
inscri%ed in 1e%rew lettering, %ut it contains ra%ic and *panish words, and it com%ines %oth
2slamic and &uropean decorati+e elements# 2t is not 3ust an ad+anced scientific instrument, %ut it's
also an em%lem of a +ery particular moment in &urope's religious and political history#
GThere's a *panish word that's often used to descri%e the relationship %etween the different
religions and ethnic communities, which is 'con+i+encia', li+ing together#G >!ohn &lliott?
GThe astrola%e is much more than 3ust a scientific instrument, it's also a sym%ol of knowledge# 2t
sym%olises that one understands what's going on in the hea+ens - one literally holds the latest
knowledge in one's hands# *o it has so many functions, it really is like a medie+al type of
"lack%erry#G >*ilke ckermann?
This week's programmes are a%out high-status o%3ects, from all o+er the world, that %elonged to
the leaders and thinkers of around se+en hundred years ago - o%3ects that offer profound insights
into the society that made them# .e don't know e$actly who owned the 1e%rew astrola%e in
today's programme, %ut it tells us a great deal a%out how !ewish and 2slamic scholars re+italised
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science and astronomy %y de+eloping the inheritance of classical 0reece and Dome# This
instrument speaks of a great intellectual synthesis, and it can also tell us a%out a time when the
three religions Christianity, !udaism and 2slam all peacefully co-e$isted# There was, in fact, no
religious synthesis, %ut the three faiths li+ed together in fruitful tension, and the friction %etween
them made medie+al *pain the intellectual powerhouse of &urope#
n astrola%e makes accessi%le in compact form the sum total of medie+al astronomical lore# :ike
the latest de+elopments today - of phone, we% and particularly sat na+ - this was a must-ha+e
technology, a demonstration that you were right on the cutting edge# There's a wonderfully funny
and touching letter written %y Chaucer to his ten-year-old son :ewis, who is o%+iously like techie
%oys in e+ery generation, and is clamouring to get to grips with an astrola%e# s well as writing
him a letter, Chaucer also wrote him a little instruction manual, telling the %oy how to use the
instrument, and warning him 3ust how difficult he was going to find it# lthough 2 suspect that, like
most children today, little :ewis 5uickly left his father %ehind9
G:ittle :ewis, 2 ha+e percei+ed well thy a%ility to learn sciences touching num%ers and
proportions, and 2 ha+e also considered thy earnest prayer specially to learn the treatise of the
astrola%e# 1ere is an astrola%e of our hori,on, and a little treatise to teach a certain num%er of
conclusions appertaining to the same instrument#
GTrust well that all the conclusions that can %e found, or else possi%ly might %e found, in so no%le
an instrument as an astrola%e, are not perfectly understood %y any mortal man in this region, and 2
ha+e seen that there %e some instructions that will not in all things deli+er their intended results)
and some of them %e too hard for thy tender age of ten year to understand#G
2 ha+e to say that 2 find it as difficult to grapple with an astrola%e as little :ewis at the age of ten# 2t
is so fiendishly cle+er and complicated in its structure, and it contains so much information, that it
would take me the whole of this programme to descri%e it fully# *o what follows is +ery summary
indeed#
t first sight this astrola%e looks like an outsi,ed old-fashioned pocket watch with an entirely %rass
face# 2t sits easily in my hand - in fact it fills it - and it's a gleaming assem%lage of interlocking
%rass-work, with fi+e wafer-thin discs, one on top of another, held together %y a central pin# 7n top
of this are a num%er of pointers that you can line up with +arious sym%ols on the discs, and this
will gi+e you astronomical readings, or help you determine your position# n astrola%e like this
one is designed for the particular latitude in which it is going to %e used# The fi+e discs here will
allow you to get an accurate reading from any position %etween the latitudes of the 8yrenees and
'orth frica# 2n the middle of the range are the latitudes for the *panish cities of *e+ille and
Toledo#
nd that tells me that this astrola%e was almost certainly made for some%ody %ased in *pain, who
might tra+el %etween 'orth frica and France# nd what's written on the astrola%e tells us pretty
clearly what kind of person must ha+e %een using it# 2t tells us that the owner is !ewish, and is
learned# *ilke ckermann, the curator of scientific instruments here at the "ritish /useum, has
spent a lot of time on the astrola%e's inscriptions9
GThe inscriptions are all in 1e%rew, you can see the finely engra+ed 1e%rew letters 5uite clearly#
"ut what's so intriguing a%out the piece is that not all the words are 1e%rew# *ome of them ha+e
ra%ic origins and some are medie+al *panish# *o 3ust to gi+e you an e$ample, %eside a star in the
constellation that we call 5uila - the eagle - we can see written in 1e%rew 'nesher me'offel' - 'the
flying eagle'# "ut other star names are gi+en in their ra%ic form# *o lde%aran in Taurus has its
ra%ic name, 'al-da%aran', written in 1e%rew letters# nd when you read out the 1e%rew letters for
the names of the months, they gi+e you the medie+al *panish names, like 7cto%er, 'o+em%er,
24=
@ecem%er# *o what you ha+e here is the knowledge of the classical 0reek astronomers who
charted the hea+ens, com%ined with the contri%utions of /uslim, !ewish and Christian scholars -
and all of that in the palm of your handAG
The *pain in which this astrola%e was made was the only place in Christian-ruled &urope where
there were significant populations of /uslims, and it was also home to an e$tensi+e !ewish
population# From the eighth to the fifteenth centuries, the mi$ing in medie+al *pain of the people
of three religions - !udaism, Christianity and 2slam - was one of *panish society's most distincti+e
elements# 7f course, there was no such place as *pain yet, in the fourteenth century it was still a
patchwork of states# The %iggest was Castile, which shared a %order with the last independent
/uslim state in the peninsula, the kingdom of 0ranada# Throughout Christian *pain there were
large num%ers of !ewish and /uslim people, all three groups li+ing together %ut keeping their
separate traditions in what might %e descri%ed as an early e$ample of multi-culturalism# This
coe$istence, e$tremely rare in &uropean history, is often referred to %y the *panish term
'con+i+encia'# 1ere's the distinguished historian of *pain, *ir !ohn &lliott9
G.ell, as 2 see it, the essence of multi-culturalism is the preser+ation of the distincti+e identity of
the different religious and ethnic communities in a society# nd for much of the period of 2slamic
rule, the policy of the rulers was to accept that di+ersity, e+en if it regarded Christians and !ews as
adherents of inferior faiths# The Christian rulers when they took o+er did much the same, %ecause
they had no other option really, and at the same time of course, there was really no intermarriage#
2ntermarriage was for%idden %etween these communities *o it is a limited multi-culturalism# nd
that doesn't of course pre+ent a great deal of mutual interaction, particularly at the cultural le+el#
*o the result is a ci+ilisation which was +i%rant and creati+e and original, %ecause of this contact
%etween the three races#G
This mutual interaction had, a couple of centuries earlier, put medie+al *pain at the forefront of the
e$pansion of knowledge in &urope# 'ot only was there growing scientific knowledge around
astronomical instruments like our astrola%e, %ut it was also in *pain that the works of the ancient
0reek philosophers - a%o+e all ristotle - were translated into :atin and entered the intellectual
%loodstream of modern &urope# nd this pioneering work depended on the constant interchange
%etween /uslim, !ewish and Christian scholars#
"y the fourteenth century, this scholarly legacy was em%edded in &uropean thought, in science and
medicine as well as philosophy and theology# The astrola%e %ecame the indispensa%le attri%ute for
astronomers, astrologers, doctors, geographers, or indeed anyone with intellectual aspirations -
e+en a ten-year-old &nglish %oy like Chaucer's son#
The shared inheritance of 2slamic, Christian and !ewish thinkers, would sur+i+e for centuries# "ut
the 'con+i+encia' of the three faiths did not# lthough medie+al *pain is today often hailed %y
politicians as a %eacon of tolerance and the model for multi-faith co-e$istence, the historical truth
is distinctly less comforta%le# 1ere's *ir !ohn &lliott again#
Gs regards actual religious tolerance, it's rather less clear cut than coe$istence# Christendom in
general, though, was a pretty intolerant society, and +ery opposed to de+iants of all kinds# nd that
intolerance was particularly directed against the !ews# For instance, &ngland e$pelled its !ews in
126(, and France a decade later, and as far as Christian-/uslim relations were concerned, there
was a hardening of religious attitudes, really from the twelfth century onwards# nd as the
Christians preached the Crusades, and the lmohads who mo+ed into *pain from 'orth frica,
preached the !ihad, there was an increasing aggressi+eness on %oth sides#G
gainst this &uropean %ackground of growing anti-*emitism, Christian *pain could still seem
comparati+ely tolerant# "ut, there were already signs of trou%le, and the sur+i+al of /uslim
24;
0ranada was a reminder of unfinished %usiness# The intellectual alliance of Christians, !ews and
/uslims would soon %e swept away %y a militant *panish monarchy, intent on following the rest
of &urope and asserting Christian dominance# 2n the years around 15((, !ews and /uslims would
%e persecuted and e$pelled from *pain# The 'con+i+encia' was o+er#
&+entually, the astrola%e, this one intricate o%3ect which could do so many things, would %e
displaced %y a whole range of separate instruments - the glo%e, the printed map, the se$tant, the
chronometer and the compass - all of them doing a part of the 3o% that the single astrola%e could do
alone#
Tomorrow we're far south of *pain, way %eyond the reach of our astrola%e, in the forest world of
.est frica, and again we ha+e a high-status o%3ect which represents a huge cultural achie+ement#
2t's a sculpture, a head of a ruler from 2fe in present-day 'igeria# :ike the astrola%e, it's %oth an
o%3ect of great %eauty and of high technology ### and it's one that in the twentieth century would
astonish the whole of &urope#
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Episode $3 - 6fe head
7fe head Bpro5a5ly made 1&th centuryCD (ron1e statueF from @igeria
*o far in this history of the world through GthingsG we'+e encountered all kinds of o%3ects, all
elo5uent, %ut not all particularly +alua%le, or attracti+e# "ut today's o%3ect is in any +iew a great
work of art# 2t's a head, cast in %rass# 2t's 5uite clearly the portrait of a person, %ut we don't know
who# 2t's without 5uestion %y a +ery great artist, %ut we don't know who# nd it must ha+e %een
made for a ceremony, %ut we don't know what#
.hat is certain is that the head is frican, it's royal, and it epitomises the great medie+al
ci+ilisations of .est frica of a%out se+en hundred years ago# 2t was one of a group of heads
disco+ered in 163; in the grounds of a palace in 2fe, 'igeria, and they astonished the world with
their %eauty# They were immediately recognised as supreme documents of a culture that had left no
written record, and they em%ody the history of an frican kingdom that was one of the most
ad+anced and ur%anised of its day# The sculptures of 2fe e$ploded &uropean notions of the history
of art, and they forced &uropeans to rethink frica's place in the cultural history of the world#
Today they play a key part in how fricans read their own narrati+e#
G.e still don't know much a%out the frican past# .hat we know right now is a fraction of what is
yet to %e disco+ered#G >"a%atunde :awal?
G8ersonally 2 look at it and 2 am struck %y its tran5uillity, its upward ga,e# 2t's not 3ust the
tran5uillity of power, it's the tran5uillity of %eing in an inner sanctum almost#G >"en 7kri?
2'm in the frica 0allery of the "ritish /useum, looking at the 2fe head# 7r rather, he is looking at
me# 1is head's a little smaller than life-si,e, and made of %rass, which has now darkened with age#
The shape of the face is an elegant o+al, co+ered with finely incised +ertical lines, %ut it's a facial
scarring so perfectly symmetrical that it contains rather than distur%s the features# 1e wears a
crown - a high %eaded diadem with a striking +ertical plume pro3ecting from the top, and that's still
25(
got 5uite a lot of the original red paint# This is an o%3ect with e$traordinary presence# The alert
ga,e, the high cur+e of the cheek, the lips parted as though a%out to speak - all these are captured
with a%solute confidence# To grasp the structure of a face like this is possi%le only after long
training and meticulous o%ser+ation# There's no dou%t that this represents a real person# "ut this is
reality not 3ust rendered %ut transformed# The details of the face ha+e %een generalised and
a%stracted to gi+e an impression of repose# *tanding face-to-face with this %rass sculpture, 2 know
that 2'm in the presence of a ruler im%ued with the high serenity of power# .hen "en 7kri, the
'igerian-%orn no+elist, looks at the 2fe head, he sees not only a ruler, %ut a society and a
ci+ilisation9
G8ersonally it has the effect on me that certain sculptures of the "uddha ha+e# The presence of
tran5uillity in a work of art speaks of a great internal ci+ilisation# "ecause you can't ha+e the
tran5uillity without reflection, you can't ha+e the tran5uillity without ha+ing asked the great
5uestions a%out your place in the uni+erse, and ha+ing answered those 5uestions to some degree of
satisfaction# nd that for me is what ci+ilisation is#G
The idea of %lack frican ci+ilisation on this le+el was 5uite simply unimagina%le to a &uropean a
hundred years ago# 2n 161(, when the 0erman anthropologist :eo Fro%enius found the +ery first
%rass head in a shrine outside the city of 2fe, he was so o+erwhelmed %y its technical and aesthetic
assurance that he immediately associated it with the greatest art that he knew - the classical
sculptures of ancient 0reece# "ut what possi%le connection could there ha+e %een %etween ancient
0reece and 'igeria- There's no record of contact in the literature or in the archaeology# For
Fro%enius there was an o%+ious and e$hilarating solution to the conundrum# The lost island of
tlantis must ha+e sunk off the coast of 'igeria, and the 0reek sur+i+ors stepped ashore to make
this astonishing sculpture#
2t's easy to mock Fro%enius, %ut at the %eginning of the twentieth century &uropeans had +ery
limited knowledge of the traditions of frican art# For painters like 8icasso, 'olde or /atisse,
frican art was dionysiac, e$u%erant and frenetic, +isceral and emotional# "ut the restrained,
rational pollonian sculptures of 2fe clearly came from an orderly world of technological
sophistication, sacred power and courtly hierarchy - a world in e+ery way compara%le with the
historic societies of &urope and sia# nd, as with all great artistic traditions, the sculptures of 2fe
present a particular +iew of what it means to %e human# 1ere's "a%atunde :awal, 8rofessor of rt
1istory at Eirginia Commonwealth Cni+ersity9
GFro%enius around 161( assumed that may%e the sur+i+ors of the 0reek lost tlantis might ha+e
made these heads# nd he predicted that if a full figure were to %e found, the figure would reflect
the typical 0reek proportions - say the head constituting a%out one se+enth of the whole %ody# "ut
when a full figure was e+entually disco+ered at 2fe, the head was 3ust a%out a 5uarter of the %ody,
complying with the typical proportion characterising much of frican art - the emphasis on the
head %ecause it is the crown of the %ody, the seat of the soul, the site of identity, perception and
communication#G
*o it's perhaps not surprising that nearly all of the 2fe metal sculptures that we know - and there are
only a%out 3( - are heads# 2n 163;, an astonishing group of 13, including the one now at the "ritish
/useum, was dug up in the precincts of a royal palace at 2fe# The 5uality of the %rass casting was
super%# nd there could %e no dou%t now that this was a totally frican tradition# The '2llustrated
:ondon 'ews' of ; pril 1636 pu%lished the find# nd in an e$traordinary article, the writer, still
using the racist language of the 163(s, recognises that what he calls the negro tradition - a word
then associated with sla+ery and primiti+ism - must, with the 2fe sculptures, now take its place in
the canon of world art# G'egroG could ne+er again %e used in 5uite the same way9
251
G7ne does not ha+e to %e a connoisseur or an e$pert to appreciate the %eauty of their modelling,
their +irility, their reposeful realism, their dignity and their simplicity# 'o 0reek or Doman
sculpture of the %est periods, not Cellini, not 1oudon, e+er produced anything that made a more
immediate appeal to the senses, or is more immediately satisfying to &uropean ideas of
proportion#G
2t's hard to e$aggerate what a profound re+ersal of pre3udice and hierarchy this represented# long
with 0reece and Dome, Florence and 8aris, now stood 'igeria# 2f you want an e$ample of how
GthingsG can change thought, then the impact of the 2fe heads in 1636 are, 2 think, as good as you'll
find#
Current research suggests that the heads that we know were all made o+er 5uite a short stretch of
time, possi%ly in the middle of the fourteenth century# t that point 2fe had already for centuries
%een a leading political, economic and spiritual centre# 2t was a world of forest farming, dominated
%y cities that de+eloped in the lands west of the 'iger Di+er# nd it was ri+er systems that
connected 2fe to the regional trade networks of .est frica, and to the great routes that carried
i+ory and gold across the *ahara to the /editerranean coast# 2n return, came metals that would
make the 2fe heads# The world of the /editerranean had pro+ided not the artists, as Fro%enius
supposed, merely the raw materials#
The forest cities were presided o+er %y their senior ruler, the 7oni of 2fe# The ooni's role was not
merely political, he also had a great range of spiritual and ritual duties# nd the city of 2fe has
always %een the leading religious centre of the Horu%a people# *till today there is an ooni who has
high ceremonial status and moral authority, and whose headgear still echoes that of our sculpted
head of a%out se+en hundred years ago#
7ur head is almost certainly the portrait of an ooni, %ut it's not at all o%+ious how such a portrait
would ha+e %een used# 2t was clearly not meant to stand on its own, so it might well ha+e %een
mounted on a wooden %ody, and there's what looks like a nail hole at the neck that could ha+e %een
used to attach it# 2t's %een suggested that it might ha+e %een carried in processions, or that in
certain ceremonies it could ha+e stood in for an a%sent or e+en for a dead ooni#
round the mouth there are a series of small holes# gain, we can't %e 5uite certain what these are
for, %ut they were possi%ly used to attach a %eaded +eil that would hide the mouth and the lower
part of the face# nd we know that the 7oni today still co+ers his face completely on some ritual
occasions - a powerful marker of his distinct status as a person apart, not like other human %eings#
nd astonishingly our sculpture suggests this dual nature - an ooni who is a man and also
something more# 1ere's "en 7kri again9
GThis is not 3ust sculpting as representation# 2 think it's really important to understand that# This is
not 3ust 'this is what a certain person or a certain king looked like' - this is more than that# This is
kingship in its ritual aspect, this is kingship in its relationship with di+inity, this is kingship in
relationship with the centrality of the myths of a tri%e and of a people# This is kingship as an
em%odiment of the mysterious power of a people#G
"ut there's a sense in which the 2fe sculptures ha+e also %ecome em%odiments of a whole
continent, of a modern frica confident in its ancient cultural traditions# 1ere's "a%atunde :awal
again9
Gnd then of course today many fricans, and 'igerians in particular, are proud of their past, a
past that was denigrated as %eing crude, primiti+e in the past# nd then to realise that their
ancestors were not as %ackward, as it were, as they were portrayed - it was a dou%le source of 3oy
to them# This disco+ery unfurled a new kind of nationalism in them, and they started walking tall,
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feeling proud of their past# nd then contemporary artists now seek inspiration from this past, to
energise their 5uest for identity in the glo%al +illage that our world has %ecome#G
The disco+ery of the art of 2fe is, 2 think, a supreme e$ample of a widespread cultural
phenomenon9 that as we disco+er our past, so we disco+er oursel+es# nd more9 to %ecome what
we want to %e, we ha+e to decide what we were# :ike indi+iduals, nations and states define and
redefine themsel+es %y re+isiting their histories#
2n the ne$t programme we're going to %e in China, where the interpretation of history has always
%een a central part of the political de%ate# .e'll %e at the same date as the 2fe head, and with an
e5ually high-status o%3ect### %ut we'll %e looking not at ritual %ron,e, %ut at sacred porcelain#
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Episode $4 - *he 3avid @ases
-he 4avid Aases Bmade in 1&1CD /orcelainF from 'hina
G2n Ranadu did <u%la <han
stately pleasure-dome decree9
.here lph, the sacred ri+er, ran
Through ca+erns measureless to man
@own to a sunless sea#G
The thrilling opening lines of Coleridge's opium-fuelled fantasy still send a tingle down the spine#
s a teenager 2 was mesmerised %y his +ision of e$otic and mysterious pleasures, %ut 2'd no idea
that Coleridge was in fact writing a%out a historical figure# Bu%ilai <han is a thirteenth-century
Chinese emperor, Ranadu - merely the &nglish form of *hangdu - his 2mperial summer capital#
Bu%ilai <han was the grandson of 0enghis <han, ruler of the /ongols from 12(4 and terror of the
world# .reaking ha+oc e+erywhere, 0enghis <han esta%lished the /ongol &mpire - a superpower
that ran from the @anu%e to the *ea of !apan and from Cam%odia to the rctic# Bu%ilai <han, his
grandson, e$tended the &mpire and %ecame &mperor of China, which leads us to the o%3ects for
this programme#
Cnder the /ongol emperors, China de+eloped one of the most enduring and successful lu$ury
products in the history of the world, a product fit for stately pleasure-domes, %ut which spread in a
matter of centuries from grand palaces to simple parlours all o+er the world### it's Chinese %lue-
and-white porcelain# .e now think of %lue-and-white as 5uintessentially Chinese, %ut as we shall
disco+er, this is not how it %egan# This archetypal Chinese aesthetic comes in fact from 2ran#
GThe fascinating thing a%out these +ases is that they are so %eautiful and mysterious, and yet they
seem tremendously familiar#G >!enny Cglow?
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G2f you say Chinese porcelain, this is what you think of - this white %ackground and this %rilliant
%lue colour# "ut it hasn't %een there for e+er, it was a no+elty at this period#G >Craig Clunas?
The programmes this week look at high-status o%3ects from all o+er the world around se+en
hundred years ago, o%3ects which tell us a%out the taste and the am%itions - political and social,
religious and intellectual - of the people who owned them# Thanks to the long Chinese ha%it of
writing on o%3ects, we know e$actly who made the two %lue-and-white porcelain +ases in this
programme, which gods they were offered to, and indeed the +ery day on which they were
dedicated#
The importance of Chinese porcelain is hard to o+er-estimate# dmired and imitated for o+er a
thousand years, it's influenced +irtually e+ery ceramic tradition in the world, and it's played a star
role in cross-cultural e$changes# 2n &urope, %lue-and-white porcelain is practically synonymous
with China# nd we'+e always associated it with the /ing @ynasty# "ut it was the @a+id Eases,
now in the "ritish /useum, that made us re-think this history, for they predate the /ing and were
in fact made under Bu%ilai <han's /ongol @ynasty, known as the Huan, who controlled all of
China until the middle of the fourteenth century#
*e+en hundred years ago most of sia and a large part of &urope were reeling from the in+asions
of the /ongols# .e all know 0enghis <han as the ultimate destroyer# The sack of "aghdad still
li+es in 2ra5i folk memory# 0enghis's grandson Bu%ilai was also a great warrior, %ut under him
/ongol rule %ecame more settled and more ordered# s &mperor of China, he supported
scholarship and the arts, and he encouraged the manufacture of lu$ury goods# 7nce the &mpire
was esta%lished, a '8a$ /ongolica' ensued, a /ongolian peace which, like the 8a$ Domana,
ensured a long period of sta%ility and prosperity# The /ongol &mpire spread along the ancient *ilk
Doad and made it safe# 2t was thanks to the 8a$ /ongolica that /arco 8olo was a%le to tra+el from
2taly to China, and then return to tell &urope what he'd seen# nd one of the startling things he'd
seen was porcelain#
The @a+id Eases are so-called %ecause they were %ought %y *ir 8erci+al @a+id, whose collection
of o+er one and a half thousand Chinese ceramics is now in a special gallery at the "ritish
/useum# .e'+e put the +ases right at the entrance to the gallery, to make it 5uite clear that they're
the stars of the show# @a+id ac5uired them from two separate pri+ate collections, and was a%le to
reunite them in 1635# They're %ig, they're 3ust o+er two feet >4( cm? high and they're a%out eight
inches >2( cm? across at the widest, with an elegant shape, narrowing at the top and the %ottom,
swelling into a full central %ody# pparently floating %etween the white porcelain %ody and a clear
gla,e at the top, lies the %lue, made of co%alt and painted in ela%orate patterns and figures with
great assurance# There are lea+es and flowers at the foot and at the neck of the +ases, %ut the main
%ody of each +ase has a slender Chinese dragon flying around it - elongated, scaled and %earded,
with piercing claws and surrounded %y trailing clouds# t the neck are two handles in the shape of
elephant heads# These two +ases are o%+iously lu$ury porcelain production, made %y artist-
craftsmen delighting in their material#
8orcelain is a special ceramic fired at +ery high temperature9 12((-14(( degrees centigrade# The
heat +itrifies the clay, so that like glass it can hold li5uid, in contrast to porous earthenware# nd
the heat also makes it +ery tough# .hite, hard and translucent, porcelain was admired and desired
e+erywhere, well %efore the creation of %lue-and-white#
The +ery word 'porcelain' comes to us from /arco 8olo's description of his tra+els in Bu%ilai
<han's China# The 2talian 'porcellana', 'little piglet', is a slang word for cowrie shells# They do
indeed look a little like curled-up piglets# nd the only thing that /arco 8olo could think of, to
gi+e his readers an idea of the shell-like sheen of the hard, fine ceramics that he saw in China, was
a cowrie shell, a 'porcellana'# nd so 'little piglets', porcelain, we'+e called it e+er since - that's if
255
we're not 3ust calling it china# 2 don't think there's another country in the world whose name has
simply %ecome interchangea%le with its defining e$port#
The sa+agery of the /ongol in+asion desta%ilised and destroyed local pottery industries across the
/iddle &ast, especially in 2ran# *o when peace returned, these %ecame ma3or markets for Chinese
e$ports# nd in these new markets %lue-and-white ware had long %een popular# *o the porcelain
the Chinese made for them mirrored the local style, and Chinese potters used the 2ranian %lue
pigment, co%alt, to meet local taste# The co%alt from 2ran was known in China as 'huihui 5ing' -
'/uslim %lue' - clear e+idence that the %lue-and-white tradition is /iddle &astern and not Chinese#
1ere's Craig Clunas, an e$pert on Chinese cultural history9
G2ran, and what's now 2ra5, are the kind of areas where this sort of colouring comes in# This is a
techni5ue that comes from elsewhere, and therefore it tells us something a%out this period, when
China is unprecedentedly open to the rest of sia as part of this huge empire of the /ongols,
which stretches all the way from the 8acific almost to the /editerranean# Certainly the openness to
the rest of sia is what %rings a%out things like %lue-and-white, and it pro%a%ly had an impact on
forms of literature# *o from the point of +iew of cultural forms coming into %eing, the Huan period
is e$traordinarily important#G
nd among the happy conse5uences of this cultural openness are the @a+id Eases# The crucial
significance of the +ases is that as well as their decoration, they ha+e inscriptions - inscriptions that
tell us that they were dedicated in the year 1351, in fact on Tuesday 13 /ay 1351# 2t's a le+el of
precision that's wonderfully Chinese, and it's proof positi+e that fine 5uality %lue-and-white
porcelain pre-dates the /ing# "ut the inscriptions tell us much more than that# There are slight
differences %etween the inscriptions on the two +ases, %ut this is the translation of the one on the
left9
GNhang .en3in, from !ingtang community, @e3iao +illage, *huncheng township, Hushan county,
Rin,hou circuit, a disciple of the 1oly 0ods, is pleased to offer a set comprising one incense-
%urner and a pair of flower +ases to 0eneral 1u !ingyi at the 7riginal 8alace in Ringyuan, as a
prayer for the protection and %lessing of the whole family and for the peace of his sons and
daughters# Carefully offered on an auspicious day in the Fourth /onth, &le+enth year of the
Nhi,heng reign#G
There's a lot of information here# .e're told that the +ases were purpose-made to %e offered as
donations at a temple, and that the name of their donor is Nhang .en3in, who descri%es himself
with great solemnity as a disciple of the holy gods# 2t gi+es his home town, *huncheng in what is
now !iang$i pro+ince, a few hundred miles south-west of *hanghai# 1e was offering these two
grand +ases along with an incense-%urner - the three would ha+e formed a typical set for an altar#
The incense-%urner has %een lost, or at least has not yet %een found# The specific deity recei+ing
the offering had only recently %ecome a god# 1e is 0eneral 1u !ingyi, a military figure of the
thirteenth century, who was ele+ated to di+ine status %ecause of his supernatural power and
wisdom, and his a%ility to foretell the future# Nhang .en3in's altar set is offered in e$change for
this new god's protection#
Foreign rulers, the /ongols) foreign materials, /uslim %lue) and foreign markets, 2ran and 2ra5)
all played an essential part in the creation of what to many outside China is still the most Chinese
of o%3ects, %lue-and-white porcelain# *oon these ceramics were %eing e$ported from China in +ery
large 5uantities, to !apan and south-east sia, across the 2ndian 7cean to frica and the /iddle
&ast# nd far %eyond that# 1ere's author !enny Cglow9
GThen it comes to &urope, and the @utch adapt it to their life, and so it comes to "ritain, and we
adapt it to the forms of 3ugs we like, the plates we lo+e, and so on# 2t %ecomes translated, it's like a
254
wonderful language which is perpetually translated to the culture where it's arri+ing and is lo+ed#
8eople say it's a +ery, sort of, elemental thing9 it's %lue and white, it's the %lue sky and the white
clouds, or the %lue sea and the white sand# nd %eha+ioral psychologists who'+e looked at the way
people react to colour say that %lue and white is seen as immensely serene and rela$ing# "ut 2 think
also it has to do with the great long history - you know, a thousand years of history - and the way
that the %lue-and-white designs themsel+es seem to %e mysterious and 'other' and ha+e their own
stories as well# 2t's a com%ination of colour appeal and historical appeal#G
*o, e+entually, centuries after its creation in /uslim 2ran, and its transformation in /ongol China,
%lue-and-white arri+ed in &urope and triumphed# .illow-pattern, the style that many people think
of when %lue-and-white is mentioned, was in+ented in &ngland in the 1=6(s %y Thomas /inton,
and it was as much a fantasy +iew of China as Coleridge's poem# 2t was an instant success, and
Coleridge may indeed e+en ha+e %een drinking his tea out of a willow-pattern cup as he emerged
from his opium dream#
"lue-and-white porcelain was the first truly glo%al lu$ury product, and one that could %e infinitely
adapted to suit all local tastes# The @a+id Eases, the earliest datea%le %lue-and-white, were made as
offerings to the gods) in the ne$t programme we're with another high-status o%3ect, also used as a
means of connecting with the supernatural### it's a ritual throne from the Cari%%ean#
25=
Episode $" - *aino ritual seat
-aino ritual seat Bmade 5et$een thirteenth and fifteenth centuryCD ?ooden stoolF from the
4ominican 9epu5lic
This week we'+e %een talking a%out high-status o%3ects that %elonged to leaders and thinkers
around the world a%out se+en hundred years ago# 7%3ects that reflect the societies that produced
them, in *candina+ia and 'igeria, *pain and China# Today's o%3ect is a stool from the Cari%%ean,
from what is now the @ominican Depu%lic, and it too tells a rich story - in this case of the Taino
people who li+ed in the Cari%%ean islands %efore the arri+al of Christopher Colum%us#
2n the history of the world that we'+e %een telling, this stool is the first o%3ect in which the separate
narrati+es of the mericas on the one hand and &urope, sia and frica on the other, intersect, or
perhaps more accurately, collide# "ut this is no ordinary domestic thing - it's a stool of great power,
a strange and e$otic ceremonial seat car+ed into the shape of an otherworldly %eing) half-human,
half-animal, which would take its owners tra+elling %etween worlds, and ga+e them the power of
prophecy# .e don't know if the seat helped them foretell it, %ut we do know that the people who
made this seat had a terri%le future ahead of them#
G2t hides a lot more information than you might suspect, and it's eliciting that information that
really is thrilling#G >!os 7li+er?
GThese o%3ects, for those of us who grew up here in 'ew Hork, were almost like o%3ects of
+eneration, in the sense that we were redisco+ering our culture - culture that we didn't know
e$isted#G >0a%riel 1aslip-Eiera?
.ithin a century of the arri+al of the *panish, most of the Taino would ha+e died of &uropean
diseases, and their land would ha+e %een shared out among the &uropean con5uerors# 2t was a
pattern that we repeated across the mericas, %ut the Taino were in the front line, and they suffered
more than perhaps any other merican people# They had no writing, and so it's only thanks to a
25;
small num%er of o%3ects, like this stool, that we can e+en %egin to grasp how the Taino imagined
their world, and how they sought to control it#
The term Taino is generally used to descri%e the dominant group of people that inha%ited the larger
Cari%%ean islands9 Cu%a, !amaica, 8uerto Dico - and 1ispaniola, now di+ided %etween 1aiti and
the @ominican Depu%lic, where our stool was found# cross the islands, ritual artefacts ha+e %een
found that gi+e us some idea of Taino life and thought# There are face-like masks designed to %e
worn on the %ody, wooden statuettes, and inhalers for sniffing - or perhaps %etter, snorting - a
mind-altering su%stance# The most e+ocati+e of all these sur+i+ing traces of the Taino are the
car+ed ceremonial stools known as 'duhos'# The duho is the physical e$pression of a distincti+e
Taino world +iew#
The Taino people %elie+ed that they li+ed in parallel with an in+isi%le world of ancestors and gods,
from whom their leaders could seek knowledge of the future# duho would %e owned only %y the
most important mem%ers of a community, and it was the +ital means of getting through to the
realm of the spirits# 2t was in one sense a throne, %ut it was also a portal, and a +ehicle to the
supernatural world#
2t's a%out the si,e of a foot-stool, a small cur+ed seat, car+ed out of rich dark wood, highly
polished and gleaming# Car+ed at the front is a grimacing, goggle-eyed creature, which looks
almost human, with an enormous mouth and wide ears# 2t's got two arms planted on the ground,
and these two arms form the front two legs of the stool# From there a %road cur+e of wood sweeps
upwards, like a wide %ea+er tail, supported at the %ack %y two more legs# This creature looks like
nothing on earth, %ut one thing is certain - it's male# Cnderneath this strange composite %eing, and
%etween the hind legs, are car+ed male genitals#
This is a seat for a leader, for the chief of a +illage or a region# Taino leaders were %oth male and
female, and the duho em%odied their social, political and religious power, and it was crucial to the
functioning of their society# .e know that in at least one instance a leader was %uried sitting on his
duho# 1ere's !os 7li+er, an archaeologist who's %een doing new work on the Taino, and has
studied how duhos would ha+e %een used9
GThe use of the duho### you ha+e to think of it not as a piece of furniture, %ut rather as a sym%olic
location of where the chief would stand# This particular o%3ect is too small for actually a human
%eing sitting on it# Therefore 3ust the fact that you're sitting, or crouching, on top of it, already -
like the thrones of the monarchies - distinguishes this indi+idual from e+ery%ody else# .hat is
interesting is, all the wooden seats that we know of in the Cari%%ean, including this one, tend to %e
male, or they are marked with the male gender# nd like in this case, they sometimes show the
male genitalia under the seat# nd that's %ecause this seat is actually an anthropomorphic
personage# Think of it as a human %eing on four legs, and what you sit JonK is on the %ack of this
personage# nd that's why the genitalia are on there, and you sit on top, almost like if you were
sitting o+er a donkey or a horse, and so on# *o the chief is mounting this o%3ect, which happens to
also %e a sentient %eing# 2n other words they thought of these things as ha+ing 'cemi', that is, a
soul#G
nd so the gaping, %oggle-eyed figure at the front of our seat - humanoid %ut not human - is the
link to the cemi, to the spirit or the ancestor#
7ne of the chief's key roles was to access the domain of the sacred, the realm of the cemis# *eated
on the duho he sniffed a hallucinogenic snuff, made from the charred seeds of the coho%a tree#
.ithin half an hour it %egins to work, and the resulting effects last for two to three hours, creating
colourful patterns, strange sounds and +oices, leading to full dream-like hallucinations#
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7ne of the early *panish recorders of the Taino culture, and pro%a%ly the most sympathetic, was
"artolomeo de las Casas# 1e arri+ed on 1ispaniola in 15(2, and he descri%ed the rituals in which
the duho had its role - he calls the chief a :ord9
GThey had the custom of con+ening meetings to determine arduous things, such as mo%ilising for
war and other things that they thought important for performing their coho%a ceremony# The first
to start was the :ord, and while he was doing it the rest remained 5uiet, and were a%sor%ed, while
seated on low and well-car+ed %enches they call duhos# 1a+ing done his coho%a, which is inhaling
through the nostrils those powders, he remained for a while with his head turned sideward, and
with his arms resting on his knees# 1e would gi+e them an account of his +ision, telling them that
the cemi spoke to him, and certified the good or ad+erse times to come, or that they would ha+e
children or that they would die, or that they would ha+e conflict or war with their neigh%ours#G
The Taino world was run %y chiefdoms - centres of power whose leaders fought, negotiated and
allied among themsel+es# They generally li+ed in settlements of a few thousand people, in large
circular houses, each accommodating perhaps a do,en families, clustered around a central s5uare#
*ome distance away would stand the chief's house, which would also dou%le as the local sacred
space or temple, and it's here that the duho was put to work#
.e don't know who would ha+e made these duhos, %ut certainly the materials were +ery
deli%erately chosen# The wood of the duho is nati+e to the Cari%%ean, and it fascinated the
&uropeans who encountered it# They called it 'lignum +itae' - the 'wood of life' - %ecause of its
remarka%le 5ualities# 2ts resin was used to treat a wide range of ailments, from sore throats to
syphilis, and when com%ined with alcohol it turns %lood %lue# 2t's also one of the few woods that
won't float - it's so dense that it sinks in water# 7ne *paniard wrote admiringly of the duhos9 GThey
are made of such %eautiful, smooth and perfect wood, that nothing else more %eautiful was e+er
made of gold or sil+er#G
nd there is in fact gold on our duho as well# The wide, gaping mouth, and the straining, %oggling
eyes of the humanoid head at the front, are emphasised %y %eing inlaid with gold discs, and they
add enormously to the frightening power of the o%3ect# 2t was gold like this that made the
*paniards %elie+e that they might find in 1ispaniola the treasure they'd %een hoping for# "ut in fact
gold like this is found only in the ri+ers, in small 5uantities accumulated o+er many generations#
:ike the special wood, this rare precious gold marked out the duho as an e$ceptional o%3ect,
something a%le to mediate %etween the earthly and the supernatural worlds#
2t could also mediate %etween li+ing leaders# 2mportant +isitors would %e ceremonially seated on
duhos, and Christopher Colum%us himself recei+ed this honour# "ut of all the futures that could
ha+e %een foretold %y the Taino chiefs sitting on their duhos, nothing could ha+e matched what
actually happened# The *paniards %rought with them smallpo$ and typhoid - and e+en the common
cold was catastrophic to the Taino communities, who had no immunity# Those that sur+i+ed were
resettled %y the *panish, so kinship groups were torn apart, and then frican sla+es were %rought
in to replace the +anishing local la%our-force#
2n the Cari%%ean today Taino identity is the su%3ect of much pu%lic de%ate, %ut it's a contentious
su%3ect# 2n his %ook 'Taino De+i+al', the author 0a%riel 1aslip-Eiera considers the claims of those
who say they are of Taino descent9
GThe Taino people as a pure ethnic group - shall we say 'uncontaminated' with other populations -
that population essentially came to an end %y 14((, a%out a hundred years after the arri+al of the
*paniards# The small num%er of sur+i+ors essentially mi$ed in with the *panish colonists and the
fricans that were %ought into the Cari%%ean to replace them as the main la%our-force# "ecause
primarily the mi$ture in the *panish-speaking Cari%%ean is an frican-&uropean mi$, that's what
24(
has %een coming out in the recent studies that ha+e %een done# The so-called admi$ture tests that
geneticists ha+e %een doing in recent years, those tests ha+e demonstrated o+erwhelmingly that the
peoples of the *panish-speaking Cari%%ean, of the 0reater ntilles, are people of mi$ed
%ackground and that the mi$ture is primarily &uropean and frican#G
The Taino may ha+e %een +irtually wiped out hundreds of years ago, %ut we still ha+e echoes of
the lost Taino world in a few words familiar to us, words that reflect Taino e$perience and culture#
'1urricane' is one, and so are '%ar%ecue', 'hammock', 'canoe' and 'to%acco'# These are prosaic,
e+eryday things, %ut the physical sur+i+als of the Taino world, like the duho stool, speak of the
uni+ersal human need to connect with what is %eyond the mundane, with the world of spirits and
gods# 'e$t week is all a%out this constant human need# 2t's a%out religion across the world, from
Constantinople to &aster 2sland # # # and we'll %e %eginning with the Crown of Thorns#
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M**)ing ),* G12s (9!## $ 97## 'C)
Episode $$ - Holy *horn 8eli:uary
Holy -horn 9eli;uary Bmade around 1)0CE from /aris
2'm in 8aris, and 2'm in what was one of the greatest museums of medie+al &urope# lthough it
doesn't look like a museum - it's a two-storey gothic %uilding, with soaring architecture and
spectacular stained glass# 2t's the *ainte Chapelle, the palace church of the kings of France, %uilt in
the 124(s to house what were then the most precious o%3ects in the world# nd supreme amongst
those o%3ects was without 5uestion the Crown of Thorns, placed on Christ's head %efore the
crucifi$ion - and a relic of the utmost sanctity# For medie+al Christendom the key purpose of life in
this world was to secure sal+ation in the ne$t, and relics of the saints offered a direct line to
hea+en# 'o relics were more powerful than those associated with the suffering of Christ himself -
or more +alua%le# This ama,ing church, created to e$hi%it the king's collection of relics, cost
4(,((( li+res to %uild) the Crown of Thorns alone cost the king o+er three times that amount# 2t
was pro%a%ly the most +alua%le thing in &urope# The most precious gift that the king of France
could make was a single thorn, detached from the Crown, and the o%3ect in this programme is one
of those thorns, and the reli5uary made to house it#
G2t's not 3ust an o%3ect, it's got the de+otion of centuries %ehind it# 2t looks like a window into
another world, which 2 think is what it is#G >*ister "enedicta .ard?
This week's programmes are a%out how we talk to our god, or our gods# The o%3ects are, if you
like, 3ust aids to con+ersation, %ut these con+ersations are a%out +ery %ig su%3ects indeed# They are
a%out sal+ation, not only of indi+iduals %ut of communities and e+en empires# round si$ hundred
years ago, religion and society all round the world were so closely connected that it would ha+e
%een impossi%le for most people to say where one ended and the other %egan# 8erhaps that's why
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unworldly hopes were so often articulated through worldly wealth, and gi+en shape in temples and
precious o%3ects# 2t's a parado$ that we see at its most e$treme in the 1oly Thorn Deli5uary, now
held here at the "ritish /useum#
The 1oly Thorn Deli5uary is a one-foot >3( cm? -high theatre, made of solid gold and encrusted
with 3ewels# 2n it we watch the terrifying drama of the end of the world, the day on which we,
along with all the other dead, will %e raised and will face 3udgement# This is a drama in which one
day e+ery spectator will %e a participant# 2t's in three acts# t the %ottom, as the angels %low their
trumpets at the earth's imagined corners, gra+es open on an enamel hillside of +i+id green# Four
figures - two men, two women, naked, in white enamel and still in their coffins - look up and raise
their hands in supplication# Far a%o+e them, at the +ery top of the Deli5uary, sits 0od the Father,
enthroned in 3udgement, among radiant gold and precious gems# nd in %etween is the focus of the
whole Deli5uary#
For medie+al Christians, the only hope of escaping the torments of hell lay in the redeeming %lood
that Christ had shed# t the +ery centre of the Deli5uary is Christ, showing us his wounds# nd
here, 3ust %elow him, %efore your +ery eyes and only inches away from you, is one of the long,
needle-like thorns that caused that holy %lood to flow# '2sta est una spinea corone @omini nostril
2hesu Christi', reads the enamel la%el9 'This is a thorn from the crown of our :ord !esus Christ'#
2t is, 2 think, impossi%le to e$aggerate how powerfully this o%3ect would affect anyone kneeling in
front of it# The %lood drawn %y this worthless thorn will sa+e immortal souls, and so nothing
earthly can %e too precious for it# 'either the sapphire it stands on, nor the rock crystal that
protects it, nor the ru%ies and the pearls that frame it# This is a sermon in gold and 3ewels, an aid to
intense contemplation and a source of the deepest comfort# 1ere's the Doman Catholic "ishop of
:eeds, the Dight De+erend rthur Doche9
G2'm sure that the de+otion to a relic such as this thorn has actually in some ways sanctified it# 2t
certainly %ecomes a focus for the consideration, reflection on deeper things, as to the cost of
suffering# &specially when you think that, if that thorn is authentic, then it was actually piercing
the head of Christ during the course of his suffering and his crucifi$ion, and in some sense
connects our suffering on this earth to his suffering for us# The focus gi+es us a strength to endure
the things that we are presently going through#G
There's no way now of pro+ing that this was a thorn that actually pierced the head of Christ, %ut we
can say with confidence that it's a type of %uckthorn that still grows around !erusalem, and the first
mention of the Crown of Thorns as a relic is in !erusalem, around 4((# 2t was later taken from the
1oly :and to Constantinople, the Christian capital of the eastern Doman &mpire, where it was kept
and +enerated for centuries# "ut shortly after 12((, the impecunious emperor pawned the Crown to
the Eenetians for a mammoth sum# This shocked the crusader king of France, :ouis 2R, %ut it also
ga+e him an opportunity# 1e paid off the de%t, and redeemed the relic# *o, although :ouis as a
crusader didn't con5uer the 1oly :and - the site of Christ's suffering - he did the ne$t %est thing, he
ac5uired the Crown of Thorns# *o great was its power in medie+al people's eyes, that through it
:ouis was linked directly to Christ himself# To house his incompara%le relic, :ouis %uilt not 3ust a
reli5uary, %ut a whole church# 1e called it his holy chapel - the *ainte Chapelle#
The stained-glass windows of the *ainte Chapelle lea+e us in no dou%t that 8aris and the kingdom
of France were to %e permanently transformed %y the arri+al of the Crown of Thorns# *t :ouis is
shown paired with *olomon, the *ainte Chapelle is his temple, and 8aris has %ecome !erusalem#
.hen the Crown arri+ed, it was descri%ed as %eing on deposit with the king of France until the day
of 3udgement, when Christ would return to collect it and the kingdom of France would %ecome the
kingdom of 1ea+en# .hen this chapel was completed and dedicated in 124;, the arch%ishop
proclaimed9 G!ust as the :ord !esus Christ chose the 1oly :and for the display of the mysteries of
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his redemption, so he has specially chosen our France for the more de+oted +eneration of the
triumph of his 8assion#G The Crown of Thorns has played a long and fascinating part in the
international politics of piety# 2t allowed *t :ouis to claim for France a uni5ue status among the
kingdoms of &urope, and e+ery French ruler since *t :ouis has wanted to follow his e$ample#
1ere's the historian *ister "enedicta .ard9
GTo ha+e a relic particularly connected with the 8assion of Christ was the %est thing you could
ha+e# "ut there were also relics of the saints, particularly the martyrs# 2 think they pro+oked a lot of
en+y, especially the French collections# The ri+alry in &ngland - '.e want to ha+e a %etter relic
than they ha+e %ecause we are a %etter nation than they are#' They're su%3ect to all kinds of e$ternal
influences# :ike e+erything else, it can %e part of commerce, can't it- 8olitics, commerce, e$change
- yes, this is certainly all round the relics#G
2n this comple$ economy of influence, a thorn from the Crown %ecame the ultimate French royal
gift# 2n the late fourteenth century one was awarded to a powerful French prince, !ean, @uc de
"erry# :ooking at the Deli5uary, we can %e a%solutely confident that it %elonged to !ean de "erry -
it's got his coat-of-arms enamelled on to it# "ut it also sums up many of his preoccupations# 1e
commissioned some of the greatest religious art of the period, and he was a passionate collector of
relics - he had the marriage ring of the Eirgin, a cup used at the .edding at Cana, a fragment of the
"urning "ush and a complete %ody of one of the 1oly 2nnocents, the children murdered %y 1erod#
1e was also an enthusiastic %uilder of castles and so, appropriately, the %ase of our Deli5uary is a
castle made out of solid gold#
This 1oly Thorn Deli5uary is without 5uestion one of the supreme achie+ements of medie+al
&uropean metalwork, %ut sadly there is no way of knowing if it was in fact the greatest thing in
!ean de "erry's collection# The %ulk of his goldsmith's work was %roken up and melted down
within months of his death, when the &nglish occupied 8aris after the %attle of gincourt in 1415#
The fact that this Deli5uary sur+i+es tells us that he must ha+e gi+en it away %efore his death#
.e're not sure who he ga+e it to, %ut %y 1544 it was in the treasury of the 1a%s%urg emperors in
Eienna# nd from there its secularisation %egins - the gold, enamel and 3ewels %ecome far more
+alua%le and interesting than the hum%le thorn that they house# 2n the 1;4(s it was sent to a
dishonest anti5ue dealer for restoration# 2nstead of carrying out the repairs, the dealer created a
forgery, which he sent %ack in its place to the 2mperial treasury, keeping the original himself#
&+entually the genuine Deli5uary was %ought %y the head of the Eienna %ranch of the Dothschild
%ank, and it was donated to the "ritish /useum %y Ferdinand de Dothschild in 1;6; as part of the
.addesdon "e5uest, which now occupies the whole of a small gallery here at the museum#
Hou ne+er get to the end of the 1oly Thorn Deli5uary# 2t's a theatre for the cosmic drama of
sal+ation# 2t's a sermon on high medie+al theology# nd you could almost say it's a single-o%3ect
museum, e+en if an incompara%ly la+ish one# There's one e$hi%it, mounted on sapphire, displayed
%ehind rock crystal, and la%elled on enamel# "ut its purpose is the same as any museum's, to
pro+ide a worthy setting for a great thing# .e can't of course know how +isitors approach the
o%3ects on display in the "ritish /useum, %ut many +isitors surely still use the 1oly Thorn
Deli5uary for its original de+otional purpose of contemplation and prayer#
Certainly the +eneration of the Crown of Thorns remains +ery much ali+e# 2t was 'apoleon who
decided that it should %e housed permanently in 'otre @ame, and there, on the first Friday of e+ery
month, the whole Crown of Thorns, from which our one thorn was taken o+er si$ hundred years
ago, is still shown to crowds of faithful worshippers#
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2n the ne$t programme we're still in the world of sacred Christian o%3ects, we're in Constantinople,
not with a relic %ut with an icon# .e'll %e with a %eautiful and re+ered image that, astonishingly, is
a%out whether or not there should %e images at all### it's the painting of a holy row#
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Episode $& - 6con of the *riumph of Orthodoxy
7con of the -riumph of Orthodo!y Bpainted in the late fourteenth centuryCE from 7stan5ul
.hat does a great empire do when it's faced with imminent in+asion and destruction- 2t can re-arm
at home and seek allies a%road, %ut more cunningly it can re+isit its history to forge a myth that
will unite the people and carry them through to +ictory# myth that will demonstrate to e+eryone
that their country has %een specially chosen %y 0od and %y history to uphold 3ustice and
righteousness#
1istory re-imagined can %e a +ery powerful weapon# .hen the Christian "y,antine &mpire faced
o%literation at the hands of the 7ttoman Turks around 14((, it turned to its past, found an e+ent
that proclaimed its uni5ue and di+inely ordained purpose, and turned that into a national myth# The
"y,antines promoted their myth in the most pu%lic media at their disposal - they esta%lished a new
religious feast-day, and they commissioned a religious icon to mark it#
GThis icon is a document of a political e+ent# 2 felt immediately that it was similar to the e+ening
news#G >"ill Eiola?
