Videos

The origin of pictographic & ideographic writing systems are imagined in the first part of this story (proto-writing). The rebus principle is introduced, setting the stage for the development of an alphabet. Featuring some key artifacts from...

More free lessons at: http://www.khanacademy.org/video?v=ld8kHvz1yN4 Jade Cong, c. 2500 B.C.E., Liangzhu culture, Neolithic period, China (British Museum) A conversation between Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

More free lessons at: http://www.khanacademy.org/video?v=ENAZqOoOVaI Nude Woman (Venus of Willendorf), c. 28,000-25,000 B.C.E., Limestone, 4 1/4" high (Naturhistorisches Museum, Vienna)

See various depictions of the Tower of Babel through the ages. With British Museum curator Irving Finkel http://www.britishmuseum.org/about_this_site/audio_and_video/exhibitions_-_archive/babylon_-_video_archive/towers_of_babel_video.aspx

Hadrian built himself a vast palace in the countryside, the villa Adriana in Tivoli about 30 kilometres east of Rome. It was a huge complex, designed to accommodate thousands of people. It was his administrative capital and represents his...

For many years Hadrian was perceived as a peace-loving admirer of Greek culture and customs, a philhellene. But the one statue on which this long-standing perception was based is not all that it should be. British Museum curator Thorsten...

In AD122 Hadrian ordered a mighty frontier system to be built across the north of Britain. The result was Hadrian's Wall, a 73 mile barrier stretching from the Solway Firth on the west coast of Britain to the River Tyne on the east coast...

Find out about the lasting legacy of Alexander the Great in Afghanistan today. The exhibition Afghanistan: Crossroads of the Ancient World is at the British Museum until 3 July 2011. Book tickets now: http://bit.ly/dXJ9CY

Sculptures of the female form are a feature of the exhibition Ice Age art: arrival of the modern mind. Here, exhibition curator Jill Cook and artist Ghislaine Howard explore these representations of women in Ice Age and contemporary art.

In AD 79, a baker put his loaf of bread into the oven. Nearly 2,000 years later it was found during excavations in Herculaneum. The British Museum asked Giorgio Locatelli to recreate the recipe as part of his culinary investigations for 'Pompeii...