In the third recipe video of the Pleasant Vices series Tasha is treating us to a cocktail inspired by the ancient Egyptian beer she made with Michaela and Susan in episode 3. Using an Alpha Beta ale Tasha makes her version of a Henket, a delicious ancient inspired blend to titillate your tastebud...

British Museum Curator Neil Wilkin spends a lot of his time thinking about metal – he’s Curator of the Bronze Age. Was seeing bronze for the first time like the internet or 3D printing? Does he secretly enact Game of Thrones with the objects?

Neil has been working with UCL and members of the pub...

You might know how to walk like an Egyptian but do you know how to dress like an Egyptian? Amandine Mérat introduces a selection of Egyptian textiles from fashion and furniture.

Egypt has a long history of textile production dating back to the fourth millenium BC. Where in other parts of the wo...

Irving Finkel talks Mesopotamian demons, ghosts and sprites and how to deal with them.

In ancient Mesopotamia, Irving Finkel tells us, everyone believed in ghosts but what did the people do if they encountered one? Watch the video to find out.

When a person died, they had to be laid in the grou...

The British Museum Library collection includes more than 300,000 volumes dedicated to excellence in the research of human cultures – past and present – across the globe. The collection is in the nine study spaces of Africa, Oceania and the Americas, Asia, Britain, Europe and Prehistory including ...

Have you ever tried to get into the mind of a suffragette? British Museum curator Tom Hockenhull has... and not in the way you might expect from a numismatist.

An ordinary British penny of Edward VII was made extraordinary by a simple act of vandalism, writes Tom Hockenhull, Curator of Modern Mo...

Hugo Chapman, Keeper of Prints and Drawings at the British Museum, selects three objects from the millions at his fingertips to show the breadth of the collection and to discuss what moves him about each artwork. The three selected drawings are from thre extraordinary Artists such as Dürer, MIche...

If you were ever curious about how the mechanisms in old clocks worked and want to differentiate your mainspring from your escapement then take a look at this video. There are some lovely examples of 15th-18th century clocks.

British Museum horologist, Oliver Cooke, explains step by step how a c...

Curator Naomi Speakman explores the fantastical world of medieval bestiaries and the mythical creatures found within.

Speakman explores mythical beasts and their symbolism represented in objects within the medieval collection. She discusses all sorts of weird and wonderful objects, including a b...

For almost 200 years the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) has been astonishing the world with his famous colour woodblock print, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (1831), popularly called The Great Wave. Hokusai was 72 when he designed this print and had already enjoyed success for most o...

Curator William Greenwood talks us through the different parts of an astrolabe and how to use it.

Knowledge of the skies, now called astronomy, was an important aspect of Islamic culture from earliest times. Scientists and thinkers in the Islamic world built on Babylonian, Greek, Indian and pre...

Being Curator of the European Iron Age at the British Museum is a tough job, especially when you’re honing your blacksmithing skills. Julia Farley explains the processes behind making a Celtic torc (or big metal neck ring), and reveals how one of the most beautiful aspects of these objects might ...

Over many years, Curator Alexandra Fletcher has formed a particularly strong bond with one of the…older people in the British Museum. In fact, she was one of the first to see his face in over 9,500 years. The Jericho Skull is arguably the oldest portrait in the British Museum – a human skull from...

Idrimi was a refugee who fled Aleppo in Syria about 3,500 years ago – the same Aleppo so often in the news today.

Later, as a much older man, Idrimi had this statue made of himself, with his life story written across the front, literally from head to foot. This extraordinary story is inscribed ...

For almost 200 years the Japanese artist Katsushika Hokusai (1760–1849) has been astonishing the world with his famous colour woodblock print, Under the Wave off Kanagawa (1831), popularly called The Great Wave. Hokusai was 72 when he designed this print and had already enjoyed success for most o...

Dora Thornton, Curator of Renaissance Europe, details how Queen Elizabeth I used her portrait to manipulate her public and private image.

As a female ruler in a man’s world, Queen Elizabeth I understood the power of propaganda and the need to manipulate her own image. She identified herself with...

Today Rembrandt is considered one of the greatest artists ever, known for his remarkable drawing from life and attention to detail. However, not all of his works were met with praise during his lifetime. Curator Olenka Horbatsch explores how his naturalistic depictions of women caused controversy...

When presented with a meeting-free Friday afternoon we did what any normal person who has access to Irving Finkel would do, we asked him to teach us cuneiform. We're not really sure Nick learned anything, but hopefully you will. If you want to learn cuneiform from the man himself, Irving has writ...

Anglo-Saxon sword blades were made using a technique known as pattern-welding, where rods of iron were twisted and then forged to form the core of a blade, to which sharp cutting edges were added. This method gave the blade an intricately patterned appearance resembling herringbone or snake-like ...

Curator Mathilde Touillon-Ricci shares her research into the letters of Old Assyrian traders and the sometimes surprising ways in which they get around paying taxes.

Around 1900 BC, the kingdom of Kanesh and the city-state of Ashur, in modern-day Turkey and Iraq respectively, enjoyed a deep and...

The excavations at Sutton Hoo during 1939 were unique for a number reasons. A ship burial of this level of wealth has not been found before or since in England, and excavations were conducted under the shadow of the United Kingdoms impending involvement in World War Two.

Though a great number o...

Irving Finkel has possibly the coolest job in the world. He is curator of cuneiform at the British Museum since 1979 he’s been trawling the Museum’s 130,000 clay tablets for clues about life in ancient Mesopotamia. In this film, he tells us about a particular cuneiform script, a board game that h...

Did you know The British Museum houses over 6,000 items of arms and armour including 135 firearms? Get ready for guns.

Lots of guns. Well, just five actually but not just any five guns. These are Wendy Adamson's TOP FIVE GUNS!

Cast: Wendy Adamson (Curator)

Ashurbanipal wasn't just an Assyrian king, he was a propaganda king. The layout, decorations and even the landscaping of his palaces were all made to point to one major fact - he was more powerful than you.

King Ashurbanipal of Assyria was the most powerful man on earth. He described himself in ...