GThis de%ate a%out images 3ust rolls in Christianity# *ometimes the image lo+ers win, sometimes
the image haters win#G >@iarmaid /acCulloch?
This week our programmes are a%out how people use o%3ects to get closer to their gods# nd how
states use religious imagery to help rally the pu%lic# For the "y,antine &mpire around 14((, it had
ne+er %een more important to seek di+ine help# The successor to the Doman &mpire, the defender
of 7rthodo$ Christianity, and for centuries the superpower of the /iddle &ast, the &mpire had
shrunk to a shadow of its former greatness# "y 13=( it was no more than a minor state that
e$tended %arely %eyond the walls of Constantinople - modern 2stan%ul# ll its pro+inces had %een
lost, most of them con5uered %y the /uslim 7ttoman Turks, who now threatened the city on e+ery
side, and e+en the sur+i+al of 7rthodo$ Christianity itself seemed to %e in 5uestion#
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There was little hope of military help from further away# Two %ra+e attempts from western &urope
to send reinforcements had %een catastrophically defeated in the "alkans# 7n se+eral occasions the
emperor himself tra+elled from Constantinople to the kingdoms of the west - e+en as far as
:ondon - to plead for money and soldiers, %ut to no a+ail# "y 13=( it was clear that there was
going to %e no earthly sal+ation# 7nly 0od could help in a situation so desperate# These were the
%leak circumstances in which the icon of the Triumph of 7rthodo$y was painted# 2t shows the
world of the "y,antine &mpire not as it actually was, %ut as it needed to %e if 0od was going to
protect it#
'2con' is simply the 0reek word for picture, and this picture is a%out a foot >3( cm? high, in fact it is
almost e$actly the same shape as a laptop computer# 2t's painted on a wooden panel, the figures in
%lack and red, the %ackground shining gold# 2n the centre, at the top, we see two angels holding up
a picture for +eneration# The picture they're holding is the most famous of all 7rthodo$ icons, and
one particularly connected to Constantinople# <nown as the 1odegetria, it shows the Eirgin /ary
with the Christ Child in her arms# The 1odegetria is %eing +enerated %y a host of saints, %y the
head of the 7rthodo$ Church - the 8atriarch - and %y the 2mperial family# "etween them, they
represent all Constantinople, temporal and spiritual# *o this icon is a picture a%out the use of a
picture, and it's a cele%ration of the central role that icons play in the 7rthodo$ Church# This is
how @iarmaid /acCulloch, 8rofessor of the 1istory of the Church at 7$ford Cni+ersity, descri%es
the function of an icon9
GThe icon is like a pair of spectacles which you put on to see hea+en# Hou're drawn through this
picture into hea+en, %ecause 7rthodo$ Christianity %elie+es +ery strongly that you and 2 can meet
the godhead, that we can almost %ecome like gods# 2t's that e$traordinary frightening statement that
western Christianity is +ery shy of#G
The painting of icons was primarily a spiritual rather than an artistic acti+ity, and it was go+erned
%y strict guidelines# The particular artist is not important, what's key is moti+ation and
methodology# 2t's an aspect of icons that fascinates the merican artist "ill Eiola9
G7k, this is a short te$t that 2 found in a %ook, and it's a te$t from the /iddle ges, and its called
the 'Dules for the icon painter'# ''um%er one, %efore starting work make the sign of the cross, pray
in silence and pardon your enemies# Two, work with care on e+ery detail of your icon, as if you
were working in front of the :ord himself# Three, during work, pray in order###' G
nd so the tasks go on - always emphasising that the artist's principal o%ligation is spiritual9
G '### 'ine, ne+er forget the 3oy of spreading icons in the world, the 3oy of the work of icon painting,
the 3oy of gi+ing the saint the possi%ility to shine through his icon, the 3oy of %eing in union with a
saint whose face you are painting#' G
"ut what e$actly is the Triumph of 7rthodo$y, as shown in our painting at the "ritish /useum- To
find out, we'+e got to go %ack a%out se+en hundred years# 0i+en the centrality of icons in
7rthodo$ worship, and the fer+our with which they're descri%ed, it comes as a shock to disco+er
that for a hundred and fifty years they were not only for%idden in 7rthodo$ churches, %ut acti+ely
sought out and smashed# round the year =((, the "y,antine &mpire nearly succum%ed to the
armies of a new faith, 2slam# 2n striking distinction to Christianity, 2slam for%ad the use of religious
images, yet it was clearly an alarmingly successful faith# 1ad Christianity taken a wrong turn- .as
it %reaking the *econd Commandment - the one that for%ids the making of gra+en images- .as the
state Church on the wrong road, was that why the military campaigns were going so %adly-
*uddenly, the use of images in church seemed to raise a huge and fundamental political 5uestion#
1ere's @iarmaid /acCulloch again9
24=
GCan you picture 0od, or can't you- The huge dispute in the "y,antine &mpire is one of those
classic instances where that simple 5uestion is de%ated and %ecomes an issue which is actually
+ery political, it splits the &mpire down the middle# .hat happened in the "y,antine &mpire was
that it met an e$traordinary trauma, which was 2slam# Came from nowhere and smashed the
&mpire into smithereens, and naturally the "y,antines wondered, '.hat's this all a%out- .hy is
0od fa+ouring these /uslims who ha+e come from nowhere-' The one %ig thing that struck them
a%out 2slam was that there were no pictures of 0od, and that this might %e the answer# That if you
turn Christianity away from ha+ing pictures of 0od, then the "y,antine &mpire might get 0od's
fa+our %ack, and that seems to %e one of the %ig moti+es in attacking images, icons, within the
"y,antine &mpire#G
*o a great wa+e of iconoclastic +iolence swept the 7rthodo$ Church in the years following =((#
The theological de%ates went on for well o+er a century, and were +ery comple$# "ut throughout,
the people remained on the whole +ery firmly attached to their icons, and e+entually, thanks in part
to support from the women of the 2mperial family, the +eneration of icons was restored in ;43 %y
the &mpress, Theodora# nd it's this e+ent that is known as the Triumph of 7rthodo$y# 2t re-
esta%lished the +eneration of icons as the defining touchstone of true 7rthodo$ faith, the central
focus of "y,antine de+otion, a +ital ingredient in the flourishing and the sur+i+al of the &mpire#
nd indeed the &mpire did flourish, and for another fi+e hundred years was a%le to keep the
2slamic threat at %ay# *o when that threat returned e+en stronger than %efore, it was natural for the
leaders of Constantinople to encourage the people to look %ack to that great moment of ;43, when
the faith had %een reordered and the &mpire restored, and to draw comfort from the past as they
faced a frightening future# 2n 13=( the feast of the Triumph of 7rthodo$y was esta%lished in the
Church, and some time after that our icon was painted#
2t shows us the &mpress Theodora and that great restoration of ;43# *he stands %eside the
1odegetria image of the Eirgin and Child, and with her is her child, the %oy &mperor /ichael,
%oth of them wearing ela%orate 2mperial crowns# "elow them, in the %ottom of the picture, stand a
line of 11 saints and martyrs, crowded together as if they're posing for a group photograph, some
of them holding icons in their hands like pri,es that they'+e 3ust %een awarded# ny +iewer around
14(( would ha+e known at once that all these saints had suffered in the great struggle to re-
esta%lish the use of icons# ll of them are neatly la%elled, with their names written in red paint# /y
fa+ourite is the one on the far left# *he is *t Theodosia, the only woman in the group and a feisty
nun, who was put to death essentially for killing a policeman# *he saw an 2mperial guard clim%ing
a ladder to remo+e an image of Christ from the entrance to the 2mperial palace, she pushed away
the ladder, and he fell to his death# 'eedless to say, she was promptly e$ecuted#
.hat the +iewer around 14(( might not ha+e realised is that some of these saints and martyrs were
not e+en %orn in ;43# The icon of the Triumph of 7rthodo$y shows a whole society re+isiting its
past through a work of art, %egging 0od to secure its future# 2t is, 2 think, a powerful and poignant
image# 1ere's the artist "ill Eiola again9
G2t is an e$traordinary and inno+ati+e picture, which represents a really ingenious way of uniting
the temporal world of the past, present, future, with the eternal and the di+ine# .hen 2 look at it, 2
feel it's almost a post-modern-like image - using the idea of the frame within the frame, there are
icons within the icons, images within the image#G
The Triumph of 7rthodo$y did not secure the sur+i+al of the "y,antine &mpire# 2n 1453 the city
fell to the Turks, Constantinople %ecame the capital of the 7ttoman &mpire, and the great cathedral
of 1agia *ophia %ecame a mos5ue# The world's %alance of power had changed# "ut if the
"y,antine state foundered, the 7rthodo$ Church sur+i+ed# The faith we see proclaimed in our
painting was strong enough to ensure that, under /uslim rule, the traditions of 7rthodo$
Christianity, with the +eneration of icons as its defining feature, endured# 2n one sense we could
24;
argue that this icon did e$actly what it hoped9 7rthodo$y sur+i+ed, and e+ery year, on the first
*unday in :ent, the 7rthodo$ Church throughout the world cele%rates the e+ent shown in our icon,
the Triumph of 7rthodo$y# 1ere, as in so much of 7rthodo$ worship, the image and the music of
the human +oice come together, in what for many is a powerful, and indeed o+erwhelming,
e$pression of spiritual yearning#
2n the ne$t programme we're with a culture that has no pro%lem with religious images, gra+en or
otherwise# .e're in 2ndia# 2'm going to %e with two of the great deities of 1induism### *hi+a, and
8ar+ati, his wife#
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Episode $, - hiva and -arvati sculpture
#hiva and /arvati sculpture Bmade in t$elfth or thirteenth centuryCD #tone statueF from
OrissaE 7ndia
There are many surprises a%out working in the "ritish /useum, and one of them is that we
occasionally find offerings of flowers or fruit re+erently placed in front of the 1indu sculptures#
2t's a touching demonstration that religious o%3ects don't need to lose their sacred dimension when
they mo+e into the secular museum, and it's also a reminder that in the census of 2((1, nearly fi+e
per cent of the population of &ngland and .ales stated that their family origins were in the 2ndian
su%continent#
2t's all part of a long shared history that has sometimes %een +iolent and conflictual, and always
%een intense# For centuries the "ritish ha+e %een fascinated %y the cultures of 2ndia, and they ha+e
struggled with greater or lesser success to understand them# For the eighteenth-century &uropean,
the most intriguing mystery of 2ndia was 1induism, a faith that confusingly seemed to ad+ocate
%oth world-denying asceticism and riotous physical pleasure# .hy were some 1indu temples,
unlike &nglish cathedrals, richly decorated with erotic sculpture- .here the Christian god endured
un%eara%le suffering, 1indu gods seemed to re3oice in se$# "ut around 1;((, one man, Charles
*tuart, decided to e$plain to the "ritish that 1induism should %e seriously studied and greatly
admired# s part of his campaign, he collected and displayed pieces of ancient temple sculpture -
and one of those pieces is the o%3ect of this programme#
GThis /ahara3a Chitraketu was passing %y, and he thought it was +ery funny that *hi+a himself
was sitting there ha+ing a class on spiritual life and detachment, with his wife sitting on his lap, a
+ery attracti+e wife, with his arm around her# nd he 3ust # # # he laughedAG >*haunaka Dishi @as?
G1induism is a%out 3oy, %ut it ne+er forgets the struggle#G ><aren rmstrong?
2=(
This week we're looking at the world around se+en hundred years ago, and how different religious
traditions tried, through o%3ects, to %ring people directly into contact with the di+ine# 2n this
programme we're in 7rissa, a densely populated rice-producing state in north-east 2ndia, on the
"ay of "engal# round 13((, it was a prosperous, sophisticated 1indu kingdom, which %uilt
thousands, literally thousands, of magnificent temples# This was the great period of 7rissan
religious architecture, and the %uildings that were most admired were the ones that had the most
e$tra+agant ornamentation#
/ost of these temples were dedicated to the god *hi+a# For the people of 7rissa, *hi+a - one of the
three central deities of 1induism, the god of parado$es, the god who fore+er creates and destroys -
was the lord of their land# 2n *hi+a all opposites are reconciled, and this programme's o%3ect, a
sculpture, comes from one of the many 7rissa *hi+a temples#
2t's a stone sla% of a%out si$ feet >1;( cm? high and three feet >6( cm? wide and, although it would
originally ha+e %een %rightly coloured, it is now a deep gleaming %lack# .e don't know which
temple it's from, %ut it was clearly from a +ery highly pri,ed one, %ecause you could hardly car+e
more decoration onto it# @o,ens of tiny figures swarm around the edges and here, in the middle, on
a much larger scale, is *hi+a himself# .e know he's *hi+a %ecause he's carrying his trademark
trident, and he rests one foot on the %ack of the sacred %ull that he often rides# The sculptor has
car+ed the %ody of *hi+a in +ery full relief, so as 2 approach it, 2 ha+e a growing sense of a god
who is physically present - and this is surely intended, %ecause this sculpture is designed to %ring
me close to the god, to allow me in a sense to con+erse with *hi+a, as the 1indu academic and
cleric *haunaka Dishi @as e$plains9
GThe physical manifestation of the image is considered to %e a great aid in focus of the mind, and
in gaining what they call 'darshan' or the presence of 0od# *o you practice the presence of 0od in
your life %y going to the temple, you see this image that is the presence, you %ow down in front of
the image, you offer food or incense etc, you say your prayers, or you 3ust en3oy the presence of
0od#G
7ur sculpture was certainly made for a temple, a +ery pu%lic place, %ut it is +ery much a%out a
one-to-one contact with 0od, and the e$perience of encountering this sculpture would %e only part
of a relationship with the di+ine, a con+ersation, as it were, that you might %egin in the temple and
then carry on at home# :ooking at the sculpture is simply the starting point for a daily dialogue that
will ultimately shape e+ery part of your e$istence# 1ere's *haunaka Dishi @as again9
G2f you %ought 0od into your home, for instance, then if 0od is right there in your li+ing room,
you don't ha+e %ig %la,ing rows etc, you don't do things that you wouldn't do in the presence of
0od, which is 5uite a challenge - a challenge to the ego, our false ego# nd what de+otees of the
deity would %e de+eloping is their real ego, that of %eing an eternal ser+ant of 0od#G
"ut in our sculpture, *hi+a is not alone# 'estling in his lap, and lo+ingly encircled %y one of his
four arms, is his wife 8ar+ati# "oth are similarly dressed, with decorated loin cloths, naked torsos,
and hea+y necklaces and head-dresses# 1us%and and wife are turned towards each other, and look
lo+ingly into each other's eyes, so engrossed in each other that they're o%li+ious to their swirling
entourage# Their mutual de+otion is mirrored %y the animals at their feet, *hi+a's %ull echoing his
master's doting ga,e, while 8ar+ati's lion smiles %ashfully in response# There is such a strong erotic
charge in this car+ing, that you might well imagine that *hi+a and 8ar+ati are a%out to mo+e into a
fuller, closer em%race# "ut no, or at least not yet, for this is a couple who are e$pecting guests or,
more precisely, worshippers# 7ur sculpture would pro%a%ly ha+e %een at the door of a temple,
welcoming families as they approached, and offerings would ha+e %een made not 3ust to *hi+a %ut
to 8ar+ati, to the pair of them as a di+ine couple# 1ere's *haunaka Dishi @as again9
2=1
G8ar+ati is a +ery good wife, who doesn't like people making fun of her hus%and# *o worshippers
ha+e to %e a little %it careful always to gi+e respect to 8ar+ati first, and then approach *hi+a# That's
considered to %e the respecta%le thing to do, and the safe thing to do# "ut %oth of them are +ery,
+ery munificent# Hou don't ha+e to do much to please them, and they gi+e JtoK you +ery, +ery
li%erally#G
This smiling sensuous image doesn't 3ust show us a model couple that any earthly hus%and and
wife might emulate, the sculpture of *hi+a and 8ar+ati is something more# 2t's a meditation on the
+ery nature of 0od, for they are, as *haunaka Dishi @as e$plains, the same person manifest in two
different forms9
G0od is male and female# nd the thinking %ehind that is that 0od cannot %e something less than
we are# 0od cannot %e 'not' female, %ecause there are females here, so 0od has to ha+e a female
aspect#G
2t's the presence of 8ar+ati, the female aspect of 0od, that's perhaps most disconcerting to a non-
1indu +iewer, especially to one raised in monotheism, %ecause this is a +ery particular +iew of the
di+ine# monotheistic god is, %y definition, alone - cannot engage with other gods, cannot %e part
of a dynamic se$ual relationship, and in !udaism, Christianity and 2slam that monotheistic god is
not 3ust single %ut has, %y long tradition, %een male# 2n the 1indu tradition, %y contrast, *hi+a
needs 8ar+ati# 1ere's <aren rmstrong, historian of religion9
G2n the monotheisms, particularly in Christianity, we'+e found 5uestions of se$ and gender
difficult, and some of them that start out with a positi+e +iew of women - like Christianity and also
2slam - get hi3acked a few generations after the foundation, and get dragged %ack to the old
patriarchy# 2 think there's a %ig difference, howe+er, in the way people +iew se$uality# .hen you
see se$uality as a di+ine attri%ute, as a way in which one can apprehend the di+ine, that must ha+e
an effect - you see it in the 1indu marriage ser+ice, where this is a di+ine act# Buestions of gender
and se$uality ha+e always %een the chilles heel of Christianity, and that shows that there's a sort
of failure of integration here, a failure to integrate a %asic fact of life#G
2t was 1induism's generous capacity to em%race all aspects of life, not least se$uality, that
enthused and %eguiled the man who collected our sculpture - Charles *tuart, an officer in the &ast
2ndia Company, who so +igorously em%raced the +alues and +irtues of 1induism that he was
nicknamed %y his shocked compatriots G1indoo *tuartG# *tuart admired almost e+ery aspect of
2ndian life# 1e studied 2ndian languages and religions, and he e+en urged &nglish women to wear
what he called Gsensi%le and sensualG 2ndian saris# The memsahi%s declined#
s part of his study of 2ndian cultures, *tuart put together a huge collection of sculpture - our relief
was part of it - designed to include Ge$amples of each deity as a kind of +isual encyclopaedia of
religions and customsG# 1is collection was displayed to the pu%lic at his home in Calcutta# 2t was
one of the first serious attempts to present 2ndian culture in a systematic way to a &uropean
audience# Far from finding 1induism disconcerting, *tuart saw in it an admira%le framework for
li+ing, that was at least the moral e5ual of Christianity, and in 1;(; he pu%lished his +iews in a
pamphlet, 'Eindication of the 1indoos'9
G.here+er 2 look around me, in the +ast ocean of 1indu mythology, 2 disco+er 8iety### /orality###
and as far as 2 can rely on my 3udgement, it appears the most complete and ample system of /oral
llegory the world has e+er produced#G
*tuart spoke out strongly against missionary attempts to con+ert 1indus to Christianity# 1e thought
it simply impertinent, and his intention always was that his collection should %e seen in &ngland to
persuade the "ritish to honour this great world religion# *tuart would, 2'm sure, %e pleased that
2=2
after two hundred years, his sculpture of *hi+a and 8ar+ati, made around 13(( to welcome
worshippers to a temple in 7rissa, is still on show to the pu%lic# nd he'd %e delighted that many of
those who come to see it are "ritish 1indus - part of that large population of 2ndian descent that
now li+es in the C<#
lthough the stories of 1induism are increasingly taught in "ritish schools, some of us not %rought
up as 1indus struggle to master the complicated theology that em%races many deities in many
manifestations# "ut it would %e hard to stand in front of this sculpture, and not grasp immediately
one of the central insights of this great religious tradition - that 0od may perhaps %est %e concei+ed
not as a single isolated spirit, %ut as a 3oyous lo+ing couple, and that physical lo+e is not e+idence
of fallen humanity, %ut an essential part of the di+ine# This sculpture does indeed make 0od seem
+ery close#
2n the ne$t programme, we'll %e in /e$ico, thinking a%out how a different religious system at the
same date took a +ery different - and much less happy - +iew of the gods, of humanity, and of se$#
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Episode $. - culpture of Huastec goddess
#culpture of Huastec goddess Bmade 5et$een tenth and fifteenth centuryCD #tone statueF from
Me!ico
2f you want to test the old clich that an act of translation is always an act of %etrayal, then the
internet automated translation ser+ices will gi+e you lots of happy ammunition# 2 fed into it the
sentence which is the theme for this week's programmes# GThis weekG, 2 typed, Gwe're spinning the
glo%e, looking at some of the world's religions around se+en hundred years ago, and at how
different cultures used o%3ects to %ring gods and humans nearer to each other#G 7nce this sentence
had %een translated from &nglish into French, from French into 0reek and then from 0reek %ack to
&nglish, it read9 GThis week we turn %all, that looks at certain of religions of world this there at
a%out se+en hundred years, and the way which different cultures has adopted o%3ects to %ring more
almost gods and humans from each other#G
2t's an amusingly crude e$ercise, %ut when it comes to translating comple$ ideas from a lost culture
with no written language, we can't %e confident of doing much %etter, as we work our way through
layers of later interpretation %y people with 5uite different ways of thinking#
To get anywhere near an original understanding of this programme's o%3ect, we ha+e to go through
a filter of two later cultures with two different languages - and e+en then, we're not 5uite sure
where we stand# 2t's an o%3ect that's always intrigued me, and 2'm less and less sure that 2
understand it - it's the statue of a woman, from what is now northern /e$ico, %ut which around
14((, was the land of the 1uastec people#
G2t's a%solutely essential that she should %e female# 7ne of the aspects of human e$perience that all
myths and all religions address, is se$#G >/arina .arner?
&+ery%ody knows a%out the ,tecs, and how the great ,tec &mpire was con5uered %y the
*paniards in the 152(s# .e hear much less a%out the people that the ,tecs themsel+es had
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con5uered to %uild their empire# 7ne of the most interesting people su%3ugated %y the ,tecs were
their northern neigh%ours, the 1uastecs# .e know that the 1uastecs li+ed on /e$ico's northern
0ulf coast, in the area around modern Eeracru,, and that %etween the tenth and the fifteenth
centuries they had a flourishing city culture# "ut around 14((, this prosperous world was
o+erwhelmed %y the aggressi+e ,tec state in the south, and the 1uastec ruling class was
effecti+ely li5uidated# There's +ery little now that would ena%le us to reconstruct the world and the
ideas of the 1uastecs# There is no trace of any writing, and all we ha+e to go on is ,tec accounts
of the people they con5uered, as transmitted through the *panish after they in their turn had
li5uidated the ,tecs# *o if we want the 1uastec to speak to us directly, we ha+e to go to the
o%3ects they left %ehind# These are their only documents, and among the most elo5uent of them are
groups of highly distincti+e stone statues#
1ere in the /e$ico 0allery at the "ritish /useum, 2 am looking at a statue of a woman# 'ot 3ust
one woman, in fact, %ecause although she is in prime position, she is presiding o+er a group of
companions, three sandstone sisters, all car+ed to the same design#
7ur statue is a%out fi+e feet >1#5m? high, so more-or-less life-si,e, %ut she's not at all lifelike# *he
looks as though she's %een shaped %y a giant pastry-cutter - the contours of the %ody are straight
lines, the surface is flat - you might almost imagine she's a huge ginger%read woman# .hen you
step to the side, you can see that she's car+ed out of a +ery thin piece of sandstone# &dge-on, she's
less than si$ inches >15 cm? thick# *he folds her hands o+er her stomach, and her arms are held out
from her sides, making two triangular spaces# 2n fact, she's really 3ust a series of geometric shapes#
1er %reasts are perfect hemispheres, and %elow the waist she wears a rectangular skirt, which falls
flat and undecorated to the plinth# This is a lady of straight lines and hard edges, clearly not
some%ody you would choose to mess withA
"ut she does ha+e two humanising aspects# 1er small head is une$pectedly animated, she appears
to %e looking up and to the side towards something, and her lips are open, as though she may e+en
%e speaking# nd %elow her %reasts are the only surface detail on the entire %ody, cur+ed lines of
sagging stone flesh, signs certainly of maturity, possi%ly of maternity - which has led many people
to %elie+e that she may %e a mother goddess#
.e know +irtually nothing a%out the 1uastec mother goddess, %ut we do know that for the
con5uering ,tecs she was the same %eing as their own mother goddess, Tla,olteotl# 'ow you
might imagine that all mother goddesses ha+e a pretty straightforward 3o%-description - ensuring
fertility and seeing e+ery%ody safely into adulthood - %ut as the cultural historian /arina .arner
points out, it's often much more complicated than that9
G2t's important not to say that all mother goddesses are the same# lot of times the mother
goddesses are related to the spring, to +egetation, to that kind of fertility - not 3ust human, animal
fertility# Then in terms of fertility you enter the area of e$treme danger, %ecause the great threat to
humankind is of course the death of either mothers or children in child%irth# That's %een a uni+ersal
constant in human history until fairly recently# nd also a +ery strong sense that this contact with
the danger of gi+ing %irth, of life, of perpetuating life, will actually %rush you +ery close to
pollution# 2n Christianity that's +ery, +ery strong# Hou know, ugustine said, '.e are %orn %etween
faeces and urine', and he was +ery worried a%out the animal aspect of actual parturition, human
parturition# /other goddesses on the whole ha+e to help human %eings confront this an$iety - that
there's a danger of pollution, that death and %irth can %e mi$ed up together#G
The simple fact is that child%irth and infancy are always +ery messy affairs# To achie+e e+en a
minimum le+el of hygiene means de+ising systems for coping with filth - and mother goddesses
ha+e to deal with filth on a cosmic scale# *o it's not at all surprising that the name Tla,olteotl
literally means, in the ,tec language, 'filth goddess'# *he was a figure of fertility, +egetation, and
2=5
renewal, the ultimate green goddess, transforming organic waste and e$crement into healthy new
life, guaranteeing the great cycle of natural regeneration# This is a goddess that gets her hands dirty
and, according to ,tec myth, not 3ust her hands# nother of her names is 'eater of filth' - she
consumes dirt and purifies it# *o, if we can read our goddess in the same light as the ,tecs, that's
perhaps, disconcertingly, why her mouth is open and her eyes are rolling upwards#
!ust as Tla,olteotl was held to consume actual filth, and thus restore life and goodness, she did the
same in moral terms# *he was, the ,tecs told the *paniards, the goddess who recei+ed
confessions of se$ual sin9
G7ne recited %efore her all +anities, one spread %efore her all unclean works, howe+er ugly,
howe+er gra+e### indeed all was e$posed, told %efore her#G >"ernardino de *ahagun?
To the *panish friar, "ernardino de *ahagun, this seemed an uncanny parallel to Christian +iews
on se$ual sin and confession# .e ha+e to wonder at this point how far the *paniards are seeing the
,tec - and through them the 1uastec - goddesses in terms of their own traditions, especially of
/ary# "ut the Christian tradition had remo+ed /ary from any connection with se$, and the
*panish were distur%ed %y Tla,olteotl's inherent engagement with what they saw as filth# *ahagun
deplores the fact that she is also Gmistress of lust and de%aucheryG# nd the ,tecs in their turn
despised their 1uastec su%3ects as hopelessly licentious#
*o it's pretty hard to come to any firm +iew a%out our statue's meaning, and now some scholars are
e+en 5uestioning whether she's a goddess at all# "ack to the e+idence we ha+e got - the statue in
the gallery# 1er most striking feature is a huge, fan-shaped head-dress# 2t's a%out ten times the si,e
of her head, and although part of it's %roken off, you can see that, like the rest of her, it's concei+ed
as an assem%lage of geometric shapes# 2n the middle, resting directly on her head, is a plain o%long
sla%# *itting on that, an unadorned cone, and %oth are framed in a great semi-circle of what look
like stone ostrich feathers# They may %e feathers, they may %e %ark-wood, %ut the original paint
that would ha+e let us know has long gone# head-dress like this must ha+e %een a totally
unam%iguous statement of who this figure was# /addeningly, it's a statement that we cannot read
now with any confidence# The ,tec e$pert <im Dichter gi+es us her more secular understanding
of the statue9
G2'+e argued that the sculptures represent the 1uastec elite, who dressed up with these fancy
costume elements that were actually common within the international elite of /esoamerica# 2'+e
linked the 1uastec head-dresses to similar types of head-dresses found in other regions#G
G2 think it's the fashion of the day, %ut also so much more# 2t's not unlike, for e$ample, a 0ucci %ag
today# Hou see it in wealthy people all o+er the world# 2t's a sym%ol of status, and it sym%olises the
connections %etween these different regions of the glo%e today# nd these head-dresses had a +ery
similar function, they showed to their own people that they were part of this larger /esoamerican
culture#G
<im Dichter may of course %e right, and these statues may simply %e representations of the local
elite, %ut 2 find it hard to %elie+e that these geometric naked female statues are merely aristocratic
family likenesses, e+en of the most ritualised sort# .e know that groups of them stood high up
a%o+e their communities, on artificial mounds where people could congregate for ceremonies and
processions, %ut it's hard to %e certain a%out anything in the face of our statue# nd, sadly, there's
no%ody now who can enlighten us# 1ere's <im Dichter again9
G2 don't think the sculptures really ha+e much meaning to local people there today# *o when 2 was
in the field and 2 spoke to indigenous people, they were interested and curious, and they want to
2=4
learn more, %ut they didn't know anything a%out these sculptures# 2 heard a report that in one of the
sites the farmers would shoot at the sculptures, and use them as target practice#G
This programme has turned out to %e more a%out what we don't know than what we do# 7ur
statue's commanding physical presence speaks to us with peremptory directness, %ut of all the
o%3ects in our history, she is perhaps the hardest to read confidently through the filters of the
historical record# 2n the ne$t programme, we'll also %e trying to reconstruct a lost spiritual world,
%ut there's a lot more e+idence to go on# .e'll %e in one of the last places on earth to %e settled %y
human %eings - &aster 2sland, Dapa 'ui### and with some of the most instantly recognisa%le
sculpture in the world#
2==
Episode &0 - Hoa Ha(ananai)a Easter 6sland statue
Hoa Ha+ananai,a statue Bmade 5et$een 1000 and 1200CD #toneF from Easter 7sland B9apa
@uiC
Today we're on an island far out in the 8acific 7cean, it's a%out half the si,e of the 2sle of .ight,
it's 1,2(( miles >1,6(( km? from the nearest inha%ited island, and it's 2,((( >3,2(( km? miles from
the nearest land-mass# 2t's Dapa 'ui - &aster 2sland - the most remote inha%ited island, not 3ust in
the 8acific, %ut in the world# 'ot surprisingly, it took human %eings a long time to get there# The
people of the southern 8acific 7cean, the 8olynesians, were without 5uestion the greatest open
ocean +oyagers in the history of the world, and their a%ility to mo+e in dou%le-hulled canoes o+er
the +ast e$panses of the 8acific is truly one of the greatest achie+ements of humanity# They settled
%oth 1awaii and 'ew Nealand, and %etween =(( and 6((, they got to Dapa 'ui - and so %rought to
an end one immense chapter of human history, for &aster 2sland was possi%ly the last place on
earth to %e permanently settled#
2t was another thousand years %efore &uropean sailors matched the 8olynesian feats of na+igation,
and when they reached Dapa 'ui on &aster @ay 1=22, they were astonished to find a large
population already esta%lished# &+en more astonishing were the o%3ects which the inha%itants had
made - the great monoliths of &aster 2sland are like nothing else in the 8acific, or indeed anywhere
else, and they'+e %ecome some of the most famous sculptures in the world# This programme is
a%out one of them# 1e's called 1oa 1akananai'a - the name has %een roughly translated as 'hidden
friend'# 1e came to :ondon in 1;46 and he's %een one of the most admired inha%itants of the
"ritish /useum e+er since#
GThis mar+ellous mass, and strength, and power, these are all things that e+ery sculptor wants to
get, %ut to get naturally without ha+ing to strain for it, %ut to ha+e - and this sculpture has it#G
>nthony Caro?
2=;
This week we'+e glimpsed some of the +ariety of gods that people around the world were engaging
with a%out se+en hundred years ago, and the o%3ects that they made to get close to them# 2t's a
constant of human history that societies de+ote huge amounts of time and resource to ensuring that
the gods are on their side, %ut few societies ha+e e+er done it on such a heroic scale as Dapa 'ui#
The population was pro%a%ly ne+er more than a%out 15,(((, %ut in a few hundred years the
inha%itants of this tiny island 5uarried, car+ed and erected o+er a thousand massi+e stone
sculptures# 1oa 1akananai'a was one of them# 1e was pro%a%ly made around the year 12((, and
was almost certainly made to house an ancestral spirit# 1e's a stone %eing, which an ancestor may
from time to time +isit and inha%it#
*tanding %elow him, you're immediately conscious of the solid %asalt rock that he's made out of#
lthough we see him only from the waist up, he's almost nine feet >2#=m? high, and he dominates
whate+er gallery he's in# .hen you're working hard stone like this, and ha+e only got stone tools to
chip away with, you can't do detail, so e+erything a%out this giant had to %e %ig# nd %old# The
hea+y rectangular head is huge, almost as wide as the torso %elow# The o+erhanging %row is one
straight line, running across the whole width of the head# "elow it are ca+ernous eye sockets, and a
straight nose with flaring nostrils# The s5uare 3aw 3uts asserti+ely forward, and the lips are closed
in a strong frowning pout# 2n comparison to the head, the torso is only sketched in# The arms are
%arely modelled at all, and the hands disappear into the stone %lock of a swelling paunch# The only
details on the %ody are the prominent nipples#
1oa 1akananai'a is a rare com%ination of physical mass and e+ocati+e potency# For the sculptor
*ir nthony Caro, this is the essence of sculpture9
G2 see sculpture, the setting up of a stone - it's a %asic human acti+ity# Hou're in+esting that stone
with some sort of emoti+e power, some sort of presence# That thing, that way of making a
sculpture, is a religious acti+ity# .hat actually the &aster 2sland sculpture does, it gi+es 3ust the
essence of a person# &+ery sculptor since Dodin has looked to primiti+e sculpture, %ecause all the
unnecessary elements are remo+ed# nything that is left in, is what stresses the power of the stone#
.e are down to the essence - its si,e, its simplicity, its monumentality, and its placement - those
are all things that matter#G
The statues were placed on specially %uilt platforms ranged along the coastline, a sacred geography
reflecting the tri%al di+isions of Dapa 'ui# /o+ing these statues would ha+e taken days, and a
large workforce# 1oa 1akananai'a would ha+e stood on his platform with his giant stone
companions in a formida%le line, their %acks to the sea, keeping watch o+er the island# These
uncompromising ancestor figures must ha+e made a haunting, and daunting, +ision to any potential
in+aders, and a suita%ly imposing welcoming party to any +isiting dignitaries# nd they'+e %een
credited with a whole range of miracle-working powers# 1ere's the anthropologist and art historian
*te+e 1ooper9
G2t was a way of human %eings who were ali+e relating to, and e$changing with, their ancestors,
who ha+e +ery great influence on human life# ncestors can affect fertility, prosperity, a%undance#
s you can imagine, they are colossal - this one in the "ritish /useum is smallA There is one
unfinished in a 5uarry in &aster 2sland which is o+er =( feet >2(m? tall - how they e+er would ha+e
erected it goodness only knows# nd it does put me in mind of medie+al cathedral %uilding in
&urope or in "ritain, where you ha+e these e$traordinary constructions in+ol+ing enormous
amounts of time and la%our and skill### and it's almost as if these sculptures scattered around the
slopes of &aster 2sland, large sculptures, are almost e5ui+alent to these medie+al churches# Hou
don't actually need them all, and they are sending messages not only a%out piety, %ut also a%out
social and political competition#G
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*o, a populous island, effecti+ely organised, practising religion in a carefully structured,
competiti+e way, and then, 5uite suddenly, around 14((, the monolith-making stopped# 'o-one has
a +ery clear idea why# Certainly all islands like this are fragile ecosystems, and this one was %eing
pushed %eyond what was comforta%ly sustaina%le# The islanders had gradually cut down most of
the trees, and had hunted land %irds almost to e$tinction# The sea %irds mo+ed away, to nest on
safer offshore rocks and islands# 2t must ha+e seemed as if the fa+our of the gods was %eing
withdrawn#
The islanders responded %y changing their religious practices, turning to a ritual that, not
surprisingly, was all a%out the scarce resources# The "irdman cult focused on an annual
competition to collect the first egg of the migrating sooty tern from a neigh%oring islet# The man
who pulled off the feat of %ringing an egg %ack, un%roken, through the sea and o+er the cliffs,
would for a year %ecome the "irdman# 2n+ested with sacred power, he would li+e in isolation,
grow his nails like %ird talons, and wield a ceremonial paddle as a sym%ol of prestige# nd
surprisingly, we can tell this story too, through our sculpture# Dather than %eing a%andoned along
with the other monoliths, 1oa 1akananai'a was mo+ed, placed in a hut, and entered a new phase of
his life, now part of the "irdman cult#
ll the key elements of this later ritual are present in our statue# They're car+ed on the %ack# They
must ha+e %een added se+eral hundred years after the statue was first made, and the car+ing style
here could hardly %e more different from the front# 2t's in low relief, the scale is small, and the
sculptor has tried to accommodate a large range of disparate detail# &ach shoulder %lade has %een
turned into a sym%ol of the "irdman - two frigate %irds with human arms and feet face each other,
their %eaks touching at the %ack of the statue's neck# 7n the %ack of the statue's head are two
stylised canoe paddles, each with what looks like a miniature +ersion of our statue's face at the
upper end, and %etween the paddles is a standing %ird# 2t's thought to %e a sooty tern, whose eggs
were so central to the "irdman ritual# This car+ing could ne+er ha+e %een +ery legi%le as sculpture#
.e know it was originally painted in %right colours, so that this cluster of +ery potent sym%ols
could %e easily recognised and understood# 'ow, without its colour, the car+ing looks to my eyes
fee%le, fussy, diminished - a confused and timid postscript to the confident +igour of the front#
2t's not often that you see ecological change recorded in stone# There is, 2 think, something +ery
poignant in this dialogue %etween the two sides of 1oa 1akananai'a, a sculpted lesson that no way
of li+ing or thinking can endure fore+er# 1is face speaks of the hope that we all ha+e of
unchanging certainty, his %ack of the shifting e$pedients that ha+e always %een the reality of life#
1e is &+eryman#
nd &+eryman is usually a sur+i+or# The &aster 2slanders seem to ha+e adapted reasona%ly well to
their changing ecological circumstances, as 8olynesians ha+e always had to# "ut in the nineteenth
century, there were challenges of a completely different order# From across the sea came sla+ery,
disease and Christianity# .hen the "ritish ship, 1/* Topa,e, pulled in to shore in 1;4;, there
were only a few hundred people left on the island# The chiefs, %y now %aptised, presented 1oa
1akananai'a to the officers of the Topa,e# .e don't know why they wanted him to lea+e the island,
%ut perhaps the old ancestral sculpture was seen as a threat to the new Christian faith# troop of
islanders mo+ed him to the ship, and he was taken to &ngland to %e presented to Bueen Eictoria,
and then sent to %e housed here at the "ritish /useum# 1e stands facing south-west, looking
towards Dapa 'ui, o+er eight and a half thousand miles away#
Dapa 'ui is perhaps a good place to end this second part of our history of the world# 2t was one of
the last places on earth to %e settled %y humans - a final destination in our great 3ourney out of
frica# 1oa 1akananai'a now stands in the gallery de+oted to li+ing and dying, surrounded %y
o%3ects that show how other societies in the 8acific and the mericas ha+e addressed the
predicaments that confront humanity e+erywhere# 1e is a supremely powerful statement of the fact
2;(
that all societies keep looking for new ways to make sense of their changing world, and to ensure
that they sur+i+e in it# 2n 14((, when this part of our story ends, none of these cultures was known
to &uropeans# "ut this of course was a%out to change#
2n the final part of the series, we will %e looking at the way in which these many different worlds -
e+en islands as remote as Dapa 'ui - %ecame integral parts of one glo%al system# 2t's a history
that's in many ways +ery familiar, %ut as always o%3ects ha+e the power to engage, to surprise and
to enlighten# 2 hope that you'll 3oin me on that last part of our story#
2;1
T,* T,+*s,1<2 1( ),* M12*+n =1+<2 (95:6 $ 966# 'C)
Episode &1 - *ughra of uleiman the Magnificent
-ughra of #uleiman the Magnificent Bmade 5et$een 1&20 and 1&66CE from -ur+ey
.elcome to part three of this history of the world through o%3ects, which we pick up %etween 14((
and 15((# s always, we're looking at 'things', that tell us a%out how societies organised
themsel+es, how they +iewed their place in the world, and how they traded with - and almost
in+aria%ly fought with - their neigh%ours#
t regular inter+als we'+e %een spinning the glo%e to see what has %een happening on different
continents at the same time, and we'+e seen that for thousands of years o%3ects ha+e tra+elled huge
distances o+er land and sea# "ut in spite of these connections, the world %efore15(( was
essentially still a series of networks# 'o%ody could take a glo%al +iew %ecause no%ody had e+er
tra+elled round the world# "efore 15(( no%ody could spin the glo%e# The programmes this week
are a%out the great empires of the world at that last, pre-modern, moment, when it was still
unthinka%le for one person to +isit them all, and when e+en superpowers dominate only their
regions#
.e %egin with one of the great rulers of the age, or more specifically with his name - painted
across two feet >4( cm? of paper, refulgent in %lue and gold, and proclaiming him ruler of a
dynamic and e$pansi+e 2slamic empire# n empire that would reconfigure the geopolitics of the
entire world#
G2t speaks of power, glory, magnificence, and there's a statement %ehind his signature#G >&lif
*hafak?
2;2
G2t ga+e you a sense of the imperial, of %eing part of a whole, of this great and, at that time, +ery
successful enterprise that was the 7ttoman &mpire#G >Caroline Finkel?
"etween a%out 135( and 155(, great tracts of the world were occupied %y superpowers - from the
2nca in *outh merica to the /ing in China, the Timurids in central sia and, in %etween them, the
+igorous 7ttoman &mpire, which spanned three continents and ran from lgiers to the Caspian,
from "udapest to /ecca# Two of the empires 2'm talking a%out this week lasted for centuries) the
other two collapsed within a couple of generations# .hy- The answer, 2 think, is that the ones that
lasted endured not only %y the sword, %ut also %y the pen - that is, that they had flourishing and
successful %ureaucracies that could sustain them through tough times and incompetent leaders#
nd the enduring power that we're looking at in this programme is the 2slamic 7ttoman &mpire
that, %y 15((, had con5uered Constantinople and was mo+ing from %eing a military power to an
administrati+e one# 2n the modern world, as the 7ttomans demonstrated, paper is power# *o it is a
piece of paper that is this programme's o%3ect#
"ut what a piece of paper it isA 2t's a%out two feet >4( cm? wide, one and a half feet >45 cm? high,
and it's a +ery %eautiful painted drawing# 2t's a monogram, it's a %adge of state, it's a seal of
authority and it's a work of the highest art# 2t's called a tughra#
This tughra has %een drawn on hea+y paper in %old lines of co%alt %lue - %rilliant %lue lines# Three
strong +erticals and a great sweeping loop to the left, and a tail that runs off to the right, and inside
those lines, what looks like a tiny meadow of colourful golden-%lue flowers# 2t's %een cut from the
top of an official document, and the whole design spells out the name and the title of the sultan
whose authority it represents# The words com%ined in this ela%orate pattern read9 G*uleiman, son
of *elim <han, e+er +ictoriousG# This simple ra%ic phrase, ela%orated into an em%lem made out
of la+ish and opulent materials, speaks clearly of great wealth, and it's no surprise that this e+er-
+ictorious sultan, the contemporary of 1enry E222 in &ngland and the 1oly Doman &mperor
Charles E, was called %y &uropeans *uleiman the /agnificent#
2n 152(, *uleiman inherited an empire that was already e$panding, and that he went on to
consolidate and e$tend with almost unstoppa%le energy# .ithin a few years, his armies had
shattered the kingdom of 1ungary, had taken the 0reek island of Dhodes, secured Tunis, and
fought the 8ortuguese for control of the Ded *ea# 2taly was now a threatened front-line state#
*uleiman seemed to en+isage a restoration of the Doman &mpire, %ut under /uslim rule, and 2
find it intriguing that this dream of reco+ering an ncient Doman glory, which fired the
Denaissance in western &urope, was also a spur to the great 7ttoman achie+ement# The two hostile
worlds - Christian and 2slamic - shared the same impossi%le dream#
.hen a Eenetian am%assador e$pressed the hope of one day welcoming the *ultan as a +isitor to
his city, *uleiman replied9 GCertainly, %ut after 2 ha+e captured DomeG# 1e ne+er did capture
Dome, %ut today he is without dou%t considered the greatest of all the 7ttoman emperors# 1ere's
the Turkish no+elist, &lif *hafak#
G*uleiman was an unforgetta%le sultan for many people, for the Turks definitely# 2n the west he
was known as G*uleiman the /agnificentG, %ut we know him as G*uleiman <anuni *uleimanG,
who is the Glaw-makerG, %ecause he changed the legal system# 2 must say, *uleiman was +ery
interested in con5uering east and west, and that's why many historians think that he was inspired
also %y le$ander the 0reat# *o 2 see that statement, that world power, in this calligraphy as well#G
1ow do you go+ern an empire the si,e of *uleiman's, and ensure that power in the centre is
properly deployed at the edge- Hou need a %ureaucracy, and administrators all o+er the empire
need to %e a%le to demonstrate that they ha+e the authority of the ruler# This is done %y issuing a
2;3
+isi%le em%lem that can %e carried and shown to e+eryone, and that em%lem is the tughra# 2t acted
like a warrant, or a sheriff's %adge, gi+ing officers of the &mpire the stamp of power# The tughra
would %e at the top of all important official documents, and *uleiman issued a%out 15(,((( such
documents in his reign# 1e was industrious in esta%lishing diplomatic ties, in creating a formida%le
ci+il ser+ice and promulgating new laws# ll of this re5uired letters of state, instructions to
am%assadors, legal documents, and so on#
nd documents like that would ha+e had a tughra like this# The tughra itself names the *ultan,
while the line %elow reads9 GThis is the no%le and e$alted sign of the *ultan's name, the re+ered
monogram that gi+es light to the world# /ay this instruction, with the help of the :ord and the
protection of the &ternal, %e gi+en force and effect# The *ultan orders that ###G
t this point, our paper has %een cut, %ut the document %elow would ha+e continued with whate+er
instruction, law, or command was meant to follow# 2nterestingly, there are two languages in our %it
of paper# The tughra itself names the *ultan in ra%ic, reminding us that *uleiman is the caliph, the
protector of the faithful, with a duty to the whole 2slamic world# The words %elow it are written in
Turkish, and proclaim *uleiman's role as *ultan, ruler specifically of the 7ttoman &mpire, and
so+ereign of all its su%3ects - /uslim, !ewish or Christian# *o we ha+e ra%ic for the spiritual
world, Turkish for the temporal#
*o who would ha+e read this inscription- .ell, gi+en the opulent artistry of this tughra, the
recipient must ha+e %een +ery grand, so it might ha+e %een a go+ernor or a general, a diplomat or
perhaps a mem%er of the ruling house# nd it could ha+e %een sent to any part of *uleiman's fast
growing empire, as historian Caroline Finkel e$plains9
G1e o+erthrew the /amluk &mpire, so &gypt and *yria with all their ra% population# The 1e3as
of course as well, with the holy places which were e$tremely important# ll these people were now
7ttoman su%3ects, for %etter or worse# *uleiman's tughra could %e seen as far as the 8ersian %order,
where their great ri+al in the east, the *hia *afa+id &mpire, was always trying to challenge the
7ttomans) in 'orth frica, where 7ttoman na+al e$peditions were ha+ing great success against the
*panish 1aps%urgs in the western /editerranean) and up into the lower reaches of what we now
call Dussia - /usco+y then#G
*o, *uleiman's 7ttoman &mpire controlled the whole coastline of the eastern /editerranean, from
Tunis all the way round almost to Trieste# 2t was this huge new state that compelled the western
&uropeans to look for other ways of tra+elling to, and trading with, the east, this new state that
forced them from the /editerranean out into the tlantic#
/ost official documents get lost# They're destroyed or they're thrown away# 7ur dri+ing licences,
our ta$ %ills, don't usually sur+i+e our deaths# *o the huge %ulk of the official paper of the 7ttoman
&mpire is lost to us# The most likely reason for keeping any official document is if it's to do with
land, %ecause su%se5uent generations need to know the authority %y which the land is owned# *o if
2 had to guess what our tughra was for, 2 would take a %et on it %eing a document gi+ing a ma3or
grant of land, conferring or confirming a huge estate# That would e$plain why the document
sur+i+ed long enough for a later collector, pro%a%ly in the nineteenth century, to cut the tughra out
of it and sell it as a separate work of art# "ecause it is a work of art#
2n %etween the strong lines of co%alt %lue edged with gold leaf are great loops, containing riotous
flower%eds of spiralling lotus and pomegranate, tulips, roses and hyacinths# This is magnificent
2slamic decoration, re3oicing in natural forms while a+oiding the human %ody, and it's also a
+irtuoso demonstration of calligraphy - of sheer skill and 3oy in writing# The 7ttoman Turks, like
their predecessors and contemporaries across the 2slamic world, held the art of writing in high
esteem# The word of 0od had to %e written with all the %eauty of holiness#
2;4
Calligraphers were also important %ureaucrats, who staffed the Turkish chancery, and they
de+eloped a %eautiful and e$tremely intricate script - it's notoriously difficult to read, and
deli%erately so# "ecause this is a script designed to pre+ent e$tra words %eing inserted into the te$t,
to pre+ent the forgery of official documents# *o the calligraphers that made our tughra were
security managers as well as %ureaucrats and, a%o+e all, artists, often %elonging to dynasties of
craft skill passed from one generation to the ne$t# 2n the 2slamic world red tape can often %e high
art#
/odern politicians often proudly announce their desire to sweep away red tape# The contemporary
pre3udice is that too much paper-work slows you down, clogs things up# "ut if you take a historical
+iew, it's %ureaucracy that sees you through the rocky patches, and ena%les the state to sur+i+e#
"ureaucracy is not e+idence of inertia, it is life-sa+ing continuity, and it ena%led the 7ttoman
&mpire to continue from the time of *uleiman till the First .orld .ar#
Tomorrow, 2'm with another piece of paper - from the longest sur+i+ing state in the world, and it's
no coincidence that it also has the longest tradition of %ureaucracy# 2'll %e in China, with a piece of
paper that's like the tughra# 2t was a powerful tool of the enduring state ### paper money#
2;5
Episode &2 - Ming 4an(note
Ming 5an+note Bmade around 1"00CE from 'hina
There's a famous moment in the play of G8eter 8anG, when he asks the audience to sa+e Tinker%ell
%y 3oining him in %elie+ing in fairies - and it's an unfailing winner# That a%ility to con+ince others
to %elie+e in something they can't see, %ut wish to %e true, is a terrific trick - take the first paper
money# *omeone in China printed a +alue on a piece of paper and asked e+eryone else to agree
with them that that paper was actually worth what it said it was# The paper notes, you could say,
like the @arling children in G8eter 8anG, were supposed to %e as good as gold, or in this case as
good as copper - literally worth the num%er of copper coins printed on the note# The whole modern
%anking system of paper and credit is %uilt on this one simple act of faith - paper money is truly
one of the re+olutionary in+entions of human history#
Today's o%3ect is one of those early paper money notes# The Chinese called them Gfei5ianG - Gflying
cashG - and the o%3ect comes from China at the time of the /ing, around 14((#
G2 think the right aphorism is that e+il was the root of all money'A /oney was in+ented in order
to get round the pro%lems of trusting other indi+iduals# "ut then the 5uestion is, could you trust the
person who issued the money-G >/er+yn <ing?
