Treasure time
A new series of Civilisations opens the doors of the British Museum to explore epochal society change, seen through its finest objects
BBC/BBC Studios/Ikram Ahmed
- Robin Parker
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Almost 60 years on from Kenneth Clark’s landmark series, and seven years since its follow-up, the BBC returns to Civilisations with a plethora of academics on hand to chart the rise and fall of Ancient Rome, Cleopatra’s Egypt, the samurai of Japan and the lost world of the Aztecs. A wealth of treasures from the British Museum, some not on display but conserved behind the scenes, bring the stories to life, along with dramatic reconstructions. RT asked four of the series’ contributors to explain what some of the collection’s most striking items tell us about shifting powers in these ancient civilisations.
JAPAN
Suit of armour, Katna swords - 19th century
BBC/BBC Studios/Ikram Ahmed
BBC/BBC Studios/Ikram Ahmed
Iszi Lawrence, broadcaster and host of the British Museum's membership podcast
“This suit of armour, dating from the mid-19th century, is incredibly beautiful and intricate. The mask, with its dragon motif, is designed to be intimidating on the battlefield. Too heavy to be functional, it symbolised honour and family pride. Samurai would have commissioned and conserved armour like this because they wanted to stay connected to their warrior past.
“The US Navy expedition of 1853, led by Matthew Perry, effectively forced Japan to trade with America, leading to the collapse of the Tokugawa shogunate, the military government that had kept the population isolated.
“Samurai, who were high up in the social strata, lost their identity, effectively becoming heavily armed bureaucrats. They could still carry a long-blade katana for training and a shorter piece for indoor use, but these beautifully and individually decorated swords became status symbols. Work would have dried up for the armourers, too, who depended on active samurai for their trade.”
AZTECS
Turquoise mosaic mask - 15th century The Aubin Codex - 1576
Professor Caroline Dodds Pennock, University of Sheffield
“The turquoise mask is thought to represent Xiuhtecuhtli — the Aztec god of fire, time and the year, who was known as the ‘Turquoise Lord’. It was probably ceremonial, worn as part of a ritual as a death mask or by ixiptla — impersonators of the gods who were sacrificed in rituals. This mythical replaying of history would happen repeatedly in a temple, in full view of the populace. The jade and turquoise would have been imported — being able to command these luxury goods symbolised the empire’s strength.
“The Aubin Codex is an 81-page painted pictorial history of more than 400 years leading to the fall of the Aztec empire at the hands of the Spanish army, led by Hernán Cortés, from 1519–1521. The Aztecs had readers of days, known as tonalpouhque, who would study the cycles of the Aztec calendar to forecast the future.
“The Codex represents the indigenous peoples’ efforts to come to terms with their histories, adapting how they told them into European alphabetic forms while still preserving their own pictographic forms.”
EGYPT
BBC Studios
Colossal statue of Ramses II - c.1270 BC Mummified crocodile - c.650-550 BC
Professor Islam Issa, Birmingham City University
“Ramses II looms large in Room 4 of the British Museum. In this granite statue, acquired in 1817, the pharaoh’s looking down at you rather than straight in front of him. Ramses was very good at creating iconographies out of himself during his lifetime so that he could be revered and remembered. A full 11m-tall statue of the pharoah stands in the entrance of the Grand Egyptian Museum in Cairo, which fully opened this month.
“Crocodiles were kept in temple enclosures and treated like gods. Mummification was intended to project pharaohs’ power and this one, believed to be a manifestation of the god Sobek, the ancient crocodile god of fertility and military power, is remarkable for its sheer size — close to 4m long and weighing 100kg. It’s well preserved and has about 20 infant mummified crocodiles on top.
“When Alexander the Great arrived in Egypt, one of his men wanted to kill some of the crocodiles, which caused a big issue with local priests; crocodiles were sacred, and were in the Nile, the source for life for Egypt.”
ROME
BBC/BBC Studios/Ikram Ahmed
BBC Studios
Terracotta theatre mask - 2nd century AD Lycurgus cup - 4th century AD
Alice Poletto, British School of Rome
“The terracotta mask is the face of a German warrior — Romans would never have styled their hair with a ponytail above the right ear! Terracotta was too heavy for traditional theatrical use, though the sealed mouth suggests it was used for some sort of pantomime acting of a stereotyped ‘foreigner’. Ridiculing outsiders cemented one’s own position in society at a time of mass migration of people who wanted to flee invading forces and enjoy the protection of the Roman empire.
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“We’re frequently inclined to believe that late antiquity was a period of decay, but there were objects made with extraordinary craftsmanship and technology. Scholars recently discovered that this cup features microscopic chips of gold and silver, which help illuminate it in different ways. The relief is believed to illustrate Dionysus and Bacchus — even at a time when Christianity was taking over, paganist iconography remained popular.”
Authors
Robin Parker
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