From the very first coinage to burial shrouds, Neil MacGregor decodes five objects to reveal the ambition of new regimes across the world.
- Programmes:
- on BBC iPlayer (5)
- Previous programmes:
- by year (5)
- Today's object
- Suffragette-defaced penny
- BBC Radio 4
- Programmes
- A History of the World in 100 Objects
- Old World, New Powers (1100 - 300 BC)
Old World, New Powers (1100 - 300 BC)
Available now on BBC iPlayer
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Listen to the latest programme
Gold Coin of Croesus
Listen now (15 minutes)
Available since Fri, 19 Feb 2010.
5/5. Neil MacGregor discusses the world's first proper coins that made King Croesus so rich.
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Also available
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Paracas Textile
Listen now (15 minutes)
Available since Thu, 18 Feb 2010.
4/5. Neil MacGregor considers ancient textiles from Peru.
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Chinese Zhou Ritual Vessel
Listen now (18 minutes)
Available since Wed, 17 Feb 2010.
3/5. A 3,000-year-old Chinese ritual and a bronze burial object.
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Sphinx of Taharqo
Listen now (15 minutes)
Available since Tue, 16 Feb 2010.
2/5. How Egypt was conquered by Sudan and how a black sphinx proves it.
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Lachish Reliefs
Listen now (18 minutes)
Available since Mon, 15 Feb 2010.
1/5. Neil MacGregor's world history continues with images of war made over 2,500 years ago.
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Featured
WHERE THESE OBJECTS WERE FOUND
21 Lachish Reliefs
22 Sphinx of Tahaqo
23 Chinese Zhou ritual vessel
24 Paracas Textile
25 Gold coin of Croesus
Browse all the British Museum objects on the A History of the World site
Old World, New Powers
Around 3000 years ago new powers and peoples arose across the world, often replacing existing powers. Egypt was challenged by its former subject peoples from Sudan. In Iraq a rising military power, the Assyrians, constructed a new empire across the Middle East. In China, a group of outsiders, the Zhou, overthrew the long established Shang dynasty. The struggle for power and resources brought about economic change. In both the Middle East and China, coins were created and used for the first time. Meanwhile South America’s first cities and complex societies began to emerge.
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