G1ere is a note that has managed to, in some sense, stay in circulation for o+er si$ centuries - it's
e$traordinaryAG >Timothy "rook?
This week we're circling the world in empires, around fi+e to si$ hundred years ago, %efore
any%ody had in fact physically circled the world# They did know though what made it go round -
money and trade were the great dri+ers of wealth then, as now, and they were essential to the
%uilding of empires# /ost of the world until this point was e$changing money in coins of gold,
sil+er and copper that had an intrinsic +alue that you could 3udge %y weight - %ut the Chinese saw
that paper money has o%+ious ad+antages o+er 5uantities of coin# 2t's light, it's easily transporta%le,
2;4
and it's %ig enough to carry words and images to announce not only its +alue %ut the authority of
the go+ernment that %acks it, and the assumptions on which it rests# 8roperly managed, paper
money is a powerful tool in maintaining an effecti+e state#
t first glance, this note doesn't look at all like modern paper money# 2t's paper, o%+iously enough,
and it's larger than a sheet of 4# 2t's a soft, +el+ety grey colour, and it's made out of mul%erry %ark,
which was the legally appro+ed material for Chinese paper money at the time# The fi%res of
mul%erry %ark are long and fle$i%le, so e+en today, though it's around si$ hundred years old, this
paper is still soft and fle$i%le#
2t's fully printed on only one side, a wood%lock stamp in %lack ink, with Chinese characters and
decorati+e features arranged in a series of rows and columns# long the top, si$ %old characters
announce that this is the G0reat /ing Circulating Treasure CertificateG# "elow this, there is a %road
decorati+e %order of dragons going all round the sheet - dragons of course %eing one of the great
sym%ols of China and of its emperor - and 3ust inside this decorated %order are two columns of
te$t, the one on the left announcing again that this is the G0reat /ing Treasure CertificateG and the
one on the right saying that this is GTo Circulate Fore+erG#
That's 5uite a claim# 1ow permanent can fore+er %e- 2n stamping that promise on to the +ery note,
the /ing state seems to %e asserting that it too will %e around fore+er to honour it# .e asked the
go+ernor of the "ank of &ngland, /er+yn <ing, to comment on this %old assertion9
G.ell, 2 think it's a contract, an implicit contract, %etween people and the decisions they %elie+e
we'll %e making in the years and decades to come ### a%out preser+ing the +alue of that money# 2t is
a piece of paper, there's nothing intrinsic in +alue to it, %ut its +alue is determined %y the sta%ility
of the institutions that lie %ehind the issuance of that paper money# 2f people ha+e confidence that
those institutions will continue, if they ha+e confidence that their commitment to sta%ility can %e
%elie+ed, then they will accept and use paper money, and it will %ecome a regular and normal part
of circulation# nd when that %reaks down - as it has done in countries where the regime has %een
destroyed through war or re+olution - then the currency collapses#G
nd indeed, this is e$actly what had happened in China around 135(, as the /ongol &mpire
disintegrated# *o one of the great challenges for the new /ing @ynasty, which took o+er eighteen
years later in 134;, was not 3ust to re-order the state, %ut to re-esta%lish the currency# The first
/ing emperor was a rough pro+incial warlord, Nhu Huan,hang, who em%arked on an am%itious
programme to %uild a Chinese society which would %e sta%le, educated and shaped %y the
principles of the great philosopher Confucius# 1ere's the historian Timothy "rook9
GThe goal of the founding /ing emperor was that children should %e a%le to read, write and count#
1e thought literacy was a good idea %ecause it had commercial implications - the economy would
run more effecti+ely# 2t also had moral implications - he wanted school children to read the sayings
of Confucius, to read the %asic moral te$ts a%out filial piety and respecting elders, and he hoped
that literacy would accompany the general re-sta%ilisation of the realm# 2 would %e curious to know
how many people could read the %anknote, %ut 2 would imagine it was ### 2'm going to say a 5uarter
of the population could read what's on this note which, %y &uropean standards at the time, was
remarka%le#G
s part of this impressi+e political programme, the new /ing emperor decided to re-launch the
paper currency# sound %ut fle$i%le monetary system would, he knew, encourage a sta%le society#
*o he founded the 2mperial "oard of De+enue and then, in 13=4, a Gtreasure note control %ureauG#
8aper notes %egan to %e issued the following year# The first challenge was fighting forgery#
2;=
ll paper currencies run the risk of counterfeiting, %ecause of the enormous gulf %etween the low
real +alue of the piece of paper, and the high promise +alue that appears on it, and this /ing note
carries on it a go+ernment promise of a reward to anyone who denounces a counterfeiter# nd
alongside this carrot, there was a terrifying stick for any potential forger9
GTo counterfeit is death# The informant will recei+e 25( taels of sil+er, and in addition the entire
property of the criminal#G
The much %igger challenge was to keep the worth of the new currency intact# 1ere, the key
monetary decision of the /ing was to ensure that the paper note could always %e con+erted into
copper coins - the +alue of the paper would e5ual the +alue of a specific num%er of coins#
&uropeans called these coins 5uite simply GcashG - they're the round coins, with a s5uare hole in
the middle, which the Chinese had already %een using for well o+er a thousand years#
7ne of the things 2 lo+e a%out this /ing note is that right in the middle of it is a picture of the
actual coins that the paper note represents# There are ten stacks of coins with a hundred in each
pile, so a total of one thousand cash or, as it says in writing on the note, one GguanG# Hou can get
some idea of 3ust how useful and welcome this early paper money must ha+e %een, when you
compare carrying the paper around with the actual coins represented# nd 2 ha+e here %eside me
one thousand cash9 fi+e feet >1#5m? of copper coins all on one piece of stringA They weigh a%out
se+en pounds >a%out three kilos?, they're e$tremely cum%ersome to handle, and +ery difficult to
su%di+ide and pay out# This note must ha+e made life, for some people, +ery +ery much easier#
G.hene+er paper money is presented, copper coins will %e paid out, and whene+er paper money is
issued, copper coins will %e paid in# This will ne+er pro+e unworka%le# 2t is like water in a pool#G
2t sounds easy as can %e, doesn't it- "ut the words Gne+er pro+e unworka%leG would come %ack to
haunt the /ing emperor# s usual, the practice turned out to %e more complicated than the theory#
The e$change of paper for copper, copper for paper, ne+er flowed smoothly - and like so many
go+ernments since, the /ing 3ust couldn't resist the temptation of simply printing more money#
The +alue of the paper money nose-di+ed, and 15 years after the first /ing %anknote was issued,
an official noted that a 1,(((-cash note like this one had plummeted to an e$change +alue of a
mere 25( copper coins# .hat had gone wrong- 1ere's /er+yn <ing9
GThey didn't ha+e a central %ank, and they issued too much paper money# 2t was %acked %y a
copper coin, in principle - you should take this money %ecause it was %acked %y a copper coin, %ut
in fact that link %roke down# nd once people realised the link had %roken down, then the 5uestion
of how much it was worth was really a 3udgement a%out whether a future administration would
issue e+en more, and de+alue its real +alue in terms of purchasing power# nd in the end this
money did %ecome worthless %ecause it was o+er-+alued#G
This is the first attempt %y a state to use paper in such a systematic way, and in the "ritish
/useum's collections we'+e got many many notes from many different countries where that
attempt has failed# 2s paper money always doomed to failure- 1ere's /er+yn <ing again9
G'o, 2 don't think it's always doomed to failure# nd 2 think if you'd asked me four or fi+e years
ago, %efore the financial crisis, 2 would ha+e said, 'o, 2 think we'+e now worked out how to
manage paper money'# 8erhaps in the light of the financial crisis, we should %e a %it more cautious,
and may%e if ### to 5uote Nhou &nlai, another great Chinese figure, when asked a%out the French
De+olution, he said# .ell, it's too soon to tell'# /ay%e we should say a%out paper money, after
se+en hundred years, it is perhaps still too soon to tell#G
2;;
&+entually, around 1425, the Chinese go+ernment ga+e up the struggle and suspended the use of
paper money# The fairies had fled, or, in grander language, the faith structure needed for paper
money to work had collapsed# *il+er %ullion would now %e the %asis of the /ing monetary world#
"ut howe+er difficult it is to manage, paper currency has so many ad+antages that, ine+ita%ly, the
world came %ack to it, and no modern state could now think of functioning without it# nd the
memory of that paper currency, printed on Chinese mul%erry paper, li+es on today in a little garden
in the middle of :ondon# 2n the 162(s, the "ank of &ngland, in conscious homage to these paper
notes, planted a small stand of mul%erry trees#
2n the ne$t programme, we'll %e with an empire %igger than either the 7ttoman or the /ing - the
largest on earth at the time - which, in the rarefied air of the 1igh ndes, managed without either
writing or money# 2t's 2nca 8eru ### em%odied in a little gold llama#
2;6
Episode &3 - 6nca gold llama
7nca gold llama Bmade 5et$een 1"00 and 1&&0CD #mall statue from /eru
*ome of you might 3ust recognise the plainti+e moan or humming sound of a llama# 2t's the sound
that around fi+e hundred years ago accompanied the %uilding of an empire, the &mpire of the 2nca
- %igger than 7ttoman Turkey, %igger than /ing China, in fact, the largest in the world# round
15((, the 2nca &mpire ran for o+er three thousand miles >5,((( km? down the ndes, and ruled
o+er 12 million people from the 8acific Coast to the ma,onian 3ungle# 2n 1532 the *panish would
come, and e+erything would collapse# "ut until then, the 2nca &mpire flourished# 2t didn't ha+e
writing, %ut it was an efficient military society, an ordered, producti+e and wealthy ci+ilisation
centred on Cusco in 8eru# 2ts economy was dri+en %y manpower and, 3ust as important, llama
power# 2t's the %iggest empire of the week - %ut it's represented %y the smallest o%3ect - a llama that
sits in my hand, a tiny, gold messenger from a mountain-topped world#
G2'+e seen llamas carrying packs in the ndes at ele+ations of up to 14,((( feet# The other domestic
animal of the ndes, the guinea pig, weighs a%out two pounds, so you can't go +ery far with a
guinea pig carrying your suitcase#G >!ared @iamond?
This week's o%3ects take us to empires all o+er the glo%e around fi+e or si$ hundred years ago# s
the /ing @ynasty was reordering China, and the 7ttomans con5uering eastern &urope, the 2nca
were constructing their +ast empire, spreading from their heartland in southern 8eru to a territory
ten times the si,e %y 15((# lthough this empire was highly organised militarily, socially and
politically, the 2nca had no script, so we are - as so often in merican history - hea+ily dependent
on the accounts of the *panish con5uerors# "ut we know from these, and from the o%3ects left
%ehind, that the making of the 2nca &mpire is one of the most e$traordinary achie+ements in the
history of the world# ndean territory is for%iddingly mountainous# This was a +ertical empire, that
made terraced fields on mountain sides and roads that ran o+er the peaks# The 2ncas made the
impassa%le passa%le, and the key to their success was the llama# "ut a state's dependency on
animals was nothing new, as the scientist and writer !ared @iamond confirms9
26(
GThe a+aila%ility and type of domestic animals has had a huge effect on human history and on
human culture# For e$ample in the old world, in &urope and sia, the %ig domestic animals of
&urasia, the horse, cow, goat, sheep and pig, they pro+ided meat and protein, some of them
pro+ided milk# *ome of them were %ig enough to pro+ide transport# The horses and the camels that
could %e ridden %ecame war animals, and so they pro+ided an enormous ad+antage for &urasian
people o+er peoples of other continents#G
The ,oological lottery that !ared @iamond descri%es - the pure chance of whether your local
animals can %e domesticated - enormously fa+oured &urope and sia# ustralia, %y contrast, drew
a +ery short straw# 2t's hard to domesticate an emu, and no-one e+er rode into %attle on a kangaroo#
The mericas were almost as %adly off, %ut they did ha+e the llama# :lamas can't compete with the
horse for speed, or the donkey for pack power# They also ha+e an infuriating ha%it, when tired, of
3ust stopping and refusing to mo+e# "ut they are e$traordinarily well adapted to high altitude) they
cope well with the cold and can forage for their own food) they can pro+ide wool, meat and
manure) and although they can't carry people, a healthy llama can comforta%ly transport a%out 4(
pounds >2= kg? of goods - which is 3ust a %it more than the a+erage %aggage allowance on an
airline# *o they can %e +ery useful indeed for carrying the kind of supplies re5uired for military
campaigns# nd as they e$panded down the great spine of the ndes, the 2nca %red huge num%ers
of llamas as army pack animals# 'ot surprisingly, the 2nca also made models of this hardy creature
that was so fundamental to the li+es of the people and to the running of the &mpire#
7ur little gold llama is so tiny that it can stand comforta%ly in the palm of my hand - it's only a %it
o+er two inches >5 cm? high# 2t's hollow, made up of hammered-out thin lea+es of gold, and so it's
+ery light# 2t's an engagingly sprightly figure# 2t's got a straight neck, the ears are upright and alert,
it's got large eyes and a mouth that's clearly smiling - making this an unusually cheerful-looking
creature, for a species that normally seems to +eer %etween amused condescension and a spitting
sneer# 2f 2 put it down, it stands +ery pertly) this is a llama with attitude# /any little figures like this
ha+e %een found, in gold and sil+er, all o+er 2nca territory, and they were fre5uently %uried as
offerings on mountain peaks#
That territory was on three distinct le+els# There was the flat coastal strip, there were
mountainsides with the famous ndean terraced fields - which produced crops on +ery difficult
terrain - and then there were the mountain plateaus with high grasslands, 12,((( feet >3,4((m?
a%o+e sea le+el# 2t was the llama that unified these three disparate 2nca worlds, and held this +ast
empire together#
This was a world of different peoples, languages and gods, whose communities had often %een at
war with each other, and the full range of imperial techni5ues was deployed %y the 2nca to manage
this swiftly-created state# *ome local elites were ruthlessly eliminated# 7thers were co-opted, gi+en
pri+ate land, and e$cused ta$ation# :ate-con5uered territories, in northern &cuador for e$ample,
were allowed to operate more or less as client states, instead of %eing fully incorporated into the
2nca system# This cultural mosaic was welded together into one powerful empire %y the 2nca
military machine, and that machine depended on thousands upon thousands of llamas, to pro+ide
portage and food# .e know, for e$ample, that after an early %attle against the *panish, the defeated
2nca a%andoned 15,((( llamas#
7ur little llama is made of gold, a key su%stance in 2nca myth# Today, 2nca o%3ects in gold and
sil+er are rare sur+i+als - 3ust tiny scraps of the di,,ying opulence which was descri%ed %y the
*panish when they arri+ed in the152(s# They wrote of palaces walled with sheets of gold, of gold
and sil+er statues of humans and animals, and of miniature golden gardens inha%ited %y glittering
%irds, reptiles and insects# ll of these would %e either surrendered to or sei,ed %y the *panish, and
nearly all were melted down for %ullion and then sent to *pain# *o our little gold llama is a rare
sur+i+or#
261
0old was the em%lem of the great 2nca sun-god, and represented his generati+e powers# 0old was
descri%ed as Gsweat of the sunG 3ust as sil+er was the Gtears of the moonG# 0old was therefore
related to masculine power, and a%o+e all to the power of the 2nca himself, the emperor, the child
of the sun#
s in all societies, planting and har+esting are accompanied %y rituals and offerings to the gods,
and with the 2nca this often in+ol+ed sacrifice of li+ing %eings, from guinea pigs to the children of
the elite# nd as the 8eru+ian 2nca e$pert 0a%riel Damon e$plains, llamas were sacrificed %y the
thousand9
Gs in any other %ig ci+ilisation, 2 think that the 2ncas ha+e JaK religious calendar# They ha+e two
calendars during the 2ncan period, 2 would say# 7ne was JtheK official 2mperial calendar, and at the
same time they ha+e lots of small calendars from the pro+inces or territories that they con5uered#
"ut in the official calendar they tried to match the agricultural calendar with the main ceremonies#
nd it's in this official calendar that you ha+e se+eral ceremonies with the llama#G
The greatest 2nca religious rite was the Festi+al of the *un# *panish chronicler has left us a full
description9
GThe first sacrifice of a young %lack llama was intended to o%ser+e the auguries and omens of the
festi+al# They took the llama and placed it with its head facing the east# .hile still ali+e, its left
side was opened and %y inserting the hand they drew forth the heart, lungs and entrails# The whole
must come out together from the throat downwards# They regarded it as a most happy omen if the
lungs came out still 5ui+ering#G >1ernnde, 8rincipe?
The same *panish writer tells us that while real llamas were %eing slaughtered, the rulers of the
pro+inces also %rought to the 2nca models of llamas made of gold and sil+er, tokens of the great
animal wealth of the regions they ruled# 7ur llama may ha+e %een one of these tokens offered %y a
pro+incial ruler to the 2nca#
lternati+ely, and less comforta%ly, it may ha+e %een part of one of the other 2nca religious rituals#
*elected children were ritually e$posed and left on the mountain peaks as li+ing sacrifices to the
mountain spirits, and little gold llamas like ours ha+e %een found %eside their dead %odies#
The 2nca &mpire shaped not only the spiritual, %ut also the physical landscape of the ndes#
2rrigation pro3ects and canals changed the course of ri+ers and turned mountainsides into lush,
terraced fields# .ell-stocked storehouses and e$tensi+e highways showed their detailed concern
with planning and pro+isioning#
The wealth of this 2nca &mpire depended on the +ast herds of llamas, %ut also on the 2ncas' a%ility
to force their con5uered su%3ects to work for them# "ut the su%3ects were %y no means as docile as
the llamas, and many ndeans - dispossessed and e$ploited - %itterly resented the 2nca as alien
aggressors9
G2nca tyranny is at our gate # # # 2f we yield to the 2nca, we shall %e o%liged to gi+e up our former
freedom, our %est land, our most %eautiful women and girls, our customs, our laws # # # .e shall
%ecome for all time this tyrant's +assals and ser+itors#G >0arcilasco de la Eega?
The 2nca hold on many of its pro+inces was fragile# Continuous re%ellions tell of potential
weakness, which turned out to %e crucial when the *panish arri+ed on the northern shore of 8eru in
1532# *ome of the local elites immediately sei,ed the opportunity to ally with the incomers and to
throw off the 2nca yoke# They 3oined the *panish forces to %ring down the 2nca#
262
s well as %eing 3oined %y a growing num%er of re%els, the *panish had swords, armour and guns,
none of which the 2nca had - and crucially they also had horses# The 2nca had ne+er %efore seen
men on the %acks of animals, nor had they seen the speed and agility with which this com%ination
of man and %east could mo+e# The 2nca llamas must suddenly ha+e looked hopelessly delicate and
slow# 2t was all o+er fairly 5uickly# mere couple of hundred *paniards massacred the 2nca army,
captured their emperor, installed a puppet ruler and sei,ed and melted down their gold treasures#
7ur little llama is a rare sur+i+or# The *panish had come to 8eru, lured %y tales of enormous
5uantities of gold# "ut ironically, they disco+ered instead the richest sil+er mines in the world and
they %egan to mint the coins that would power the world's first glo%al currency# The 2nca measured
the wealth of their empire in llamas# The *panish would measure theirs in sil+er pieces of eight#
2n the ne$t programme we're with another empire # # # we're in central sia, with an astronomer
prince and a 3ade cup#
263
Episode &4 - 1ade dragon cup
2ade dragon cup Bmade around 1"0CE pro5a5ly from #amar+andE 615e+istan
7n a clear night, if you look long enough, you can see that the surface of the moon is dimpled with
hundreds of craters# They add interest, te$ture - %ut their names pro+ide another kind of pleasure#
They form a kind of dictionary of great astronomers# There are craters called 1alley, 0alileo and
Copernicus, %ut among them there's an astronomer whose name 2 certainly didn't recognise# 1e
li+ed in central sia at the start of the fifteenth century, and his name was Clugh "eg#
Clugh "eg %uilt a great o%ser+atory in *amarkand, in modern C,%ekistan, and compiled a famous
catalogue of 3ust under a thousand stars# 1e was also %riefly the ruler of one of the world's great
powers - the Timurid &mpire - that at its height ruled not only central sia, %ut 2ran and
fghanistan, as well as parts of 2ra5, 8akistan, and 2ndia# The Timurid &mpire had %een founded
%y the redou%ta%le Tamerlane in the years around 14((# Clugh "eg, the astronomer prince, was
Tamerlane's grandson# 1e had a cup made of 3ade, with his name incised on it # # # 2 ha+e it with me
now, it's the su%3ect of this programme#
G2 think that cup, the idea of which comes from China %ut which was made in central sia and
which has landed up in the west, really does sym%olise a good deal a%out where the Timurids stand
in the history of the /iddle &ast and of the world#G >"eatrice For%es /an,?
2n this week's programmes, we'+e %een looking at the great empires that dominated the world fi+e
to si$ hundred years ago - 7ttoman Turkey, /ing China and the 2nca in *outh merica# 2n this
programme # # #
G # # # we'll lead you to the stately tent of war,
.here you shall hear the *cythian Tam%urlaine
Threatening the world with high astounding terms,
264
nd scourging kingdoms with his con5uering sword#G
>Christopher /arlowe?
2n these words Christopher /arlowe fi$ed fore+er the &uropean image of Tam%urlaine, still a
legendary force in &li,a%ethan &ngland# couple of hundred years earlier, around 14((, the real
Tamerlane had %ecome the ruler of all the /ongol lands e$cept China# The heart of his empire was
the region we now know as the GstansG - C,%ekistan, <a,akstan, Turkmenistan, Ta3ikistan - that
huge area in central sia that has always had a tumultuous history, where empires %uild, crum%le,
fade away - until another empire rises and the cycle %egins again# 2t's a region that's ine+ita%ly
always had two faces - one looking towards China in the east and the other to Turkey and 2ran in
the west# *amarkand, Tamerlane's capital, was a ma3or city on the great *ilk Doad that linked these
two worlds, and much of this comple$ cultural and religious history is em%odied in the small 3ade
cup that %elonged to Tamerlane's astronomer grandson, the Timurid emperor, Clugh "eg#
Clugh "eg's cup is o+al, it's a%out si$ inches >15 cm? long, and it feels more like a small %owl than
a cup# 2t's made from super%ly grained oli+e green 3ade, with natural cloud-like markings drifting
across the glossy stone# 2t is +ery %eautiful, %ut 3ade was +alued in central sia not 3ust %ecause it
was %eautiful, %ut %ecause it had great powers of protection - 3ade would keep you safe against
lightning and earth5uakes and, especially important in a cup, against poison# 8oison placed in a
3ade cup, it was said, would result in the +essel splitting# *o the owner of this cup could drink
without fear#
The cup's handle is a splendid, sinister, Chinese dragon# 2t's got its %ack paws firmly planted on the
under side of the %owl, while its mouth and we%%ed front paws cling to the edge at the top# The
style of the handle may %e Chinese, %ut the inscription car+ed into the cup, which you see as you
lift it to your lips, is in ra%ic script# 2t reads GClugh "eg <uraganG# <uragan is a title that means
literally Groyal son-in-lawG and it was used %y Tamurlane, and %y Clugh "eg# They had %oth
married princesses of the house of 0enghis <han, and so %y calling themsel+es son-in-law, they
declared themsel+es the heirs to the uni+ersal so+ereignty of 0enghis <han's /ongol &mpire# :ike
all new dynasties the Timurid's wanted to appropriate the authority of their predecessors#
*o, we ha+e a cup made pro%a%ly in *amarkand, with a handle showing connections east to China,
and an inscription looking west to the 2slamic world# That ra%ic inscription reminds us that this
new Timurid &mpire created %y Tamerlane was energetically /uslim# This is the time of the
%uilding of the great mos5ues of "ukhara and *amarkand, Tashkent and 1erat, all concei+ed and
e$ecuted on a monumental scale - a central sian e5ui+alent of the &uropean Denaissance#
From a%out 141(, Clugh "eg go+erned *amarkand, and there he %uilt his famous o%ser+atory, in
which he re+ised and corrected the computations of the ncient 0reek astronomer, 8tolemy# Clugh
"eg's ta%le of 664 stars %ecame a standard work of astronomical reference in %oth sia and
&urope# 2t was translated into :atin at 7$ford in the se+enteenth century, and it earned Clugh "eg
the honour of that crater on the moon#
.hat was Clugh "eg like- 1ere's historian "eatrice For%es /an,9
GClugh "eg was a +ery +ery poor commander, and pro%a%ly not a great go+ernor in certain ways#
1e was howe+er an e$cellent cultural patron, famous especially for his patronage of mathematics
and astronomy# These were his real passions, much more 2 think than go+ernment or especially the
military campaigning# 1e also had a passion for 3ade, so it's not surprising to find that cup in his
possession, and he had a fairly high-li+ing court, looser morally than his father's# 1is father was a
teetotaller, and super-pious# Clugh "eg was pious, he knew the Bur'an %y heart, %ut he, like many
rulers, took a certain amount of licence# *o there was a lot of drinking, for instance, at his court#G
265
n en+oy from /ing China who +isited *amarkand around 1415 was taken a%ack at the free-
wheeling manners of the Timurid capital, which still smacked of the easy-going informality of a
semi-nomadic society# 2t was an odd city, designed to accommodate %oth modern %uildings and
traditional tents - the yurts which the Timurids had %rought with them from the steppes# For the
rarefied Chinese +isitor, *amarkand was the .ild .est9
GThey ha+e no principles or propriety# .hen inferiors meet superiors, they come forward, shake
hands, and that is allA .hen women go out, they ride horses and mules# 2f they meet someone on
the road, they chat, laugh and fool around with no sense of shame# /oreo+er, they utter lewd
words when con+ersing# The men are e+en more despica%le#G >Ch'en Ch'eng?
2t's perhaps not surprising that the Timurid &mpire, %ound together only %y personal loyalties,
didn't sur+i+e long# 2t was run %y people more at home on the steppes than in a go+ernment office#
There was no esta%lished ha%it of orderly central power, and %arely any working %ureaucracy# The
death of e+ery ruler %rought chaos# Clugh "eg's father had struggled to re%uild a Timurid &mpire,
%ut after his death in 144=, Clugh "eg would reign for only two years %efore he completely lost
control# 1e tried hard to use the reputation of Tamurlane to %olster his authority, %urying his
illustrious grandfather under a cenotaph made of rare %lack 3ade, inscri%ed in ra%ic for all to see9
G.hen 2 Dise, the .orld will Trem%leG# Clugh "eg must ha+e longed for the return of a power that
he knew he himself could ne+er match# The earth was unlikely to trem%le %efore him# The C,%ek
writer 1amid 2smailo+ sees a poetic, metaphorical meaning in Clugh "eg's green 3ade cup9
GThe sym%olism of this cup is seen throughout the whole region as a sort of destiny of a person#
.hen we say 'cup is filled', so destiny is fulfilled, and for e$ample, "a%ur - who was a great poet
as well as the nephew of Clugh "eg - he is saying in one of his poems, 'troops of sadness are
countless', and the only way to deal with them is '%ringing thicker wine and keeping a cup as a
shield'# That is the sym%olism of the cup - it's a shield, a metaphysical shield, against the troops of
sadness#G
"ut it was a shield that failed# Towards the end of his life, the troops of sadness came crowding in
on Clugh "eg# 1is two year rule of the &mpire was as disastrous as it was %rief# Eery un-
metaphorical troops in+aded *amarkand, and in 1446 he was defeated and captured %y his own
eldest son, handed o+er to a sla+e and decapitated# "ut Clugh "eg was not forgotten# 1is great-
nephew "a%ur, who %ecame the first /ughal emperor of 2ndia, honoured him %y %urying his
remains in the same %lack 3ade cenotaph, alongside the great Tamerlane#
"ut %y this time the Timurid &mpire was o+er# 7nce again central sia had fragmented and
%ecome the theatre of competing influences, among them the great new power in the west, the
7ttoman &mpire# nd that later de+elopment too, is recorded on our cup#
t some point, presuma%ly long after Clugh "eg's death, this precious 3ade cup must ha+e %een
dropped, %ecause it's %adly cracked at the end opposite the handle# "ut that crack has %een co+ered
up with a repair in sil+er, and on the sil+er is an inscription# 2t was pro%a%ly engra+ed in the
se+enteenth or eighteenth century, so three hundred years after its owner's e$ecution# 2t's in
7ttoman Turkish, so this cup %y then must ha+e found its way to 2stan%ul# The inscription reads,
GThere is no limit to the %eneficence of 0od#G
The unfortunate Clugh "eg might not ha+e agreed# "y the time this cup was re-inscri%ed in
Turkish, Dussia was already e$panding into the old Timurid &mpire# 2n the nineteenth century the
whole region would %ecome part of the Dussian imperial scheme, and *amarkand would %e
a%sor%ed into another central sian empire, first Tsarist, then *o+iet, until in 16;6 that in its turn
collapsed - an uphea+al the Timurids would ha+e %een +ery familiar with#
264
7ne of the new states to emerge in the post-*o+iet order is C,%ekistan# s it stri+es to define its
identity, it turns to its past - to a moment that is neither Dussian, nor Chinese, neither 2ranian, nor
Turkish# The %ank notes of modern C,%ekistan show to the world that this new state is the heir to
the Timurid &mpire# 7n them we see the mausoleum that houses the %lack 3ade cenotaph where
%oth Tamerlane and Clugh "eg lie %uried#
There can %e no dou%t that Clugh "eg achie+ed more as a scholar of the stars than as a ruler of his
collapsing empire# *o perhaps it's fitting that the crater on the moon named after him is not far
from the 7ceanus 8rocellarum - the *ea of *torms# *torms against which his 3ade cup might ha+e
gi+en him solace, %ut not protection#
2n the ne$t programme, a rhinoceros from 2ndia is sent to the king of 8ortugal %y a new sea route
around the southern end of frica# &urope and its first fledgling empire has %egun its great
e$pansion # # # and the geography of the world is a%out to %e changed#
26=
Episode &" - 3urer's 'Rhinoceros'
4Grer,s ,9hinoceros, B1&1&CD ?oodcutE printed in @urem5erg
The tiny island of *t 1elena, in the middle of the *outh tlantic, is famous a%o+e all as the open
prison for 'apoleon "onaparte, %anished there after the "attle of .aterloo in 1;15# "ut another
great wonder of &urope also stayed on *t 1elena, a %eing much less destructi+e than the French
emperor, and one that in the &urope of 1515 was truly a wonder # # # it was an 2ndian rhinoceros#
1e, too, was in capti+ity, %ut in a 8ortuguese ship, stopping off on the long 3ourney from 2ndia to
:is%on, a 3ourney that was a triumph of na+igation# &urope was on the %rink of its great e$pansion
that would lead to the e$ploration, mapping and con5uest of much of the world, all made possi%le
%y new technologies in ships and sails# There was tremendous interest in recording and
disseminating this new knowledge through another new technology - printing - and all these
strands come together in this programme's o%3ect, one of the most famous images of Denaissance
art# "ecause the 2ndian rhinoceros, in one respect at least, was much luckier than 'apoleon - his
portrait was made %y @Srer#
G.hen this rhino first arri+ed, it must ha+e %een an incredi%le shock that there are parts of the
world where animals like this actually li+e and run free# 2 mean, it must ha+e %een a%solutely
astonishingAG >/ark 8ilgrim?
This week we'+e %een with four great land empires - all controlling huge tracts of the glo%e around
fi+e hundred years ago - %ut in this programme we're with a fledgling maritime empire in 8ortugal#
For centuries there had %een a steady trade in spices %etween the 2ndian 7cean and western
&urope, %ut %y the late fifteenth century the 7ttomans dominated the eastern /editerranean, and
they %locked the traditional trade routes, so *pain and 8ortugal %egan searching for new ways to
gain access to sian goods# "oth +entured out into the tlantic, a +ery difficult ocean for sailing#
2n the 5uest for the 2ndies, *pain went west, and would e+entually find the mericas# 8ortugal
went south, down the seemingly endless coast of frica, until they found the Cape of 0ood 1ope
26;
and the route into the 2ndian 7cean and the wealth of the east# 2n frica and sia, the 8ortuguese
esta%lished a slender network of stopping points and trading stations, and along that network they
carried spices, e$otic goods # # # and our rhinoceros#
@Srer's 'Dhinoceros' is a woodcut print, and it shows a massi+e %east, o%ligingly identified o+er its
head with the word D12'7C&DE*, with the date 1515 a%o+e, and %elow the @ monogram of the
artist, l%recht @Srer# The rhino is side on, looking to the right, and @Srer has cunningly framed it
to gi+e an enormous sense of pent-up energy and force, %ecause he's packed the rhino's %ody into a
tightly drawn frame that only 3ust contains it# The feathered end of the tail is cut off, and the rhino's
horn pushes aggressi+ely against the right-hand edge# %o+e the printed frame that contains the
animal, is a te$t in 0erman9
G# # # %rought from 2ndia to the great and powerful <ing &manuel of 8ortugal at :is%on, a li+e
animal called a rhinoceros# 1is form is here represented# 2t has the colour of a speckled tortoise
and it is co+ered with thick scales# 2t is like an elephant in si,e, %ut lower on its legs and almost
in+ulnera%le# 2t is also said that the rhinoceros is fast, li+ely and cunning#G
The story of how the rhino came to &urope tells us that the 8ortuguese were not 3ust trading with
2ndia, %ut were trying to esta%lish permanent %ases there - this is the +ery %eginning of the
&uropean land presence in sia# They succeeded largely thanks to lfonso d'l%u5uer5ue, the
%rilliant first go+ernor and effecti+e founder of the 8ortuguese &mpire in 2ndia, and the man who
%rought us the rhino# 2n 1514, l%u5uer5ue approached the *ultan of 0u3arat to negotiate the use
of an island, accompanying his em%assy with la+ish presents# The *ultan responded with gifts in
return - including a li+e rhinoceros# l%u5uer5ue seems to ha+e %een somewhat flummo$ed %y this
li+ing gift, so he took ad+antage of a passing 8ortuguese flotilla and sent the %east to :is%on, as a
special present to the <ing#
0etting a rhino weighing %etween one and a half and two tons on to a si$teenth-century ship must
ha+e %een 5uite an undertaking, as /ark 8ilgrim of Chester Noo would know# 1ere he is with
Chester's own rhino9
G.ell, %ehind us is "a%u# "a%u is a young, male, greater one-horned rhino, sometimes known as
the 2ndian rhino, and we're hoping to %ring, or we will %e %ringing +ery soon, a female from *an
@iego to %e with him# nd there are a lot of logistical issues with that# These days they fly, so
actually it's a +ery 5uick transport, and sometimes we gi+e them a little sedati+e 3ust to keep them
calm, although usually they don't need it, and actually they tra+el pretty well generally#
Transporting a rhino, presuma%ly from 2ndia, to 8ortugal in the 15((s would ha+e %een a +ery
different matter# 2 guess on the positi+e JsideK they didn't ha+e all of the paperwork to worry a%out
in those daysA "ut of course logistically it was an enormous challenge - it's an incredi%le +oyage# 2t
must ha+e %een 5uite a 3ourney, %oth for the animal and the people who were caring for it#G
G2 am the rhinoceros %rought hither from dusky 2ndia, I From the +esti%ule of light and the gateway
of the day,G - so runs a little 2talian poem cele%rating this +oyage that astonished all &urope - G2
%oarded the fleet %ound for the west, its %old sails undaunted, I @aring new lands, to see a different
sun#G
The rhino had %egun its 3ourney from 2ndia in early !anuary 1515# 1e was accompanied %y his
2ndian keeper, 7sem, and %y +ast 5uantities of rice - an odd choice of diet for a rhino, %ut much
less %ulky than its usual fodder# .e don't know whether the rhino liked his food, %ut he seems to
ha+e thri+ed, and he arri+ed in :is%on on 2( /ay after a sea 3ourney of 12( days, with only three
stops in port - /o,am%i5ue, *t 1elena and the ,ores# Crowds flocked in ama,ement to witness
him disem%ark#
266
The rhino arri+ed in a &urope that was o%sessed not only with a possi%le future %eyond its shores,
%ut also with reco+ering its own deep past# ncient Doman %uildings and statues were %eing
e$ca+ated with huge e$citement in 2taly - archaeological work that was unco+ering the reality of
the classical world# nd the appearance of the rhinoceros - this e$otic creature from the Far &ast -
was, for educated &uropeans, another piece of anti5uity reco+ered, %ecause the Doman author
8liny had descri%ed such a %east in his writings, %ut none had %een seen in &urope for o+er a
thousand years# 2t was an e$hilarating retrie+al of classical anti5uity, a kind of li+ing ,oological
renaissance, with an alluring hint of e$otic eastern wealth# 1ere's historian Felipe Fernande,-
rmesto9
G.hy Jwas it thatK the rhinoceros was so potent, and influenced the imaginations of &uropeans so
much when he arri+ed in 8ortugal- 1e was important %ecause people looked at him and saw the
em%odiment of one of the most famous classical te$ts in the Denaissance world, which was 8liny's
''atural 1istory', which de+otes a +ery, +ery short chapter to the rhinoceros# nd when people saw
it they said, 'h yes, 8liny was right, this creature really e$istsA 1ere we'+e got e+idence of the
relia%ility of these te$ts from classical anti5uity, which we as Denaissance humanists respect more
than scientific and empirical o%ser+ation#' That's why the rhino was so important, that's why @Srer
drew him, that's why engra+ings of him were sought after all o+er &uropeAG
The 8ortuguese king decided to send the rhino on as a present to the 8ope, whose support he
wanted in esta%lishing his claims to empire in the east# 1e knew that the 8ope and all Dome would
%e enthralled %y the creature, %ut the poor %east ne+er made it to 2taly# The ship carrying it was hit
%y a storm off :a *pe,ia, and sank with all hands# lthough rhinos are competent swimmers, since
this one was chained to the deck, it also drowned#
"ut the rhino li+ed on %y reputation and, e+en while it was ali+e, accounts, poems and sketches of
the e$otic creature spread across &urope# 7ne sketch reached l%recht @Srer, in 'urem%erg, who
of course had ne+er seen a rhinoceros# .e'+e no idea how much detail this sketch contained, %ut
the finished print that @Srer deri+ed from it, clearly owes a great deal to the artist's imagination#
t first glance this looks +ery much as an 2ndian rhino should look - thick, solid legs, armoured
%ack, a tail with a feathered end and, of course, the single horn# "ut something isn't 5uite right -
5uite a lot of things in fact - if you compare this image with an actual rhino# The legs ha+e scales
and they end in large, splayed-out toes# The skin is pleated and lined, and stands out stiffly from
the legs# 2n fact, this rhino is co+ered with armour plating, not really skin, and that armour plating
is worked 3ust like metal armour - with swirls and scales and spirals, which manage to look
military and decorati+e all at the same time# nd finally, most pu,,ling of all, @Srer has added a
second horn to this rhinoceros# 1igh on the neck there's a small pointed horn - it looks a %it like a
unicorn's horn - that @Srer must ha+e imagined and added to this memora%le %east#
2t's a long way from any actual rhino like the one in Chester Noo, %ut with the real animal
drowned, @Srer's imagined rhinoceros 5uickly %ecame the reality for millions of &uropeans# nd
he was a%le to satisfy their enormous curiosity in the %east %y mass-producing its image, thanks to
the new technology of wood-%lock printing#
'urem%erg, where @Srer li+ed, was a great commercial centre and home to the earliest printing
shops and pu%lishers# "y 1515, when he made this print, @Srer himself was the master printmaker
of the age, and so he was ideally placed to con+ert his rhino into a highly profita%le print# Csing
wood-%lock allowed him to print around four to fi+e thousand copies of this image during his
lifetime, and no%ody knows how many millions ha+e sold in other forms since# This image stuck#
2n works of natural history, a%o+e all, @Srer's rhino turned out to %e unshifta%le, e+en when more
accurate depictions of the animal were a+aila%le# 2n the se+enteenth century, copies of this print
could %e seen on the doors of 8isa Cathedral and in a church fresco in Colom%ia in *outh merica#
3((
2t's appeared on ceramics e+erywhere from /eissen to :i+erpool, and it's now a popular T-shirt
and a fridge magnet#
@Srer pu%lished his 'Dhinoceros' in 1515# Fi+e years later, in 152(, he had another e$otic
encounter when, in "russels, he saw ,tec mosaics in the shape of masks and animals e+ery %it as
e$otic as the rhino# Gll kinds of wonderful o%3ectsG, he wrote, Gmore %eautiful to me than
miraclesG# 2n %oth east and west, &urope was encountering worlds far %eyond its imagining#
'e$t week's o%3ects tell the story of what happened as &uropeans spread across the seas, and 2
%egin with a great ship made +ery near @Srer's 'urem%erg# "ut it was a ship that ne+er went to
sea# 2t's a model clock, actually, in the shape of a ship %ut, like the rhino, it leads us to the other
side of the world#
3(1
T,* 0i+s) G<1Fa< A.1n1E (976# $ 9D## 'C)
Episode &$ - *he mechanical galleon
Mechanical galleon Bmade around 1&%&CD :ilt automaton and cloc+F from #outh :ermany
The magnificent ship is masted, rigged and ready to sail, the lookouts are standing in the crows'
nests, high on the stern sits the 1oly Doman &mperor of the 0erman nation, and in front of him his
grandest su%3ects parade one after another, turning and making o%eisance# @eep in the hull of the
ship an organ plays music# Then, the cannons fire in an e$plosion of noise and smoke, and the
2mperial galleon mo+es ma3estically forward#
.ell, that's how it was meant to %e, %ut in fact all this is happening in miniature# 2n this
programme 2 am with an ela%orately crafted model of a sailing ship, made of gilded copper and
iron, which stands a%out three feet >6( cm? high# 2t was designed not to sail the seas, %ut to trundle
across a +ery grand ta%le# 2t's a decoration, %ut it's also a clock, and a musical %o$ - all in the shape
of a masted galleon, of the kind that in the si$teenth century de+eloped across &urope to e$pand
trade and to make war# 2ts intricate inner workings actually did create noise, smoke and mo+ement#
'owadays the ship is silent, calmly %erthed in the "ritish /useum# Het it still looks magnificent#
This gilded galleon is one of the great e$ecuti+e toys of the &uropean Denaissance#
G2 3ust think humankind is fascinated with things that mo+e and turn under their own steam - that
you can wind something up and it goes without you touching it# .e 3ust lo+e it, always ha+e done,
always will#G >:isa !ardine?
