Inside The Palace: Secrets At Court (700 - 950 AD)

Inside the palace: secrets at court

51. Maya relief of royal blood-letting
52. Harem wall painting fragments
53. Lothair Crystal
54. Statue of Tara
55. Chinese Tang tomb figures

Week 11 explores life inside the courts of the elites between AD 700 and 900. While the Maya were flourishing in the Americas, two other great powers: Tang China and the Islamic Empire were also at their peak. A large part of Europe was briefly united under the rule of the Emperor Charlemagne, before it fragmented into individual, squabbling states. The great powers of Eurasia were connected by maritime trade across the Indian Ocean, which fuelled a booming world economy. Objects from the hearts of these courts, provide an insight into how rulers viewed themselves and the world they were creating.