AncientWorldArtifacts: Treasures of the British Museum

The British Museum in London is dedicated to human history and culture. Its permanent collection of some 8 million works is among the largest and most comprehensive in existence, and originates from all continents.

The British Museum was established in 1753 and first opened to the public in 1759.

The Rillaton gold cup. The main body of the cup was beaten out of a single lump of gold of high purity. The corrugated profile would have required great skill to achieve.

The ship-burial at Sutton Hoo, probably dating from the early 7th century and excavated in 1939, is one of the most magnificent archaeological finds in England.

The Fishpool hoard comprises 1,237 coins, four rings, four pieces of jewellery and two lengths of chain. It was probably deposited some time between winter 1463 and summer 1464, during a rebellion against the Yorkist king Edward IV (reigned 1460-83) on behalf of the Lancastrian Henry VI, in the first decade of the Wars of the Roses (1455-85).

This Mughal gold pendant is inlaid with flat-cut rubies and emeralds and a large faceted diamond, in the pattern of a flying bird, against a leafy background of rubies.

The Middleham Jewel was found near Middleham Castle in North Yorkshire in 1985. The diamond-shaped gold pendant is adorned with a large sapphire. It is intricately engraved, on the front with an image of the Holy Trinity and on the back with the Nativity. 1400AD - 1499AD