This fantastical mechanical galleon sums up, 2 think, not 3ust ship-%uilding in &urope, %ut indeed
&urope itself %etween 145( and 145(# 2n the course of those two hundred years, thanks to
tremendous ad+ances in ship construction, &urope's +iew of the world and of its place in it was
3(2
completely transformed# Those years of e$ploration and e$pansion are the theme of this week's
programmes# The work-horse of this e$pansion was the galleon, a new kind of ship, specially
designed for ocean-going and particularly well adapted to the winds of the tlantic# 2n ships like
this one, &uropean ad+enturers set off across the high seas to encounter other societies in all fi+e
continents#
7ur galleon crossed nothing more tur%ulent or more dangerous than a princely &uropean dinner
ta%le, %ut it's a +ery fair likeness of those great ocean-going +essels# 2t's the kind of galleon that
1enry E222 had in his '/ary Dose', it's a%o+e all the kind of ship that *pain sent against &ngland in
the 0reat rmada# They were normally three-masted, round-hulled war +essels, designed to carry
%oth troops and guns, and they were the key element in any si$teenth-century na+y# %surdly, they
were also popular ta%le decorations, always referred to %y the French word for this kind of ship - a
'nef'#
.e went to 8ortsmouth dockyard to meet the marine archaeologist Christopher @o%%s, who is in
charge of the '/ary Dose', to ask him to compare it with our gilded nef# 1ere he is9
G.ell, we're standing here in the '/ary Dose' *hip 1all, and we're looking out at the '/ary Dose',
o+er 35 meters long and 15 meters high# The '/ary Dose' is a little %it different to the nef, it's a
slightly earlier ship, %ut the '/ary Dose' is a +ery, +ery important part of na+al warfare, %ecause it
was one of the first to %e %uilt with purpose-%uilt lidded gun ports close to the waterline# nd these
ships were so important, they were the powerful sym%ols of the time# This is the e5ui+alent of the
space shuttle# nd 2 think that's why they would ha+e %een so proud to ha+e a nef, which would
trundle along the ta%les - you know, at a great dinner - %ecause it wasn't only a fantastic
mechanical o%3ect, %ut it actually also reflected the glory of the warships, which were perhaps the
most ad+anced technological features of their time#G
These great ships were indeed the largest and most comple$ machines in the &urope of their day#
The miniature gilded galleon is also a wonderfully constructed o%3ect, a masterpiece of
technological skill and high artistic decoration, of %oth mechanics and goldsmithery# 8arado$ically,
this little ship was created for a society hundreds of miles from any sea, and it's highly likely that
1ans *chlottheim, the landlocked craftsman who made it, had ne+er seen a sea-going +essel#
2t was made at the end of the si$teenth century, in the rich %anking city of ugs%urg, in southern
0ermany, a Free City within the 1oly Doman &mpire, and so part of a great sprawling territory
that ran from 8oland in the east to the "elgian channel ports in the west, all of which owed
allegiance to the &mperor Dudolph 22#
nd it is Dudolph that we see on the deck of our ship# 'ailed to the mainmast is a great dou%le-
headed eagle, the heraldic em%lem of the 1oly Doman &mpire# 2n front of Dudolph are the se+en
electors, those princes of church and state in the 0erman-speaking world, who chose each new
emperor and enriched themsel+es %y %ri%es in the process# 2t's +ery likely that this ship was made
for one of those electors, ugustus 2 of *a$ony# .e'+e recently disco+ered in ugustus's in+entory
a description that almost e$actly matches the "ritish /useum's galleon, and which we think must
%e it9
G gilded ship, skilfully made, with a 5uarter and full hour striking clock, which is to %e wound
e+ery 24 hours# %o+e with three masts, in the crows' nests of which the sailors re+ol+e and strike
the 5uarters and hours with hammers on the %ells# 2nside, the 1oly Doman &mperor sits on the
2mperial throne, and in front of him pass the se+en electors with heralds, paying homage as they
recei+e their fiefs# Furthermore ten trumpeters and a kettle-drummer alternately announce the
%an5uet# lso a drummer and three guardsmen, and si$teen small cannons, ele+en of which may %e
loaded and fired automatically#G
3(3
There was more# s it mo+ed across the ta%le, the little galleon played music# nd from the
sur+i+ing workings we can reconstruct it pretty well#
.hat would those south 0erman dinner guests ha+e thought watching this amusing and ama,ing
o%3ect in action- They would, of course, ha+e admired the clockwork %rilliance of this playful
automaton, %ut they must also ha+e %een fully aware that this was a metaphor in motion, a sym%ol
of the ship of state# That idea of the state as a ship, and its ruler as the helmsman or captain, is a
+ery old one in &uropean culture# 2t's fre5uently used %y Cicero, and indeed our word 'go+ernor'
comes from the :atin for 'helmsman' - 'gu%ernator'# &+en more enticingly for this programme, the
root of 'gu%ernator' is the 0reek 'ku%ernetes', which is the origin of our word cy%ernetics and so the
notions of ruling, steering and ro%otics are all present together in our language and in this one
galleon#
The state that this model ship sym%olised was like no other# The 1oly Doman &mpire was a uni5ue
phenomenon in &urope# Co+ering the area of modern 0ermany and a great deal %eyond, it was a
mechanism e+ery %it as comple$ as our model ship# 2t was not a state in the modern sense of the
word, %ut an intricate meshing of church lands, huge princely holdings and small, rich city states#
2t was an old &uropean dream that so many di+erse elements could co-e$ist in peace, all held
together %y loyalty to the person of the &mperor - a dream that had pro+ed astonishingly adapta%le#
"y the time of our gilded galleon, the ancient metaphor of the ship of state ruled %y its helmsman,
was ac5uiring a new layer of meaning# *hips had %ecome the focus of an intense interest in
mechanics and technology, which was a%sor%ing, indeed o%sessing, rulers right across &urope#
1istorian :isa !ardine e$plains9
GThe rich, the wealthy of all kinds, the aristocracy, e+ery%ody wants to own a %it of technology -
something with cogs and wheels and winding %its# clock - a +ery ornamental clock - or a +ery
ornamental position-finding instrument# !ewelled, gilded, they sur+i+e and you can see them in our
museums# 2t was fashiona%le to own scientific instruments %ecause they were the means of
e$pansion, disco+ery# Clockwork is fundamentally &uropean and it de+elops in the early si$teenth
century, at least on a small scale# 2t's all hand-worked, it's not mass-produced at all, it's minute
craftsmanship and it's mostly done %y gold and sil+ersmiths# 2t immediately fascinates e+eryone
that you can wind something up and it goes without you touching it# Clockwork is magic in the
si$teenth century#G
/agic it may ha+e %een, %ut clockwork was also %ig %usiness in si$teenth-century 0ermany# 2n our
ship, the greatest technical skill is not the modelling or the gilding of the galleon itself, %ut the
precision engineering of the clock and the automated mo+ing parts# Contemporary o%ser+ers
repeatedly stressed the precision, the orderliness, the grace of mechanisms like this one, which
em%odied the ideal of the early modern &uropean state - as it ought to ha+e %een and so rarely was
- with e+erything working together harmoniously under the control of one guiding idea and one
%eneficent so+ereign# nd its appeal went far %eyond &urope# utomata like our galleon were
presented as gifts to the &mperor of China and to the 7ttoman *ultan, and were greatly pri,ed#
fter all, what ruler, from @resden to <yoto, would not ga,e in delight as figures mo+ed to his
command in strict and unswer+ing order- *o unlike the messiness of ruling in the real world#
&+en in the si$teenth century, automata like this are far more than 3ust %oys' toys for the rich#
They're central to the e$perimental sciences, mechanics, engineering and the search for perpetual
motion, that growing desire to control the world %y taking possession of its secrets# &+en more
fundamental, they speak of that urge to imitate life %y mechanical means - which would ultimately
%e the %asis of modern automation and cy%ernetics# 2 think you can say that it's around 14(( - so
more-or-less when this ship was made - that our understanding of the whole world as a mechanism
3(4
really %egins to crystallise, seeing the cosmos as a kind of machine, comple$ and difficult to
understand, %ut ultimately managea%le and controlla%le#
The state that this galleon sym%olises, the 1oly Doman &mpire, handicapped %y its cum%ersome
structures of go+ernment and weakened %y religious di+ision, was heading into +ery stormy seas#
1emmed in to the east %y the Turks, it was a%out to %e o+ershadowed %y the tlantic-facing states
of western &urope - 8ortugal and *pain, France, &ngland, the 'etherlands# These states, %acked %y
the new ocean-going technologies represented %y this galleon, were em%arking on a dialogue with
the rest of the world which would make them rich as ne+er %efore, and which would ultimately
o+erturn the %alance of power in &urope#
*ailing in ships like this gilded galleon, they would encounter kingdoms and empires around the
world whose sophistication da,,led them, with whom they would trade, whom they would often
misunderstand, and some of whom they would destroy# These ocean-going e$peditions ha+e, in
large measure, shaped the world we li+e in today#
2n the ne$t programme we'll %e looking at the first part of the world that these new ships allowed
the &uropeans to +isit# .e'll %e in 'igeria, more precisely in "enin with the famous %ron,es#
3(5
Episode && - %enin pla:ue< the o4a !ith Europeans
(enin pla;ue= the o5a $ith Europeans Bcast in the si!teenth centuryCD (rassF from @igeria
2n 2((1, the C< 'ational Census recorded that one in twenty :ondoners were of %lack frican
descent, and it's a figure that's continued to rise in the years since# /odern "ritish life and culture
now ha+e a strong frican component# 2t's a de+elopment that's merely the latest chapter in the
history of relations %etween frica and western &urope# nd in that long and tur%ulent history, the
"enin "ron,es, as they used to %e known, hold a uni5ue place#
/ade in what is now modern 'igeria, in the si$teenth century, the "enin pla5ues are actually made
of %rass, not %ron,e# They're each a%out the si,e of an 3 sheet of paper, and they show figures in
high relief that cele%rate the %attles won %y the army of the "enin ruler, the o%a, and the rituals of
the o%a's court# They're not only great works of art and triumphs of metal-casting, they're also
documents of two 5uite distinct moments of &uro-frican contact - the first, peaceful and
commercial, the second %loody#
GThis was really our first nota%le encounter with the &uropean world# 8eople came in looking for
trading partners, looking for e$pansion of their own knowledge of the world - and %eing astonished
to encounter this society#G >.ole *oyinka?
Throughout this week we are with o%3ects that descri%e how &urope first encountered, and then
traded with, the wider world in the si$teenth century# "ut the magnificent sculptures of this
programme record the encounter from the other side - from the frican side# They offer us a
remarka%le picture of the structure of this .est frican kingdom# Their main su%3ect is the
glorification of the ruler of "enin, the o%a, and of his prowess as hunter and soldier, %ut they also
tell us how the people of "enin saw their first &uropean trading partners# The pla5ue 2'+e chosen is
dominated %y the ma3estic figure of the o%a himself#
3(4
The pla5ue is a%out two feet s5uare >4( cm?# 2ts colour strikes you as coppery rather than %rassy,
and there are fi+e figures on it - three fricans and two &uropeans# 2n the centre, in the proudest
relief and looking straight out at us, is the o%a# 1e's on his throne wearing a high helmet-like
crown# 1is neck is completely in+isi%le - a series of large rings runs from his shoulder right the
way up to his lower lip# 2n his right hand he holds up a ceremonial a$e# To either side of the o%a
kneel two court functionaries, dressed +ery like him %ut with plainer headdresses and fewer neck-
rings# They wear %elts hung with small crocodile heads, and these were the em%lem of those
authorised to conduct %usiness with the &uropeans# nd the &uropeans are present - or at least part
of them# gainst the patterned %ackground, we can see floating the heads and shoulders of two tiny
&uropeans#
The &uropeans shown are 8ortuguese, who were sailing down the west coast of frica in their
ocean-going galleons on their way to the 2ndies, %ut they were also seriously interested in .est
frican pepper, i+ory and gold# They were the first &uropeans to arri+e %y sea in .est frica, and
their ships astonished the local inha%itants# Cntil now, any trade %etween .est frica and &urope
had %een conducted through a series of middle-men, with goods carried across the *ahara %y
camel# The 8ortuguese galleons cut out all the middle-men, and offered a totally new kind of
trading opportunity# Their ships carried gold and i+ory direct to &urope and, in return, %rought
%ack larger 5uantities of &uropean %rass than had e+er %efore reached .est frica# This was the
raw material which ena%led the "enin pla5ues to %e made in the 5uantities they were#
fter the initial arri+al of the 8ortuguese around 14=(, the @utch and the &nglish followed shortly
after# ll &uropean +isitors were struck %y the o%a's position as %oth the spiritual and the secular
head of his kingdom#
:ike some .est frican music, the "enin %rass pla5ues are principally concerned with praising the
o%a# They were nailed to the walls of his palace - rather in the same way as tapestries in a
&uropean conte$t - and they allowed the +isitor to admire %oth the achie+ements of the ruler and
the wealth of the kingdom# The o+erall effect was enthusiastically descri%ed in detail %y an early
@utch +isitor9
GThe king's court is s5uare# 2t is di+ided into many magnificent palaces, houses and apartments of
the courtiers, and comprises %eautiful and long s5uare galleries, a%out as large as the &$change at
msterdam# From top to %ottom co+ered with cast copper, on which are engra+ed the pictures of
their war e$ploits and %attles, and are kept +ery clean#G
2n short, &uropeans +isiting "enin, in the fifteenth and si$teenth century, disco+ered a society
e+ery %it as organised and structured as the great courts of &urope, with an administration a%le to
control all aspects of life and, not least, foreign trade#
"ecause of their ocean-going ships, the &uropeans could pro+ide commodities from all o+er the
world that were greatly +alued %y the o%a's court# Coral from the /editerranean, cowrie shells
from the 2ndian 7cean to ser+e as money, cloth %rought from the Far &ast and, from &urope itself,
the massi+e amounts of copper and %rass needed for the metal-casting# The court of "enin was, in
fact, a thoroughly international place, and this is one aspect of the "enin pla5ues that fascinates the
'igerian-%orn sculptor, *okari @ouglas Camp9
GThe o%a has a certain amount of rings on his neck, and e+en when you see contemporary pictures
of the o%a, he has more coral rings than any%ody else, and his chest piece has more coral on it# Hou
know, the remarka%le thing a%out 'igeria is that all the coral and things don't actually come from
our coast, they come from 8ortugal, and places like that# *o all of that con+ersation has always
%een +ery important to me, you know we ha+e things that are supposed to %e totally traditional, yet
they're traditional through trade#G
3(=
The %rass needed to make the pla5ues was usually transported in the form of large %racelets -
'manillas' in 8ortuguese - and the 5uantities in+ol+ed are staggering# 2n 154; 3ust one 0erman
merchant-house agreed to pro+ide 8ortugal with 432 tons of %rass manillas for the .est frican
market#
.hen we look again at the pla5ue, we can see that one of the &uropeans is indeed holding a
manilla, and this is the key to the whole scene# The o%a is with the officials who manage and
control the &uropean trade# The three fricans are in the foreground and they're on a far %igger
scale than the diminuti+e &uropeans, %oth of whom are shown with long hair and ela%orate
feathered hats - in fact they look %oth fee%le and ridiculous# The manilla makes it clear that the
%rass %rought from &urope is merely the raw material from which the "enin craftsmen would
create great works of art like this one# .hat we're looking at is in fact a document that
demonstrates that the whole process of the trade in %rass was controlled %y the fricans# nd part
of that control was a total prohi%ition on the e$port of the finished %rass pla5ues# *o although
car+ed i+ories were e$ported from "enin in the si$teenth century and were well known in &urope,
the "enin pla5ues were reser+ed to the o%a himself, and they were not allowed to lea+e the
country# 'one had %een seen in &urope %efore 1;6=#
7n 13 !anuary 1;6=, the :ondon 'Times' announced news of a G"enin @isasterG# "ritish
delegation, seeking to enter "enin City during an important religious ceremony, had %een attacked,
and some of its mem%ers killed# The details of what actually happened are still far from clear, and
ha+e %een +igorously disputed, %ut whate+er the real facts, the "ritish, in ostensi%le re+enge for
the killing, organised a puniti+e e$pedition which raided "enin City, e$iled the o%a and created the
"ritish protectorate of *outhern 'igeria# The %ooty from the attack on "enin included car+ed i+ory
tusks, coral 3ewellery and hundreds of %ron,e statues and pla5ues# /any of these o%3ects were then
auctioned off to co+er the costs of the e$pedition, and they were %ought %y museums across the
world#
The arri+al and reception of these completely unknown sculptures caused a sensation in &urope# 2t
is not too much to say that they changed &uropean understanding of frican history# 7ne of the
first people to encounter the pla5ues, and to recognise their 5uality and their significance, was the
"ritish /useum curator Charles 1ercules Dead9
G2t need scarcely %e said that at the first sight of these remarka%le works of art we were at once
astounded at such an une$pected find, and pu,,led to account for so highly de+eloped an art
among a race so entirely %ar%arous#G
/any wild theories were put forward# The pla5ues must ha+e come from ncient &gypt, or
perhaps the people of "enin were one of the lost tri%es of 2srael# The sculptures must ha+e deri+ed
from &uropean influence - after all, these were the contemporaries of /ichelangelo, @onatello and
Cellini# "ut in fact, research 5uickly esta%lished that the "enin pla5ues were entirely .est frican
creations, made without &uropean influence# 2t is a %ewildering fact that the early, %roadly
harmonious, relationship %etween &uropeans and .est fricans esta%lished in the si$teenth
century had, %y 16((, almost completely disappeared from &uropean memory# /ost of &urope had
simply forgotten that they had at once admired the court of the o%a of "enin# .hy this strange
amnesia- 2 think it's pro%a%ly %ecause the later relationship was so dominated %y the transatlantic
sla+e trade, with all its dehumanising implications# :ater still, there would %e the great &uropean
scram%le for frica, in which the puniti+e e$pedition of 1;6= was merely one %loody incident#
That raid, and the remo+al of some of "enin's great art works, may ha+e spread knowledge of
"enin's culture to the world, %ut it left a wound in the consciousness of many 'igerians - a wound
that's still felt keenly today, as .ole *oyinka, the 'igerian poet and playwright, descri%es9
3(;
G.hen 2 see a "enin "ron,e, 2 immediately think of the mastery of technology and art - the
welding of the two# 2 think immediately of a cohesi+e ancient ci+ilisation# 2t increases a sense of
self-esteem, %ecause it makes you understand that frican society actually produced some great
ci+ilisations, esta%lished some great cultures# nd today it contri%utes to one's sense of the
degradation that has o+ertaken many frican societies, to the e$tent that we forget that we were
once a functioning people %efore the negati+e incursion of foreign powers# The looted o%3ects are
still today politically loaded# The "enin "ron,e, like other artefacts, is still +ery much a part of the
politics of contemporary frica and, of course, 'igeria in particular#G
The "enin pla5ues, these %eautiful and distur%ing o%3ects, speak as powerfully today as they did
when they first arri+ed in &urope, a hundred years ago# To many, they're not only supreme
sculptures, %ut a reminder that in the si$teenth century, &urope and frica were a%le to deal with
each other on e5ual terms# 2n merica at the same time, the situation was 5uite different# There, the
terms of engagement %etween the local inha%itants and the &uropean intruders were profoundly
une5ual#
2n the ne$t programme, 2'll %e talking a%out the *panish con5uest of ,tec /e$ico, and 2'll %e
looking at it through two pairs of eyes # # # 2'll %e with a dou%le-headed serpent#
3(6
Episode &, - 3ou4le-headed serpent
4ou5le-headed serpent Bmade 5et$een 1"00 and 1)00CD MosaicF from Me!ico
:istening to the sounds of %uskers in the heart of /e$ico City today, %eating ,tec-style drums
and wearing feathers and %ody paint, J2 know thatK these %uskers are not 3ust trying to entertain
passers-%y, they're trying to keep ali+e the memory of the lost ,tec &mpire, that powerful, highly
structured state that dominated Central merica in the fifteenth century, and which was destroyed
%y the *panish con5uistadors, led %y 1ernMn CortLs, around 152(# The %uskers would ha+e us
%elie+e, and you can %elie+e it if you like, that they are the heirs of /octe,uma 22, the emperor
whose realm was %rutally o+erthrown %y the *paniards in the 0reat Con5uest of 1521#
2n the course of the *panish Con5uest, ,tec culture was almost completely o%literated# *o how
much do we, can we, actually know a%out the ,tecs that these %uskers are honouring- Eirtually
all the accounts of the ,tec &mpire were written %y the *paniards who o+erthrew it, and so they
ha+e to %e read with considera%le scepticism# 2t's all the more important, then, to %e a%le to
e$amine what we can consider as the unadulterated ,tec sources, the things made %y them that
ha+e sur+i+ed# These are the documents of this defeated people, and through them, 2 think, we can
hear the +an5uished speak#
G.hen you look at these o%3ects in the gallery, the workmanship is e$traordinary# "ut that awe is
3ust taken to another le+el when you look at them in high magnification, %ecause you can see not
3ust the consummate skill of whome+er it was that produced these things, %ut the hours and hours
of time that must ha+e gone into their production#G >De%ecca *tacey?
GThe two heads in this snake is the sym%ol of dualism, which was a fundamental part of the ,tec
religion# ll the deities ha+e a dual nature - male, female, %irth, death, night, day, generation and
destruction#G >driane @ia, &nciso?
31(
This week 2'm looking at o%3ects that take us into the si$teenth and se+enteenth centuries, when
western &uropeans sailed off to e$plore, and in some cases con5uer, the world# Today, 2'm not on
ship with the con5uerors, %ut ashore with the defeated # # # 2'm with the ,tecs#
t the %eginning of the si$teenth century, the ,tecs had of course no idea that they were on the
%rink of destruction# They were a young and +igorous empire, triumphantly in possession of
territory that ran from Te$as in the north to 0uatemala in the south, and included the great %ulk of
modern /e$ico# They had a flourishing culture that produced ela%orate works of art which were
more precious to them than gold - tur5uoise mosaics#
.hen these ,tec mosaics were first %rought to &urope %y the *panish in the 152(s, they caused
an enormous stir# This was the first glimpse of a great ci+ilisation in the mericas, completely
unknown to &uropeans, and e+idently e+ery %it as sophisticated and lu$urious as their own# The
dou%le-headed serpent is one of the most highly crafted and strangely compelling of these rare
,tec sur+i+als#
The serpent is made up of a%out two thousand tiny pieces of tur5uoise, set on to a cur+ed wooden
frame, a%out a foot and a half >45 cm? wide# The snake's in profile# 2t's got one %ody, shared %y two
heads, and the %ody curls up and down in a '.' shape, to finish at each end in a sa+age, snarling,
head# The %ody of the snake's entirely in tur5uoise, %ut when you come to the snouts and the gums,
a %rilliant red shell has %een used, and then the teeth are picked out in white shell, culminating in
huge, terrifying fangs#
s you mo+e up and down in front of the case, and let the light play o+er the tur5uoise pieces, the
changing colours seem to li+e, and the pieces look not so much like scales on a snake %ut feathers
shimmering in the sunlight# 2t's an o%3ect which is at once %oth snake and %ird# 2t's mysterious, it's
distur%ing, it's a work of high art, and a +ehicle of primal power# Hou know that you are in the
presence of magic#
The way that the serpent was made gi+es us a lot of useful information# 2n the "ritish /useum's
Conser+ation @epartment, De%ecca *tacey has %een e$amining the materials that make up the
o%3ect as well as the resins or glue that hold the two thousand-odd pieces together9
G.e ha+e done a range of analyses, we'+e looked at the +ariety of different shells that are present#
The %right red shell used on the mouth and the nose is from the '*pondylus princeps', the thorny
oyster, which was a really highly pri,ed shell in ancient /e$ico %ecause of this fa%ulous scarlet
red colour, and also %ecause it in+ol+ed di+ing to great depths - dangerous deep-sea di+ing - to
har+est it as well# &+en the adhesi+es, which are plant resins, were important ritual materials,
%ecause they are the +ery same materials that were used as incense and as ritual offerings# They
had a +ery important ceremonial life of their own# num%er of different plant resins were used9
pine resin, fairly familiar, and also tropical %ursera resin, which is a much more aromatic resin,
+ery much associated with incense, and still used as incense in /e$ico today#G
*o the different elements of this magical o%3ect are held together - almost literally - %y the glue of
faith# De%ecca, and scientists across the world, ha+e esta%lished that tur5uoise in ,tec /e$ico
was transported o+er huge distances# *ome pieces were mined o+er a thousand miles >1,4(( km?
from the capital, Tenochtitlan, now /e$ico City# 0oods like tur5uoise, shells, and resin, were
traded across the whole of Central merica, %ut it's more likely that the components of our serpent
were forci%ly e$acted as tri%ute - compulsory le+ies from the peoples whom the ,tecs had
con5uered# This empire had %een created only in the 143(s, less than a century %efore the
*paniards arri+ed, and it was maintained %y aggressi+e military power, and tri%ute of gold, sla+es
and tur5uoise, sent regularly - and reluctantly - to Tenochtitlan %y the su%3ect pro+inces# Tur5uoise
was highly pri,ed, and it was the focus of great rituals, designed to impress and to intimidate - part
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of that Gshock and aweG that keeps imperial administrations in place# .e know a%out this through
the writings of @iego @uran, a @ominican friar who was e$tremely sympathetic to the ,tecs,
learning their language and transmitting their culture and their history# *o although he's *panish,
we can pro%a%ly rely on his account of a tri%ute ceremony9
G8eople attended with their tri%ute of gold, 3ewels, finery, feathers and precious stones, all of the
highest +alue and in great 5uantities # # # so many riches that they could not %e counted or +alued#
ll of this was done to show off magnificence and lordship in front of their enemies, guests and
strangers, and to instil fear and dread#G
The wealth generated %y this trade and tri%ute allowed the ,tecs to %uild roads and causeways,
canals and a5ueducts, as well as ma3or cities - ur%an landscapes that astonished the *paniards as
they marched in ama,ement through the &mpire9
G@uring the morning, we arri+ed at a %road causeway and continued our march# nd when we saw
so many cities and +illages %uilt in the water, and other great towns on dry land, we were ama,ed,
and said that it was like the enchantments they tell of in the legends of madis, on account of the
great towers and %uildings rising from the water, and all %uilt of masonry# nd some of our soldiers
e+en asked whether the things that we saw were not a dream#G
Tur5uoise was also a key element in the regalia of the ,tec ruler /octe,uma 22, who conducted
great rites of human sacrifice wearing a tur5uoise diadem, tur5uoise nose-plug, and a loin-cloth
with tur5uoise %eads# The two-headed serpent was almost certainly worn or carried in such a
religious ceremony, perhaps e+en at /octe,uma's accession to the throne# 2t would ha+e had
tremendous sym%olic +alue, not only %ecause of its precious tur5uoise, %ut also %ecause it's
fashioned as a fa%ulous snake# The poet and writer driana @ia, &nciso e$plains the snake's
connection to the ,tec gods, and especially to the great feathered serpent god, Buet,alcoatl9
GThe snake was important for the ,tecs as a sym%olism of regeneration and resurrection# 2n the
temple of Buet,alcoatl in Tenochtitlan you can see some sculptural reliefs of snakes that are
pouring water out of their mouth, and the water is falling on the crops to help them grow# *o it has
that meaning of fertility# The figure of Buet,alcoatl is seen in se+eral sculptures and drawings as a
snake with a %ody co+ered with feathers# The fusion of this %ird, the 5uet,al, and the snake, which
is a sym%ol of the earth, is the fusion of the powers of the hea+en and the powers of the earth so, in
that sense, it's also a sym%ol of eternity and of renewal#G
nd when we go %ack to the dou%le-headed snake, it %ecomes clear that the tiny, carefully-angled,
tur5uoise pieces are not far off the colour of the %lue-green tail-feathers of the 5uet,al %ird, and
they'+e %een cut and %e+elled to shimmer and flash 3ust like the 5uet,al's iridescent feathers# This
dou%le-headed serpent may in fact %e a representation of the god Buet,alcoatl and, if so, that
would link it directly to the momentous e+ents surrounding 1ernMn CortLs's arri+al in /e$ico#
*panish accounts at the time recorded the encounter %etween CortLs and /octe,uma# They state
that /octe,uma saw CortLs as an incarnation of the god Buet,alcoatl# ,tec legend had told that
Buet,alcoatl floated out into the tlantic, and would one day return as a %earded and fair-skinned
man# nd so, the *panish writers tell us, instead of summoning his troops and fighting, /octe,uma
presented CortLs with the homage and the e$otic gifts fit for a god# 7ne of these gifts is reported to
ha+e %een Ga serpent wand inlaid with tur5uoiseG# 2t might e+en ha+e %een this dou%le-headed
serpent#
.e shall ne+er know the full truth, %ut we do know that the ,tec tri%ute system was fiercely
resented, and led many of the su%3ect peoples to 3oin the *panish in+ader# .ithout the support of
these disaffected local armies, the *panish would ne+er ha+e %een a%le to con5uer /e$ico#
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ppropriately, the dou%le-headed serpent tells %oth the stories# 2t is a document of the ,tec
&mpire at the height of its artistic, religious and political power# 2t's also e+idence of the systematic
oppression of its su%3ect peoples, that ultimately destroyed it# *oon /octe,uma was dead)
Tenochtitlan was reduced %y the *paniards to smoking ru%%le, and with no emperor and no capital,
the ,tec &mpire was effecti+ely destroyed# These catastrophes were swiftly followed %y the
impact of de+astating &uropean diseases, especially smallpo$# 2t's %een suggested that as much as
6( per cent of the local population died within a couple of decades of the arri+al of the *paniards#
2n the ne$t programme we ha+e not a serpent made of tur5uoise, %ut a pair of porcelain elephants
from !apan # # # and these tell a +ery different story a%out war and art#
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Episode &. - 2a(iemon elephants
3a+iemon elephants Bmade second half of the seventeenth centuryCD /orcelainF from 2apan
They were owned %y monarchs of south-east sia# The "uddha's mother dreamed of one %efore
gi+ing %irth to him# For a large part of the world, white elephants ha+e always %een signs of power
and portent# They were also a mi$ed %lessing - as a gift from a king, they couldn't honoura%ly %e
put to work, and so they were horri%ly e$pensi+e to keep# nd, in modern &nglish, a white
elephant is simply a useless e$tra+aganceA
.e ha+e got two almost white elephants in the "ritish /useum# They too are from sia, they're
perfectly useless, and they were +ery e$pensi+e - they would ha+e cost tens of thousands of pounds
in today's terms# "ut they are e$ceedingly 3olly to look at, and they tell an une$pected story of the
triangular power struggles %etween China, !apan and <orea in the se+enteenth century, and of the
%irth of the modern multinational trading company#
G8eople had not really seen things like this %efore, certainly from the Far &ast# 2t was something
new and e$citing and pro%a%ly +ery modern# lthough they are trying to %e &uropean, perhaps in
taste you don't e+er lose that !apanese style#G >/iranda Dock?
The o%3ects this week are from the si$teenth and se+enteenth centuries, when &uropeans set sail
around the world, and much of the rest of the world first disco+ered &urope# 7ur porcelain
elephants were shipped into &urope from !apan sometime %etween 144( and 1=((# &lephants
were, of course, a rare sight in a &uropean drawing room then, %ut so, until recently, was porcelain#
7ddly, %oth the elephant and the porcelain were also relati+ely new to their !apanese maker#
The elephants in the "ritish /useum are a%out the si,e of Horkshire terriers, and you know they're
elephants %ecause they'+e got a trunk, and tusks, %ut otherwise they are pretty startling# The %ody
is of white porcelain - a %eautiful milky-white - and o+er that, painted in enamel, is %road
decoration# 8atches of red on the legs, %lue patterning o+er the %acks, and on the heads, the ears -
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which are clearly the ears of an 2ndian south sian elephant# The insides are painted a primrose
yellow, edged in red# nd then the eyes, 5uite clearly, are !apanese eyes# There's no dou%t, looking
at these, that the artist who made them is imagining an elephant that he has ne+er seen, and there's
no dou%t at all that this artist is !apanese#
These high-spirited porcelain elephants are the immediate conse5uence of !apan's comple$
relations with her neigh%ours, China and <orea# nd they also show the impact of the direct
trading links %etween sia and western &urope, esta%lished in the si$teenth and se+enteenth
centuries# &+er since this direct contact %egan, &urope has periodically %een sei,ed %y a passion
for the arts and crafts of !apan#
2t all started in the se+enteenth century, with a cra,e for <akiemon-style porcelain, a specific
techni5ue said to ha+e %een de+ised %y an entrepreneur named <akiemon, and which %ecame a
traditional !apanese craft techni5ue, passing through generations of potters# 7ur elephants are
<akiemon-style elephants, and they and other <akiemon creatures rampaged decorati+ely o+er
furniture and mantelpieces in the great houses of se+enteenth-century &urope# 7ne of the finest
and earliest collections of these !apanese porcelain animals is at "urghley 1ouse in :incolnshire#
/iranda Dock is a direct descendant of the :ord &$eter who at the end of the se+enteenth century
collected the porcelain9
G # # # 'China o+er ye chimney9 two large elephants, two large hindes, one large ra%%it, %rowne'#
nyway # # # here we are today, standing in front of a +ery impressi+e display of porcelain, stepped
a%o+e a mantelpiece, and there indeed, are the elephants listed in the in+entory, still %oth
%eautifully intact and surrounded %y other e$5uisite pieces of <akiemon porcelain#
GThis porcelain is really the success of our great collector !ohn, the fifth &arl of &$eter, and his
wife, nne Ca+endish, who were +ery enthusiastic 0rand Tourists# .e know the !apanese
porcelain was here in 14;;, %ecause it is mentioned in the in+entory, %ut we ha+e to assume that
there was a +ery astute dealer who !ohn had close contact with, %ecause there is an enormous
amount of it here at "urghley, and it was +ery much in +ogue at the time#G
'ot only do we ha+e in /iranda Dock the descendant of :ord &$eter, %ut, %y great good luck,
we'+e also %een a%le to track down the potter <akiemon the 14th, who claims descent from the
techni5ue's creators, and is today himself a !apanese G:i+ing 'ational TreasureG# 1e may indeed
%e the direct descendant of the +ery craftsman who decorated :ord &$eter's menagerie around four
hundred years ago# 1e li+es and works in rita, the %irthplace of !apanese porcelain, where his
family has %een potters for centuries# 1ere he is9
GThe <akiemon family has %een making coloured porcelain in the <akiemon style for nearly four
hundred years# 2t normally takes around 3( to 4( years to master the techni5ue and ac5uire the
skill, and training the ne$t generation is always a %ig challenge# The gla,e applied to the elephants'
skin is called 'nigoshide'# 2t's not a pure white %ut a warm, milky white# 2 can say that it's the
starting point of the <akiemon-style porcelain in the &do period# 2 use traditional tools# This is true
of many !apanese craftsmen, and keeps the traditional techni5ues ali+e# 8eople may think that 2 am
only following the old path, %ut 2 think my work is contemporary, with traditional elements
incorporated# .e consider the "ritish /useum elephants +ery uni5ue# 2 myself own one small
elephant at home#G
The colourful porcelain animals made %y <akiemon's ancestor are e$u%erantly %eautiful# They also
mi$ modern and traditional elements, and they're the products of %itter wars in east sia and cut-
throat international trade# China is, as we all know, the source of porcelain# "y the si$teenth
century, &urope was in the grip of porcelain mania, with a particular hunger for the famous
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Chinese %lue-and-white# The appetite of the &uropean rich for this material was insatia%le, and the
market struggled to keep up with demand#
G'ow there remain to us nothing %ut the lea+ings, for here they deal with porcelain as a hungry
man with a plate of figs, who %egins with the ripest, and then feels the others with his fingers, and
chooses one after another of the least firm until none are leftG
The frustration of an 2talian merchant who, in 15;3, was trying without success to %uy good
porcelain for his &uropean clientsA# "ut new suppliers were a%out to enter this %urgeoning market#
"y the fifteenth century, <orea had ac5uired from the Chinese the skill and the knowledge to make
porcelain#
2t was war that spread the secrets to !apan# 2n the late si$teenth century, !apan was united under a
single military leader of massi+e am%ition and, in the 156(s, he launched two attacks on <orea# 1e
saw these as mere preliminaries to taking o+er China from the /ing @ynasty# The take-o+ers of
China failed, %ut in the process !apan picked up potting skills - and, indeed, some of the potters
who practised them - from the <orean 8eninsula# The <orean scholar 0ina 1a-0orlan talks a%out
the long dynamic %etween the three cultures9
G<orea, China and !apan ha+e kept close relationships since prehistoric times# 2n cultural
e$changes, China often de+eloped ad+anced skills and techni5ues first, <orea adopted it, then
introduced it to !apan# 2t is %elie+ed to %e the case that the !apanese learned white porcelain-
making techni5ues from <orea, whereas the decorati+e skills of o+er-gla,ed polychrome enamel
are from China# 2t's one of the highly regarded Chinese decorati+e skills# Then %y the mid-
se+enteenth century the potter <akiemon achie+ed the polychrome o+er-gla,ed enamel techni5ue,
which was also highly demanded in &uropean trading markets# *o this <akiemon elephant statue is
a com%ination of <orean manufacturing techni5ue, Chinese decorati+e skills and !apanese taste#G
!apanese ceramics had two great strokes of luck# Firstly there was the great %oost, %oth in
manpower and technology, gi+en to the ceramic industry as a result of the <orean wars of the
156(s# Then, in 1444, the /ing @ynasty was o+erthrown, and in the ensuing political chaos
Chinese production of porcelain collapsed, lea+ing the market wide open#
2t was the perfect opportunity for the !apanese, who stepped in to take China's place in the
porcelain e$port %usiness and, for a %rief period, dominated the &uropean market# <akiemon-style
production e$panded swiftly to respond to &uropean demand and to &uropean taste, creating new
shapes, si,es, designs, and a%o+e all new colours, adding %rilliant reds and yellows to the
traditional Chinese %lue-and-white# &uropeans %ought them in large 5uantities and, e+entually,
they %egan to copy them# "y the eighteenth century, 0ermany, &ngland and France had all started
to produce their own, home-grown '<akiemon'# nd so, in one of those %i,arre and unpredicta%le
twists of history, the first porcelain to %e imitated %y &uropeans came not from China, %ut from
!apan#
The agent for all this, dri+ing inno+ation %oth in &urope and in !apan, was the world's first
multinational, the @utch &ast 2ndia Company, with its unparalleled concentration of resources,
contacts and e$perience# From their magnificent new head5uarters in msterdam, the merchants
and administrators of the company operated an ocean-spanning trading operation which, for nearly
a century, dominated the commerce of the whole world, and which had the e$clusi+e right among
&uropeans to trade with !apan#
!apan, at this point, was %eing run %y the *hogun who, to achie+e complete control of the country,
in 1436 closed off contact with the outside world# They kept open 3ust a few carefully controlled
GgatewaysG, especially the port of 'agasaki, and there they allowed only a few pri+ileged states to
314
conduct %usiness# These states included the nearest neigh%ours <orea and China, and 3ust one
&uropean partner, the @utch &ast 2ndia Company#
The &ast 2ndia Company transported porcelain to &urope in +ery large 5uantities# *ingle shipments
from !apan to 1olland amounted sometimes to as many as 45,((( items# nd it's in one of these
@utch &ast 2ndia Company ships that our elephants would ha+e tra+elled from !apan to &urope#
These two <akiemon-style elephants tell a story of the whole world in the se+enteenth century#
!apanese craftsmen, although cut off from the outside world, were using techni5ues %orrowed from
China and <orea to make images of animals from 2ndia, to suit the tastes of purchasers in &ngland#
ll this mediated %y the @utch, through the first trading company with a truly glo%al reach#
This week, we'+e %een seeing how the continents of the world were, for the first time, linked
together %y ships and %y trade# This new world needed a functioning means of e$change, an
international currency, and tomorrow we look at what underpinned those early years of world-wide
commercial acti+ity # # # sil+er, mined in *outh merica, minted into *panish pieces of eight, and
then e$ported to the world - the first glo%al money#
31=
Episode ,0 - -ieces of eight
/ieces of eight Bminted 5et$een 1&) and 1&0%CD #ilver coinsF from (olivia
/oney, ad+ertisers assure us, will let us %uy our dreams# "ut some money - and especially coins -
are already the stuff of dreams, with names that ring to the magic of history and legend # # # ducats
and florins, groats, guineas, so+ereigns# "ut none of them can compare with the most famous coins
of all time# Familiar in %ooks and films, from 'Treasure 2sland' to the '8irates of the Cari%%ean',
they carry with them a freight of associations # # #
G8irates, Captain Flint, piratesAG # # # G8ieces of eight, pieces of eightAG >from 'Treasure 2sland', %y
Do%ert :ouis *te+enson?
# # # %ut it's not 3ust thanks to :ong !ohn *il+er's parrot that pieces of eight are the supreme
cele%rities among world currencies, for the 'peso de ocho reales', the *panish piece of eight, was
the first truly glo%al money# 2t was produced in huge 5uantities and, within 25 years of its first
minting in the 15=(s, it had spread across sia, &urope, frica and the mericas - esta%lishing a
glo%al dominance that it was to maintain well into the nineteenth century#
G"efore the disco+ery of the +ast deposits of sil+er in the new world, there really was +ery little
sil+er and gold to use as a medium of e$change#G >.illiam "ernstein?
GThe sil+er was not allowed to the 2ndians# %ig part of the sil+er was sent to *pain, and from
*pain went to many parts of &urope#G >Tuti 8rado?
This week's o%3ects ha+e allowed us to look at the conse5uences of &uropean e$pansion from the
fifteenth to the se+enteenth centuries, as new trade links were forged around the world from .est
frica to !apan# Today 2'+e got some of the stuff that helped fuel that trade#
31;
2'm holding some pieces of eight now, clinking them to hear the noise they make# "y modern
standards, a piece of eight is a large coin, it's a%out two inches >5( mm? across and it's got a good
weight - roughly the same as three one pound coins# 2t's dullish sil+er in colour, thanks to surface
corrosion, %ut when it was freshly minted it would glitter and shine# round 14((, this piece of
eight that 2'm holding would pro%a%ly ha+e %ought me, in modern terms, something like fifty
pounds worth of goods, and 2 could ha+e spent this piece of eight practically anywhere in the
world#
The *panish had %een drawn to merica %y the lure of gold, %ut what made them rich there was
sil+er# They 5uickly found and e$ploited sil+er mines in ,tec /e$ico, %ut it was in 8eru, in the
154(s, at the southern end of the 2nca &mpire, that the *panish really hit the sil+er 3ackpot - at a
mountainous place called 8otosT, now in "oli+ia, which 5uickly %ecame known as the G*il+er
/ountainG# .ithin a few years of disco+ering the 8otosT mines, sil+er from *panish merica
%egan to pour across the tlantic, growing from a modest 14; kilos a year in the 152(s to nearly
three million kilos a year in the 156(s# 2n the economic history of the world, nothing on this scale
had e+er happened %efore#
The isolated hill of 8otosT sits 12,((( feet >3,=((m? a%o+e sea le+el, on a high, arid and +ery cold
plateau in the ndes# 2t's one of the most inaccessi%le parts of *outh merica# "ut the sil+er mines
re5uired so much la%our that, %y 141(, the population of this +illage had grown to 15(,(((
inha%itants, making it a ma3or city %y &uropean standards of the day, and an unimagina%ly rich
one# 2n 144(, a *panish priest rhapsodised a%out the mine and what it was producing9
GThe a%undance of sil+er ores is so great that, if there were no other sil+er mines in the world, they
alone would suffice to fill it with wealth# 2n their midst is the hill of 8otosT, ne+er sufficiently
praised and admired, the treasures whereof ha+e %een distri%uted in generous measure to all the
nations of the world#G
.ithout 8otosT, the history of si$teenth-century &urope would ha+e %een +ery different# 2t was
merican sil+er that made the *panish kings &urope's most powerful rulers, and paid for their
armies and armadas# 2t was merican sil+er that allowed the *panish monarchy to fight the French
and the @utch, the &nglish and the Turks, esta%lishing a pattern of e$penditure that was ultimately
to pro+e ruinous# Het for decades the flow of sil+er pro+ided rock-solid credit for *pain# 2t was
assumed that ne$t year there would always %e another treasure fleet# nd there always was# G2n
sil+er lies the security and strength of my monarchyG, said <ing 8hilip 2E#
The production of this wealth came at a huge cost in human life# t 8otosT, young 'ati+e-
merican men were conscripted, and forced to la%our in the mines# Conditions were %rutal, indeed
lethal# 2n 15;5 an eye-witness reported9
GThe only relief they ha+e from their la%ours is to %e told they are dogs, and to %e %eaten on the
prete$t of ha+ing %rought up too little metal, or taken too long, or that what they ha+e %rought is
earth, or that they ha+e stolen some metal# nd less than four months ago, a mine-owner tried to
chastise an 2ndian in this fashion, and the leader, fearful of the clu% with which the man wished to
%eat him, fled to hide in the mine, and so frightened was he that he fell and %roke into a hundred
thousand pieces#G
2n the free,ing high altitude of the mountains, pneumonia was a constant danger, while mercury
poisoning fre5uently killed those in+ol+ed in the refining process# From a%out 14((, as the death
rate soared among the local 2ndian communities, tens of thousands of frican sla+es were %rought
to 8otosT to replace them# They pro+ed more resilient than the local population, %ut they too died in
large num%ers# Forced la%our in the sil+er mines of 8otosT remains e+en today the historic sym%ol
of *panish colonial oppression#
316
The sound of the 8otosT sil+er mine can still %e heard today# @istur%ingly, and to the dismay of
many "oli+ians, it is still a tough and unhealthy place to work# 1ere's the "oli+ian former head of
a 8otosT C'&*C7 pro3ect, Tuti 8rado9
G8otosT, for today's population, is one of the poorest places in the country# 7f course, the
technology is different %ut the poorness, the unhealthiness, is as %ad as four hundred years ago# .e
ha+e a lot of children working in the mines# /any of the miners don't li+e more than 4( to 45 years
- %y the silicosis in the lungs and %y the dust#G
The 8otosT mines produced the raw material which made *pain rich, %ut it was the 8otosT mint,
fashioning the sil+er pieces of eight, that laid the foundations of a glo%al currency# From 8otosT,
the coins were loaded on to llamas, for the two-month trek o+er the ndes to :ima and the 8acific
coast# There, *panish treasure fleets took the sil+er from 8eru up to 8anama, where it was carried
%y land o+er the isthmus and then across the tlantic in con+oys#
"ut this sil+er trade was not centred only on &urope# *pain also had an sian empire, %ased in
/anila, in the 8hilippines, and pieces of eight were soon crossing the 8acific in huge num%ers# 2n
/anila, pieces of eight were e$changed, usually with Chinese merchants, for silk and spices, i+ory,
lac5uer and, a%o+e all, porcelain# The arri+al of this *panish-merican sil+er desta%ilised the &ast
sian economies, and caused chaos in /ing China# 2ndeed, there was hardly any part of the world
that remained unaffected %y these u%i5uitous coins#
2'+e got in front of me at the moment a tray of pieces of eight made in the *panish merican mints#
They gi+e the unmistakea%le ring of +ery high 5uality sil+er# "ut the range of the coins here gi+es
a wonderfully clear idea of their glo%al role# 2'+e got one which was counter-stamped %y a local
sultan in 2ndonesia# 7ther coins here ha+e %een inscri%ed with Chinese merchants' stamps# nd
here is a coin from 8otosT, found at To%ermoray on the *cottish coast# 2t comes from a ship that
was once part of the *panish rmada, wrecked in 15;;# 8ieces of eight e+en got to ustralia in the
nineteenth century - when the "ritish authorities ran out of currency there, they %ought *panish#
They cut out the *panish king's face, and they re-engra+ed the pieces of eight to read GF2E&
*12::2'0*, '&. *7CT1 .:&*G# .hat this tray shows, these coins - from the 1e%rides to
'ew *outh .ales - show, JisK that %oth as a commodity and a coin, pieces of eight engendered a
fundamental shift in world commerce, as the financial historian .illiam "ernstein descri%es9
GThis was a godsend, this 8eru+ian and /e$ican sil+er, and +ery 5uickly hundreds of millions, and
perhaps e+en %illions, of these coins got minted, and they %ecame the glo%al monetary system#
They were the Eisa and the /asterCard and the merican &$press of the si$teenth through
nineteenth centuries# They are per+asi+e enough that when, for e$ample, you read a%out the tea
trade in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries in China, which was a +ast trade, you see prices
and count amounts accounted for in dollars, with dollar signs, and of course what they were talking
a%out were *panish dollars, these pieces of eight#G
Dight across &urope, *panish merican treasure inaugurated an age of sil+er, Gthe wealth which
walketh a%out all the countries of &uropeG# "ut the +ery a%undance of sil+er %rought with it a new
set of pro%lems# 2t increased the money supply - much like go+ernments GprintingG money, in
modern terms# 2nflation was the conse5uence# 2n *pain, there was %emusement, as the wealth of
empire, in %oth political and economic terms, often seemed more apparent than real# 2ronically,
sil+er coin %ecame a rarity within *pain itself, as it haemorrhaged out to pay for foreign goods,
while local economic acti+ity declined# s gold and sil+er +anished from *pain, its intellectuals
grappled with the gulf %etween the illusion and the reality of wealth, and the moral conse5uences
of the country's une$pected economic trou%les# 7ne writer in 14(( descri%es it like this9
32(
GThe cause of the ruin of *pain is that riches ride on the wind, and ha+e always so ridden in the
form of contract deeds, of %ills of e$change, of sil+er and gold, instead of goods that %ear fruit and
which, %ecause of their greater worth, attract to themsel+es riches from foreign parts# nd so our
inha%itants are ruined# .e therefore see that the reason for the lack of gold and sil+er money in
*pain is that there is too much of it, and *pain is poor %ecause she is rich#G
nd here we are, o+er three centuries later, still struggling to understand world financial markets
and to control inflation# 8otosT, e+en now, remains pro+er%ial for its wealth# &+en today, when
*paniards want to say that something is worth a fortune, the say, G+ale un 8otosTG, and the *panish
piece of eight li+es on as a romantic prop in fantasy pirate stories# "ut it was one of the foundation
stones of the modern world, underpinning the first world empire# 2t prefigured, and made possi%le,
the modern glo%al economy#
'e$t week, 2'll %e turning from economics to faith, and 2 shall %e with o%3ects that tell of religious
tolerance and intolerance in that early glo%alised world # # # 2 %egin with a great ritual o%3ect, from
*hi'a 2ran
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T1<*+an.* an2 -n)1<*+an.* (966# $ 9:## 'C)
Episode ,1 - hi)a religious parade standa
#hi,a religious parade standard Bmade late seventeenth centuryCD #teel alamE from 7ran
2'm listening as the music rises in one of the world's great Christian cathedrals, past sil+er
crucifi$es and painted stories telling the narrati+e of %i%lical redemption# "ut 2'm not standing in a
Christian &uropean city# 2'm here in 2sfahan, and this cathedral was %uilt around 14(( %y *hah
'%%as 2, the great king of early modern 2ran# 2t's the perfect place to start the 5uestion we're going
to %e looking at this week - how the world map of religion was re-drawn in the si$teenth and
se+enteenth centuries# nd at the %asis of that redrawing is one %ig 5uestion - can a state hold more
than one faith-
The answer to that 5uestion in si$teenth and se+enteenth century 2ran was a definite H&*# "ut the
different monotheistic faiths ha+e always found it difficult to li+e together for long, and religious
tolerance is usually %oth contested and fragile# 2n this programme, 2'll %e e$ploring the situation in
2ran through an 'alam' - a la+ishly gilded ceremonial sword# lams were originally %attle standards,
designed to %e carried like flags into the fight, %ut in se+enteenth-century 2ran they were used in
great religious processions, and rallied not warriors, %ut the faithful#
GThe alam is a %eautiful o%3ect in itself# 2t was what preceded the king# 2t com%ines opulence and
greatness with suffering and humility#G >1aleh fshar?
