Masterpieces of the British Museum - Episode Guide

Episode: 1x01 | Airdate: Jun 14, 2006

The story of the discovery in East Anglia and restoration of the most iconic piece of the Sutton Hoo treasure, Britain's richest ever archaeological find.

Episode: 1x02 | Airdate: Jun 21, 2006

Among the greatest artistic masterpieces of the ancient world, the Assyrian reliefs were found in the 19th century by an Iraqi archaeologist working for the British in competition with the French. The stone reliefs depict the great Assyrian monarch King Ashburnipal in his favoured practice of hunting lions.

Episode: 1x03 | Airdate: Jun 28, 2006

Amongst the most appealing objects in the British Museum is a chess set, perhaps made by 12th century Norwegian craftsmen and discovered on a remote beach on the Isle of Lewis in 1831. Each piece is amazingly carved out of whale teeth - some are comic, some pensive and some grand.

Episode: 1x04 | Airdate: Jul 5, 2006

The Benin bronzes and an exquisite bronze head known as the Head of Ife, estimated to be eight hundred years old, caused Europeans to revise completely their cultural assumptions about Africa. It is both artistically refined and made by masters of the technology of bronze casting.

Episode: 1x05 | Airdate: Jul 12, 2006

Episode: 1x06 | Airdate: Jul 19, 2006