Throughout this week we're thinking a%out the co-e$istence - peaceful or otherwise - of different
faiths, and we ha+e o%3ects from 2ndia and Central merica, &urope and 2ndonesia that em%ody
one of the key concerns of the age - the political conse5uences of %elief# Today we are in 2ran, with
the ruling *afa+id @ynasty, and with a porta%le declaration of faith#
The *afa+id @ynasty came to power in 15(1, and it esta%lished *hi'a 2slam as the state religion of
2ran, a position it has held e+er since# 2t's an interesting parallel to e+ents in Tudor &ngland, which
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%ecame officially 8rotestant at roughly the same time as 2ran %ecame *hi'a# 2n %oth countries,
religion %ecame a defining element of national identity, setting the nation apart from its hostile
neigh%ours9 8rotestant &ngland from Catholic *pain) *hi'a 2ran from its *unni neigh%ours, a%o+e
all Turkey#
2ran, around 14((, was led %y a ruler of rare political nous, and e+en rarer religious pragmatism -
*hah '%%as# 1e was a contemporary of &li,a%eth 2 of &ngland, and was 3ust as keen as she was to
de+elop international trade and contacts# 1e in+ited the world to +isit his capital in 2sfahan,
welcoming Chinese en+oys at the same time as hiring &nglishmen as his ad+isors# 1e e$panded
his %orders, and in the process he captured rmenian Christians, whom he relocated to 2sfahan#
The deal was simple# rmenian traders de+eloped the highly profita%le international trade in silks
and te$tiles and, in return, *hah '%%as %uilt them the Christian cathedral that 2'+e 3ust +isited#
&uropean tra+ellers were astonished %y this acti+e religious tolerance, with Christians and !ews
each gi+en their own places of worship, peacefully accommodated within a /uslim state - a le+el
of religious di+ersity unthinka%le in Christian &urope at the time# 2sfahan %ecame a centre for
2slamic scholarship, and a place where the arts flourished# rchitecture, painting and high craft in
silks, ceramics and metalwork - all were put to the ser+ice of the faith# nd the legacy of *hah
'%%as's achie+ement can still %e clearly seen in this programme's o%3ect, the alam, which was
made around 1=((#
This *hi'a 2ran of the *afa+id shahs, sophisticated and cosmopolitan, prosperous and de+out, is in
many ways encapsulated in the o%3ect 2'm looking at now# 2t's appro$imately sword-shaped, with a
disc %etween the %lade and the handle# 2t's a%out four feet >12( cm? high, and it was meant to %e
mounted on a long pole and carried high in procession through the streets# 2t's made of gilded
%rass, and it's typical of the metal-working tradition that has e+ol+ed in 2ran, and especially in
2sfahan, where merchants and craftsman from 2ndia, the 'ear &ast and &urope met and traded#
"ut howe+er cosmopolitan the style and skill, this alam was made specifically for use in a *hi'a
/uslim ceremony# The %lade of the sword has %een transformed into a filigree of words and
pattern, and these words are effecti+ely a declaration of *hi'a faith# .ords like this are now part of
the physical and architectural fa%ric of *hi'a 2sfahan#
2'm now standing in the mos5ue of *haykh :utfallah, %uilt %y *hah '%%as at the same time as he
%uilt the cathedral for the Christians# This %uilding is entirely a monument to the word, and the
structural elements of the architecture are marked out with inscriptions - inscriptions of the word of
0od, of the words of the 8rophet, and of other holy te$ts# nd o+er the 'mihra%', the central niche,
which marks the direction of /ecca and where we should pray, are written the names of the hl al-
"ayt, the family of the house - that means the family of the 8rophet#
nd we find their names on the alam here in the "ritish /useum# There's the prophet /uhammad
himself, his daughter, Fatima, and his son-in-law, li, and his grandsons, 1assan and 1usain#
2ndeed, li is mentioned three times on this alam# For *hi'a /uslims, li was the first imam - or
spiritual leader - of the faithful, and this kind of alam is known as the *word of li# &lsewhere on
this alam are the names of ten other imams - all descended from li and all, like him, martyred# s
this alam was carried through the streets, the faithful would see the names of the 8rophet, of his
daughter Fatima, his son-in-law li and of the other imams#
*hiites, then and now, are a minority in 2slam# They hold that the office of 2mam - infalli%le
religious guide - %elongs e$clusi+ely to the descendents of li, the 8rophet's son-in-law# They are
the *hi'a li - the 8arty of li# "y contrast, *unni /uslims accepted the authority of the Caliph,
who %y the se+enteenth century was the 7ttoman sultan in 2stan%ul# These differing +iews led to
%loody conflict, and a long tradition of martyred *hi'a imams#
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2ranian *hiism holds that there are 12 imams altogether, the 11 mentioned on our alam all died as
martyrs# The twelfth imam is said to ha+e +anished in ;=3, and to %e still in hiding - he will only
%e restored %y 0od when it pleases him# The faithful are awaiting his return, and at that point the
*hi'i dominion will %e esta%lished on earth# Cntil then, the *afa+id shahs were the temporary pro$y
for the hidden imam#
1aleh fshar, an 2ranian-%orn academic, reflects on the position of *hi'ism in the life and politics
of 2ran o+er the centuries, and on its role in %oth the Constitutional De+olution of 16(= and the
2slamic De+olution of 16=69
G.ell *hi'ism for centuries was the small part of 2slam, which was +ery different, and a group
which were not part of any esta%lishment# 2n fact they were always in the process of contestation
and on the margins# nd with the arri+al of the *afa+ids, who declared *hi'ism as the national
religion of 2ran, we then %egin to ha+e the esta%lishment of a religious institution with a hierarchy,
and one that has some kind of influence on policy# nd that's 5uite new, in terms of 2ranian history#
nd it is actually a process that has continued through the centuries, and the religious
esta%lishment +ery often has %een at the forefronts of re+olutions# *o for e$ample, JinK the
Constitutional De+olution, in which the 'ulema' - religious leaders - were demanding the
esta%lishment of a house of 3ustice, and demanded a constitution as a result# nd also JinK the '=6
re+olution, again in the name of 3ustice, which is a theme at the core of *hi'ism#G
This heightened sense of 3ustice perhaps has its roots in the +ery essence of *hi'ism - its focus on
+ictims and martyrs# "y the late se+enteenth century, when this alam was made, ela%orate
ceremonial processions, commemorating the deaths of the martyrs, featured chain-swinging
flagellants, rhythmic mo+ement, music and chanting# nd this points up the parado$ical nature of
the "ritish /useum's alam# *word-like in form and name, and at first sight triumphalist and
aggressi+e, it was in fact used in ceremonies to commemorate defeat, suffering and martyrdom#
8resent day alams are sometimes enormous# 'o longer a single %lade of metal, they are now often
great structures, co+ered in decorated cloth, which can span a whole road's width# nd yet they're
%orne %y one man# /en pri+ileged to carry alams perform great feats of strength, and they need
special training#
nd, to the sound of music, this is how they train# /en swing giant wooden clu%s around their
shoulders, accompanied %y slogans and tragic songs honouring the *hi'a martyrs# This is a
traditional ritual 2ranian workout, and we're in a ',urkaneh', a house of strength# "ut we're not in
Tehran, we're in north-west :ondon, where men are trained %oth physically and spiritually in the
traditional religious sport of *hi'ism# .e spoke to one of the elders of this 2ranian community,
1ossein 8ourtahmas%i, an alam-carrier himself, a%out how the tradition continues today9
GFirst of all you ha+e to %e a good weightlifter, %ecause that's 5uite hea+y, it sometimes goes up to
one hundred kilograms# "ut it's not a matter of a hundred kilograms of weight, it's %alancing and
un%alancing the shape of the alam - %ecause it's huge, and it's wide, and you ha+e to %e +ery
physically fit for that# nd the people are either wrestlers or weight-lifters, and physically strong
and well-known %y that society# "ut to %e a strong man is not enough, in that community the
people ha+e got to know you as well, %ecause it's sort of a tradition to gi+e you admission#G
"y the time our alam was made, around 1=((, this kind of muscular fer+our had %ecome a key
element of *hi'a ceremonies# The tolerant e5uili%rium of *hah '%%as was a%andoned %y his
successors, and the last *afa+id *hah, 1usayn, was harshly intolerant of non-*hi'ites# 2t may ha+e
%een this religious repression that contri%uted to his downfall# 2n 1=22, the long *afa+id era ended
and *hah 1usayn was o+erthrown#
324
@espite 2ran's recent reputation for intolerance, the religious legacy of *hah '%%as is still e+ident
in the country today# The state is of course officially *hi'a, %ut the rmenians still worship in their
cathedral, and Christians, !ews and Noroastrians are all free to practise their religion in pu%lic,
their rights enshrined in the constitution#
2n the ne$t programme, 2 shall %e asking the same 5uestion as 2 asked at the %eginning of this one -
can a state hold more than one faith- 2 shall %e looking at how the 2slamic monarchs of /ughal
2ndia contri+ed to rule a population that contained not 3ust /uslims %ut 1indus, *ikhs and !ains#
nd 2 shall tell the story in miniature # # # with a painting#
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Episode ,2 - Miniature of a Mughal prince
Miniature of a Mughal prince Bpainted around 1610CD ?atercolourF from 7ndia
2n today's world of glo%al politics, the image is, almost, e+erything# .e're all familiar with the
carefully staged photographs of leaders who know e$actly what it means to %e pictured with a
particular royal, politician or cele%rity# .hen it comes to the politics of faith, it's e+en more
important to %e seen with the right religious leader, and it can %e riskier# To %e seen shaking hands
with the 8ope or the @alai :ama, for instance, may %ring electoral %enefits, though it may also
ha+e tricky political conse5uences# "ut few political leaders today would choose to make a pu%lic
display of humility, %y %eing seen recei+ing religious instruction, or e+en reprimand#
ll the o%3ects this week e$plore the relationship %etween different faiths four to fi+e hundred
years ago# 2n se+enteenth-century 2ndia, the dialogue %etween power and faith was e+ery %it as
comple$ and as e$plosi+e as it is today, %ut around 141(, the photo-opportunities were +ery
different - no press photographs, no 24-hour tele+ision news, 3ust painting# 8ainting aimed at a
+ery targeted audience, and it's such a painting that 2 want to look at in this programme - a
miniature from /ughal 2ndia that em%odies a rare, perhaps a uni5ue, relationship %etween the
world of the ruler and the realm of faith#
GThe message is that a ruler must know his people, his su%3ects - especially in a country like 2ndia,
where there were se+eral religions co-e$isting# nd they also should know that their king is to
protect e+ery single religion#G >sok <umar @as?
2n the si$teenth and se+enteenth centuries, &urope and sia were dominated %y three great 2slamic
empires - Turkey, 2ran and, richest %y far, /ughal 2ndia# 2t reached its height in the years around
14(( under &mperor k%ar, who was almost an e$act contemporary of our &li,a%eth 2, and it
continued to flourish under his son !ahangir# 7ur painting was made during !ahangir's reign#
324
The /ughal &mpire was +ast, stretching from <a%ul in fghanistan in the west, across 1,4(( miles
>2,25( km? to @haka in modern "angladesh in the east# "ut, unlike the 2ranian *afa+ids or the
7ttoman Turks, the /uslim rulers of the /ughal &mpire ruled an o+erwhelmingly non-/uslim
people# "esides !ains and "uddhists, perhaps =5 per cent of their population were 1indu#
'ow, unlike Christians and !ews, 1indus are not recognised in the <oran as another people of the
%ook, and so in theory they were not e+en necessarily to %e tolerated, which was a tricky fact that
the /ughal emperors always had to accommodate# They managed it %y adopting a policy of wide
religious inclusion# k%ar and !ahangir worked easily with many faiths# They had 1indu generals
in their armies, and close contacts with holy men, /uslim or 1indu, were a fundamental part of
the life and outlook of the /ughal elite# 2ndeed, regular meetings with religious figures were a key
political strategy of the state, pu%licised through high-profile +isits and also through the media of
the day - paintings like the one in this programme#
7ur painting is a miniature, an art form popular at courts from :ondon and 8aris to 2sfahan and
:ahore# nd /ughal miniatures show that 2ndian painters were well aware of de+elopments %oth
in 8ersia and in &urope# 2t's %een dated to around 141(, and it shows an encounter %etween a rich
young no%leman, perhaps a prince of the ruling /ughal @ynasty, and a holy man who has neither
wealth nor power#
The miniature is a%out the si,e of the co+er of a hard%ack %ook# 2t shows us a landscape and, in the
centre, is the encounter %etween the holy man and the prince# The holy man is on the left, grey-
haired and %earded and wearing a simple ro%e, cloak and tur%an# 1e is sitting on the ground, and
%eside him is a forked stick - the distincti+e arm-rest or crutch of the der+ish, the 2slamic holy
man#
<neeling in front of him is a young man wearing a purple costume co+ered with gold em%roidery,
with a 3ewelled dagger at his waist, and a green tur%an with a feather# Contemporary sources tell us
that a green tur%an is a sign of high status, and that a dagger like this one was o%ligatory for a
no%le# This is clearly a rich young man# The two figures, the ascetic der+ish and the la+ishly
dressed prince, are shown on a slightly raised platform in front of a domed pa+ilion# 2t's clearly an
2slamic shrine, %uilt around the tom% of some re+ered religious figure# delicately painted tree
o+ershadows the central figures# t its %ase is a solitary %lue iris, and %ehind, a rolling landscape
disappears into the distance#
2n /ughal painting, landscape is often e+ery %it as important as the figures# The /ughals were
famous for their ornamental gardens, which were not merely places of pleasure %ut also physical
metaphors for the 2slamic paradise# *o this is an appropriate setting for our rich young man to %e
discussing %elief with a /uslim teacher# 2n this idyllic setting, power has met piety, and they're in
de%ate#
2n attendance on the prince are horses and colourfully dressed courtiers# /ore surprisingly, %elow
the /uslim der+ish crouches a half-naked man wearing white headgear, who could %e a fakir or an
ascetic, perhaps a follower of the der+ish - %ut who +ery intriguingly, since he's not wearing a
tur%an, could also %e a 1indu holy man#
.e asked sok <umar @as, an e$pert in /ughal art, to tell us a%out the purpose of this painting,
and to comment on the possi%le presence of %oth /uslim and 1indu figures in one image9
G2nitially these were specifically meant for the eyes of the king, or the mem%ers of the royal family,
or whom the king wanted# "ut later on they %ecame fairly uni+ersal, and we find the same painting
or similar paintings in al%ums and in other %ooks# 2t does ha+e a specific message to con+ey,
%ecause k%ar, when he started his great empire-%uilding process # # # there were wars, %ut at the
32=
same time he sent the message that he is not open to war %ut open to friendship# nd there were
matrimonial relationships %etween the 1indus and other princes, and that is something +ery, +ery
unusual for a /uslim ruler of the si$teenth century# nd some of his closest no%les and some of his
principle courtiers were 1indus, and they remained 1indus# There was no animosity %etween the
faith of the king, of the ruler, and them# *o the message is that here is one king who is not only
going to tolerate, %ut also going to %e +ery friendly, and at the same time co-e$ist in peace and
harmony#G
2n 2ndia, the notion of a powerful ruler hum%ling himself %efore the wisdom of a holy man has a
+ery long history# 2t's part of a tradition of religious tolerance that was a legacy of the /ughals'
great ancestors, 0enghis <han and Tamerlaine# 2t was one of the distincti+e features of their great
con5uests, and it differentiated the /ughal &mpire from other 2slamic states# 2n the opening
section of his auto%iography, !ahangir cele%rates the tolerance of his father k%ar, in contrast to his
contemporaries in Turkey and 2ran# 2n k%ar's 2ndia, !ahangir writes9
G # # # there was room for the professors of opposite religions, and for %eliefs, good and %ad, and the
road to altercation was closed# *unnis and *hias met in one mos5ue, Christians and !ews in one
church, and o%ser+ed their form of worship#G
"ritain's first am%assador to the /ughal court, who arri+ed in 141=, memora%ly recorded
!ahangir's own affirmation of religious tolerance, +oiced during what was clearly a not unusual
drunken e+ening9
GThe good king fell to dispute the laws of /oses, !esus and /uhammad# nd in drink was so kind
that he turned to me, and said9 'm 2 a king- Hou shall %e welcome#' Christians, /oors, !ews, he
meddled not with their faith# They came all in lo+e, and he would protect them from wrong# They
li+ed under his safety and none should oppress them# nd this often repeated# "ut in e$treme
drunkenness he fell to weeping and to di+ers passions, and so kept us till midnight#G
@runk or so%er, !ahangir was a strikingly tolerant ruler# s he tra+elled through his &mpire,
thousands would ha+e %een present to watch the &mperor's +isits to holy men and to their shrines,
and to witness his pu%lic demonstration of a multi-faith society in action# "ut !ahangir also seems
to ha+e %een dri+en %y his own, personal desire to e$plore the spiritual truths of other religious
traditions# 1e had many pri+ate meetings with a renowned 1indu hermit, 0osa'in !adrup, and he
descri%es one of these in his auto%iography9
GThe place he had chosen to li+e in was a hole on the side of a hill, which had %een dug out and a
door made# 2n this narrow and dark hole he passes his time in solitude# 2n the cold days of winter,
though he is 5uite naked, with the e$ception of a piece of rag that he has in front and %ehind, he
ne+er lights a fire# 2 con+ersed with him, and he spoke well, so much as to make a great impression
on me#G
The tone of !ahangir's narrati+e suggests that encounters like this were spiritually, as well as
politically, significant in the life of the /ughal ruling elite# nd certainly, meetings like these,
which show the powerful and the rich learning from the holy poor, are +ery hard to match in other
societies# The 2ndian historian man 'ath reflects on the encounters %etween politicians and holy
men in 2ndia across the centuries9
G"orn in 2ndia and, you know, %eing part of its culture, ci+ilisation, history, it seems to me a +ery
normal scene for us# Hou know, e+en today, not much has changed, %ecause people in position and
power go and +isit holy people, and all the politicians go +isiting holy people, perhaps for the
wrong reasons too# "ut in the painting that we're talking a%out, faith in this case is far a%o+e power
and politics# "ecause a prince who has other priorities as a young man, is %orn, is conditioned, to
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think that if you get the %lessings of holy people that all will %e well in your reign# nd the fact
that he is not coerced, or # # # you know, he 3ust +isits a *ufi saint, and he %ends his neck# That 2
think is the key thing in the painting, %ecause a man of greater wealth, power, am%ition, sits on the
ground and kneels %efore a man who has sacrificed e+erything# :ess is more in 2ndia, and 3ust as
well, %ecause there's so much po+erty that that 'less than' gets related to the di+ine# nd it %ecomes
a form of compensation to say, 'holy men want nothing, it's only foolish men and greedy people
who seek e+erything'#G
2t's almost impossi%le to imagine a &uropean ruler at this date, or indeed at any date, %eing
represented so su%missi+ely taking instruction in faith# 2n spite of all the political uphea+als in
2ndia since the time of !ahangir, this tradition of the state accommodating all religions with e5ual
respect, was to endure, and was to %ecome one of the founding ideals of modern 2ndia#
2n the ne$t programme, we're once again in a culture that em%races %oth 1induism and 2slam# 2'll
%e tra+elling south, to the islands of 2ndonesia # # # with a shadow puppet#
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Episode ,3 - hado! puppet of %ima
#hado$ puppet of the character (ima Bmade seventeenth or eighteenth centuryCE from 2ava
.hen the young "arack 7%ama was taken to !a+a to li+e with his new 2ndonesian stepfather, he
was astonished to see, standing astride the road, a giant statue with the %ody of a man and the head
of an ape# 1e was told that it was 1anuman, the 1indu monkey god# "ut what was a huge 1indu
god doing in the streets of modern /uslim 2ndonesia- The answer is, 2 think, a fascinating story of
tolerance and a%sorption, a rela$ed compromise %etween religions, unlike any of the other multi-
faith societies that we're looking at through the o%3ects of this week# nd it's a story that can -
almost - %e summed up %y a puppet, and %y the ancient 2ndonesian art of shadow theatre
G*hadow puppets +eer dangerously close to idolatry# 2t's a +ery, +ery interesting mi$ of how
something so seemingly un-/uslim sits in a community that's +ery, +ery /uslim#G >Tash w?
Throughout this week, the o%3ects 2'm engaging with take us into the conse5uences of the great
mo+ements of religion across the world, and the co-e$istence of faiths around four hundred years
ago# Today's o%3ect is a shadow puppet from 2ndonesia, where shadow puppetry is still a cele%rated
li+ing art form, that's %oth entirely traditional and also full of contemporary politics# Through this
puppet and his companions, we can e$plore a great religious and political transformation, which
%egan in south-east sia fi+e hundred years ago, and which still affects the region today#
The puppet in front of me is from the 2ndonesian island of !a+a, and it's one of se+eral hundred that
we ha+e in the collection# 2t represents a male character, it stands a%out two feet >4( cm? high, and
he's shown in stark dramatic profile# 1is name is "ima# "ima has +ery distincti+e, almost
caricature, facial features - a +ery long nose, for e$ample - and he has long thin arms, each ending
in a single large claw# 7+er his %ody are delicate lace-like perforations, which would ha+e made
his shadow e+en more dramatic during performance# "ima's face is %lack, %ut he's wearing gold
clothes and %rightly coloured decorations# lthough he's lifeless and fragile now, a%out two
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hundred years ago, "ima would ha+e enthralled audiences in all-night performances at a !a+anese
court# This kind of performance was known then, and still is known, as the Theatre of *hadows#
s we're going to see in this programme, our puppet's actual shape is the product of one of the
most dramatic religious changes of the fifteenth and si$teenth centuries# .hile *pain was
con+erting the 'ew .orld to Catholicism, 2slam spread across what is today /alaysia, 2ndonesia
and the southern 8hilippines#
"y 14((, most !a+anese people were /uslim, %ut the Theatre of *hadows had %een a feature of
life in !a+a long %efore the arri+al of 2slam# "ima himself is a character known not 3ust in !a+a, %ut
across the whole of 2ndia, %ecause he figures in the great 1indu epic, the /aha%harata# 2n !a+a,
though, this 1indu character came to %e operated %y /uslim puppeteers, and he performed in front
of audiences who were also mainly /uslim# 'o%ody seems to ha+e minded - and the 2ndonesian
Theatre of *hadows has continued to com%ine pagan, 1indu and /uslim elements right up to
today#
/aking a puppet like our "ima was, and still is, a highly skilled 3o%, re5uiring se+eral different
craftsmen# "ima is made out of carefully -prepared %uffalo-hide, that has %een scraped and
stretched until it %ecomes thin and translucent, and it was this material that ga+e the !a+anese name
for the theatre itself, wayang kulit' - skin theatre# The puppet was then gilded and painted,
mo+ea%le arms were added, and handles were made from %uffalo-horn fi$ed to the %ody and arms
to control its mo+ement# 1istorically, performances in the Theatre of *hadows lasted throughout
the night# :ight from an oil lamp %ehind the puppeteer's head cast the shadows from the puppets
onto a white sheet# *ome mem%ers of the audience - usually the women and children - sat on the
shadow side of the screen, while the men would sit on the fa+oured other side, where the features
and colours of the puppets could %e seen# The puppeteer, known as a dalang', would not only
control the puppets, %ut also conduct the accompanying music, performed %y a gamelan orchestra#
/r *umarsam, a leading dalang in the Theatre of *hadows in !a+a today, gi+es us an idea of 3ust
how complicated it is to pull off a smooth shadow-puppet performance9
GHou need to control the puppets themsel+es, sometimes two, three or four, sometimes up to si$
puppets at one time, and the puppet-master will ha+e to know when to gi+e a signal to the
musicians what to play# nd of course the puppet-master also gi+es +oices to the puppets in
dialogues, and sometimes the puppet-master also sings mood songs, to set up the atmosphere of a
particular scene# The puppet-master will ha+e to use his arms and legs - all of this to %e done while
the puppet-master is sitting down cross-legged# 2 think 2 would say that it is kind of fun to do it, %ut
also a fairly challenging task# The stories can %e updated, %ut the structure of the plot is always the
same#G
The stories told in the Theatre of *hadows are drawn largely from two great 1indu 2ndian epics,
the /aha%harata and the Damayana, %oth written well o+er two thousand years ago# They ha+e
always %een widely-known in !a+a, for 1induism, with "uddhism, had %een the main religions
there %efore 2slam %ecame the dominant faith# :ike the /aha%harata, 2slam came to !a+a through
the maritime trading routes that linked 2ndonesia to 2ndia and the /iddle &ast# :ocal !a+anese
rulers 5uickly saw ad+antages in %ecoming /uslim# "esides any spiritual attraction, it assisted
their trade with the e$isting /uslim world, and it helped their relations with the great 2slamic
powers of 7ttoman Turkey and /ughal 2ndia# The new religion %rought ma3or changes in many
aspects of life %ut, on the whole, local !a+anese culture and %elief a%sor%ed 2slam, rather than
%eing totally replaced %y it#
*o the new 2slamic rulers continued to patronise the Theatre of *hadows and its 1indu stories,
which remained as popular as e+er# The audience, then as now, would immediately recognise the
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"ima puppet# 2n the 1indu epic, "ima is one of fi+e heroic %rothers, whose e$ploits you can
follow today in animations on the internet# "ima is the great warrior among the %rothers - no%le,
plain-speaking and super-humanly strong, e5ual to ten thousand elephants, %ut also with a +ery
good line in %anter and something of a cele%rity cook# 7ne touch of his claw-like nails means
death to his enemies, and e+en the colours that the puppet is painted in carry a message# Cnlike the
G%ad guysG who are often coloured red for +indicti+eness and cruelty, "ima is painted in %lack, to
e$press inner calm and humility# "ut his shape also tells us that an 2slamic influence has found its
way into this traditional 1indu art#
This %ecomes o%+ious when 2 take our !a+anese puppet of "ima and compare it to another puppet
of "ima, made in the near%y island of "ali, which remained 1indu# The figure from "ali has more
natural facial features, his arms and legs are in more normal proportions to his %ody, and his hand
has normal human fingers#
/any in !a+a today would argue that these differences are e$plained %y religion# They would
suggest that the traditional 1indu puppets were deli%erately re-shaped %y their !a+anese /uslim
makers, in order to a+oid the 2slamic prohi%ition on creating images of humans and gods# *tories
are told of attempts in the si$teenth or se+enteenth century to %an the Theatre of *hadows# 7thers
tell of *unan 0iri, a noted /uslim saint, who ingeniously came up with the idea of distorting the
features of the puppets in order to get around the prohi%ition# happy compromise that may
e$plain our "ima's odd appearance - his enormous nose and his claw hands#
Today, 2ndonesia - with 245 million inha%itants - is the world's most populous 2slamic nation, and
*hadow Theatre is still +ery much ali+e# .e asked the /alaysian author Tash w a%out the
continuing role of shadow theatre today9
GThere is a great consciousness of what goes on in the realms of the *hadow Theatre, and it's an art
form that's constantly %eing refreshed, that's constantly %eing put to new and +ery e$citing use#
nd, although the %ody of the works are drawn largely still from the Damayana and the
/aha%harata, younger puppeteers are constantly using the *hadow Theatre to in3ect life and
humour, and a %awdy commentary on 2ndonesian politics, which is difficult to replicate elsewhere#
G!ust after the financial crisis in 166=, 2 remem%er a +irtuoso monologue in !akarta which roughly
translates as - Gthe tongue is still comatoseG or Gthe tongue is still muteG# nd in that, the then
8resident 1a%i%ie was cast as a ridiculous character called 0areng, who's short with %eady eyes,
incredi%ly earnest, %ut +ery, +ery inefficient# *o in many ways the *hadow Theatre has %ecome a
source of social and political satire, in a way that is difficult for TE and radio and newspapers,
%ecause those are much more easily censored# .hereas the *hadow Theatre is much more
mallea%le, is much more in touch with the grass-roots, and therefore much more difficult to
control#G
"ut it's not 3ust the opposition who make use of *hadow Theatre# 8resident *ukarno, the first
president after 2ndonesia gained independence, used to identify himself with shadow puppet
characters, and especially with "ima - a righteous, mighty fighter, who spoke like the common
man, not using lite language# *ukarno was often referred to as the dalang', or the puppet-
master, of the whole 2ndonesian people - the one who ga+e +oice, and who directed them in their
new state, leading them in their national epic, as indeed he did for 2( years, %efore %eing ousted in
164=#
"ut why is this "ima now in the "ritish /useum- The answer, as so often, lies in &uropean
politics# For fi+e years %etween 1;11 and 1;14, as part of the world-wide struggle against
'apoleonic France, "ritain occupied !a+a# The new "ritish go+ernor, *tamford Daffles, who
would later found *ingapore, was a serious scholar and a great admirer of !a+anese culture of all
332
periods and, like all rulers of !a+a, he patronised the Theatre of *hadows and collected puppets#
7ur "ima comes from him# Daffles' fi+e years in !a+a e$plain why this particular "ima is now in
"looms%ury, and that short period of "ritish rule e$plains something else as well ### why the car
from which the young "arack 7%ama saw a 1indu god in the streets of /uslim !akarta was
dri+ing on the left-hand side of the road#
2n the ne$t programme, 2'm going to %e looking at an o%3ect which tells a much less happy story of
the mingling of faiths# 2t's a kind of map # # # and it plots what happened to 'ati+e merican
%eliefs, when the *paniards imposed Christianity on /e$ico#
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Episode ,4 - Mexican codex map
'ode! map Bmade late si!teenth centuryCD /aperF from Me!ico
2t looks today like the most %rutal and the most complete replacement of one culture %y another
that you could possi%ly imagine# s you stand in the NPcalo, the main s5uare of /e$ico City,
listening to the music and %ustle, the palace of the *panish +iceroy stands on the +ery site of the
demolished palace of /octe,uma# long the street you can see the ruins of what was once the
,tec temple, and the sacred ,tec precinct is now largely taken up %y the huge *panish "aro5ue
cathedral dedicated to the Eirgin /ary# From here, it looks as if the *panish Con5uest of /e$ico in
1521 was in e+ery way cataclysmic for indigenous traditions, and that is how the story has often
%een told#
The reality, howe+er, was more gradual, and perhaps more interesting# The local people kept their
own languages# They also kept their own land, for the most part, although the hideous
conse5uences of the disease that the *panish had %rought with them unwittingly meant that much
land was freed up for the new settlers from *pain#
part from disease, the most significant new aspect of /e$ican life under the *panish was their
religion# Catholic missionaries came with the con5uerors in the 152(s, and they transformed the
spiritual landscape# 'ow, fi+e hundred years later, o+er ;( per cent of the population of /e$ico is
Catholic# 2n the process, the physical landscape changed, too# The in+aders crushed temples and
raised churches all o+er the ,tec &mpire# nd the o%3ect that we're looking at now shows us
e$actly how that process was carried out#
Gny +isitor to /e$ico will immediately realise that you can't really get away from Catholicism -
it's e+erywhere, it's pretty o+erwhelming#G >Fernando Cer+antes?
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G/any of these /e$ican churches are %uilt right on platforms of old pagan temples# These
churches, many of them, could %e compared to some of the great medie+al cathedrals in &urope,
certainly in si,e and grandeur#G >*amuel &dgerton?
*o far this week, our o%3ects ha+e come from cultures where different faiths ha+e managed to find
a reasona%ly positi+e way of li+ing together# 2n 2ndia, 2ran and 2ndonesia in the si$teenth and
se+enteenth centuries, religious tolerance was a hallmark of effecti+e statecraft# "ut in /e$ico one
religion came as the instrument of con5uest, and was only slowly a%sor%ed %y the indigenous
population# .e can see something of the *panish imperial methods - and the resilience of local
traditions - in this programme's o%3ect# 2t's an annotated map#
2t's a%out two and a half feet >=5 cm? wide and one and a half feet >45 cm? high, and it's painted on
+ery rough paper# 2n fact, when you look closely, you can see that it is %ark, that's %een %eaten in to
a sheet of paper# 7n the map there are s5uares and rectangles showing, presuma%ly, di+isions of
fields, with names written onto them to show the owners# There's a small %lue ri+er with wa+y
lines on it, and a forking road with feet on it, showing this is a thoroughfare# nd on top of this
diagram there are painted images# 2n the middle there's a tree, with under it three figures wearing
&uropean dress# nd then the principle features of the map - two large churches# They'+e %oth got
%ell towers, and they're painted in %right colours of pink and yellow# 7ne is la%elled *anta "ar%ara,
the other *anta na# *o this map shows us the indigenous /e$ican population and their land-
holdings, and the new *panish churches of the 'con5uistadores'#
The map shows us an area in the pro+ince of Tla$cala to the east of /e$ico City - a region whose
people had %itterly resented ,tec rule, and who had enthusiastically 3oined the *paniards in
defeating them# This may e$plain why so many of the names of land-holders on the map show
marriages %etween *panish settlers and nati+e 2ndian aristocrats - e+idence of a remarka%le fusion
%etween the two peoples and the emergence of a new, mi$ed ruling class# /ore surprisingly, a
similar fusion took place in the church# For e$ample, many communities in the Tla$cala area had
%een protected %y the nati+e 2ndian deity Toci, who was the grandmother of the /e$ican gods#
fter the Con5uest she was replaced as local patroness %y *t nne, who in Catholic tradition was
the grandmother of Christ# The grandmother may ha+e changed her name, %ut it's hard to %elie+e
that for the local worshippers she had in any serious way changed her nature#
.hile in many places the *panish Con5uest was %rutal, the con+ersion of local people to
Catholicism was not usually forced# The missionaries were genuinely intent on instilling the true
faith, and so regarded compulsory con+ersion as worthless# "ut e+en if many 2ndians willingly
con+erted, they could surely not ha+e welcomed the destruction of their pre+ious places of
worship# Het this was a key part of *panish policy# Franciscan letter written ten years after the
Con5uest %oasts of the achie+ements of this new, /e$ican, church triumphant9
G/ore than 25(,((( men ha+e %een %aptised, 5(( temples ha+e %een destroyed, and more than
24,((( figures of demons, which the 2ndians worshipped, ha+e %een demolished and %urned#G
The two new churches of *anta "ar%ara and *anta na dominate the landscape on our map, and
one of them has clearly %een %uilt on top of a destroyed nati+e temple# 1ere's the historian *amuel
&dgerton9
G2t's a +ery cle+er ruse that they did in order to help the 2ndians feel comforta%le now, in the new
churches which were literally on top of the old church or the old temples# nyway, the central
church has in front of it a large courtyard# 2t's what is today called an 'atrio' or a 'patio'# nd this
was a kind of inno+ation that the friars introduced to the %uildings of these churches in /e$ico,
%ecause in the %eginning the churches were often small, and you could not crowd all the 2ndians
who were %eing %rought in here to %e con+erted# nd so you had them stand in this large
335
courtyard, and there they were preached to from an open chapel # # # easier for the church then to
work as a 'theatre for con+ersion' - a word that 2 sort of in+ented#G
The churches on our map, these theatres of con+ersion, were %uilt within an e$isting landscape of
roads, water-courses, fields and houses# 2nterestingly, names and places are gi+en in a mi$ture of
*panish and the local 'ahuatl language# For e$ample, the church of *anta "ar%ara is shown in a
+illage called *anta "ar%ara Tamasolco# Tamasolco means 'place of the toad', which almost
certainly had a pre-Christian religious significance, now lost# "ut it's +ery present on the map,
%ecause the artist has drawn a toad 3ust %elow the place-name# *o the two religious traditions li+e
on, com%ined in the eccentric place-name, *anta "ar%ara at the 8lace of the Toad#
They also clearly li+ed on in the minds of the con+erted# n inscription on the map tells us9 G!uan
"erna%e said to his wife, '*ister of mine, let us gi+e soul to our offspring, let us plant the willows
that shall %e our memory'# 2n this lyrical glimpse of pri+ate faith, !uan "erna%e, despite %earing
two Christian saints' names, o%+iously still %elie+es that his children's sal+ation will %e achie+ed in
communion with the natural world of nati+e tradition, rather than inside the Catholic church down
the road#
The %a%ies of this Gnew *painG, as the in+aders called it, were, like !uan "erna%e, gi+en new
Christian names at %aptism# "ut again like !uan "erna%e, it didn't necessarily make them good
Catholics# :ater reformers would crack down on continuing pre-Christian practices and old rituals#
2ncantations, di+ination, mask-wearing - all were punished as sorcery or idolatry# "ut many
ceremonies sur+i+ed through sheer tenacity on the part of the indigenous people# nd the most
striking modern e$ample is perhaps the way pre-Christian ancestor +eneration has merged with the
Christian ll *ouls @ay to create the @ay of the @ead# JThis isK an entirely /e$ican cele%ration,
still +igorously ali+e, in which e+ery 2nd of 'o+em%er the li+ing remem%er their dead, with skulls
and skeletons in colourful costumes, festi+e music, special offerings and food# cele%ration that
owes as much or more to nati+e 2ndian religious practices than to Catholic piety#
The 'ahuatl language that appears on our map has 3ust a%out sur+i+ed# census carried out in
2((( re+ealed that only one and a half per cent of the population could now still speak it# Decently,
howe+er, the /ayor of /e$ico City has said he wants all city employees to learn 'ahuatl, in an
effort to re+i+e the ancient tongue# Buite a few 'ahuatl words do in fact sur+i+e today - although 2
don't suppose many of us realise we are using 'ahuatl when we talk a%out tomato, chocolate or
a+ocado# *ignificantly, %ut not surprisingly, no religious 'ahuatl words ha+e stayed with us# The
missionaries' teaching saw to that#
Today, fi+e centuries on, the /e$ican people are eager to re+i+e their pre-1ispanic past, as a
defining element of their national identity# "ut in the realm of faith, the Con5uest's legacy of
Christian con+ersion is still o+erwhelming# 2n spite of its great communist and anti-clerical
re+olutions of the twentieth century, /e$ican identity remains essentially Catholic# s the
/e$ican-%orn historian @r Fernando Cer+antes underlines9
GThere is a +ery strong anti-clerical, anti-religious nationalist ideology in /e$ico, %ut it's a +ery
am%i+alent type of thing, %ecause e+en the most atheistic /e$icans will ne+er deny that they are
de+oted to the Eirgin of 0uadalupe for instance# This is something that +ery often comes up, and
this is where the Catholic su%-stratum comes through +ery strongly, that you can't really s5uare the
circle of %eing /e$ican and not %eing in some senses Catholic# 2 think that this is where you can
see how strong the early e+angelisation was, and how ali+e it still is nowadays#G
&+erything that @r Cer+antes was talking a%out, indeed e+erything that our little map re+eals a%out
the Christianisation of /e$ico, is summed up on a colossal scale here at the shrine of 0uadalupe in
the su%ur%s of /e$ico City# fter the Eatican, this is now the most +isited Catholic shrine in the
334
world# 2t was here, where there had once %een an ,tec shrine, that in @ecem%er 1531, 3ust ten
years after the Con5uest, the Eirgin /ary appeared to a young ,tec man whom the *paniards
called !uan @iego# *he asked him to trust in her, and she miraculously imprinted her image on his
cloak# church was %uilt on the site of !uan @iego's +ision, the image on the cloak produced
miracles and con+ersions in huge num%ers, and the crowds flooded in to 0uadalupe# For a long
time the Catholic clergy were worried that this was in fact merely the worship of an ,tec goddess,
%eing continued on the site of an ,tec shrine, %ut the com%ined forces of the two religious
traditions ha+e o+er the centuries pro+ed irresisti%le# There are now, in fact, so many +isitors to
0uadalupe that you ha+e to mo+e in front of the miraculous image on a con+eyer %elt - as 2 am
doing 3ust nowA 2n 1=3= the Eirgin of 0uadalupe was proclaimed patroness of /e$ico, and in 2((2
8ope !ean-8aul 22 declared !uan @iego, the young ,tec %orn under /octe,uma, a saint of the
uni+ersal Catholic Church#
2n the ne$t programme, we are in &urope, where Catholicism was not trying to oust a long-
esta%lished, e$isting faith, %ut to confront and eradicate a new one# .e're in 0ermany in 141=, a
century after :uther, and in the middle of the counter-Deformation # # # with a wood%lock print, and
some +ery +igorous 8rotestant propaganda#
33=
Episode ," - 8eformation centenary 4roadsheet
9eformation centenary 5roadsheet Bprinted in 161)CE from :ermany
Hou can hardly turn on the radio these days without %eing %om%arded %y yet another anni+ersary -
a hundred years since this, two hundred years since that# 7ur popular history seems to %e written
increasingly in centenaries, all generating %ooks and e$hi%itions, T-shirts and special sou+enir
issues, in a huge and happy fren,y of commemoration#
"ut where did this ha%it of anni+ersary festi+ities %egin- The answer to that 5uestion takes us to
the great struggle for religious freedoms played out across northern &urope in the se+enteenth
century# The first of all these modern centenary cele%rations seems to ha+e %een organised in
0ermany, in *a$ony in 141=, and the o%3ect for this programme is a sou+enir poster made at the
time# The e+ent it's commemorating had taken place a hundred years earlier# 2n 151=, the story
goes, /artin :uther picked up a hammer and nailed what was effecti+ely his religious manifesto,
his 65 Theses, to the church door in .itten%erg# nd, in doing so, he triggered the religious
turmoil that would %ecome the 8rotestant Deformation# The o%3ect for this programme is a print
showing :uther's famous act# 2t's on a large single sheet of paper called a %roadsheet, and it's not
3ust a cele%ration, it's a%out getting ready for war#
G.ell this %roadsheet is clearly designed to %e looked at again and again, so it's not a one hit, it's
+ery crowded# This was meant to %e passed around, hung up, distri%uted and talked o+er#G >2an
1islop?
GThe %roadsheet is depicting :uther as the instigator of momentous change, as a li%erator, one of
the crafters of the modern period, of a reformed - more +i%rant - religiosity#G ><aren rmstrong?
2n 141=, when our %roadsheet was made, &uropean 8rotestants were facing an uncertain and
dangerous future# The 'ew Hear had opened with pu%lic prayers %y the 8ope in Dome, calling for
the reunion of Christendom and the eradication of heresy# 1e was effecti+ely summoning the
33;
Catholic Church to arms against the Deformation# 2t was clear to e+ery%ody that a terri%le religious
war was a%out to %reak out#
2n response, the 8rotestants tried to find a way of rallying their supporters for the fight %ut, unlike
the Catholic Church, they had no central authority to issue directions to the faithful# 8rotestants
had to find other ways of insisting that the Deformation had, in fact, %een part of 0od's plan for the
world# That indi+iduals had no need of priests to gain access to 0od's mercy, that the Doman
church was corrupt, and that :uther's Deformation was essential to the sal+ation of e+ery li+ing
soul# %o+e all, they needed a +iew of their past that would gi+e all 8rotestants strength to face the
terrifying future#
"efore then, no particular day or moment had %een identified as the %eginning of the Deformation#
"ut leading 8rotestants in *a$ony realised that it was now a hundred years since the moment
when, on 31 7cto%er 151=, :uther had first pu%licly challenged the authority of the 8ope - %y, so it
is said, posting his 65 Theses on to the door of the Castle Church, at .itten%erg in *a$ony#
*o, with a masterly sense of media management, they launched the first centenary cele%ration in
the modern sense of the word# ll the now familiar ra,,mata,, was there # # # ceremonies and
processions, sou+enirs, medals, paintings, printed sermons, and this %roadsheet - a wood%lock print
that illustrates the critical day that 8rotestants now saw as the %eginning of the first step on their
radical religious 3ourney#
2'+e got the print in front of me now# 2t's a crowded composition, %ut the key message is 5uite clear#
2n a dream, 0od is re+ealing to the &lector of *a$ony the historic role of /artin :uther# .e see the
&lector asleep# "elow him, :uther reads the "i%le in a great shaft of light coming down from
1ea+en, where the Trinity is %lessing him# s :uther looks up, light and %lessings pour down on to
the page in front of him# *cripture is literally the re+ealed word of 0od, and to read scripture is to
encounter 0od, and this is not happening inside a church# Hou couldn't ha+e a simpler statement
that, for 8rotestants, "i%le reading is the foundation of faith# foundation which, thanks to the
new technology of printing, was now a+aila%le to all %elie+ers, in their own home#
The %roadsheet was produced in :eip,ig, which in 141= was the centre of the &uropean printing
trade# "y this time, religion in northern &urope had %een profoundly changed %y this new emphasis
on reading the word of 0od# 1ere's the religious historian <aren rmstrong9
G.ell it's +ery noticea%le in this picture, the emphasis on the written word# Cp until this point,
religion had %een precisely a%out listening for what lay %eyond language# 8eople had thought not
in terms of words so much, or concepts, or arguments, %ut in terms of images, icons, in terms of
music, in terms of action# 'ow, %ecause of the in+ention of printing which helped :uther
disseminate his ideas, e+erything is going to %ecome much more wordy# nd that has %een rather
the plague of western religion e+er since, %ecause we are endlessly now stuck in words# The
printing ena%led people for the first time to own their own "i%les, and this meant that they read
them in an entirely different way#G
.ithout printing, the Deformation might well not ha+e sur+i+ed, %ut the %roadsheet, com%ining
te$t with illustration, shows that the image also was still +ery much ali+e# *e+enteenth-century
&urope was still largely illiterate# &+en in the cities, it's estimated that no more than a third of
people could read# *o, prints with images and a few key words, were the most effecti+e means of
mass communication# &+en today, we all know that in pu%lic de%ate, a well-crafted cartoon can %e
lethal#
t the front of the print is :uther writing on the church door, with the world's %iggest 5uill pen, the
words G+om a%lasG, Ga%out indulgenceG - the title of his +irulent attack on the Catholic sale of
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indulgences, the system %y which, in return for cash, you spent less time in purgatory# The selling
of indulgences had fuelled anti-papal feeling in 0ermany# :uther's 5uill is at least twice the si,e of
himself, and it stretches half way across the print, to a walled city - helpfully la%elled Dome - and
straight through the head of a lion la%elled 8ope :eo R, who s5uats on top of the city# nd as if
that weren't enough, the 5uill then knocks the papal crown off the head of the 8ope, shown in
human form# 'e+er was a pen mightier than this one# The message is coarse %ut clear# :uther,
inspired %y reading the scriptures, has destroyed papal authority %y the power of his pen#
.ood%locks like this are the first mass media, with print-runs of up to tens of thousands, so that
each single copy cost 3ust a few 'pfennigs', the price of a pair of sausages or a couple of pints of
ale# *atirical prints like this one would %e pinned up in inns and market places, and then widely
discussed# This is in e+ery sense popular art, the e5ui+alent of the ta%loid press or a satirical
maga,ine, like '8ri+ate &ye'# .e asked its editor, 2an 1islop, to comment9
GThe editor of this %roadsheet has done e$actly what you'd e$pect# 1e's cracked his hero up, he's
demonised the enemy, turned him into an animal, and then the 8ope into a ludicrous figure, a sort
of %lank-looking rather stupid person, who has his hat knocked off# nd all around the pen, there
are %its of it fallen off, so that e+eryone else has got a pen as well# 2 mean this is a%out writing, this
is a%out the word, and e+en more, it's a%out printing, %ecause now that the "i%le can %e printed, we
see that we're up in 1ea+en here, and the word of 0od comes down from 1ea+en straight onto the
page# *o no priests in the way, no 8ope, nothing to get %etween you and the word of 0od#
GThe thing 2 lo+e a%out it is that it's like reading a maga,ine, there're %ig pictures with o%+ious sort
of cartoony 3okes, and then there are captions e+erywhere to make sure that you don't miss
anything, so you get it# nd my 0erman isn't really good enough to get a lot of the 3okes, %ut
looking at it, 2 3ust put my own in# 2 imagine someone here saying, 'a%andon 8ope all ye who enter
here', or :uther with the pen saying, 'it's the 5uill of 0od', or a lot of +ery strict Catholics saying,
'yes, %ut your interpretation is much :uther'# 2n fact, 2 hope the 3okes are %etter than that, %ut it's
pretty clear what's going on in this picture, and 2 think it's terrific#G
The %roadsheet is o%+iously aimed at a +ery wide pu%lic, %ut it has one particular +iewer in mind -
the &lector of *a$ony# 2f religious differences were going to come to open warfare, 8rotestantism
would sur+i+e only if its princely champions fought to defend it# The &lector of *a$ony in 141=
would ha+e to %e e+ery %it as resolute as his predecessor in 151=, and so would all the other
8rotestant rulers in 0ermany# s well as %eing knocka%out humour, this print is a deadly serious
preparation for war#
nd indeed, war came the +ery ne$t year, 141;, and for 3( years de+astated central &urope# "y
144;, the two e$hausted sides recognised that this was not a winna%le contest# The %loodshed of
the Thirty Hears .ar forced the reluctant acceptance that the only %asis of lasting peace was
pragmatic tolerance, and legal e5uality %etween Catholic and 8rotestant states#
2n the programmes this week, 2'+e %een looking at how, across the se+enteenth-century world, +ery
different societies addressed the political conse5uences of religious di+ersity - 8rotestant and
Catholic, *unni and *hi'a, 1indu and /uslim# 2n 2ran and 2ndia, the rulers contri+ed more-or-less
peaceful accommodations# Christian &urope, on the other hand, foundered in war# "ut in the
14;(s, the &nglish philosopher !ohn :ocke, in his ':etter concerning Toleration', held out the
possi%ility of an ultimately happy outcome, e+en in &urope#
GThe toleration of those who hold different opinions on matters of religion is so agreea%le to the
0ospel and to reason, that it seems monstrous for men to %e %lind in so clear a light#G
34(
This con+iction, dearly and %loodily %ought, that there are many ways to truth, changed the
intellectual and political life of &urope# *o that when 1=1= came round, and new %roadsheets were
produced to cele%rate the %icentenary of :uther nailing his Theses to the church door, the whole
continent was well on the way to another re+olution, 3ust as profound as the Deformation and, in
many ways, a conse5uence of it - the &nlightenment#
2n ne$t week's programmes, our o%3ects range from a 1awaiian feather helmet to a %ark shield,
dropped %y an indigenous ustralian as he encountered Captain Cook# They're o%3ects that speak
of the eighteenth-century &uropean &nlightenment's desire # # # to know, to map and to control the
wider world#
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A4B<1+a)i1n" A4B<1i)a)i1n an2 An<ig,)*n*n) (9DH# $ 9H!#
'C)
Episode ,$< '(an drum
*+an drum Bmade early eighteenth centuryCD Made in ?est *fricaE found in AirginiaE 6#*
.e think of 3a,, as the music of 3oyous re%ellion and cool, the syncopated swing of an frican-
merican musical tradition that came to dominate the twentieth century# "ut this music goes much
further %ack# 2t has dark roots in the terri%le days of the tlantic sla+e trade of the eighteenth
century# The mi$ of the musical influences in 3a,, echoes the triangular trade in sla+es %etween
&urope, frica and merica# @rums were at the heart of this early history, %rought on sla+e %oats
from frica to the mericas, and the music that the ensla+ed fricans %rought with them ga+e
them a +oice for their condition - a new language that offered solidarity and solace# Today's o%3ect
is one of those drums, and its %iography is a %rief chapter in the story of sla+ery#
GThe drum itself represents to me the idea of +oyage, and crossing# 2 crossed the tlantic to %e
here, and the drum did too# 2t represents for me that passage of my ancestors, and the ancestors of a
good num%er of %lack "ritish citi,ens as well#G >"onnie 0reer?
G2f you were a%le to get one with you and take it with you to the 'ew .orld, it would ha+e %een a
kind of source of memory, which you could take with you# nd that's one of the things that people
taken into sla+ery tried to hold on to#G >nthony ppiah?
This week we're looking at the eighteenth century, and especially at what happened when
&uropeans encountered non-&uropeans all o+er the world# 'ot one of the o%3ects that 2'+e chosen is
from &urope itself, %ut all in some way reflect the great &uropean &nlightenment pro3ect - %oth its
am%itions and its failures# 2t's often a trou%ling history, since many of these GdialoguesG %etween
&urope and the world ended in oppression and destruction, the fracturing of whole societies# 7ne
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side wrote down what was happening, the other could not# *o, if we want to hear the story from the
non-&uropean side, to reco+er the +oice of the silent people, we must go to their o%3ects# nd in
this programme, luckily, the o%3ect can speak9
2 am 3ust now listening to the sound of a small drum, and if it weren't too fragile to %e played, this
is roughly the sound the kan drum would make# 2t's the earliest frican-merican o%3ect in the
"ritish /useum, indeed possi%ly the earliest frican-merican o%3ect anywhere# From this drum -
made in frica, taken to merica and then sent on to &ngland - we can trace the story of one of the
%iggest forced migrations in the history of the world, when millions of fricans were shipped to
merica as sla+es# These utterly dispossessed people were allowed to %ring no things with them,
%ut they %rought of course the music they already had in their heads, and one or two instruments
came as well# nd with these came the +ery %eginnings of some of the world's most +i%rant sounds
# # # frican-merican %lues and 3a,,#
The &nlightenment enterprise of gathering the world's knowledge was in full swing when the
"ritish /useum opened its doors for the first time in 1=56# The founding collection was mostly the
legacy of the 2rish doctor *ir 1ans *loane, and it included scientific instruments, plants and
minerals, stuffed animals and +arious intriguing o%3ects from all round the glo%e, gathered to allow
a comparati+e study of societies# 2t was *loane who had the drum %rought to &ngland, and here it
is in front of me#
2t's a%out the si,e of a small keg of %eer, so a %it o+er a foot >3( cm? high, and the wooden sides
ha+e %een car+ed with simple decoration of striped %ands# 2t was collected in Eirginia around
1=3(, and in the eighteenth century it was la%elled %y the "ritish /useum as an merican 2ndian
drum# nd an merican 2ndian drum it remained until 16(4, when a curator in the museum
realised that it couldn't %e any such thing - it looked to him much more like a drum from .est
frica# *e+enty-odd years later, his hunch was confirmed through scientific e$amination carried
out %y colleagues at <ew 0ardens and here at the museum# nd we now know that the main %ody
of the drum is car+ed from wood of the tree 'cordia africana', which grows in .est frica, while
the pegs and the cords that hold the skin of the drum taut deri+e from wood and plants also from
the same region# This is un5uestiona%ly a drum that was made in .est frica, and then somehow
tra+elled from there to Eirginia#
The first frican sla+es arri+ed in "ritish 'orth merica in 1416, %rought to the merican
colonies on &uropean-owned ships to pro+ide la%our for the e+er-e$panding plantations# t first
they were put to work culti+ating sugar and rice, later to%acco, and finally - and most famously -
cotton# "y the early 1=((s, the trade in ensla+ed people had %ecome the most lucrati+e %usiness
%etween .est frican rulers and &uropean traders# nthony ppiah, who teaches at 8rinceton
Cni+ersity in the Cnited *tates, has heritage from %oth sides9
G2 always like to tell people that 2 ha+e sla+e-traders on %oth sides of my family, %oth my &nglish
ancestors and my 0hanaian ancestors were in+ol+ed in the sla+e trade, or some of them# Hou ha+e
to understand that it was a trading relationship# /ost of the fricans who went into the sla+e trade
were either sla+es already, or were captured and ensla+ed %y other fricans# s the trade
de+eloped, %y the eighteenth century, in a place like sante where 2 grew up - and where the drum
comes from - they had %ecome +ery dependent on the sla+e trade as a form of trade, and they were
going out in warfare, capturing large num%ers of people and sending them down to the coast, and
e$changing them for the goods they were getting from &urope# .hich would ha+e included guns -
which made it possi%le for them to then proceed with more warfare#G
7+erall, it's estimated that around twel+e million fricans were transported to merica from the
trading stations of .est frica, and %oth &uropeans and fricans profited from the trade# This is
one of those moments in history when we are truly united %y a common inhumanity# The drum
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comes from the kan people, a group which includes the sante and the Fante kingdoms# 2t was
pro%a%ly part of a chief's drum orchestra - a key element in the music and dance that were
fundamental ingredients of court ceremonial and social life#
.e assume that the drum was taken on a sla+e ship - %ut not %y a sla+e# *la+es took nothing# 2t
may ha+e %een a gift to the captain, or taken %y an frican chief's son - we know that they
sometimes sailed with the sla+ers to merica as part of their education# 7nce on %oard, the drum
would ha+e had little to do with the 3oy of communal music-making# @rums like this were used for
what was grotes5uely called Gdancing the sla+esG#
Gs soon as the *hip has its Complement Jof sla+esK, it immediately makes off# The poor
.retches, while yet in sight of their Country, fall into *ickness and die# The only sure means to
preser+e 'em, is to ha+e some /usical 2nstrument play to 'em, %e it e+er so mean#G
*la+es were taken up to the decks and there forced to dance to the rhythms of the drum, to keep
them healthy and to fight depression - which the sla+e captains knew could lead to suicide or to
re+olt# @rumming was a useful instrument of control#
7nce in merica, on the plantations, the sla+es were allowed to drum and to make music for
themsel+es# "ut sla+e-owners soon grew an$ious that drumming, once again used to forge
community, would not pre+ent re%ellion, %ut incite it# 2n *outh Carolina in 1=36, for e$ample,
drums were used as a call to arms at the out%reak of a +iolent sla+e re%ellion# 2t prompted the
colony to prohi%it drums %y law and to classify them as weapons#
1ans *loane, who had this drum %rought to :ondon, was himself a sla+e-owner in !amaica, and he
pu%lished one of the +ery first transcriptions of sla+e music# 2t's a precious document, and allows
us to get a taste of it # # # *loane descri%ed the sla+es' instruments, and e$plained why the
authorities in !amaica had also %anned them9
G # # # Jsla+esK formerly on their Festi+als were allowed the use of Trumpets after their fashion, and
@rums made of a piece of a hollow Tree# "ut making use of these in their wars at home in frica,
it was thought too much inciting them to De%ellion, and so they were prohi%ited %y the Customs of
the 2sland#G
This kan drum, collected for *loane around 1=3(, might well %e one of these confiscated drums#
The material stretched o+er the drum is deer-skin, almost certainly 'orth merican, and this opens
up another intriguing possi%ility for our drum# The complicated relationships %etween 'ati+e
mericans and frican mericans in the eighteenth century are often o+erlooked, %ut there was in
fact a good deal of contact, including intermarriage# *ome 'ati+e mericans owned their own
plantations, and had their own sla+es - %oth 'ati+e merican and frican# 2t's a history that's rarely
mentioned, %ut it adds another intriguing dimension to that eighteenth-century museum la%el,
descri%ing this as an merican 2ndian drum#
The story of this drum is a story of glo%al displacement# &nsla+ed fricans transported to the
mericas, 'ati+e mericans forced westward %y sla+e plantations# The drum itself taken from
frica to Eirginia and - in the latest phase of its life - taken %y a sla+e-owner to :ondon# nd here,
in :ondon, an e$traordinary thing has happened# For, like the drum, the children of the sla+es ha+e
now also come to &ngland# @escendants of those once in+ol+ed in the sla+e trade - "ritish, .est
frican, frican merican and fro-Cari%%ean - now all li+e together in the same cosmopolitan
city# The kan drum has, in a way, %ecome a typical twenty-first-century :ondoner#
The merican-%orn playwright and critic, "onnie 0reer, is now a "ritish citi,en# 1ere she is9
344
Gs a person of frican descent, and also ha+ing 'ati+e merican ancestry as well, it represents
those two strands of myself, and of many frican mericans, and many people from the Cari%%ean
as well# The thing that's remarka%le a%out these o%3ects, for us who were taken - and forci%ly -
from our en+ironment, is that these o%3ects ha+e tra+elled with us, and they'+e actually %ecome
what we ha+e %ecome, and they ha+e accompanied us here to li+e in this place, and to thri+e in this
place# nd, %ecause we are part of that o%3ect, and it's part of us, it's 5uite right that it is here#G
This drum is a record of many dialogues# The o%3ect for the ne$t programme takes us to a simpler,
%ut still contested, dialogue # # # it's a feather helmet from 1awaii#
"ut today 2 want to lea+e nthony ppiah with the last word on the drum, to consider how we all -
"ritish, fricans and mericans - might now +iew this painful shared history9
G.hen you see an o%3ect like this it in+ites interpretation, %ut it doesn't re5uire any particular
interpretation# nd so you can think of it as an o%3ect that condenses the memory of all the
horri%le, ghastly, wicked things that happened in the sla+e trade# 7r you can think of it as an
em%lem of the possi%ilities, of holding on through all that trauma to something worth holding on
to, and coming out of it with an o%3ect that is %oth old - %ecause it comes from frica and has a
history of frica - %ut also new# "ecause it's now a new world thing, which has a new meaning in
the new world, drawing on the old meanings %ut mo+ing %eyond them# nd that optimistic way of
reading the o%3ect 2 think is the one 2'd like to hold on to, and lea+e with, %ecause it's what the new
world needs to do - it's what the whole world needs to doAG
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Episode ,& - Ha!aiian feather helmet
Ha$aiian feather helmet Bmade in the eighteenth centuryC
2n 1==; the e$plorer Captain !ames Cook was in the 8acific, on %oard '1/* Desolution', looking
for the 'orth .est 8assage, hoping to find a sea-route o+er the north of Canada that would connect
the tlantic and the 8acific oceans# 1e didn't find the 'orth .est 8assage, %ut he did re-draw the
map of the 8acific# 1e was charting coastlines and islands, collecting specimens of plants and
animals# 2n 1==;, he and his crew landed in 1awaii, returning again early in 1==6# 2t's impossi%le
for us to imagine what the islanders made of these &uropean sailors, the first outsiders to +isit
1awaii for o+er fi+e hundred years# .hoe+er the 1awaiians thought Cook was, howe+er, they
presented him with the gift of a chieftain's helmet - a rare and precious o%3ect made of yellow and
red feathers# Cook recognised it as an acknowledgement %y one ruler of another, a clear sign of
honour# "ut a few weeks later, Cook was dead # # # killed %y the same people who'd gi+en him the
helmet# *omething had gone drastically wrong#
GThe o%3ect is enormously significant as an e$pression of a particular moment, of the +ery
%eginnings of &uropean contact with 1awaii, the +ery %eginnings of a comple$, +ery trou%led
history - marked %y moments of generosity and respect, %ut also +iolence, misunderstanding, long-
term cultural damage#G >'icholas Thomas?
GThe idea that this is for the future, so that e+eryone can understand the way that the 1awaiian
people e$perienced the world, as well as how they want to share that#G >/ar5ues 1analei /ar,an?
This week of programmes is a%out the kinds of communication and miscommunication that can,
perhaps must, happen when different worlds collide# 2n the eighteenth century &uropean e$plorers,
Cook a%o+e all, set a%out accurately mapping and charting the oceans, especially the huge and
unknown 8acific# "efore the &gyptian mummies arri+ed at the "ritish /useum, the o%3ects from
Cook's +oyages in the *outh *ea were what e+ery%ody wanted to see - glimpses of a new and other
344
world# nd one of the pri,e o%3ects in the collection has always %een the 1awaiian feathered
helmet#
The helmet is man-si,e, and it would %e +ery tempting to see if it fitted, %ut sadly, it is so delicate
that 2'm not allowed e+en to touch itA 2t's entirely co+ered in red, yellow and - here and there -
%lack feathers, that could come off at the slightest mo+ement# 2t looks like an ncient 0reek
helmet that fits +ery close to the head, %ut with a thick, high crest running o+er the top from front
to %ack, rather like a /ohican haircut# The sides and the %ody of the helmet are %rilliant scarlet#
The top of the crest has alternate rows of yellow and red feathers, and the front edge has a thin
edging of %lack and yellow# 2t's +i+id, radiant, and the wearer would instantly ha+e stood out from
the crowd# The red feathers come from the 'i'iwi' %ird - a species of honeycreeper - the yellow
feathers from a honeyeater, which has mostly %lack plumage %ut also a few yellow feathers# These
tiny %irds were caught and then either plucked and released, or simply killed# The feathers were
then painstakingly attached to a fi%re netting, moulded onto a wickerwork frame#
Feathers were the most +alua%le raw material at the 1awaiians' disposal, their e5ui+alent of
tur5uoise in /e$ico, 3ade in China or gold in &urope# This is a helmet in e+ery way worthy of a
king, and it pro%a%ly %elonged to the o+erall chief of 1awaii 2sland, %y far the largest of the
1awaiian archipelago, which lies around two thousand miles >3,2(( km? off the merican
mainland# 8olynesians had settled the islands %y a%out ;((, part of that great ocean-going
campaign which also settled &aster 2sland and 'ew Nealand# "ut it seems that from a%out 12(( to
1=(( they were utterly isolated# s 2 said, Cook was the first stranger to +isit for fi+e hundred
years# *o he was pro%a%ly less surprised %y them, than they %y him# 2n spite of their long isolation,
the 1awaiians' social structures, customs and agriculture, although superficially e$otic, nonetheless
seemed to make sense - almost indeed to %e familiar - to the &uropeans# The anthropologist and
e$pert on 8olynesia, 'icholas Thomas, e$plains9
G.hen Cook arri+ed in 8olynesia, in particular, he encountered societies that struck &uropeans as
possessing their own sophistication# 2n 1awaii in particular, e$traordinary kingdoms had emerged
that em%raced whole islands, and that were caught up in comple$ trading relationships among
different islands# They were encountering comple$ and dynamic societies, with aesthetics and
cultural forms that impressed &uropeans in all sorts of ways# 1ow could such cultural practices
e$ist in places that were so remote from the great centres of classical ci+ilisation-G
2n many ways, 1awaii seemed not unlike eighteenth-century &urope# large population was ruled
%y an elite of chiefly families and priests# Cnder these families came the professionals # # #
craftsmen and %uilders, singers and dancers, genealogists and healers who, in turn, were supported
%y the main population, who farmed and fished# The maker of the feathered helmet would ha+e
%een a professional craftsman# The cultural specialist <yle 'akanelua from /aui, 1awaii, has
e$amined the helmet9
GFigure four of those feathers from one %ird at a time # # # you can pick 'em# *o that looks like a%out
1(,((( feathers, so di+ide that %y four you get how many %irds at one gi+en time- 'ow, again
we're talking a%out the rank and the status of the chief# *o, this chief has a retinue of people with
the occupation of collecting feathers, storing feathers, caring for these feathers, and then
manufacturing them into these kinds of products# *o you're talking a%out anywhere from a hundred
and fifty to two hundred people# 2t could ha+e %een that they could ha+e %een collecting these
feathers for generations, %efore putting one of these articles together # # # that's a pragmatic
understanding of this sym%ol of wealth and power#G
Chiefs put on feather helmets and capes to make contact with the gods - when making offerings to
ensure a successful har+est, for instance, or to a+ert disasters such as famine or illness, or to
propitiate the gods %efore a fight# The feather costumes were the e5ui+alents of the great helmets
34=
and coats-of-arms of &uropean medie+al chi+alry - highly +isi%le ceremonial clothes worn %y
chiefs to lead their men into %attle# %o+e all, these costumes ga+e access to the gods# /ade from
the feathers of %irds - themsel+es spiritual messengers and di+ine manifestations - they ga+e the
person who wore them supernatural protection and sacred power# 1ere's 'icholas Thomas again9
GFeathers were particularly sacred - not 3ust %ecause they were pretty or attracti+e# They were
associated with di+inity# :egends often had it that gods were %orn, they emerged as %loody %a%ies
co+ered in feathers, they were saturated - in a sense - with di+ine power, with associations from the
other world - particularly when they came in sacred colours of yellow and red#G
These ideas were not so strange to Cook# 7f course, &nglish kings weren't %orn co+ered in
feathers, %ut they were di+inely anointed monarchs, who carried out priestly functions in ela%orate
ceremonial ro%es, in a cult where the 1oly *pirit was represented %y a %ird# 2n fact, Cook seems to
ha+e GreadG 1awaiian society as essentially like his own, %ut he could not grasp their +ery different
sense of the sacred#
.hen Cook first arri+ed at 1awaii, it was during a festi+al de+oted to the god :ono, in the season
of peace# 1e was gi+en a grand reception %y the paramount chief# +ast red feather cape was
thrown round him, and a helmet placed on his head# 1e spent a month peacefully on the island
repairing his ships and taking precise measurements of latitude and longitude# Then he left to sail
north, %ut a month later a sudden storm forced him %ack to 1awaii, and things then went +ery
differently# 2t was now the season de+oted to <u, the god of war# The local people were much less
welcoming, and incidents %roke out %etween them and Cook's crew, including the theft of a %oat
from one of Cook's ships# Cook planned a tactic that he'd used %efore# 1e decided to in+ite a chief
on %oard his ship, and hold him hostage until the missing items were returned# "ut as he and the
chief walked on the %each, the chief's men raised the alarm, and in the ensuing mle Cook was
killed#
.hat happened- @id the 1awaiians first think that Cook was a god, as some suggest, who was
then later unmasked as %eing only a human- .e don't know, and the circumstances of Cook's death
ha+e %ecome a te$t-%ook study in anthropological misunderstandings# "ut the islands were
permanently changed %y his arri+al# &uropean and merican traders %rought deadly disease, and
missionaries transformed the islands' cultures# 1awaii itself was ne+er coloni,ed %y &uropeans#
2nstead, a local chief was a%le to use the trading contacts inaugurated %y Cook to create an
independent 1awaiian monarchy, which sur+i+ed for o+er a century until its anne$ation %y the
Cnited *tates in 1;6;#
2 %egan this programme wondering how far it's e+er possi%le to understand a totally different
society, and it is a difficulty that greatly e$ercised eighteenth-century tra+ellers# The surgeon who
sailed with Cook on '1/* @isco+ery' mused upon the pro%lems of communication with this other
strange world, as he recorded his o%ser+ations with admira%le humility9
GThere is not much dependence to %e placed upon these Constructions that we put upon *igns and
.ords, which we understand %ut +ery little of, U at %est can only gi+e a pro%a%le 0uess at their
/eaning#G
2t's impossi%le to know e$actly what o%3ects like this feather helmet meant to 1awaiians of the
1==(s, %ut what is clear is that they are now taking on a new significance for 1awaiians of the
twenty-first century# 1ere's 'icholas Thomas again9
G2t's an e$pression of that oceanic art tradition, %ut it also e$presses a particular moment of
e$change that marked the %eginnings of a +ery traumatic history, that in some ways is still
34;
unfolding# 1awaiians are still affirming their so+ereignty, and trying to create a different space in
the world#G
nd for 1awaiians themsel+es, like the cultural specialist <aholokula, these feathered o%3ects take
their place in a +ery particular contemporary political de%ate#
G2t's a sym%ol of what we lost, %ut a sym%ol of what could %e again for 1awaiians today# *o it is a
sym%ol of our chiefs, it's a sym%ol of our lost leadership and our lost nation, and it's interesting that
most of the 'mahiole' Jfeathered helmetsK that e$ist today from the 1;((s e$ist outside of 1awaii#
*o it's a sym%ol of loss for the 1awaiian people, %ut it's also encouragement for the future, and the
re%uilding of our nation, as we seek independence from the Cnited *tates#G
2n the ne$t programme, we mo+e to the continental Cnited *tates, or what would soon %ecome the
Cnited *tates, with a map that charts a different, and e5ually comple$, relationship %etween local
inha%itants and &uropean intruders# 2t's a map that shows large areas of the northern mid-west # # #
laid out on the skin of a deer#
346
Episode ,,< ?orth 'merican 4uc(s(in map
@orth *merican 5uc+s+in map Bmade around 1))&CE from mid-$estern 6#*
The first world war %egan in 1=54# For the ne$t se+en years "ritain and France were to fight each
other on land and sea in &urope and frica, 2ndia and merica# 2t was the first truly glo%al conflict,
and it was particularly hard fought in merica# satirical account of the time e$plained why the
two countries were fighting o+er the chill wilderness of 'orth merica#
GThey are at present engaged in a +ery destructi+e war# They ha+e already spilled much %lood, and
all on account of each side desiring to want greater 5uantities of fur than the other# The prete$t of
the war is a%out some land a thousand leagues off# country cold, desolate and hideous# country
of a people who were in possession from time immemorial#G
The Ghideous landG actually refers to Canada, and the author, the poet and no+elist 7li+er
0oldsmith, goes on to argue that "ritain and France are despoiling the legitimate inha%itants of the
countries they e$plore and e$ploit#
From Canada, the war drifted south, and today's o%3ect is a map which shows part of the area that
the "ritish mo+ed into, as they captured the long line of French forts that ran from the 0reat :akes
to the /ississippi, as far south as *t :ouis# The map was made around 1==4, pro%a%ly %y a 'ati+e
merican - one of the people who had, in 0oldsmith's words, %een Gin possession from time
immemorialG#
G2f you gi+e up land, and you mo+e away from your homeland, you are mo+ing away from 0od for
practical purposes# *o that's why the 2ndian Demo+al, or the remo+al of people off land is +ery,
+ery traumatic#G >@a+id &dmunds?
G2t's a particularly rich map# .ith a lot of research 2 could relate it with a high degree of certainty
to when, e$actly when, and e$actly why it was made#G >/alcolm :ewis?
35(
This week 2'm looking at &urope's engagement with the rest of the world in the eighteenth century,
the intellectual curiosity that led to the gathering of +ital knowledge a%out oceans and continents#
"ut dispassionate learning often came accompanied %y commerce and con5uest# The %uckskin
map, and our story in this programme, come from the years %etween the "ritish defeat of the
French in 'orth merica in 1=43, and the out%reak of the merican .ar of 2ndependence in 1==4#
The war had left the "ritish go+ernment in charge of a new stretch of territory to the west of the
e$isting "ritish colonies, from the 0reat :akes down to the /ississippi# 2n charge, %ut not
necessarily in control# 2f the French had gone, the "ritish colonial go+ernors now had their own
countrymen to contend with# "ritish settlers were eager to mo+e west, +iolating agreements
already struck with 'ati+e merican leaders, and they were negotiating illegal land deals with
local tri%es - a recipe for future conflict#
This map was made for one of these pro%lematic land deals# 2t shows us an encounter not 3ust
%etween two different worlds, %ut %etween two different ways of imagining the world# The
frontiers %etween the lands represented, %ut also the frontiers %etween two cultures - cultures
which had 5uite different conceptual, spiritual and social ways of %eing# /apping for &uropeans
was a central techni5ue of control# 8artly intellectual control - the pursuit of accurate knowledge of
the world - %ut also of course political and military control# For a 'ati+e merican, mapping - as
we shall find out - was a%out something 5uite else#
The map is drawn on the hide of a deer, and it is roughly three feet >6( cm? %y four feet >12( cm?#
@istur%ingly, the deer itself still seems to %e +ery present, %ecause you can see e$actly how it died#
2n the hide there are holes from a musket %all, that passed through the animal's right shoulder,
through its heart, and out through its rear left side# This deer was killed %y a top-class shot,
some%ody who knew how to hunt#
:ooking at the %uckskin map with a modern map in my hand, 2 can see e$actly where we are#
.e're sur+eying the +ast drainage %asin formed %y the confluence of the 7hio and the /ississippi#
.e are 3ust %elow :ake /ichigan, and the area of the map is effecti+ely four modern states - pretty
well all of 2llinois and 2ndiana, and large parts of 7hio and /issouri#
2t's this area that after 1=43 "ritish settler companies wanted to e$ploit, and the map is the record
of one of many con+ersations %etween these intrusi+e settlers and 'ati+e mericans# 'ear the
centre of the map is the phrase G8iankashwa soldG - indicating a land transaction that has already
%een agreed#
The 8iankashaw, as they're usually known today, were a tri%e of 'ati+e mericans li+ing in an
area that includes modern 2ndiana and 7hio# The map was pro%a%ly made for the .a%ash :and
Company, which had %een set up %y "ritish settlers to %uy land along the Di+er .a%ash from the
8iankashaw 2ndians around 1==5# /alcolm :ewis, e$pert on maps and 'orth merican nati+e
cultures, e$plains9
G2t was almost certainly used in the process of negotiating with the 8iankashaw 2ndians to try and
%uy land# 2'm not sure that the actual e$ample which we ha+e is the original# 2t was done at the
same time, or +ery soon afterwards, %ut it's +ery delicately done# 7riginal 2ndian maps were
usually rather cruder# *o my guess is it was a contemporary copy - pro%a%ly made %y a white
person - of an original which had %een made %y the 2ndians - and almost certainly the 8iankashaw
2ndians who were the ones who were %eing negotiated with - with a +iew to purchase#G
The words on the map - G8iankashwa soldG - suggest that this is a record of a deal that's already
done and dusted# "ut in fact this deal was ne+er ratified %y the "ritish colonial authorities, %ecause
it was illegal, in %reach of the official treaties# 2n any case it is unclear what it could ha+e meant to
351
the 8iankashaw 2ndians themsel+es# The .a%ash Company used interpreters, %ut plenty was lost in
translation#
GThe said witnesses, in their 5uality as interpreters, ha+e done for the %est in their souls and
consciences, according to the %est of their understanding and knowledge, and ha+e faithfully and
plainly e$plained to the said chiefs # # # to which they ha+e set their ordinary marks, with their own
hands#G
The report tells us that e+erything had %een Gfaithfully and plainly e$plainedG to the chiefs, %ut the
8iankashaw had ne+er encountered the concept of &uropean-style land purchase# *ettler ideas of
land ownership were alien to 'ati+e mericans, who thought essentially in terms of residence and
use#
.hat the map shows a%o+e all, is ri+ers# 2n the centre, running down the spine of the deer, as it
were, is the .a%ash Di+er - hence the .a%ash :and Company - and other ri+ers come in as
straight, angled lines, placed like +erte%rae - e$cept for the /ississippi, which runs down the left,
and cur+es around the %ottom all the way to the right# The map shows the ri+ers and the
settlements, not the land o+er which the people roamed and hunted# This is a map a%out
communities, not a%out geography9 it's a%out ha%its of use, not patterns of ownership# *o, rather
like the map of the :ondon Cnderground, it doesn't show accurately the physical distances on the
ground, %ut rather their relati+e positions# 'ati+e mericans, like e+ery%ody else, mapped what
mattered to them# Tellingly, although the map shows all the ri+ers, it shows almost e$clusi+ely the
settlements of the 2ndians# Eirtually none of the &uropean settlements is here# *t :ouis, for
e$ample, which was already a great centre of trade and communications, is 3ust not shown#
&uropean maps of the same area do effecti+ely the same %ut in re+erse, showing the &uropean
settlements %ut not the 2ndian ones, plotting the space, %ut not the use# &ach people reads the same
physical landscape in a 5uite different way# Hou could hardly ha+e a %etter demonstration of a
central &nlightenment pro%lem - the difficulty of any one society in trying to understand another#
2f the 2ndians didn't understand the notion of e$clusi+e land ownership, the &uropeans could not
grasp the 2ndians' intense spiritual relationship to their land, the notion that the Gloss of earth was
in some measure the loss of hea+enG# 1ere's @a+id &dmunds, 8rofessor of merican 1istory at the
Cni+ersity of Te$as9
G.ell, 2 think the 'ati+e merican relationship with the land is +ery, +ery important# Hou ha+e to
understand that land for tri%al people is not a commodity# 2t was ne+er a commodity, it was a place
where you li+ed, it was a place that you shared, it was a place that you utilised - %ut it was not
something that you particularly owned# 7ne could not anymore own the land, than one could own
the air a%o+e the land, or the rain that fell on it, or the animals that li+ed on it#
G:and is so important, and place is so important, to tri%al people, that history for tri%al people is
more a function of place than it is of time# That people are associated with a particular region, the
region is the centre of their world# nd conse5uently, that land then is so intricately %ound into the
+ery soul of most tri%al people, that it's not something that you trade %ack and forth# nd when
they will %e forced to trade lands, in the early part of the nineteenth century, and gi+e up land, in
order to sur+i+e, it's a +ery traumatic e$perience for them# nd 2 think another thing to remem%er
is that most of the religious %eliefs of tri%al people are site-specific# nd %y that 2 mean that their
ideas of cosmology, the powers in their uni+erse, are also tied to the particular area in which they
li+e#G
The settlers failed to push through this particular land deal, which was struck down %y the "ritish
colonial go+ernors# few years later this tension - %etween settlers wanting land, and the "ritish
Crown eager to maintain good relations with the 'ati+e merican chiefs - would %e one of the
352
elements that triggered the .ar of 2ndependence# "ut independence did not make the pro%lem go
away# C* state go+ernors later faced e$actly the same dilemma as their "ritish predecessors, and
they, too, had to strike down more attempts at land sales %etween the .a%ash Company and the
8iankashaw that %reached e$isting treaties# This map, and the a%orti+e negotiations around it,
remain as e+idence of three 5uite different ways of thinking a%out the world# Those of 'ati+e
mericans with their deep and spiritual connection to the land, the settlers who wanted to
appropriate and e$ploit it, and the authorities in :ondon and later in .ashington, who tried to
mediate a solution %ut were powerless to enforce it#
2n the ne$t programme, more mapping, and further conse5uences of &uropean encounters in the
eighteenth century# .e shall %e with Captain Cook, as he charts the coastline of eastern ustralia#
nd the o%3ect is not a map, %ut a wooden %ark shield # # # and it, too, represents a fateful encounter
%etween one world and another#
353
Episode ,. - 'ustralian 4ar( shield
*ustralian 5ar+ shield Bmade in 1))0CE from (otany (ayE @e$ #outh ?ales
Today's o%3ect is one of the most potent in the whole of this series# 2t has %ecome sym%olically
charged, freighted with layers of history, legend, glo%al politics, and race relations# 2t's an
a%original shield, one of the +ery first o%3ects %rought to &ngland from ustralia, and it was
%rought here %y the e$plorer Captain Cook# .e know the precise date that it came into Cook's
hands, 26 pril 1==(# .e ha+e written accounts of the day from Cook himself, %ut the indigenous
ustralian who owned the shield did not write, and this is why a history told from o%3ects can %e
so important# For the unnamed man confronting his first &uropean on the shore at "otany "ay
nearly two hundred and fifty years ago, this shield is his lasting statement#
G2t's a %it of a clich that they came from another planet, of course they did# These gentleman
hopping out of the %oats with these clothes on, which looked +ery, +ery different - and muskets of
course# *o the effect that it must ha+e had upon a community must ha+e %een +ery traumati,ing#G
>8hil 0ordon?
G2n its a%sence of adornment it's +ery raw, and it seems to me incredi%ly honest, and useful# nd 2
think once we start to look at the other cultural heritage and material o%3ects of these people, we
find a great deal that Cook was not a%le to see#G >/aria 'ugent?
Captain Cook himself told us what he did see when he first arri+ed on the east coast of ustralia#
1e wrote in his captain's log, G*unday 26th in the afternoon, winds southerly and clear weather,
with which we stood into the %ay and anchored under the south shore#G
1e was 3ust south of *ydney, at what would come to %e called "otany "ay, thanks to the collecting
work of the %otanist !oseph "anks, who tra+elled with Cook# The log is worth referring to, 2 think,
%efore we get on to GreadingG the %ark shield itself, and finding out what it can tell us as a
counterpoint to Cook#
354
G*aw, as we came in on %oth points of the %ay, se+eral of the nati+es and a few huts # # # as we
approached the shore they all made off e$cept two men who seemed resol+ed to oppose our
landing# s soon as 2 saw this 2 ordered the %oats to lay upon their oars in order to speak to them,
%ut this was to little purpose for neither us nor Tupia could understand one word they said # # # 2
thought they %eckoned to us to come ashore, %ut in this we were mistaken, for as soon as we put
the %oat in they again came to oppose us, upon which 2 fired a musket %etween the two, which had
no other effect than to make them retire %ack where %undles of their darts lay# nd one of them
took up a stone and threw it at us, which caused my firing a second musket load with small shot,
and although some of the shot struck the man, yet it had no other effect than to make him lay hold
of a shield, or target, to defend himself#G
nd at this point the diary of !oseph "anks picks up the story # # #
G# # # a man who attempted to oppose our landing came down to the %each with a shield made of the
%ark of a tree# This he left %ehind when he ran away, and we found upon taking it up that it plainly
had %een pierced through with a single pointed lance near the centre#G
nd here in the museum we ha+e what must %e that +ery shield# 2t has the hole near the centre
mentioned %y "anks, and near that there are the traces of white colouring, recorded %y the
e$pedition's illustrators# 2t's a long narrow shield a%out three feet >6( cm? high and only a%out a
foot >3( cm? wide - so 5uite narrow to protect a man# 2t's a rich reddish %rown, it's roughly car+ed,
and it's gently cur+ed# *o you can still sense the trunk from which it has %een cut# 2t's made of red
mangro+e wood, one of the woods specifically chosen %y indigenous ustralians to make shields,
%ecause it's tough enough to a%sor% the impact of a spear or deflect a clu% or %oomerang, %ut it is
also e$tremely resistant to insects and rot, e+en when su%merged in sea-water# t the %ack of the
shield is a handle, made out of fle$i%le green mangro+e wood, that has dried to a firm shape for a
good grip# .hoe+er made this shield knew e$actly which woods were fittest for purpose#
This shield was owned %y a man li+ing on a continent that his ancestors had occupied for o+er
4(,((( years# 8hil 0ordon, a%original heritage officer at the ustralian /useum in *ydney,
descri%es the way of life in the area9
G7ne of the great myths a%out a%original ustralia of course, is that it was a hand-to-mouth
e$istence, for want of a %etter word# The li+ing around *ydney, and in the *ydney region, and a
+ast ma3ority of the coastal part of ustralia, was +ery good# The fish le+els in the har%ours were
high # # # there are diaries out of the first and second fleet of &uropeans Jwhich descri%eK pulling in
nets full of fish, and almost sinking their little dinghies, and things like that# *o *ydney har%our
would ha+e %een a great place to li+e# The climate was good, the economic e$istence was good#
That allowed people then to in+ol+e themsel+es in the spiritual side of their e$istence, and the
other parts of the culture#G
Cook and "anks would later remark on how happy and contented the people seemed, although we
know that there were some conflicts %etween different tri%al groups# s well as the shield, the men
had spears, and indeed the hole here in the centre of this shield was made %y a wooden spear or
lance, presuma%ly in the course of a fight# This piercing, as well as marks and scrapes on the
surface, make it clear that this shield had seen action %efore it came up against Cook's musket-shot#
The shield also seems to ha+e indicated indi+idual identity or tri%al allegiance# 2t's got traces of
white paint, which we ha+e analysed, and found to %e white kaolin clay, so it's likely there was a
painted white mark or sym%ol near the centre of this shield# 1ere's 8hil 0ordon again9
GThere was warfare in a%original ustralia of course - %lood feuds, group against group, all those
sorts of things# "ut they're also a marker of your cultural grip, so the shape of the shield would %e
different from other areas# The design on the shield would %e different, which would e5uate to
355
your status within the group, and your standing amongst the groups all around you too# *o shields
were distincti+ely different from coastal 'ew *outh .ales to the <im%erley region in western
ustralia#G
Cook of course knew nothing a%out indigenous customs - no &uropean could# The potential for
misunderstanding in this first encounter was limitless# 2n retrospect, neither side seems to ha+e
wanted to kill or maim the other# The indigenous men threw stones and spears, %ut they missed
e+eryone# 'ow, gi+en that they were hunter-gatherers who li+ed %y the accurate use of a spear, it
seems highly likely that these were simply warning missiles - telling this group of white strangers
to go away and to lea+e them alone# Cook, on his side, claims he thought the spears might ha+e
poison tips - so 3ustifying the musket shot which he aimed at the legs of the men# .hen the men
ran off, Cook and his crew disem%arked and went into the near%y woods # # #
G # # # .e found here a few small huts made of the %ark of trees, in one of which were four or fi+e
small children, with whom we left some strings of %eads, etcetera#G
Cook had found in the 8acific islands that trading and %artering were 5uick ways of striking up
peaceful relationships, and of getting some sense of how the local society functioned# "ut here
there was no interest in his offerings# .hen he came %ack the ne$t day # # #
G # # # the strings of %eads we had left with the children last night were found laying in the hut this
morning# 8ro%a%ly the nati+es were afraid to take them away#G
8erhaps less afraid than uninterested - or, may%e more accurately, unwilling to engage, %ecause to
do so would ha+e in+ol+ed them in an o%ligation they didn't want# 2t's not that these people didn't
trade - indeed, they traded and e$changed goods o+er great distances, as the shield itself can tell
us# The red mangro+e wood that it's made from grew around two hundred miles >32( km? north of
*ydney, so to source this wood the people at "otany "ay must ha+e %een trading with other
indigenous ustralians from much further afield#
.ith no direct encounters or e$changes of gifts, Cook ga+e up, and after a week collecting
%otanical specimens, he sailed on up the coast# .hen they reached the northern tip of ustralia,
Cook formally declared the whole east coast a "ritish possession9
G2 once more hoisted &nglish colours, and in the name of 1is /a3esty <ing 0eorge the Third took
possession of the whole eastern coast %y the name 'ew *outh .ales # # # after which we fired three
+olleys of small arms, which were answered %y the like num%er from the ship#G
'ot long after they returned to &ngland, "anks and others recommended "otany "ay as a penal
colony to the "ritish parliament, so %eginning the long and tragic story that for so many indigenous
ustralians spelt the end of their communities# 1istorian /aria 'ugent e$plains how Cook has
%een +iewed since this first encounter9
G/ainly in ustralian history, Cook has %een seen as a kind of precursor to colonisation# *o he's
seen as a founding father# .hich in a way cancels out the fact that there had %een other &uropean
nations who had already 'disco+ered' or charted parts of ustralia# "ut %ecause he's "ritish, he gets
prominent place, %ecause we'+e %ecome a "ritish colony# nd he holds that position for 5uite some
time, pro%a%ly until the politics of the 164(s and 16=(s - around his %icentennial year, 16=( - in
which a%original people +ocally and prominently criticise Cook as a founding figure#
Gnd they see him as a sym%ol of colonisation, of death and destruction# 2 think we're going
through a new phase now, and he's %eing seen more perhaps as a figure through which we can
understand an ustralian history, which is a%out interactions %etween a%original people and
354
outsiders# nd some people refer to this as a 'history of encounter'# "ut still, 2 think, a pro+ocati+e
figure in ustralia, and particularly for indigenous ustralians#G
The %ark shield stands at the head of centuries of depri+ation, genocide and misunderstanding, and
one of the %ig 5uestions in ustralia today continues to %e how - or whether - any meaningful
reparation can %e made# 2t is a process in which o%3ects like this %ark shield, held in &uropean and
ustralian museums, ha+e a small %ut significant part to play# 8rogrammes of research, carried out
together with the indigenous communities, are e$ploring sur+i+ing artefacts, recording myth and
legend, skills and practice, to reco+er what can %e reco+ered of a history largely lost# The %ark
shield, present at the +ery %eginning of the encounter %etween a%originals and &uropeans, may
now play its part in a dialogue that failed to materialise two hundred and fifty years ago#
2n the ne$t programme we're in +ery different territory - in eighteenth-century China, where an
ancient o%3ect was collected not %y a +isiting e$plorer %ut %y the &mperor, to connect his dynasty
to an illustrious past # # # it's a 3ade ring, called a '%i'#
35=
Episode .0 - 1ade 4i
2ade bi Binscri5ed in the eighteenth centuryCE from 'hina
The first four programmes of this week were a%out the &uropean &nlightenment's pro3ect of
mapping and understanding new lands# Today's o%3ect is from China, at a time when it was
pursuing its own &nlightenment, under the Bianlong &mperor who, like his &uropean
contemporaries, de+oted considera%le attention to e$ploring the world %eyond his own %orders# 2n
1=54, for instance, he sent out a multicultural task-force - two !esuit priests, a Chinese astronomer
and two Ti%etan lamas - to map the territories that he had anne$ed in sia# The knowledge they
gained spread across the world, and with it the Bianlong &mperor's reputation#
The o%3ect in this programme is another product of the &mperor's intellectual curiosity, this time
a%out the Chinese past# 2t's a 3ade ring, called a 'bi'# This 3ade bi, already o+er three thousand years
old when the &mperor decided to study it, is a fine, plain disc with a hole in the centre, of a type
often found in ancient Chinese tom%s# The &mperor took the unadorned bi, and then had his own
words inscri%ed on it# 2n doing so, he transformed the ancient bi into a narrati+e of the eighteenth-
century Chinese &nlightenment#
G2t's an e$ploratory document, it reminds us that documents can %e made of 3ade or %ron,e, 3ust as
much as on paper, of course#G >!onathan *pence?
GThe piece represented is a deep link %etween the ancient past and now# 2t is +ery cultural, %ut also
political#G >Hang :ian?
For &nlightenment &urope, China was a model state, wisely go+erned %y learned emperors# The
philosopher and writer Eoltaire wrote in 1=449
G7ne need not %e o%sessed with the merits of the Chinese to recognise that their empire is the %est
that the world has e+er seen#G
35;
Dulers e+erywhere wanted a piece of China at their court# 2n "erlin, Frederick the 0reat designed
and %uilt a Chinese pa+ilion in his palace at *anssouci# 2n the grounds of <ew, you can still see the
ten-storey Chinese pagoda erected %y 0eorge 222#
2n the nearly 4( years of the Bianlong &mperor's reign, from 1=34 to 1=65, China's population
dou%led, its economy %oomed and the &mpire grew to its greatest si,e for fi+e centuries, more or
less to its modern e$tent - it co+ered o+er four and a half million s5uare miles >11,4((,((( s5 km?#
The &mperor was a mem%er of the Bing @ynasty, which had displaced the /ing a%out a hundred
years %efore, and which would rule China until the %eginning of the twentieth century# The
Bianlong &mperor, owner of the 3ade bi that is the o%3ect of this programme, was a shrewd
intellectual and a tough leader, happy to proclaim the superiority of his territorial con5uests o+er
those of his predecessors, and to assert for his own Bing @ynasty the %acking of the hea+enly
powers# 2n other words, he claimed the /andate of 1ea+en9
GThe military strength of the ma3estic 0reat Bing is at its height# 1ow can the 1an, Tang, *ong or
/ing dynasties, which e$hausted the wealth of China without getting an additional inch of ground
for it, compare to us- 'o fortification has failed to su%mit, no people ha+e failed to surrender# 2n
this, truly we look up gratefully to the %lessings of the %lue sky a%o+e to proclaim our great
achie+ement#G
This emperor was a successful military leader, an adroit propagandist and a man of culture - a
renowned calligrapher and poet, a passionate collector of paintings, ceramics and anti5uities# The
astonishing Chinese collections in the 8alace museums today hold many of his precious o%3ects#
7ur bi is one that thoroughly engaged the Bianlong &mperor's attention, and it is not hard to
understand why# 2t is a thin disc of 3ade, pale %eige in colour and 3ust a little %igger than a C@, %ut
with a hole in the middle, with a raised edge around it# .e know from similar o%3ects found in
tom%s that this bi was pro%a%ly made around 12(( "C# .e don't know what it was for, %ut we can
see clearly enough that it is +ery %eautifully crafted#
.hen the Bianlong &mperor e$amined this bi, he thought it was %oth %eautiful and intriguing# 1e
was mo+ed to write a poem recording his thoughts on studying it, and he had the poem inscri%ed
on the bi itself9
G2t is said there were no %owls in anti5uity, %ut if so, where did this stand come from- 2t is said that
this stand dates to later times, %ut the 3ade is anti5ue#G
/odern scholars know that 3ade bi discs are usually found in tom%s# The Bianlong &mperor thinks
that the bi looks like a %owl stand, a type of o%3ect used since anti5uity in China# 1e then shows
off his knowledge of history %y discussing arcane facts a%out ancient %owls, and finally decides
that he cannot lea+e this bi without a %owl#
GThis stand is made of ancient 3ade, %ut the 3ade %owl that once went with it is long gone# s one
cannot show a stand without a %owl, we ha+e selected a ceramic from the @ing kiln for it#G
"y com%ining the bi with a much later o%3ect, the &mperor has ensured that in his eyes at least, the
bi now fulfils its aesthetic destiny# 2t's a +ery typical Bianlong way of addressing the past# Hou
admire the o%3ect's %eauty, you research the historical conte$t, and you present your conclusions to
the world as a poem# 2n the process, he created two new works of art - the poem, which was
included in his literary works, and the bi#
The &mperor's poem is incised in %eautiful calligraphy on the wide ring of the disc, and it fuses
o%3ect and interpretation, in what he thought was an aesthetically pleasing form# Chinese
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characters are spaced so that they radiate out from the central hole like the spokes of a wheel, and
these are the +ery words that 2 ha+e %een 5uoting# /any of us might see this as defacing an ancient
o%3ect as a kind of desecration, %ut that's not how the Bianlong &mperor saw it# 1e thought that the
writing enhanced the %eauty of the bi# "ut he also had a more worldly, political purpose in
inscri%ing his poem on this 3ade bi# 1ere's a historian of China, !onathan *pence9
GThere was +ery much a sense that China's past had a kind of coherence to it, so this new Bing
@ynasty wanted to %e enrolled, as it were, in the records of the past, as ha+ing inherited the glories
of the past, and %eing a%le to %uild on them, and to make China e+en more glorious# nd Bianlong
was, there's no dou%t a%out it, a great collector# This was 2mperial centralised collecting, with a
national focus, %ut also e$ploring other realms of world art at the same time# nd there is a bit of
nationalism a%out his collecting, 2 think, they wanted to show that "ei3ing was the centre of this
sian cultural world#
Gnd the Chinese - according to Eoltaire, and other thinkers in the French &nlightenment - the
Chinese did indeed ha+e things to tell us &uropeans, as it were, in the se+enteenth and eighteenth
century, important things a%out life, morality, %eha+iour, learning, genteel culture, the delicate arts,
the domestic arts # # # G
# # # and politics# The Bing @ynasty had one ma3or political handicap# They were not Chinese - they
came from modern /anchuria, on the north-eastern %order# They remained a tiny ethnic minority,
outnum%ered %y the nati+e 1an Chinese %y a%out 25( to 1, and they were famous for a num%er of
un-Chinese things - among them, an appetite for large 5uantities of milk and cream# *o was
Chinese culture safe with this Bing @ynasty- 2n this conte$t, the Bianlong &mperor's appropriation
of ancient Chinese history was a deft act of political integration# 1is greatest cultural achie+ement
was the 'Complete :i%rary of the Four Treasuries', the largest anthology of writing in human
history, encompassing the whole canon of Chinese writing, from its origins to the eighteenth
century# @igitised today, it fills 14= C@-D7/s# The Chinese poet Hang :ian recognises the
propaganda element in the Bianlong &mperor's lyrical description on the bi, and he takes a rather
dim +iew of his poetry as well9
G.hen 2 look at this bi 2 ha+e some +ery comple$ feelings# 7n one side 2 still +ery much
appreciate JitK# 2 lo+e this feeling, which is a link with the ancient Chinese cultural tradition,
%ecause it was a +ery uni5ue phenomenon which started from a long time ago and ne+er %roke -
continually de+eloped until today, whate+er JtheK difficult times # # # the 3ade always represents the
great past#
Gnother side, the darker side # # # the %eautiful things ha+e always %een used %y the rulers, who
often had %ad taste, so they don't mind to destroy the ancient things with their %ad writing, so they
can car+e the &mperor's poem on the %eautiful piece# nd also through the writings they tried to do
a little propaganda, which for me is +ery familiarAG
The Bianlong &mperor was no master of poetry - he seems to ha+e mi$ed classical Chinese with
+ernacular forms, to what is generally thought to %e poor effect# "ut that didn't hold him %ack# 1e
pu%lished o+er 4(,((( compositions in his lifetime, part of his ela%orate campaign to secure his
place in history#
nd he was largely successful# lthough the Bianlong &mperor's reputation dipped dramatically in
the Communist period, it is once again strong in China# nd recently a +ery satisfying disco+ery
has %een made# Hou may remem%er that the &mperor wrote that 9 Gs you can't show a stand like
this without a %owl# 1e had selected a %owl from the @ing kiln for it#G Eery recently a scholar
identified in the collections of the 8alace /useum, "ei3ing, a %owl that carries the same inscription
34(
as the one on this disc# 2t is undou%tedly the +ery %owl chosen %y the Buinlong &mperor to sit in
this bi#
s he handled and thought a%out the bi, the Bianlong &mperor was doing something central to any
history %ased on o%3ects# Thinking a%out a distant world through things, is not only a%out
knowledge %ut a%out imagination, and it necessarily in+ol+es an element of poetic reconstruction#
.ith the bi, for e$ample, the &mperor knows that it is an ancient and cherished o%3ect, and he asks
the 5uestion that we are all still asking - what was it for- 1e decides it's a stand, and he finds a
%owl that seems to %e a perfect match - %ut he acknowledges there is a dou%t a%out whether these
pieces really %elong together# 2t's unlikely that his answer was correct, that the bi was in fact a
%owl stand, %ut 2 find myself admiring and applauding his method#
'e$t week, we're focussed not on the past %ut on modernity# .e're looking at the defining
characteristics of the nineteenth-century glo%al order - mass production, mass consumption and
mass markets - a world dominated %y the economic interests of &urope and 'orth merica# 2t's the
world that coined the phrase Gtime is moneyG, and so we're going to %egin with the challenge of
accurately telling the time # # # through a ship's chronometer#
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Mass @+12u.)i1n" Mass @*+suasi1n (9:H# $ 9%97 'C)
Episode .1 - hip)s chronometer from HM %eagle
#hip,s chronometer from ,HM# (eagle, Bmade early nineteenth centuryCE from England
2n our 1istory of the .orld told through things, we'+e now entered the long nineteenth century -
the years %etween the French De+olution in 1=;6, and the %eginning of the First .orld .ar in
1614 - years in which western &urope and merica were transformed from agricultural societies
into industrial powerhouses#
This week's programmes track some of the e$traordinary changes that resulted# 'ew technologies
led for the first time to mass production of lu$ury goods, societies reorganised themsel+es
politically at home, while o+erseas empires e$panded to secure raw materials and new markets#
This programme is a%out time, and our o%3ect is a clock - a marine chronometer made around
1;((# "ut the point of this clock wasn't so much to tell you the time as to tell you where you were#
The pips that announce the passing of the hours on Dadio 4 are the familiar sound of 0reenwich
/eantime, and the story of our chronometer is intimately connected to 0reenwich# 2t e$plains why
in one crucial sense the world di+ides here, and why e+ery part of the world measures its time, and
defines its position, in relation to this south-east :ondon su%ur%#
G2n a lot of accounts, what you find is people saying that actually the 2ndustrial De+olution fuels
e$act time-keeping# "ut 2'd argue, it's e$act time-keeping that in part fuels the 2ndustrial
De+olution#G >'igel Thrift?
G*o this o%3ect is really # # # considera%ly more important than the landing on the moon, let's say#G
>*te+e !ones?
342
2n 1;31, this chronometer accompanied @arwin on his great +oyage to *outh merica and the
0alapagos 2slands, that ultimately led to his theories of e+olution, and the great work on the origin
of species# 2t typifies the ad+anced technology which in the nineteenth century led to a new a%ility
to measure time, which fundamentally changed the way we li+e and the way we think# 2t's hardly
an e$aggeration to say that the +ery idea of time changed in the nineteenth century, and in
conse5uence so did our idea of oursel+es and our understanding of humanity's proper place in
history#
The ticking and whirring noises 3ust now round a%out me tell me that 2'm in the Clocks and
.atches 0allery of the "ritish /useum# 2n the se+enteenth and eighteenth centuries clock-making
was a key &uropean technology, and :ondon was its cutting edge# s a maritime nation, the "ritish
were concerned with one time-keeping pro%lem in particular - they could make clocks that kept
+ery good time as long as they stayed perfectly still, %ut not when they were shaken a%out, and
particularly not on %oard a rolling ship# 2f you wanted to sail, it was impossi%le to keep a precise
record of passing time, and at sea, if you can't tell the time, you don't know where you are# The
answer to this pro%lem is the o%3ect 2'm standing in front of now - a marine chronometer#
2t's %ased on one in+ented in the mid-eighteenth century %y !ohn 1arrison, the man who finally
cracked the pro%lem of accurate time-keeping at sea and, for the first time, made it possi%le for
ships anywhere to esta%lish their longitude#
2t's relati+ely easy to calculate latitude - your distance north or south of the &5uator - %y measuring
the position of the hea+enly %odies# "ut those alone won't let you calculate longitude - your
position east or west# The answer to that pro%lem turned out to %e an accurate clock - a
chronometer# "efore a ship set sail, its chronometer would %e set to the local time in har%our - for
the "ritish this was usually 0reenwich# 7nce at sea, you could then compare the time at
0reenwich with the time on %oard ship, where+er you were, which you could tell %y the sun# nd
the difference %etween the two times ga+e you your longitude#
There are 24 hours in the day so, as the earth rotates, e+ery hour that the sun seems to mo+e across
the sky is one twenty-fourth of a complete circle of the glo%e - 15 degrees# *o if know that you're
three hours %ehind the time in 0reenwich, you're 45 degrees west - in the middle of the tlantic# 2f
you're three hours ahead, then you're 45 degrees east - and so, on 0reenwich latitude, you're
somewhere south-west of /oscow#
.hat !ohn 1arrison did was to in+ent a clock, a chronometer, that would go on accurately telling
the time set in 0reenwich, despite the constant mo+ement of the ship and, 3ust as important,
despite any fluctuations in temperature and humidity# 2t was a great feat of precision engineering,
%ut 1arrison's chronometers were pioneering, high-5uality instruments, made in tiny num%ers and
afforda%le only %y the dmiralty# Then, around 1;((, two :ondon clock-makers managed to
simplify the mechanisms of his chronometer, so that +irtually any ship - and certainly the whole of
the Doyal 'a+y - could carry them as routine e5uipment#
2'm with one of those lower-cost chronometers now# 2t was made in 1;(( %y one of the two
:ondoners, Thomas &arnshaw# 2t's %rass and it's around the si,e of a large pocket watch, with a
normal clock dial showing Doman numerals, and at the %ottom where the si$ would %e, a smaller
dial for the second hand# The dial lies flat, hori,ontal in its wooden %o$# 7f course 2 can't see its
internal workings, which actually deli+ered the high accuracy, lower-cost time-keeping# .hat 2 can
see is that the clock is suspended inside a swi+elling %rass ring fitted to the inside of the %o$, so
that howe+er much the %o$ mo+es, the clock itself will remain hori,ontal# 1ere's geographer 'igel
Thrift9
343
GThe chronometer, in a sense, is the pinnacle of a long history of clock- making# Clocks ha+e %een
around since 12;3 in &ngland# &+eryone talks a%out 1arrison and the fact that he was a genius# 1e
was, %ut you ha+e to understand the e$traordinary inno+ati+e efforts made, literally, %y hundreds
and thousands of unknown clock-makers and general mechanics that actually, in the end, produced
that o%3ect# These kinds of chronometers were phenomenally accurate# For e$ample, one of the
first ones was used %y Captain Cook, and when Cook made final landfall in 8lymouth in 1==5,
after circumna+igating the glo%e, it ga+e an error of less than eight miles in calculated longitude#G
This particular chronometer sailed on many ships - always issued and set, as others were, at
0reenwich# "ut this one is famous, %ecause in 1;31 it was issued to '1/* "eagle', the ship which
carried Charles @arwin round the world#
The '"eagle' was on a mission to map the coastline of *outh merica, and this work relied on the
most accurate possi%le measurements of longitude and latitude# The chronometer allowed for the
first time a%solutely precise charting of the oceans, with all that that implied for esta%lishing safe
and rapid shipping routes# 2t was another great step in the &nlightenment pro3ect of mapping, and
therefore controlling, the world# To allow for any discrepancies or failures, the '"eagle' carried no
less than 22 chronometers - ours was one of them#
"y the middle of the nineteenth century, it was esta%lished that all "ritish shipping would take
0reenwich as its point of reference for time, and therefore for longitude# "y then, +irtually all the
oceans of the world had %een mapped %y "ritish ships on the %asis of the 0reenwich /eridian -
and these maritime charts were widely used %y the international community# s a result, %oth
0reenwich /eantime and the 0reenwich /eridian were gradually adopted %y more and more
countries until, in 1;;4, the .ashington Con+ention formally ratified the practice as effecti+ely
uni+ersal# There was only one nota%le e$ception, the French, who defiantly stuck to their 8aris
/eridian for some decades more, until e+entually they too fell into line# "y the early twentieth
century, e+ery country fi$ed its time ,one %y reference to 0reenwich /eantime# For the first
moment in history, the world was working to one timeta%le# 0lo%al time, a concept unimagina%le a
hundred years %efore, had arri+ed#
"ut our chronometer was witness to another 5uite separate shift in the nineteenth century's
understanding of time# @arwin's +oyage on the '"eagle', and his su%se5uent work on e+olution,
pushed human origins - and indeed the origins of life itself - into an unthinka%ly distant past, and
geologists had already demonstrated that the earth was far older than pre+iously %elie+ed# This
new concept of deep time - going %ack tens of millions of years - shattered the esta%lished
historical and %i%lical frameworks of thought# These new and constantly e$panding parameters of
time forced the nineteenth century to re-think from scratch the +ery nature and meaning of human
e$istence# 1ere's *te+e !ones, e$pert on @arwin and e+olution9
G2 think what deep time did was to make people realise that the earth was not unchanging# 2 think
the %iggest change really, since the &nlightenment, has %een a shift in our attitude to time - the
feeling that time is effecti+ely infinite, the time that's gone, and the time that's to come#
G2t's worth remem%ering, of course, that the summit of &+erest, not long ago in the conte$t of deep
time, was at the %ottom of the ocean, and some of the %est fossils of whales are actually found high
in the 1imalayas# .hen you %egin to think in those terms, it makes you # # # 2 suppose the word has
to %e hum%le, in the face of the e$traordinary period we ha+e to play with, and of the e$traordinary
e+ents which that allows history - geological and %iological history - to accomplish#G
These were enormous and %elief-shattering ideas for many people in the nineteenth century, %ut
time was also changing in a much more day-to-day, or rather hour-to-hour, way# Thanks to clock-
makers like &arnshaw, precise and relia%le clocks and watches %ecame e+er more afforda%le#
344
"efore long, the whole of "ritain, the whole of the industrialised world, was running %y the clock,
and the measurement of time had %een se+ered from the natural cycle of sunrise and sunset# 2t was
the clock that ruled e+ery aspect of life - shops and schools, pleasure and work# s Charles
@ickens wrote9 GThere was e+en railway time, o%ser+ed in clocks, as if the sun itself had gi+en in#G
1ere's 'igel Thrift again9
G*tandard time, %ased on the /eridian, was first applied %y the First 0reat .estern Dailway in
1;4(, and gradually that standard time %ecame general# "y 1;55, 65 per cent of towns had
switched to 0/T, %ut it's worth remem%ering that, until that point, certainly until the %eginning of
railway time, places had %asically all run to local time# For e$ample, :eeds was si$ minutes %ehind
:ondon, "ristol was ten minutes - it didn't matter# "ut it mattered once you start getting +ery fast
tra+el, and as soon as that happens, e+eryone went on to one time, gradually %ut +ery certainly#G
*o the nineteenth century ga+e us glo%al time, deep time, and a new sort of e+eryday uniform time,
and there's one time that the whole of "ritain has always %een glad to mo+e on to - tea time# 7ur
ne$t o%3ect is a genteel, nineteenth-century tea set # # # and we'll look at how the taste for a nice cup
of tea changed the agriculture of continents, and the economy of empires#
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Episode .2 - Early @ictorian tea set
Early Aictorian tea set Bmade 5et$een 1%"0 and 1%"&CE from #taffordshireE England
.hat could %e more domestic, more unremarka%le, more '"ritish', than a nice cup of tea- "ut you
could ask that 5uestion the other way round and ask what could %e 'less' "ritish than a cup of tea,
gi+en that tea is made from plants grown in 2ndia, China or frica, and is usually sweetened %y
sugar from the Cari%%ean# 2t's one of the e$traordinary ironies of "ritish national identity - or
perhaps it says e+erything a%out our national identity - that the drink that has %ecome the
worldwide caricature of "ritishness has nothing indigenous a%out it, %ut is the result of centuries of
glo%al trade and a comple$ imperial history# "ehind the modern "ritish cup of tea lie the high
politics of Eictorian "ritain# The story of nineteenth-century empire, of mass production and mass
consumption, the taming of a tur%ulent and drunken industrial working class, the re-shaping of
agriculture across continents, the mo+ement of millions of people # # # and a world-wide shipping
industry# 2t's a lot to think a%out as you tuck into the cucum%er sandwiches at the +icarage#
G2t takes one into the heart of the Eictorian parlour# Hou ha+e this superficial gloss of politeness
and so%riety, %ut underneath you ha+e this a%solutely cut-throat imperial economic agenda#G
>Celina Fo$?
This week we're looking at the glo%al economy in the nineteenth century, at mass production and
mass consumption, when all o+er the industrialised world lu$uries %ecame commonplace - clothes
and clocks, pepper and porcelain - and some lu$uries came to %e seen as not only desira%le %ut
essential# 2n "ritain, the most u%i5uitous of all these former lu$uries was tea#
Today's o%3ect is the tea set that 2'+e got in front of me now - three pieces of %rownish-red pottery#
smallish teapot with a short straight spout, a milk 3ug and a sugar %owl - the trinity of afternoon
tea# They were made - as we can read on their %ases - at .edgwood's &truria factory in *toke-on-
Trent, *taffordshire, in the heart of the 8otteries# 2n the eighteenth century .edgwood had made
some of the most e$pensi+e ceramics in "ritain, %ut this earthenware tea set shows that %y the
344
1;4(s, when .edgwood produced it, the company was aiming at a much wider market# This is
5uite clearly a mid-range tea set, of a sort that many 5uite modest "ritish households were now
a%le to afford# "ut this had not %een the case for long#
mong the upper classes, tea had %een popular since %efore 1=((# 2t recei+ed cele%rity
endorsement first from Charles 22's 5ueen, Catherine of "ragan,a, and then again from Bueen
nne# 2t came from China, it was e$pensi+e and it was refreshingly %itter, drunk in tiny cups
without milk or sugar# 8eople kept their tea in locked tea caddies as if it were a drug, and for those
who could afford it, it often was# 2n the 1=5(s *amuel !ohnson confessed himself a happy addict9
G# # # a hardened and shameless tea-drinker, who has for 2( years diluted his meals with only the
infusion of this fascinating plant, whose kettle scarcely has time to cool, who with Tea amuses the
e+ening, with Tea solaces the midnights, and with Tea welcomes the morning#G >'The :iterary
/aga,ine'?
@esire for the drink increased steadily in the eighteenth century# t some point early in the century
people had started adding milk and sugar, transforming %itter refinement into sustaining sweetness#
Consumption rocketed - tea supplies surged to meet the nation's growing appetite, and prices fell#
Cnlike coffee, which was seen as a masculine drink, with hea+y o+ertones of all lads together, tea
was specifically marketed as a respecta%le drink suita%le for %oth se$es - and women were
particularly targeted# Tea houses and tea gardens flourished in :ondon, china tea sets %ecame an
essential part of a fashiona%le household, and less costly +ersions in pottery spread throughout
society#
There's one more point that needs to %e made a%out our tea set# lthough it's made of simple
earthenware, it's %een gi+en something e$tra, %ecause all three pieces ha+e %een decorated with
lacy open-work sil+er, cut out %y hand# This is not for a modest middle-class household - this is a
tea set with serious aspirations# 2t's not 3ust going to keep up with the !ones's, it's going to lea+e
them far %ehind#
s the eighteenth century went on, and tea got cheaper, the taste for it spread rapidly to the
working classes# 2n 1;(6 a startled *wedish +isitor to "ritain noted9
G'e$t to water, tea is the &nglishman's proper element# ll classes consume it# 2n the morning one
may see in many places small ta%les set up under the open sky, around which coal-carters and
workmen empty their cups of delicious %e+erage#G
"y 16(( e+ery person in "ritain was, on a+erage, getting through a staggering three kilos of tea a
year# The ruling classes had an interest in promoting tea-drinking among the industrial ur%an
population, who were poor, +ulnera%le to disease, and thought to %e gi+en to disorderly
drunkenness# "eer, port and gin had all %ecome a significant part of the diet of men, women and
e+en children, largely %ecause alcohol as a mild antiseptic was much safer to drink than the
unpurified city water# Deligious leaders and temperance mo+ements 3oined together to proclaim the
merits of tea# cup of sweet, milky tea made with %oiled water was healthy, cheap, energy-gi+ing
- and it didn't make you drunk# *o in that way it was also a powerful instrument of social control#
1ere's historian Celina Fo$9
GTemperance was huge# @rink and the Eictorians was a +ery %ig issue# The desire to ha+e a
working population that was so%er and industrious was +ery, +ery strong, and there was a great
deal of propaganda to that effect# 2t was tied in with dissent, /ethodism and so on # # # so%riety # # #
and tea really was the drink of choice# nd on top of that you ha+e got the ritual of afternoon tea,
%ecause %y this time dinner had %ecome so late - =#3(, ; o'clock - it was 5uite a %it of a gap for the
"ritish tummy %etween lunchtime and e+ening# *o again, there is a re+i+al of tea drinking as a sort
34=
of meal - for sandwiches and so forth - round a%out 4 o'clock# *o really tea drinking takes off in a
massi+e way in the nineteenth century#G
2n a remarka%le re-%randing of the "ritish character, %oisterous, rowdy %eer was ousted as the
defining national drink, and replaced %y polite, respecta%le tea# *ongs and poems cele%rated tea's
triumph o+er the demon drink9
G.ith you 2 see, in ages yet un%orn,
Thy +otaries the "ritish 2sles adorn,
Till rosy "acchus shall his wreaths resign,
nd lo+e and tea triumph o'er the +ine#G
"ut our lo+ing, tran5uil cup of tea has a +iolent hinterland# To %uy tea from the Chinese, "ritish
traders %rought huge 5uantities of opium into the country, a practice that led to the two 7pium
.ars %etween "ritain and China# .e refer to these as the 7pium .ars, %ut in fact they were 3ust as
much a%out tea# nd the first 7pium .ar %roke out more-or-less at the same time as our teapot
was lea+ing the .edgwood factory#
Traders %egan looking for other sources, and in the 1;3(s the "ritish set up tea plantations around
Calcutta# 2n order to encourage demand, tea from "ritish 2ndia was e$empted from import duty,
and strong, dark ssam tea %ecame the patriotic national GcuppaG# s the century went on, further
tea plantations were esta%lished in Ceylon, now *ri :anka, and large num%ers of Tamils mo+ed
from *outh 2ndia to Ceylon to work on them# The physical geography and the populations of %oth
2ndia and *ri :anka were re-shaped %y the insatia%le "ritish thirst for tea# 1ere's /oni5ue
*immonds from <ew 0ardens9
GHou would ha+e had hundreds of acres %eing turned o+er to tea, especially in 2ndia# They also had
success when they took it to places like Ceylon# 2t would ha+e had an impact on local populations,
%ut it also did %ring 3o%s to the area - although low-paid 3o%s - and started off with males %eing
employed# "ut then it was mostly females who would %e clipping the tea# :ocal communities in
parts of 2ndia and China were %enefiting from growing the material, and also %eing a%le to sell it#
"ut the added +alue from the trade would ha+e really occurred within the &mpire, and especially
within "ritain#G
2f there was %ig money in growing tea, fortunes were also made in shipping it# The tea trade
re5uired huge num%ers of large fast clippers, and when they docked in "ritish har%ours they met
cargo +essels coming from the other side of the world, %ringing sugar from the Cari%%ean#
0etting sugar on to the "ritish tea ta%le had, until recently, also had a darker side# The first frican
sla+es in the mericas worked on sugar plantations, the start of the long and terri%le triangular
trade that carried &uropean goods to frica, frican sla+es to the mericas, and sla+e-produced
sugar to &urope# fter a long campaign, which in+ol+ed many of the same people who supported
temperance mo+ements, sla+ery in the "ritish .est 2ndies had %een a%olished in 1;3(# "ut there
was still a great deal of sla+e sugar around - Cu%a was a massi+e producer - and it was of course
cheaper than the sugar produced on free plantations# 2n the 1;4(s, the ethics of sugar were hot
politics#
The most peaceful part of our tea set is of course the milk 3ug# "ut it too is part of a huge social
and economic transformation# Cntil the 1;3(s, for ur%an-dwellers to ha+e milk, cows had to li+e in
the city - it's an aspect of nineteenth-century life we're %arely aware of now# "ut su%ur%an railways
changed all that# Thanks to them, the cows could lea+e town#
34;
G new trade has %een opened in *urrey since the completion of the *outh-.estern Dailway#
*e+eral dairies of 2( to 3( cows are kept, and the milk is sent to the +arious stations of the *outh-
.estern Dailway, and con+eyed to the .aterloo terminus for the supply of the :ondon /arket#G
7ur tea set is in fact a three-piece social history of nineteenth-century "ritain# nd it's a lens
through which we can look at a large part of the history of the world# 1ere's historian :inda
Colley9
G2 think the other striking thing for me is, of course, it does underline how much empire -
consciously or not - impacts on e+ery%ody e+entually in this country# 2f, in the nineteenth century,
you are sitting at a mahogany ta%le, drinking tea with sugar, you are linked to +irtually e+ery
continent on the glo%e# Hou are linked with the Doyal 'a+y, which is guarding the sea routes
%etween these continents# Hou are linked with this great tentacular capital machinery, through
which the "ritish control so many parts of the world and ransack them for commodities#G
2n the ne$t programme we will %e in another tea-drinking island nation, %ut one that - 5uite unlike
"ritain - had done all it could to keep itself separate from the rest of the world# Het the image that 2
shall %e looking at is now known all o+er the world # # # we'll %e in !apan, with a print of 1okusai's
'0reat .a+e'#
346
Episode .3 - Ho(usai)s )*he 9reat >ave)
Ho+usai,s ,-he :reat ?ave, Bpainted a5out 1%0CE from 2apan
2n the early nineteenth century !apan had %een effecti+ely isolated from the world for almost two
hundred years# 2t had 5uite simply opted out of the community of nations# *tephen *ondheim's
'8acific 7+ertures' descri%es the secluded and calmly self-contained country in 1;53, 3ust %efore
merican gunships forced its har%ours to open to the world9
G2n the middle of the world we float,
2n the middle of the sea#
The realities remain remote
2n the middle of the sea#
<ings are %urning somewhere,
.heels are turning somewhere,
Trains are %eing run,
.ars are %eing won,
Things are %eing done
*omewhere out there, not here#
1ere we paint screens#
Hes # # # the arrangement of the screens#G
2t's +intage *ondheim caricature - the dreamy and aesthetic !apanese, serenely painting screens
while across the seas the world industrialises, and political turmoil rages# 2ndeed it's an image the
!apanese themsel+es ha+e sometimes wanted to pro3ect# nd it's how the most famous of all
!apanese images, 1okusai's '0reat .a+e', is sometimes read#
This %est-selling wood%lock print was made around 1;3( %y the great artist 1okusai, as one of his
series of 34 +iews of /ount Fu3i# t first sight it presents a %eautiful picture of a deep %lue wa+e,
curling a%o+e the sea, with far in the distance the tran5uil, snow-capped peak of /ount Fu3i# 2t is,
3=(
you might think, a stylised, decorati+e image of a timeless !apan# "ut there are other ways of
reading 1okusai's '0reat .a+e'# :ook a little closer, and you see that the %eautiful wa+e is a%out to
engulf three %oats with frightened fishermen, while /ount Fu3i is so small that you, the spectator,
share the feeling that the sailors in the %oats must ha+e as they look to shore9 it's unreacha%le, too
far away, and you're lost# This is, 2 think, an image not of timeless serenity, %ut of insta%ility and
uncertainty#
GHou can find this image e+erywhere# ll sorts of e+eryday o%3ects feature 'The 0reat .a+e', so it
really has %ecome a +ery u%i5uitous icon, 2 think, an icon of modernity#G >Christine 0uth?
2n the middle of the nineteenth century, as the 2ndustrial De+olution got into its stride, the great
manufacturing powers, a%o+e all "ritain and the Cnited *tates, were aggressi+ely looking for new
sources of raw materials, and new markets for their products# The world, these free-traders
%elie+ed, was their oyster, and it was one they were determined to open# To them it seemed
incomprehensi%le - indeed intolera%le - that !apan should refuse to play its full part in the glo%al
economy# !apan, on the other hand, saw no need to trade with these pushy would-%e partners# 2ts
e$isting arrangements suited it +ery well#
The country had closed almost all its ports at the end of the 143(s, e$pelling &uropean Christian
missionaries and +irtually all other foreigners# !apanese citi,ens were not permitted to lea+e the
country, nor could foreigners enter - diso%edience was punished %y death# &$ceptions were made
only for @utch and Chinese merchants, whose shipping and trade were restricted to the port city of
'agasaki# 1ere goods were regularly imported and e$ported, %ut on terms of trade laid down
solely %y the !apanese# 2n dealing with the rest of the world, they called the shots# This was not so
much splendid isolation as selecti+e engagement, and for two hundred years it had worked, the
!apanese thought, +ery well#
2f foreign people could not enter !apan, foreign things most certainly could# Hou can see this +ery
clearly if you look at the composition - physical and pictorial - of 'The 0reat .a+e'# 2t's printed on
traditional !apanese mul%erry paper, 3ust under the si,e of a sheet of 3, in su%tle shades of yellow,
grey and pink# "ut standing in front of it now, 2'm +ery conscious that it's the %lue - rich deep %lue
- that dominates # # # and that startles# For this is not a !apanese %lue# 2t is 8russian "lue, or a "erlin
"lue, a synthetic dye in+ented in 0ermany in the early eighteenth century, and much less prone to
fading than other traditional %lues# 8russian "lue was imported into !apan either directly %y @utch
traders or, more pro%a%ly, +ia China, where it was %eing manufactured from the 1;2(s# The
%lueness of 'The 0reat .a+e' shows us !apan taking from &urope what it wants to take, and taking
it with a%solute confidence# nd the series of which 'The 0reat .a+e' was a part - 'The Eiews of
/ount Fu3i' - were promoted to the pu%lic partly on the %asis of this e$otic, %eautiful %lue - pri,ed
%ecause of its foreignness# *o 'The 0reat .a+e', far from %eing 5uintessentially !apanese, as we
usually think of it, is in fact a hy%rid work, a fusion of &uropean materials and technology with a
!apanese sensi%ility and also, 2 think, with a !apanese apprehension# s a +iewer, you'+e got no
place to stand in front of this, no footing, you too must %e in a %oat, under 'The 0reat .a+e' and in
danger of %eing o+erwhelmed# Het 1okusai has drawn the sea o+er which these &uropean things
and ideas tra+elled with distur%ing am%i+alence#
Christine 0uth has studied 1okusai's work in depth, especially 'The 0reat .a+e'9
G2t was produced at a time when the !apanese were %eginning to %ecome concerned a%out foreign
incursions# *o this great wa+e seemed, on the one hand, to %e a kind of a sym%olic %arrier for the
protection of !apan, %ut at the same time it also suggested the potential for !apanese to tra+el
a%road, for ideas to mo+e, for things to mo+e %ack and forth# 2 think it was +ery closely tied to the
%eginnings of the opening of !apan, if you will#G
3=1
2n the long years of relati+e seclusion, !apan - go+erned %y a military oligarchy - had en3oyed
peace and sta%ility# There were strict codes of pu%lic %eha+iour for all classes, with laws on pri+ate
conduct, marriage, weapons and so on for the ruling elite# 2n this highly controlled atmosphere, the
arts had flourished#
ll this depended on the rest of the world staying away, and %y the 1;5(s, there were many
outsiders who wanted to share in the pri+ileges and profits en3oyed %y the Chinese and the @utch,
and to trade with this prosperous and populous country# The !apanese were reluctant, and the
mericans came to the conclusion that free trade would ha+e to %e imposed %y force# The story
told in *tephen *ondheim's ironically titled '8acific 7+ertures' actually happened in 1;53, when
!apan's self-imposed isolation was %reached %y the +ery real Commodore 8erry of the C* 'a+y,
who sailed into Tokyo "ay unin+ited, and demanded that the !apanese %egin to trade with the C*#
1ere's a snatch of the letter that 8erry, on the authority of the 8resident of the Cnited *tates,
deli+ered to the !apanese emperor9
G/any of the large ships-of-war destined to +isit !apan ha+e not yet arri+ed in these seas # # # and
the undersigned, as an e+idence of his friendly intentions, has %rought %ut four of the smaller ones,
designing, should it %ecome necessary, to return to &do in the ensuing spring with a much larger
force#G
This was te$t-%ook gun-%oat diplomacy, and it worked# !apanese resistance melted in the face of
Commodore 8erry's threats, and +ery 5uickly the !apanese em%raced the new economic model#
They %ecame energetic players in the international markets they had %een forced to 3oin, and they
%egan to think differently a%out the sea that surrounded them, and a%out the opportunities that their
new role in the world offered# 1ere's e$pert on !apan, @onald <eene, from Colum%ia Cni+ersity9
GThe !apanese ha+e a word for insularism, which is literally the mental state of people li+ing on
islands - 'shimaguni kon3o'# *himaguni is island nation, kon3o is character# The idea is, they are
surrounded %y water, and unlike, say, the "ritish 2sles, which were in sight of the continent, these
were far away# new trend of interest in the world, %reaking down the classical %arriers, %egins to
emerge a%out half way through this period# 2 think that the interest in wa+es suggested the allure of
going elsewhere, the world around !apan, the possi%ility of finding new treasures outside !apan#
nd some !apanese at this time secretly wrote accounts of why !apan should ha+e colonies in
different parts of the world, in order to augment their own riches# 2 think the wa+e itself is a +ery
interesting part of the !apanese culture at this time, the way in which it is constantly changing# nd
the attraction of the wa+e was that it was ne+er the same for +ery long#G
'The 0reat .a+e', like the other images in the series, was printed in a%out fi+e thousand - may%e as
many as eight thousand - impressions, and we know that in 1;42 the price of a single sheet was
fi$ed officially at 14 mon, the e5ui+alent of a dou%le helping of noodles# This was cheap and
popular art, %ut when printed in such 5uantities to e$5uisite technical standards like this, it could
%e highly profita%le# The "ritish /useum has three impressions of 'The 0reat .a+e'# This is an
early one, taken when the wood%lock was still crisp, which means it has sharp lines and clear,
well-integrated colours# n impression like this one lets you see +ery clearly that 1okusai took far
more than 3ust 8russian "lue from &urope - he has also %orrowed the con+entions of &uropean
perspecti+e to push /ount Fu3i far into the distance# 1e must ha+e studied &uropean prints, which
the @utch had imported in modest 5uantities %ut which circulated among a small num%er of
collectors, scholars and artists inside !apan# 2t is no wonder that this image has %een so lo+ed in
&urope# 2t can %e seen, not as a complete stranger, %ut as an e$otic relati+e#
fter Commodore 8erry's forcing of the !apanese ports in 1;53, !apan resumed sustained contact
with the outside world# !apanese prints, like 'The 0reat .a+e', were e$ported in large num%ers to
&urope, where they were 5uickly admired and imitated %y Ean 0ogh, .histler and many others#
3=2
The !apanese artist who had %een so influenced %y &uropean style and materials now influenced
the &uropeans artists in return# !aponisme %ecame a cra,e, influencing the fine and applied arts of
%oth &urope and merica well into the twentieth century#
2n the decades after 1;53, !apan +igorously followed the e$ample of the industrial west, and it was
transformed in the process into a great imperial economic power# Het 3ust as Consta%le's '1aywain',
at roughly the same time, %ecame the iconic image of a fantasy, pre-industrial &ngland, so
1okusai's '0reat .a+e' %ecame - and in the modern imagination has remained - the em%lem of an
earlier, simpler !apan, reproduced today on e+erything from te$tiles to tea cups#
.hat !apan had disco+ered was that, %y the middle of the nineteenth century, no part of the world
would %e allowed to opt out of the glo%al system# .e'll see the same phenomenon, %ut more
%loodily, in the ne$t programme# .e'll %e in *udan, e$ploring the %iography of a drum # # # a war-
drum#
3=3
Episode .4 - udanese slit drum
'entral *frican slit drum Bpro5a5ly made nineteenth centuryC
The famous recruitment poster has him pointing straight at us in full uniform - finger in
foreground, handle%ar moustache not far %ehind, and the words 'Hour country needs you'# G1eG is
1oratio 1er%ert <itchener - 1st &arl <itchener, and one of the media stars of the First .orld .ar#
"y then <itchener was already legendary as <itchener of <hartoum# 1e had captured the city in
1;6; after the murderous %attle of 7mdurman, which had left 11,((( *udanese soldiers dead# fter
the %attle, he presented to Bueen Eictoria a wooden drum from Central frica# That drum is the
o%3ect for this programme#
G2 think it does signify the fusion %etween "lack frica, su%-*aharan frica proper, and the ra%
world# 2t looks like the kind of drum you would see in Central frica, and yet it's etched with
ra%ic script#G >Neina% "adawi?
G.hen you look at the origins, the markings and the e+entual destination of this item, you see the
whole struggle for the 'ile Ealley in the nineteenth century# nd %y e$tension, the nature of the
&uropean con5uest of frica in the late nineteenth century#G >@ominic 0reen?
This week's programmes are a%out the world in the nineteenth century, and the great shifts in the
%alance of imperial power, which had enormous conse5uences for e+ery continent, and particularly
for frica# "ut this programme is also a%out internal struggle - in this case %etween &gypt and
*udan, and within *udan itself %etween the north and the south# The slit drum %egan its life in
Central frica, in the region where the *udan and the Congo share a frontier, and it would once
ha+e %een part of the court orchestra of a powerful chief#
The %iography of this drum is a story of *udan in the nineteenth century, when 7ttoman &gypt,
"ritain and France all con+erged on this enormous 'ile country that had long %een di+ided
%etween an frican south - practising its traditional religions - and an 2slamic north# The drum tells
3=4
three separate stories - of an indigenous frican culture, of the &ast frican sla+e trade centred on
<hartoum, and of the &uropean scram%le for frica around 16((# 2t's in the shape of a short-
horned %uffalo or %ush cow, and it carries its stories car+ed on its flanks#
The drum is a%out nine feet >2#5m? long from nose to tail, and its a%out two and a half feet >(#=m?
high, so it's a%out the si,e of a %ig calf, with +ery short legs# The head is small, and the tail short#
The %ulk is entirely concentrated in the %ody, which has %een hollowed out - you can feel the tree
trunk that this has come from# nd running across the top of the %ack, is a narrow slit# The flanks
of this cow drum ha+e %een car+ed to different thicknesses, so that a skilled drummer with a
traditional drumstick can produce at least two tones, and as many as four distinct pitches# .e'+e
ne+er done this %efore, %ut we are going to take it out of the case and play it#
The drum is made from a single piece of reddish frican coral wood, found in the forests of
Central frica# 2t's a dura%le hardwood, often chosen to make drums with %ecause it stands up well
to repeated striking, it maintains a constant tone, and it is resistant to termites#
The main function of the drum in this first period of its life was music-making, marking
community e+ents such as %irths, deaths and feasts# &uropeans du%%ed these slit drums talking
drums, %ecause they were used to GspeakG to people at ceremonies, and also to transmit messages
o+er long distances - their sound can carry for miles - calling men either to hunt or to war#
"ut this was a society under threat# "oth &uropean and /iddle &astern powers had long had a
presence in Central frica, attracted %y its a%undance of i+ory and of sla+es# For centuries sla+es
had %een taken from southern *udan and Central frica, %rought north to &gypt and then sold on
across the 7ttoman &mpire# .hen the &gyptians took control of *udan in the 1;2(s, the sla+e
trade intensified# *la+e raiding and trading %ecame one of the most profita%le and powerful
industries of the region# 2t was centralised %y the &gyptian go+ernment in <hartoum, and %y the
late nineteenth century the city had %ecome the greatest sla+e market in the world, ser+icing the
whole of the /iddle &ast# 1ere's the writer @ominic 0reen9
GThe &gyptians had %uilt up a su%stantial sla+e-trading empire, running from the fourth cataract of
the 'ile all the way down towards the northern shores of :ake Eictoria# They had done this with
some support from &uropean go+ernments, who were o%+iously concerned to get their hands on
i+ory as opposed to sla+es, %ut were also concerned a%out the humanitarian aspect# nd the
&gyptian 'khedi+es', the rulers of &gypt, played essentially a dou%le game, where they signed on to
anti-sla+ing con+entions, pushed on them %y the &uropeans, and then pretty much continued to
make money out of the sla+e trade#G
The drum almost certainly came to <hartoum as part of that trade# 2t could ha+e %een sei,ed as
%ooty %y sla+e raiders, or gi+en %y a local chief# /any Central frican chiefs colla%orated with the
sla+e-raiders to carry out 3oint raids on their enemies, selling the capti+es and sharing the proceeds#
7nce the drum arri+ed in <hartoum it %egan a new chapter of its life, and here it was re-fashioned
to take its place in this 2slamic society, as we can see when we look at its sides#
7n each flank of the drum, running pretty well the whole length of the %ody, is a car+ed rectangle
containing circles and geometric patterns, instantly recognisa%le as 2slamic designs, that must ha+e
%een added %y the new owners to protect against the e+il eye# 7n one side the design is cut into the
%ody of the wood, on the other the wood has %een planed away, so that the design stands proud#
This thinning of one side of the drum would materially change the sound it made, so although it
could still ha+e %een used for its original purpose of music-making or calling people to arms, it
would do so now with a different +oice# The musical instrument has %ecome a trophy, and the new
3=5
car+ings are G%randingG, a statement of political dominance o+er Central frica and of allegiance
to 2slam#
"y the 1;;(s 2slam in <hartoum had %ecome a significant political force# The &gyptian occupation
of *udan was greatly resented, and a new, profoundly 2slamic, resistance to it was growing, led %y
a man who saw himself as %oth a religious and a military leader - /uhammad hmad# 1e declared
himself the '/ahdi' - the one guided %y 0od - and he summoned an army to 3ihad, to reclaim
*udan from the la$, &uropeanised, &gyptians# The /ahdist De+olt for a time swept all %efore it,
causing consternation in &gypt#
"ritain had a fundamental strategic interest in a sta%le &gyptian go+ernment# The *ue, Canal, %uilt
%y the French and the &gyptians in 1;46, was an economic lifeline, the critical link %etween the
/editerranean and "ritish 2ndia# .hen the /ahdist De+olt in *udan threatened to %ring &gypt to
%ankruptcy and political collapse, the "ritish, concerned for the security of the Canal, mo+ed
swiftly to protect their interests# 2n 1;;2 they in+aded and occupied &gypt# 'ot long after, when
the /ahdists %esieged <hartoum, the "ritish turned their attention to *udan# 0eneral 0ordon went
to the aid of the &gyptian army in <hartoum, hoping to defeat the /ahdist re%ellion once and for
all# 2t was the first time in modern history that a self-consciously 2slamic army confronted the
forces of western imperialism# 0ordon's forces were cut off and defeated, and he was hacked to
death# The /ahdists took o+er *udan# 2n "ritain 0ordon %ecame a martyr# 1ere's @ominic 0reen
again9
G0ordon underwent one of those terri%le Eictorian deaths of %eing chopped to pieces and then
reconstituted in mar%le statues and oil paintings all o+er "ritain# <hartoum fell in !anuary 1;;5,
and once the outcry had su%sided *udan was pretty much forgotten a%out %y the "ritish until the
mid 1;6(s# This was the time of the Gscram%le for fricaG# &ssentially the "ritish strategy was to
%uild a north-south connection from Cape, as they said, to Cairo# The French, ine+ita%ly then, were
working from west to east, and an e$pedition under a Captain /archand was despatched# 2t landed
in .est frica and started staggering towards the 'ile# The "ritish realised this, and sent a force, a
relati+ely small one, under <itchener# nd e+entually, in 1;6;, 13 years after the siege, <itchener's
army faced off against the /ahdist army#G
t 7mdurman, 3ust north of <hartoum, on 2 *eptem%er 1;6;, <itchener's nglo-&gyptian army
destroyed the /ahdist forces# 7n the *udanese side a%out 11,((( died and 13,((( were wounded#
The nglo-&gyptian army lost 3ust under 5( men# 2t was a %rutal result - 3ustified %y the "ritish as
protecting their regional interest against the French, %ut also as a+enging 0ordon's death of 13
years earlier, and putting an end to what they saw as the shameful sla+e trade#
The drum was found %y <itchener's army somewhere near <hartoum, after the nglo-&gyptian re-
con5uest of the city# nd once again it was re-car+ed - or re-%randed - to make a different political
statement# 2f you look right at the end of the tail of this %ush calf drum, you can see that <itchener
has car+ed a +ery small em%lem of the "ritish 2mperial crown# The drum was then presented to
Bueen Eictoria, and *udan was ruled as an nglo-&gyptian territory until its independence in
1652#
For most of that time, the "ritish had a policy of ruling *udan as essentially two separate regions -
the 2slamic ra%ic-speaking north, and the increasingly Christian south# The *udanese-%orn
3ournalist Neina% "adawi has a close personal connection to this history - her grandfather fought
on the *udanese side at 7mdurman, and her father was a leading figure in the modern politics of
this di+ided country# 1ere she is9
G2 think that the drum is +ery apt, %ecause on the one hand physically it o%+iously %elongs to
Central frica, and yet it has got the ra%ic script and that is +ery much *udan# "ecause *udan is
3=4
this fusion %etween "lack frica proper and the ra% world# 2t is the real crossroads, like the
confluence of the 'ile, you know, where the .hite 'ile meets the "lue 'ile, in <hartoum# 2
actually showed the picture of this drum to my father, and he told me that %ack in the # # # 2 think it
was the 165(s pro%a%ly # # # my father was +ice-president of the *udanese *ocialist 8arty, and he
was in southern *udan, and he says that a fracas %roke out %etween the southern *udanese and the
northerners who were there# nd at one stage he thinks he saw some%ody get a drum that looked
+ery much like this, %ut o%+iously newer, and started drumming on it to encourage other southern
*udanese to come to show their strength, to stop this argument getting out of hand %etween the
northerners and the southerners#G
*ince independence, *udan has struggled under decades of ci+il war and sectarian +iolence, and
recently the south has %een seeking a peaceful separation from the north# There will %e a
referendum in 2(11 to decide how far such a separation might go#
2n the ne$t programme, we are looking at another e$ercise in re-%randing - an o%3ect stamped
twice, the two stamps encapsulating opposing sides in "ritish political life # # # <ing &dward E22
and the suffragettes %oth appear on the same "ritish penny#
3==
Episode ." - uffragette defaced penny
#uffragette-defaced Ed$ard A77 penny Bdefaced in early t$entieth centuryCE from :reat
(ritain
2n this 1istory of the .orld in 1(( 7%3ects, we'+e 3ust reached the %eginning of the twentieth
century, and until now we'+e %een largely in a world of things that were made, commissioned, and
owned %y men# Today, on the other hand, we'+e got an o%3ect designed to carry the image of a
king, %ut that's %een appropriated %y women - disfigured and o+er-stamped with a slogan, as an act
of female protest against the laws of the state#
G*hout, shout, up with your songA
Cry with the wind for the dawn is %reaking)
/arch, march, swing you along,
wide %lows our %anner and hope is waking # # G
G# # /arch, march, many as one#
*houlder to shoulder and friend to friend#G
>'/arch of the .omen') &thel *myth?
The coin in this programme is a deft act of ci+il diso%edience, and a %rilliantly in+enti+e piece of
low-%udget popular propaganda# 2t's a "ritish penny with <ing &dward E22 in elegant profile - %ut
his image has %een shockingly defaced, in what was then a criminal act# *tamped all o+er the
<ing's head, in crude capitals, are the words, GE7T&* F7D .7/&'G#
GTo hold it gi+es you a sense of connection to the suffragettes# 2t's wonderful, and it's those things
from history, those o%3ects, that 3ust take us %ack to a period, to a moment, to a wonderful
imaginati+e way of making a political statement#G >1elena <ennedy?
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G2t's got shock +alue, it's got an incredi%le le+el of sophistication, this is really - to me - a really
cle+er idea#G >Felicity 8owell?
This week's programmes ha+e %een a%out mass production and mass consumption, and today we
ha+e the rise of mass political engagement# 8ower is usually not gi+en willingly, %ut taken - and in
%oth &urope and merica the nineteenth century was punctuated %y political protest, with periodic
re+olutions on the continent, Ci+il .ar in merica - and in "ritain, the long steady struggle to
widen the suffrage# This programme's suffragette coin stands for all those - not only in "ritain %ut
across the world - who, in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries fought for the uni+ersal right to
+ote# 2ndeed many are still fighting#
This small penny takes us deeper into the now familiar story of women's suffrage# 2n "ritain, the
process of redefining the political nation was a +ery slow one, %eginning in the 1;2(s, %ut %y the
1;;(s roughly 4( per cent of the male population had the right to +ote# "ut no women# The
campaign for women's suffrage had %egun shortly after the 0reat Deform ct of 1;32, %ut the
%attle really got going at the start of the twentieth century, when the suffragette mo+ement was
%orn, and with it a new le+el of female asserti+eness, and indeed +iolence# 1ere's @ame &thel
*myth, who composed that suffragette song, '/arch of the .omen'9
Gt e$actly 5#3( one memora%le e+ening in 1612, relays of women produced hammers from their
muffs and hand%ags, and proceeded methodically to smash up windows in all the %ig :ondon
thoroughfares - 8icadilly, Degent *treet, and so on# 2nspired %y the knowledge that e$actly at that
moment /rs 8ankhurst was opening the %all with a stone aimed at a window of 1( @owning
*treet#G
*myth was 3ailed, along with many other women# 7ne day a prison +isitor found her leaning out of
a window, using her tooth%rush to conduct her co-suffragettes %elow her, in singing their song
during their yard e$ercise#
G# # # 7n, on that ye ha+e done,
"ut for the work of today preparing#G
The "ritish esta%lishment was deeply disconcerted %y the spectacle of respecta%le women
deli%erately committing criminal acts# 2t was a %ig step %eyond the posters, pamphlets, rallies and
songs that till then had %een the norm# @efacing a coin of the realm was a more su%tle crime - one
with no e+ident +ictims - %ut it was an e+en more effecti+e attack on the authority of a state which
e$cluded women from political life# s a campaigning strategy it was, 2 think, a stroke of genius#
1ere's the artist Felicity 8owell, who has a special interest in su%+ersi+e medals9
GThe idea is incredi%ly cle+er %ecause it uses the potential that coinage has - a %it like the internet
today - to %e incredi%ly widely circulated# nd so to %e a%le to get the message out, su%+ersi+ely,
into the pu%lic realm, to those who would %e consoled %y this message as well as those who would
%e shocked %y it, is a %rilliant idea# .ish 2'd thought of it # # #
GThis particular coin makes full use of the fact that coins ha+e two sides# *o, there is an image of
"ritannia, which hasn't %een defaced# n image of a woman standing there, +ery strongly# "ut turn
it o+er, and there is a real potential for shock +alue there, real su%+ersion when you see what's on
the other side#G
7n the other side is the profile of &dward E22 - %alding, %earded, and ga,ing off to the right# 1e's
in his si$ties - the coin is dated 16(3# *urrounding him, running round the edge of the coin, is the
:atin inscription, G&dward E22 %y the grace of 0od, <ing of all "ritain, @efender of the Faith,
&mperor of 2ndiaG# mighty set of titles, redolent of ancient rights and of recent imperial power -
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in fact it's an entire political order, de+ised o+er centuries and claiming the sanction of 0od# "ut
running across the top of the <ing's ear, and right o+er his face, in wo%%ly capital letters, is the
word E7T&*# "elow his ear, F7D - and through his neck, .7/&'# campaigner has hammered
the letters into the surface of the penny one %y one, using a separate punch for each letter# Thirteen
separate %lows# The result is powerfully crude#
7ur &dward E22 %ron,e penny was struck in 16(3, the year of the formation of the .omen's *ocial
and 8olitical Cnion, whose founders included &mmeline 8ankhurst and her daughter Christa%el#
There had %een other peaceful female pressure groups %efore then, %ut none had achie+ed their
goal# Thirty three years %efore, &mmeline's hus%and had presented the first .omen's *uffrage "ill
to 8arliament, which did well in the Commons, until 8rime /inister 0ladstone had declared
himself against it9
G2 ha+e no fear lest the woman should encroach upon the power of the man# The fear 2 ha+e is, lest
we should in+ite her unwittingly to trespass against the delicacy, the purity, the refinement, the
ele+ation of her own nature, which are the present sources of its power#G
7f course, %y in+oking the delicacy and refinement of women, 0ladstone made a calculated appeal
to traditional, repressi+e ideas of how a lady should %eha+e# *o although the campaign for
women's +otes continued, and the "ill was repeatedly %rought %ack to 8arliament, for nearly a
generation most women held %ack from direct action, and the unladylike encroachment on the
esta%lished power of men#
"y 16(3, the 8ankhursts and others had had enough# t this point they were still calling
themsel+es suffragists, %ut after a few years of acti+ism the '@aily /ail' would du% these new,
feisty protestors *uffragettes - a derisory, diminuti+e term - suffragette as in ladette - to distinguish
them from women, ladies, who stuck to peaceful means#
Cnder /rs 8ankhurst's leadership the *uffragettes swung into direct action# @efacing coinage was
3ust one tactic among many, %ut the choice of the penny was particularly ingenious# 8re-decimal
%ron,e pennies, a%out the same si,e as the modern 2 coin, were %ig enough to carry easily
legi%le lettering, %ut too numerous and too low in +alue to make it practical for the %anks to recall
them# *o the message on the coin was pretty well guaranteed to circulate widely and indefinitely#
The *uffragettes also em%raced the cause in person# 2n one famous attack, the Eela,5ue, painting
in the 'ational 0allery known as the 'Doke%y Eenus' was slashed %y /ary Dichardson, who
calmly 3ustified her action9
G2 ha+e tried to destroy the picture of the most %eautiful woman in mythological history, as a
protest against the go+ernment for destroying /rs 8ankhurst, who is the most %eautiful character
in modern history#G
*uffragettes em%raced many tactics that can still shock us now# :etter %om%s were placed in post
%o$es# .hen women were put in 3ail, they went on hunger strike# The most +iolent self-inflicted
action was when &mily @a+ison was killed, as she famously threw herself in front of the <ing's
horse at the @er%y# The *uffragettes %ecame systematic law-%reakers in order to change the law,
and defacing the penny was 3ust one element in a campaign that went far %eyond ci+il
diso%edience# 1ow permissi%le is this kind of +iolence in the pursuit of ci+il rights- 1ere's the
human rights lawyer and reformer 1elena <ennedy9
GThere is that issue of whether it's ethical to %reak the law in certain circumstances # # # and my
argument would %e that there are some times when in pursuit of human rights it's the only thing
that people can do# 2 know as a lawyer 2'm not supposed to say that, %ut 2 think there are occasions
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when the general pu%lic would agree, that somehow one has to stand up to %e counted# 7%+iously,
there ha+e to %e limits on what we consider to %e accepta%le in terms of ci+il diso%edience# There
are some political acts which one would ne+er condone, and the ethics of where it is appropriate
and what is appropriate is a difficult one# The courage of these women was e$traordinary, in that
they were prepared to sacrifice their li+es# 'ow of course, today, we ha+e people who are also
prepared to sacrifice their li+es, and one has to consider when and where that is appropriate# nd 2
think most of us would say that anything that in+ol+ed harm of others has to %e unaccepta%le#G
The *uffragette campaign was interrupted %y the out%reak of the First .orld .ar, %ut the war itself
pro+ided powerful, indeed conclusi+e, arguments for gi+ing women the +ote# Cne$pectedly,
women had the chance to pro+e their a%ility in traditionally male and distinctly unladylike
en+ironments - %attlefield medicine, munitions, agriculture and industry - and once the war was
o+er, they could not %e slotted %ack into a stereotype of delicate refinement#
2n 161; women o+er the age of 3( were gi+en the right to +ote, and in 162; the &5ual Franchise
ct e$tended the +ote to all women from the age of 21, on the same terms as men# nd a hundred
years after our penny was stamped with GEotes For .omenG, a new 5(-pence piece was issued to
mark the centenary# 7n the front, the Bueen, a woman, and on the %ack another woman - a
*uffragette chained to a railing with a %ill%oard ne$t to her, carrying the words, legitimately on the
coin this time, G02E& .7/&' T1& E7T&G#
The campaign for women's suffrage was only one among many struggles for ci+il and human
rights that carried on throughout the twentieth century, and are still continuing around the world
today# .e'll %e looking at some of them ne$t week - our last week in this 1istory of the .orld - %ut
we'll %e %eginning with the re+olutionary fer+our that transformed Dussia# 2 shall %e looking at a
plate made in 2mperial *t 8eters%urg, and painted a few years later in the same city # # #
re+olutionary 8etrograd#
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T,* =1+<2 1( ;u+ Making (9%97 $ !#9# 'C)
Episode .$ - 8ussian revolutionary plate
9ussian revolutionary plate Bpainted in 1021CD /orcelainF from #t /eters5urgE 9ussia
2'm 3ust now listening to the sound of the '2nternationale', the great socialist hymn, written in
France in 1;=1 and adopted %y the "olshe+iks in the 162(s as the anthem of the Dussian
De+olution# GFor reason in re+olt now thundersG, run the lines, Gnd at last ends the age of cantA
way with all your superstitions, ser+ile masses, ariseAG
Throughout this series, we'+e had images of many indi+idual rulers - from Damesses 22 and
le$ander the 0reat, to the 7%a of "enin and <ing &dward E22 - %ut today, in our final week, we
ha+e the image of a new kind of ruler, not an G2G %ut a GweG# 'ot an indi+idual, %ut a whole class#
2n *o+iet Dussia we see the power of the people, or rather, the dictatorship of the proletariat - the
masses are no longer ser+ile#
7ur o%3ect in this programme is a painted china plate that cele%rates the De+olution, and its new
ruling class# *e+en decades of communism are a%out to %egin# This plate is 3ust the start of the
3ourney#
G2n one o%3ect you can see the old regime and the new regime, and the change from the one to the
other, and there are +ery few o%3ects in which history is so clearly present %efore you#G >&ric
1o%s%awm?
This week in our 1istory of the .orld through things, we're coming right up to the present day,
and e+en looking into the future with the last, hundredth o%3ect# .e %egin, though, looking %ack at
the twentieth century, choosing single o%3ects that stand for a whole century of +iolence and
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transformation# 2t's a week dominated %y ideologies and world wars# Fights for independence from
colonial powers, and post-colonial ci+il war) fascism in &urope) military dictatorships across the
world) and, central to the whole story, re+olution in Dussia#
The Dussian re+olutionaries created a state where politics were to %e determined e$clusi+ely %y
economic interest and %y class# nd %y 1621, the year in which this plate was painted, the
"olshe+iks had constructed their new political system %ased on /ar$ist theory, and were setting
a%out %uilding a new world# 2t was an urgent task, in testing circumstances# The country had %een
a%3ectly defeated in .orld .ar 7ne, and the new regime was under threat from foreign in+asion
and ci+il war# The "olshe+iks needed to promote *o+iet aims with whate+er means they had at
their disposal, and one of those means was art#
2'm 3ust going to take the plate out of the case now# Dight at the centre, in the distance, is a factory -
the source of economic power - it's painted in red# 2t's clearly a factory that %elongs to the workers#
2t puffs out white smoke, e+idence of a healthy producti+ity# nd from that white smoke, a great
sun%urst of yellow and orange # # # the radiance of an enlightened future dri+ing %ack the dark
forces of the repressi+e past, shown here %y the clouds that ha+e %een %anished to the margins of
the plate#
7n a hill in the foreground, on the left - not surprisingly - a man strides forward into the picture#
1e, like the factory, is aglow, with a golden aura around him# 1e's painted in red silhouette with no
detail at all, %ut we can see that he's young and that he's looking fer+ently forward# 1e's clearly not
an indi+idual# 1e represents the entire industrial proletariat, mo+ing into that %righter future that
they are going to make themsel+es# .ith his ne$t stride he's going to trample o+er a %arren piece of
ground, where the letters of the word <82T: lie %roken# 1is left foot's 3ust poised a%o+e the
first letter# The plate is of course a lucid and effecti+e piece of *o+iet propaganda, %ut it also shows
its designer, /ikhail /ikhailo+ich damo+ich, to %e a +ery accomplished graphic artist# This is
high art in the ser+ice of the De+olution, and we showed the plate to the great historian of the
2ndustrial ge, &ric 1o%s%awm9
G2deology is important as far as the artists were concerned# "ehind all this, there was among the
people - who felt themsel+es to ha+e made the De+olution and to %e on its side - this enormous
sense of, '.e ha+e done something that no%ody in the world has done, we are creating a
completely new world, which won't %e complete until, you know, %oth Dussia and the world are
transformed # # # and we ha+e the duty of showing it, and pushing it forward'#G
'ot long after the "olshe+ik take-o+er, the 2mperial 8orcelain Factory was nationalised, re-named
the *tate 8orcelain Factory, and placed under the authority of an official with the ringing utopian
title, the 8eople's Commissar of &nlightenment# s the Commissar of the *tate 8orcelain Factory
wrote to the Commissar of &nlightenment9
GThe porcelain and glass factories cannot %e 3ust factory and industrial enterprises# They must %e
scientific and artistic centres# Their aim is to encourage the de+elopment of Dussia's ceramic and
glass industry, to seek and de+elop new paths in production, to study and de+elop artistic form#G
>8etr Eaulin, rt Council for the ffairs of 2ndustrial @esign, and Commissar of the *tate 8orcelain
Factory, !anuary 161;?
2n the Dussia of 1621, the year of our plate, there was an acute need for striking messages of unity
and hope# The country was facing disaster - with ci+il war, depri+ation, drought and famine# 7+er
four million Dussians are thought to ha+e star+ed to death, and the worker-owned factories, like
the one shown on our plate, were producing 3ust a fraction of what they had done %efore the
De+olution# 1ere's &ric 1o%s%awm again9
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GThis undou%tedly was made in 1621, when there was famine in the Eolga and people died of
hunger and typhus, at a time when in fact, looking at it in a realistic way, you'd say, 'This is a
country lying flat on its %ack, how can it reco+er-' nd what 2 think one has to recreate %y
imagination, is the sheer impetus of people doing it# Hou know, saying, '2n spite of e+erything, we
are still %uilding this future, and we are looking forward to the future with # # #', well actually, with
confidence, they thought, with enormous confidence#G
The plate %rings us what one of the ceramic artists called Gnews from a radiant futureG# 'ormally,
new regimes re+isit and reorder the past, appropriating it to their current needs, %ut the "olshe+iks
wanted people to %elie+e that the past was no longer rele+ant in any way, that the new world was
going to %e %uilt from scratch#
"ut there's a parado$ em%odied in this plate, %ecause this image of a totally new egalitarian world
of the proletariat is painted on porcelain - the lu$ury material historically associated with
aristocratic culture and pri+ilege# 8ainted %y hand o+er the gla,e, this plate was for display, not for
use# 2t's scallop-edged and +ery fine# 2n fact, it was a %lank porcelain plate made %efore the
De+olution, one of thousands that had %een left o+er from the 8orcelain Factory's 2mperial days#
The &mpress &li,a%eth had set up the 2mperial 8orcelain Factory near *t 8eters%urg in the
eighteenth century, to produce porcelain that would ri+al the %est that &urope could offer, for use at
court and, a%o+e all, for official 2mperial gifts to foreign dignitaries# /ikhail 8iotro+sky, @irector
of the 1ermitage /useum in *t 8eters%urg, talks a%out what porcelain has historically meant in
Dussia9
GDussian porcelain %ecame an important part of Dussian cultural production# "eautiful dishes
JfromK there are now e$tremely e$pensi+e at the world auctions# 2t is a good e$ample of art in
connection with economy, and with politics# "ecause it was always a kind of pronouncement of the
Dussian &mpire - military parades, the life of ordinary people, pictures from the 1ermitage#
&+erything which Dussia wanted to present to the world, and to itself, in a %eautiful manner#G
2t's a good e$ample of the way in which the *o+iet rhetoric of total rupture could ne+er match the
reality# 0i+en the parlous state of the country, the "olshe+iks had to take o+er the e$isting
structures where they could, and so much of *o+iet Dussia continued to echo Tsarist patterns# They
had to do it that way %ut, in this case, they deli%erately 'chose' to do it# 2f 2 turn the plate o+er, 2 can
see two factory marks# Cnderneath the gla,e, applied when the %lank plate was first made, is the
2mperial 8orcelain Factory mark of 'icholas 22, dated 16(1# 7+er the gla,e, 3ust %eside it, is
painted the hammer and sickle of the *o+iet *tate 8orcelain Factory, and the date 1621#
Hou would ha+e e$pected the Tsar's monogram to ha+e %een painted o+er, %lotting out the 2mperial
connection, and it often was - %ut, as some%ody at the factory realised, there was a great ad+antage
in lea+ing %oth marks +isi%le# The regime was desperate to raise foreign currency, and the sale of
artistic and historic o%3ects like the plate was one o%+ious part of the solution# 2n a letter dated 4
!une 162(, 3ust %efore our plate was painted, an official at the new *tate 8orcelain Factory writes9
GFor foreign markets the presence of these marks alongside the *o+iet marks is of great interest,
and prices for the o%3ects a%road shall dou%tless %e set higher if the earlier marks are not painted
o+er#G
nd so we ha+e the odd situation of a socialist re+olutionary regime making lu$ury goods to sell to
the capitalist world# *ome would argue that this was perfectly sound# 8rofits from the plate
supported *o+iet international action, designed to undermine the +ery capitalists they were selling
to, and at the same time the porcelain propaganda +i+idly promulgated the *o+iet message# 2n
1623, a *o+iet critic proudly claimed9
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Grtistic industry is that happy %attering ram which has already %roken down the wall of
international isolation#G >Hako+ Tugenkhold?
This complicated yet sym%iotic relationship %etween the *o+iet and capitalist worlds was initially
seen %y the *o+iets as merely a transitional necessity, until the west followed Dussia's lead and
3oined it in the radiant future of Communism# "ut the compromise, in fact, %ecame the pattern for
the rest of the century# The front of the plate shows us the simple %inary opposition of *o+iet
proletarianism o+erwhelming the forces of capital# The %ack shows us the pragmatic
accommodation - a negotiation with the 2mperial past, and a comple$ economic with the capitalist
world# nd this was to %e the model sustained for the ne$t =( years, as the world settled into two
huge, competing %ut constantly interacting, ideological %locs# The only time they were a%le to
com%ine, was to defeat the threat of fascist aggression, %ut we all know what followed that#
Tomorrow, we ha+e another picture, also intended pro%a%ly to %e used as propaganda# "ut it's not
on a plate, %ut on paper# 2t's a print, %y the "ritish artist @a+id 1ockney # # # and it was made at the
%eginning of the se$ual re+olution in "ritain in 1644#
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Episode .& - Hoc(ney)s )6n the dull village)
Hoc+ney,s ,7n the 4ull Aillage, Bmade in 1066CD EtchingF from England
J.e do not ha+e the copyright the reproduce the :arkin poem nnus /ira%ilisK
*o, famously, wrote the poet 8hilip :arkin, master of the regretful lyric, pinpointing what were for
him the key aspects of the *winging *i$ties - se$, music and then more se$#
"ut of course there was a great deal more to it than thatA 2t's a decade that has now taken on mythic
status9 as a time, depending on your point of +iew, of transforming freedom or of destructi+e self-
indulgence# nd the myths are not un3ustified#
2n the 164(s, pu%lic campaigns in &urope and merica asserted the right of e+ery citi,en - %lack,
white, male, female, straight or gay - to e$ercise their %asic freedoms, as long as they caused no
harm to others# 2n "ritain, there was also a se$ual re+olution - the contracepti+e pill, women's
li%eration and the legalisation of homose$uality# Today's o%3ect is an etching %y the "ritish artist
@a+id 1ockney# 2t shows a pair of lo+ers in %ed# They are two men, and it could hardly ha+e %een
pu%lished any earlier than the year it was - 164= - %ecause, until then, homose$ual acts in "ritain
were outlawed#
GThen you couldn't %e gay, %ut you could smoke e+erywhere# 'ow, it's the other way around# 2
mean # # # the story of my life, thatA >@a+id 1ockney?
2 think that this is a wonderful image to represent what human rights are all a%out#G >*hami
Chakra%arti?
Two naked young men, half co+ered %y a %lanket, lie side %y side in %ed# .e're looking down at
them from the foot of the %ed# 7ne lies with his arms %ehind his head, his eyes closed as though
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do,ing, while the other lies looking eagerly at him# .e'+e got no idea whether the relationship
%etween the two men is recent or of long standing, %ut at first sight, this looks like a calm, entirely
satisfactory Gmorning afterG#
2t is one of a series of 1ockney etchings inspired %y the poems of the 0reek poet Constantine
Ca+afy# 2t was pu%lished in 164=, 3ust as 8arliament passed the *e$ual 7ffences ct - the first %ig
step in decriminalising homose$uality in &ngland and .ales# @a+id 1ockney's image was
shocking for many then and, for some, it's still shocking today, e+en though there is nothing at all
e$plicit a%out it# The %lanket co+ers %oth men up to the waist# Het it raises perple$ing 5uestions
a%out what societies find accepta%le or unaccepta%le, a%out the limits of tolerance and indi+idual
freedom#
7ne of the constants of this 1istory of the .orld has, not surprisingly, %een se$ - or more
precisely, se$ual attraction and lo+e# mong the hundred o%3ects, we'+e had the oldest known
representation of a couple making lo+e - a small stone shaped around 11,((( years ago near
!erusalem# .e'+e had harem women, +oluptuous goddesses and gay se$ on a Doman cup#
*urprisingly, gi+en this long tradition of representing human se$uality, @a+id 1ockney's decorous
print was still a courageous, indeed a pro+ocati+e, act, in the "ritain of his day# .e showed it to
*hami Chakra%arti, the director of the ci+il rights organisation, :i%erty# 1ere she is9
G2t's a picture of two gay men, %ut it's not - to my eyes anyway - desperately erotic or racy or
contro+ersial# 2t's two people, o%+iously in some kind of intimate relationship, lying ne$t to each
other in a rela$ed way in %ed# 2t reminds me of what &leanor Doose+elt said a%out human rights -
'1uman rights %egin in small places close to home'# This is not %ig politics, this is not legal
3udgement and legislation, this is a%out understanding what it is to %e a human %eing, and
respecting it#G
1ockney was an art student in the 5(s, %ut it was the 4(s that formed him, and he, in turn, helped
shape the decade# 1e was homose$ual and prepared to %e open a%out it, %oth in his life and his
work, at a time when it was still illegal# .hen he made the Ca+afy etchings, 1ockney was li+ing
and working %etween "ritain and California#
The young men in 1ockney's etching - they look in their 2(s - could %e merican or "ritish, %ut
they inha%it the place of the picture's title, which matches the title of Ca+afy's poem '2n the @ull
Eillage'# That poem is a%out a young man trapped %y his circumstances, who escapes his dreary
surroundings %y dreaming of the perfect lo+e partner# *o perhaps 1ockney's do,ing %oy is gently
fantasising his companion, the one who is looking so ardently at him - a %oy imagined, rather than
actually present in the longed-for flesh, 3ust as Ca+afy descri%es in the poem#
G1e lay in his %ed tonight sick with what lo+e meant,
ll his youth in desire of the flesh alight
2n a lo+ely tension all his lo+ely youth#
nd in his sleep delight came to him) in his sleep
1e sees and holds the form and flesh he wanted#G
>8oem 12(, '2n the @reary Eillage', Constantine Ca+afy, trans %y !ohn /a+rogordato# Chatto U
.indus 16=4?
Ca+afy's poetry reads as modern +erse, %ut it looks %ack to an ncient 0reek world, in which lo+e
%etween men was an accepted part of life# Ca+afy, %orn of 0reek parents in 1;43, li+ed in
le$andria# 1is family were part of that huge 0reek diaspora that for two thousand years had
dominated the economic, intellectual and cultural life of the eastern /editerranean# 2t was a world
created %y le$ander's con5uest of &gypt in the fourth century "C, and it sur+i+ed until the middle
3;=
of the twentieth century, and it's a world that we'+e encountered se+eral times %efore in our
1istory, most nota%ly on the Dosetta *tone, where the languages of 0reece and &gypt appear side
%y side#
7n the face of it, there's nothing to connect the worlds of ncient 0reece and Ca+afy's le$andria
with 165(s "radford, where 1ockney was growing up# 2t's a great e$citement for the first time in
this history to %e a%le, at last, to ask the maker of the o%3ect what it meant to him, so here is @a+id
1ockney9
G2 think it was :awrence @urrell pu%lished - in the %ack of one of his no+els - a poem %y Ca+afy,
and 2'd found Ca+afy in the "radford :i%rary# "ut you had to ask for the %ook# 2 looked it up in the
inde$, catalogue# 2t wasn't on the shelf, %ecause they didn't want too many people reading these
poems, or something, so 2 got it out# nd actually, 2 ne+er took it %ack - 2 kept it# 2 took it %ack
once and no%ody else took it out for a few months so 2 went %ack and took it out# Hou couldn't %uy
this %ook in &ngland at the time#G
The 14 poems that 1ockney later chose for his series of etchings - poems of longing and loss, of
the first meeting of future lo+es and of into$icating, passionate encounters - were e$citing fodder,
material that he could use for his own art, and an e$ample of how an artist could make a pu%lic
statement out of such pri+ate e$perience#
2n the "radford - indeed the "ritain - of @a+id 1ockney's teenage years, homose$ual acti+ity
%etween males was criminal, and prosecutions were fre5uent# "rought up %y enlightened parents to
follow his own line and not to worry what others thought, he felt a responsi%ility to stand up,
through his art, for his own rights, and to 3oin the growing campaign for the rights of others like
him# Characteristically, he was determined that his approach would not %e hea+y-handed# These
etchings don't preach, they smile and they sing# 1ere's @a+id 1ockney again9
G2 think 2 did 12 # # # 12 etchings# *ome were drawn from life, some were drawn from my drawings,
some were drawn from photographs# 2 was rather proud of it at the time, and yeah, 2 would ha+e
thought of it as good propaganda, 2 would# nd JitK pro%a%ly helped a little %it# nd 2 would always
defend my life as it were - what 2 was up to# 2 wasn't speaking for any%ody else, %ut 2 would
certainly defend my way of li+ing, yes# 2'+e ne+er really %een an acti+ist, only in my work - that's
my 3o%, to do my work, not to spend it doing anything else# "ut if 2 played a little part in it, 2'm
proud# 2 might ha+e done, 2 think # # # made people open their li+es a little %it, perhaps# 2'd like to
think that#G
1ockney %egan work on the 'Ca+afy *uite' in 1644, as the 1ome *ecretary, Doy !enkins, was
drafting the legislation to decriminalise homose$uality in &ngland and .ales# The ct was passed
in 164=, and the etchings were pu%lished in the same year#
0ay rights were, of course, only one of the many freedoms asserted and fought for during the
164(s, %ut they were a particularly challenging issue in the conte$t of the Cni+ersal @eclaration of
1uman Dights# /ost of these concerned groups of people discriminated against on the grounds of
gender, religion or race, and there was a wide consensus in the aftermath of the *econd .orld .ar
that such discrimination was wrong# *e$ual orientation and %eha+iour, on the other hand, were
seen as something 5uite different# 2ndeed they were not e+en mentioned in the @eclaration of
1uman Dights adopted %y the Cnited 'ations in 164;# 1ockney, and campaigners like him,
e+entually changed the terms of the de%ate, taking 5uestions of se$uality firmly into the arena of
human rights in %oth &urope and merica# 2n some countries, their campaigning changed the law#
"ut in many parts of the world the matter is still seen +ery differently# 1ere's *hami Chakra%arti
again9
3;;
G2 think the image is really important, %ecause you can look at it and see a rather sweet, not
desperately erotic, %ut essentially intimate picture of two men lying in %ed on a *unday morning,
or something like that, and see it as really 5uite a sweet image# "ut 2'm sure that there are %igoted
people who are still horrified %y that idea all o+er the world# nd lest we get too complacent in
modern "ritain, there are still people who fear deportation from "ritain to countries where they
might %e persecuted, criminalised, imprisoned, or worse# The death penalty, in some cases, 3ust for
%eing themsel+es - 3ust for perfectly consensual adult feelings and relationships, %ased on lo+e#G
1omose$ual acts are still illegal in around =( countries# 2n 2((;, the Cnited 'ations 0eneral
ssem%ly considered a statement condemning killings and e$ecutions, torture and ar%itrary arrest,
%ased on se$ual orientation or gender identity, and any depri+ation of rights on those grounds# The
proposition was endorsed %y o+er 5( countries, %ut it prompted a counter statement opposing it#
2t's clear that the frontiers of human rights are still %eing negotiated#
1ockney's etching is arrestingly sparse# few %lack lines suggest a wall here, a %lanket there#
There is nothing to tell us where this %ed is# .e don't e+en know whether %oth figures are really
present, and not 3ust dreamt# This is an idea of a certain kind of lo+e, not an illustration, and this
insistently unspecific image tells us that se$ual %eha+iour, although totally pri+ate, is totally
uni+ersal# *ociety's responses to it, on the other hand, are most definitely not# 2n that respect at
least, our world is less glo%al than we think#
2n the ne$t programme we stay with human rights, and we'll %e looking at the most important of
them all - the right not to %e killed# 7ur o%3ect is a chair from frica, made out of guns from all
o+er the world # # # it's called the Throne of .eapons#
3;6
Episode ., - *hrone of >eapons
-hrone of ?eapons Bmade in 2001CE from Mo1am5i;ue
2n the %ackground 2 hear sounds from a documentary film a%out people working with guns - %ut
these are guns of peace, not of war# They are %eing cut up, melted down, welded together and re-
shaped to make artworks in /o,am%i5ue# 2t's the first time in this series that we can actually hear
how one of the o%3ects was made# 2t's also the first time that we ha+e an o%3ect that is a record of
conflict, %ut which doesn't glorify war, or the ruler who waged it# The o%3ect today is known as the
Throne of .eapons# 2t's a chair, or throne, constructed out of parts of guns which were made all
o+er the world, and then sold to frica#
G.e don't manufacture weapons, we sometimes don't e+en ha+e money to %uy them# 1ow do we
get these weapons to kill each other-G ><ofi nnan?
2f one of the defining features of the nineteenth century was the growth of mass markets and mass
consumption, then the twentieth century might %e characterised %y mass warfare and mass killing#
The two world wars, *talin's purges, the 1olocaust, 1iroshima, Cam%odia's killing fields,
Dwanda # # # if there is any positi+e side at all to this tale of genocide and de+astation, it is perhaps
that the twentieth century has recorded and articulated the suffering of the ordinary +ictims of war,
the soldiers and ci+ilians who paid with their li+es or their lim%s#
cross the world there are tom%s of the GCnknown *oldierG, usually %uilt as stone or metal
monuments, and the Throne of .eapons is in this tradition# 2t is a monument to all the +ictims of
the /o,am%i5ue Ci+il .ar# 2t's also a record of crimes against a whole country, indeed a whole
continent# nd, most unusually for such a commemorati+e piece, it's a work of art, which speaks to
us of hope and resolution# The Throne of .eapons is a%out human tragedy and human triumph, in
e5ual measure#
36(
The nineteenth-century scram%le for frica resulted in the slicing up of the continent %etween
"ritain, France and 8ortugal, as the leading colonial powers alongside 0ermany, 2taly, "elgium
and *pain# fter the *econd .orld .ar, there was a mo+e for independence throughout frica, and
from 164( onwards it was - gradually - achie+ed#
"ut this separation from the &uropean powers was often %itterly fought for# 8erhaps %ecause
independence was so often achie+ed only after fighting, it created great pro%lems for the new
states, sometimes ci+il war# 7ne man who's had personal and professional e$perience of these
pro%lems is the 0hanaian diplomat and e$- *ecretary 0eneral of the Cnited 'ations, <ofi nnan# 2
showed him the Throne of .eapons, and asked him why independence in frica was so often
followed %y further conflict9
G2 think we ha+e to start on the premise that, gi+en where they came from, most of these countries
had not had e$perience of go+erning - running a nation, managing issues - and had to start almost
from scratch# 0i+en the history of their own countries # # # there were ci+il ser+ants, %ut there were
+ery few of them who had actually led and organised a country# nd 2 think also the skills that one
needs to fight for independence are not the same skills you re5uire to go+ern# *o there was 5uite a
%it of learning on the 3o%, and also 3ealousies %etween groups, and a feeling that one tri%e, or one
group, has more power or %enefits than the other# nd this often leads to tensions and conflict o+er
scarce resources - tense and %rutal at times#G
These fragile, ine$perienced go+ernments could look for support to %oth Communist east and
Capitalist west, and %oth %locs were eager to enlist supporters# fter the nineteenth-century
colonial scram%le for frica came the twentieth-century ideological scram%le# The conse5uence
was a huge influ$ of arms to the continent, and a series of murderous internal wars# The
/o,am%i5ue Ci+il .ar was among the %loodiest of them all#
lthough it's entirely made out of chopped-up guns, in its shape the Throne of .eapons looks like
a con+entional wooden armchair - the sort you might find in a kitchen or at a dinner ta%le# "ut
that's the only con+entional thing a%out it# The guns that make up this chair in fact track the
twentieth-century history of /o,am%i5ue# The oldest, forming the %ack, are two anti5uated
8ortuguese 03 rifles - appropriately so, as 8ortugal was the country's colonial master for nearly
fi+e hundred years, until independence in 16=5# That independence was won %y a left-wing
resistance mo+ement, FD&:2/7, which was supported %y the *o+iet Cnion and its allies# .hich
e$plains why all the other elements of this chair are dismem%ered guns manufactured in the
Communist %loc# The arms of the chair are made out of *o+iet <4=s# The seat is formed from
8olish and C,echoslo+akian rifles, and one of the front legs is the %arrel of a 'orth <orean </#
This is the Cold .ar as furniture, the &astern "loc in action, fighting for Communism in frica
and across the world#
The first decades of independence in /o,am%i5ue were disastrous years of economic collapse and
%loody conflict# .hen FD&:2/7 came to power, they formed a /ar$ist-:eninist state, which was
at once hostile to its neigh%ours - white-controlled Dhodesia, now Nim%a%we, and apartheid *outh
frica# 2n response, the Dhodesian and *outh frican regimes created and %acked an opposition
group to fight the new go+ernment# The guns in the Throne are the guns with which this ci+il war
was fought, and it left a million dead, millions of refugees, and 3((,((( war orphans in need of
care# 8eace came only after 15 years when, in 1662, a settlement was %rokered, and the country's
leaders %egan to re%uild their state# "ut although the war was o+er, the guns were still +ery much
present# 2t's notoriously difficult to re-educate a militarised generation to take their place in a
peaceful ci+ilian society, and, in this case, many of the soldiers had known nothing %ut war# 1ere's
<ofi nnan again9
361
G2t reminds me of the conflict in *ierra :eone, where lots of %oy soldiers were in+ol+ed# *oldiers
as young as eight, ten, carrying <alashniko+s almost as tall as they are, and trained to kill# 2 recall,
as head of peacekeeping operations, touring *ierra :eone with some of our peacekeepers, and
trying to see how we redeem these %oys and prepare them for a life after this conflict# There are a
couple of things which are a%solutely essential if a society is going to # # # not so much forget, %ut
to deal with, the past# They need to %e a%le to work on reconciliation# Hou also need to look at the
society, and ask the 5uestions, '.hat happened-', '1ow did we get here-', '.hat can we do to
ensure that this horror is not repeated-' G
The key challenge in /o,am%i5ue was to decommission the hundreds of thousands of sur+i+ing
guns, and to e5uip the former soldiers and their families to re%uild their li+es# The Throne of
.eapons played an inspiring role in this reco+ery process# 2t was made as part of a peace pro3ect
called Transforming rms into Tools, which is still going today# .eapons once used %y com%atants
on %oth sides were +oluntarily surrendered under amnesty and, in e$change, the people who ga+e
them up recei+ed practical tools - hoes, sewing machines, %icycles, roofing materials# The guns
themsel+es were to %e turned into works of art# The pro3ect was started in 1665 %y the nglican
"ishop @inis *engulane, with the support of Christian id# 1ere he is9
GThe purpose of the pro3ect is to disarm the minds of people, and to disarm the hands of people#
.hy should this world ha+e hungry people- .hy should this world ha+e a shortage of medicines-
nd yet, the amount of money which can %e made a+aila%le, almost instantly, for armament
purposes is 3ust ama,ing, and 2 would say shocking#
G2 felt 2 should %e part of shaping that peace# nd of course, we find in the %ook of /icah, in the
"i%le, and the %ook of 2saiah, in the "i%le, where it says they will turn their swords into
ploughshares, and people will sit under their trees and nothing will frighten them#G
The Throne was made %y the /o,am%ican artist <ester# 1e chose to make a chair and call it a
throne, which immediately makes a particularly frican statement# Chairs, rather than stools, are
rare in traditional frican societies, reser+ed usually for tri%al heads, princes and kings# They are
GthronesG in the truest sense of the word# "ut this is a throne on which no-one is meant to sit# 2t's
not for an indi+idual ruler, %ut it's intended rather as an e$pression of the go+erning spirit of the
new /o,am%i5ue - peaceful reconciliation#
*ince the %eginning of the pro3ect, more than 4((,((( weapons ha+e %een relin5uished and handed
o+er to artists like <ester, to %e disa%led and turned into sculpture# The sculptures take many
forms, %ut this piece seems to me to ha+e a +ery particular pathos, precisely %ecause it has %een
made in the shape of a chair# .hen we talk a%out chairs, we always speak of them as though they
were human %eings - we say they ha+e arms, legs, %acks and feet# *o there is something
particularly distur%ing, 2 think, a%out a chair made out of weapons that were designed specifically
to maim %acks and arms, legs and feet# /em%ers of <ester's family were themsel+es maimed, as
the artist e$plains9
G2 wasn't affected directly %y the Ci+il .ar, %ut 2 ha+e two relati+es who lost their legs# 7ne
stepped into a minefield and she lost her leg# nd another, a cousin of mine, lost his leg %ecause he
was fighting with FD&:2/7#G
"ut, in spite of this, <ester made this throne as a means of con+eying hope# The %ack of the chair
is formed %y two rifle %utts and, if you look closely at them, it looks as though they ha+e faces -
two screw holes for eyes, and a strap slot for the mouth# They almost seem to %e smiling# 2t's a
+isual accident of course, %ut it's one that <ester spotted and decided to e$ploit, %ecause it denies
the guns their central purpose, and it gi+es this work of art its fundamental, life-affirming,
meaning# 1ere he is again9
362
GThere is no conflict %etween us anymore# 2 didn't car+e the smile, it's part of the rifle %utt # # # the
screw holes, and the marks left from where the strap was attached to the gun# 2 wanted to 3ust use
the gun as it was, not change it# *o 2 chose the guns and the weapons that had the most
e$pression#G
The last ten years in /o,am%i5ue ha+e %een one of the great success stories of post-colonial
frica# The Throne of .eapons is a monument to one of the most positi+e resolutions to emerge
from those decades of de+astating ci+il war#
2n the ne$t programme, we'll %e with one of the defining dialogues of the modern world, at the
intersection of money and religion# The o%3ect 2 ha+e chosen is a credit card # # # one designed for
2slamic %anking#
363
Episode .. - #redit card
'redit card Bissued 2000CE from 6nited *ra5 Emirates
2f you asked anyone which twentieth century in+ention had most impact on our daily li+es today,
instant answers might include the mo%ile phone or the personal computer# 2 suspect not many
people would think first of the little plastic rectangles that fill our wallets and purses# Het since
they emerged in the late 165(s, credit cards ha+e %ecome, in e+ery sense, part of the currency of
life# "ank credit is now, for the first time in history, no longer the prerogati+e of the elite and,
may%e as a result, the long dormant religious and ethical de%ate a%out the use and a%use of money
has %een re%orn in the face of this ultimate sym%ol of triumphant consumer culture# Today's o%3ect,
our penultimate in this 1istory of the .orld through things, is indeed a credit card# "ut it's a
slightly unusual one, and it leads us to a perhaps une$pected conclusion a%out the way our world
now %eha+es and %elie+es#
G2f e+eryone were a%le to make e+ery transaction through a credit card, then would you actually
need money in the con+entional sense at all-G >/er+yn <ing?
*o far this week, 2'+e chosen o%3ects with which to e$plore some of the key elements of twentieth-
century life and li+ing - se$ and human rights, re+olution, war and the aftermath of war# 2t's now
the turn of that third great constant of human affairs, money# 2 couldn't finish this 1istory of the
.orld without going %ack to it#
2t's featured throughout the series, from gold coins of the pro+er%ially rich <ing Croesus, to the
paper currency of /ing China and the first currency to go glo%al - the <ing of *pain's pieces of
eight# Today's glo%al currency is neither metal nor paper, indeed it's not really money at all, it is a
promise in plastic#
.e all know the dimensions of this particular piece of plastic, %ecause e+ery credit card in the
world is of the same internationally-agreed si,e and shape, so that they can all fit into the Gholes in
364
the wallG that now puncture our ur%an uni+erse# 2t's got on it the name of the %ank, and the usual
run of num%ers that identify it, and us as its user# This one happens to %e coloured gold, and it's got
a confirming inscription which says, in te$t on the top right-hand side of the card, G0oldG# 2t wants
us to know that it's a portal to %ig spending-power# This +irtually weightless %it of plastic is worth
a good deal of gold#
7f course, a credit card as such isn't itself money, it's merely a physical o%3ect that pro+ides a way
of promising money, mo+ing it and spending it# 'one of us is now e+er likely to see the money
we'+e sa+ed - it appears simply as long strings of num%ers on statements and receipts# /oney has
lost its essential materiality and, with the flick of a few fingers, it can %e con3ured up +irtually
anywhere in the world, instantly#
ll the coins or the %anknotes we'+e looked at so far in this series ha+e had king or country
stamped on them, %ut our card acknowledges no ruler or nation, and no limit to its reach, other
than its own plastic mortality, its e$piry date# This new way of handling money gi+es us cash
without frontiers, and it has con5uered the world# Het, e+en on credit cards, the aura of traditional
money remains# The card that's telling our story proudly %ills itself as a gold card# Croesus is still
with us# This card is telling us that, like all the %est money, it is as good as gold# nd so e+en a
complete stranger can %e confident that he will ultimately %e paid#
For /er+yn <ing, 0o+ernor of the "ank of &ngland, these cards are merely a new solution to the
age-old pro%lem of how far you can trust a stranger# 1ere he is9
Gs in all types of money or cards used to finance transactions, the accepta%ility, the trust, which
the other side of the transaction puts in it, is paramount# 2f 2 could gi+e a different e$ample, which 2
think illustrates the importance of trust here # # # when rgentina had its financial collapse, and it
reneged on its national de%t in the 166(s, the currency %ecame worthless, and in some of the
+illages in rgentina, the use of 27Cs as a su%stitute for paper currency started to grow up# The
pro%lem with an 27C is that the 'C' has to trust the '2' - and that may not always %e the case# *o
what happened was that, in the +illages, some of them would take the 27C to the local priest, and
ask him to endorse it# 'ow that was an e$ample, in terms of the use of religion, which was not
fundamentally a%out religion as such, %ut was a%out enhancing the trust that people had in the
instrument that was %eing used#G
2n the a%sence of a +illage priest with glo%al reach to endorse our 27Cs, we use credit cards which
span the world# This particular gold card carries two %rand names familiar all round the world# 7ne
tells us that it is issued %y a :ondon-%ased %ank, a name familiar on e+ery "ritish high street# The
other tells us that it functions through the %acking of a C*-%ased credit association# "ut the card
also has on it writing in ra%ic# 2n short, this card is connected to the whole world, part of a glo%al
financial system, %acked up %y a comple$ electronic superstructure that most of us hardly think
a%out as we key in our 82' num%ers# ll our credit card transactions, carried out with cards like
this one, are tracked and recorded, %uilding a huge dossier of our mo+ements and purchases, and
slowly writing our economic %iographies as we mo+e around the world#
2t's an e$traordinary de+elopment# .e are free now, as ne+er %efore, to spend our way round the
glo%e, %ut most of us ha+en't the slightest idea how this system of mo+ing money actually works#
&+en more important, we don't know who is monitoring our spending, or what they do with the
information they gather# s they know more and more a%out us, we know less and less a%out them#
The one thing we do know is that the %anks - that this recent technology makes possi%le - are far
%eyond anything pre+iously known, and that their glo%al power transcends national %oundaries#
1ere's /er+yn <ing again9
365
GThe spread of a wide range of financial transactions, whether using cards issued %y international
%anks or using the other ser+ices that they offer, ha+e created institutions which are trans-national,
which are %igger than the a%ility of national regulators to control, and which, if they do get into
financial difficulties - fortunately not many ha+e, %ut where they do get into difficulties - then, as
we'+e seen, they can cause enormous financial mayhem#G
2n one respect, cards are like traditional coins and %anknotes# They'+e got two sides, each holding
important information# "ut the difference is that the %ack of the credit card holds information we
can't read# That %lack magnetic strip is the electronic +erification system that allows us to mo+e
money around the world relati+ely securely, and that permits instant communication, instant
transactions and instant gratification# 2t's this micro-technology, one of the great glo%al
achie+ements of the last generation, that has made the worldwide credit card possi%le, and with it,
worldwide %anks# This little %lack strip is the hero, or the +illain, of this programme# ll the rest is
simply a conse5uence of it#
Credit cards do something that was ne+er possi%le %efore# They allow ordinary people to %orrow at
relati+ely low cost, a+oiding %oth the pawn%roker and the loan-shark# 7f course, such
opportunities %ring risk, and easy credit undermines traditional +alues like thrift - you don't ha+e to
sa+e %efore you can spend# *o it's not surprising that this new instrument of credit 5uickly %ecame
a target of concern for moralists and religious leaders, %randed as dangerous, e+en sinful, in its
+ery nature - and that it led to a new, loaded +oca%ulary# The GshopaholicG is our e5ui+alent of the
old-fashioned GspendthriftG and GwastrelG# GFlashing the plasticG would certainly figure in any
modern 'Dake's 8rogress'# Type in Gcredit card de%tG on a search engine on the we%, and you will
find harrowing tales of li+es wrecked %y profligacy# 2t's merely the latest manifestation of the
perennial dangers of li+ing %eyond our means, and of the perils of money-lending - always an
urgent issue for the world's religions# .hich leads us %ack to our card#
2n the middle of it is a decorati+e rectangular strip, with criss-crossing red stars# 2t's curiously
reminiscent of an o%3ect we discussed in one of last week's programmes - the drum from *udan#
This is 2slamic patterning, and we know that it was car+ed on the side of the drum when it was
taken to the 2slamic north of *udan, and %randed to show the new world to which it now %elonged#
The decoration on our card makes the same point# 2t shows it was not 3ust issued %y a :ondon
%ank, %ut %y that %ank's 2slamic finance wing, %ased in the 0ulf# The decoration announces that
this card is different from ordinary credit cards - it's compliant with *haria law#
ll the %rahamic religions ha+e worried a%out the social e+ils of usury - the charging of interest#
"oth the "i%le and the Bur'an ha+e forthright things to say a%out it, from the prohi%itions of
:e+iticus - GThou shalt not gi+e him money upon usury, nor lend him thy +ictuals for increaseG
>:e+iticus 2593=? - to the scathing words of the Bur'an - GThose that li+e on usury shall rise up
%efore 0od like men whom *atan has demented %y his touch#G >Bur'an, 29 2=5?
The most recent manifestation of this age-old concern has %een the rise of *haria-compliant
2slamic %anking, offering ser+ices consistent with 2slamic religious %elief# 2slamic %anks are not
permitted to in+est in alcohol, the arms trade, pornography or gam%ling, and our 2slamic credit
card is paid for %y a fi$ed ser+ice charge, not %y interest# 1ere's Da,i Fakih, from the 2slamic wing
of 1*"C, known as manah, and %ased in @u%ai9
G2slamic finance is a +ery new industry, the industry related to con+entional industry# Con+entional
%anking and finance has %een around for as long as we all remem%er# 2slamic finance started some
time in 164(s &gypt, and 2 think it is only in the 166(s that it actually took off# 2f you were to go
%ack to the early %eginnings of 2slamic finance, that's a%out 3ust four decades old, %ut if you are to
look at the recent de+elopment, and where it has really taken on a significant usage, it's only since
166(# *o it's 3ust less than two decades old, in that conte$t#G
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This recent de+elopment, tying religion to the heart of commercial acti+ity, runs counter to what,
for most of the twentieth century, had %ecome the recei+ed wisdom# /ost intellectuals and
economists from the French De+olution onwards, including /ar$ himself, assumed that religion
would steadily dwindle as a force in pu%lic life# 7ne of the striking facts of the first decade of the
twenty-first century has %een the return of religion to the centre of the political and economic stage
in large parts of the world# 7ur gold 2slamic credit card is part of that growing glo%al phenomenon,
one of many attempts to find a new accommodation %etween those old opponents, 0od and
mammon#
The ne$t programme is our last# The hundredth o%3ect has %een the hardest to choose# 2t looks %oth
to the future and to the past, and it could help change li+es all around the glo%e# 2 hope e+eryone
will agree that it deser+es its place in this 1istory of the .orld through things#
36=
Episode 100 - O4ject 100
#olar-po$ered lamp and chargerE made in #hen1henE :uangdongE 'hinaE 2010
This series has %een, for me, an e$hilarating 3ourney through two million years of human
endea+our, passion and ingenuity# .e %egan in &ast frica with a chopping tool - a roughly shaped
stone that allowed us to take control of our en+ironment and to change %oth the way we li+e and
the way we think# nd 2 want to finish with another tool, or more precisely with a %it of technology
that's also transforming the way we can li+e and think - in &ast frica where our story %egan, %ut
also in *outh sia and in many other parts of the world# 2t's a porta%le solar energy panel that
powers a lamp# 2n fact it's sunshine, captured, har+ested and stored, to %e taken out and used
whene+er and where+er we need it#
G'ow 2 can do my lessons till midnight %ecause of solar light# 8re+iously 2 ha+e JhadK to spend lots
of time in the ration shop to collect kerosene oil for use JinK lamps at night for my studies# 'ow 2
can sa+e my time and money too#G >loka *arder?
G*olar energy is at the heart of the new industrial re+olution, the low-car%on industrial re+olution
which is 3ust %eginning# 2t's a re+olution which will %e enormously important in the history of
mankind#G >'ick *tern?
7ur hundredth o%3ect gi+es to people all o+er the world - who ha+e until now %een off-grid, that is,
without access to any mains electricity supply - a 5uite new le+el of control o+er their
en+ironment# *olar power, thanks to low-cost lighting, and power kits like the one 2'+e chosen, is
changing li+es in many parts of the world# nd it may yet - who knows- - play a key role in
sol+ing the world's energy pro%lems#
2'm standing on the roof of ""C "roadcasting 1ouse, and 2'+e got the solar panel and lamp with
me - the latest addition to the collection of the "ritish /useum# The lamp is made of plastic, it's
got a handle, and it's a%out the si,e of a large coffee mug# The solar panel looks like a small sil+er
36;
photograph frame# .hen this solar panel is e$posed to eight hours of %right sun - and today we're
lucky, e+en in :ondon the sun is %right - then the lamp can pro+ide up to one hundred hours of
e+en, white light# t its strongest it can illuminate an entire room - enough to allow a family with
no electricity to li+e in a 5uite new way - and, once paid for, it depends only on sun#
8hoto+oltaic panels contain rows of solar cells made from silicon, wired together and then encased
in plastic and glass# .hen e$posed to sunlight, the cells generate electricity, which can charge and
re-charge a %attery# 2t's largely made of dura%le plastic, its rechargea%le %atteries are a recent
in+ention, and its photo+oltaic cell depends on the silicon-chip technology which lies %ehind
personal computers and mo%ile phones# nd all this supra-national new technology can now %e
harnessed, thanks to the energy source that's %een with us since the world %egan# 2t comes from 63
million miles away # # # it's the sun# 1ere's 8rofessor 'ick *tern of the :ondon *chool of
&conomics, known for his work on climate change9
G7ne of the great ad+antages of solar energy is that as far as we humans are concerned, it's almost
limitless# .hy- "ecause in one hour we get as much energy from the sun on the earth as we use
right across the planet in one year# *o for us it's +irtually unlimited# nd further, the cost of
accessing that limitless supply of energy is really crashing down# !ust in the last couple of years the
cost of a solar panel has fallen %y a%out a half#G
lthough silicon is cheap and sunshine is free, solar panels %ig enough to generate the gargantuan
amounts of electricity that rich countries de+our are still prohi%iti+ely e$pensi+e# The poor are
more modest in their demands and so, parado$ically, this technology which is costly for the rich is
cheap for the poor# /any of the world's poorest people li+e in the sunniest latitudes, which is why
this new source of modest amounts of energy works so well in *outh sia, su%-*aharan frica and
tropical merica# There, in a poor household, a small num%er of +olts can make a +ery %ig
difference#
2f you li+e in the tropics without electricity, your day ends early# :ight at night is supplied %y
candles or %y kerosene lamps# Candles are dim and don't last# <erosene is e$pensi+e and gi+es off
to$ic fumes# <erosene lanterns and cooking sto+es cause an estimated two million deaths e+ery
year, most of them women, %ecause the fumes are especially dangerous in enclosed spaces where
most cooking is done, affecting lungs, heart and eyes# Then there is the fire risk# 1omes made of
wood or other natural materials are highly inflamma%le, at constant risk from candle flames and
kerosene spills#
8hoto+oltaic solar panels change almost e+ery aspect of this rural domestic e$istence# :ighting on
tap at home means that children, and adults, can study at night, impro+ing their education and
therefore their futures# 1omes %ecome cleaner and safer, and they %ecome cheaper# /icro-credit
schemes allow payments for a solar lamp like this to %e spread, so although the initial cost is high,
the de%t can %e paid off 5uite 5uickly out of the considera%le sa+ings on kerosene - and once the
de%t is paid, your light is free# 1ere is loka *arder, mother and adult student from @ayapur
+illage in rural .est "engal, who is using one of the simple lamp kits in her home9
GFor last one year 2 am using the solar lights# 2t's +ery useful # # # JmoreK than the kerosene lamps#
'ow 2 can work at night, my children can do their lessons at night# nd you know we are li+ing in
the storm-prone area# 2f there is storm, then kerosene lamps # # # not work# 2n that way solar light
works as electric lights for us, and 2 am happy#G
:arger panels can pro+ide power for cookers, fridges, tele+isions, computers and water pumps, so
that many of the defining amenities of towns can now %e a+aila%le to +illages# "ut there's more#
"oth towns and +illages can %e set free %y solar power, e+en when there is a mains electricity
supply# 1ere's 'ick *tern again9
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G7ne of the great things a%out solar power is freedom from the grid# 2n many parts of the world,
particularly the de+eloping world and particularly *outh sia and frica, it is e$tremely unrelia%le#
lso the energy is unrelia%le from the point of +iew of inter+entions %y corrupt people# 2t's all too
easy to flick a switch and turn off your energy supply, and then demand payment to put it %ack on#
.ith solar power you can organise it yourself, you are in control# *o it's really empowering,
relati+e to relying on the grid system#G
*o it's not surprising that in frica and sia, on or off grid, the demand for solar panels is
enormous - they gi+e independence# 1ere is "oniface 'yamu, a teacher from a girls' school in
<i%era, <enya - one of the densest ur%an areas in frica - where they ha+e %een taught how to
make solar panels and lamps that they then sell or hire out# 2t's helping to %ring in e$tra pupils at
the school, as well as gi+ing light to the community9
G.e were taught how 3ust to make it light# "ut the students disco+ered that they can also connect
wires, so that it can also charge a mo%ile phone, an mp3, mp4, and may%e the camera# This panel
works in two ways# 7ne, it pro+ides light, that is a torch - it can %e used as a torch# nd at the same
time - during daytime when we don't need light - it can %e used to charge mo%ile phones, and any
other rechargea%le thing that falls %elow fi+e +olts#G
7n our lamp there is a charging socket, and %eside it is a uni+ersally recognised sym%ol - a mo%ile
phone# 7ur solar panel could gi+e the 1#4 %illion people without access to an electrical grid the
power they need to 3oin the glo%al mo%ile con+ersation# 8utting communities in touch, gi+ing
access to information a%out 3o%s and markets, and pro+iding the %asis for informal and highly
effecti+e %anking networks, so that local %usinesses can start up on a shoe-string# recent study of
mo%ile phone use among the rural poor, commissioned %y the .orld "ank, reported that la%ourers,
farmers, rickshaw dri+ers, fishermen and shopkeepers - all said that their income gets a real %oost
when they ha+e access to a mo%ile phone# s 'ick *tern confirms, women especially %enefit9
GThey can ha+e their own solar panel, and charge people to use it, either for a lamp or a mo%ile
phone# They can do it mostly from their own house# They will need to %orrow a %it to %uy it, %ut on
the whole micro-finance to women is more relia%le# .omen seem to pay their %ills, pay their
credit, a %it more relia%ly than men# *o it has that sense of opportunity and empowerment for
women#G
This li%erating, low-cost, green, clean technology is not only transforming li+es in frica and sia#
2t may ultimately help to sa+e the planet, reducing our current dependence on fossil fuels and their
contri%ution to climate change# 2t's a hope that was e$pressed years ago %y an une$pected prophet
of renewa%le energy9 Thomas &dison, the in+entor of the electric light %ul%# 2n 1631 &dison
o%ser+ed to his friends 1enry Ford and 1ar+ey Firestone9
G2'd put my money on the sun and solar energy# .hat a source of powerA 2 hope we don't ha+e to
wait until oil and coal run out %efore we tackle that#G
The power of the sun seems a good place to end this glo%al history, %ecause solar energy is a
dream of the future that echoes the oldest and most uni+ersal of human myths, that of the life-
gi+ing sun# Hou could see our solar-powered lamp as an echo of this myth - the heroic fire-stealing
8rometheus reduced to the hum%le role of home help# !ust as we %ottle summer fruits so that the
warmth and nourishment of summer can see us through winter, e+ery%ody has dreamed of
har+esting the sun to ha+e its light and power a+aila%le at will# 2n the +ery first programme of this
history, the &gyptian priest 1orned3itef took with him a scara%, magical sym%ol of the regenerati+e
sun, to lighten the darkness of the afterlife# 2 think if he was setting out on that 3ourney now, he
would definitely take a solar-powered lamp as %ack-up#
4((
This hundredth o%3ect %rings me to the end of this particular history of the world# For me, the
series has demonstrated the power of things to connect us to other li+es across time and place, and
to ensure that all humanity can ha+e a +oice in our common story# %o+e all, 2 hope it has shown
that the notion of the human family is not an empty metaphor, howe+er dysfunctional that family
usually is - we all ha+e the same needs and preoccupations, the same fears and hopes# 1umanity is
one#
2t's good to %e a%le to end this series on a note of hope# .e %egan with the noise of a dying star# 2
want to finish with another cosmic noise from millions of miles away# 2t's the music created %y
+i%rations in the sun's atmosphere # # # it's the noise of a new day#
4(1