A History of the World in 100 Objects: Sphinx of Taharqo

Director of the British Museum Neil MacGregor retells the history of human development from the first stone axe to the credit card, using 100 selected objects from the Museum. Neil continues to describe the power struggles across the globe around 3,000 years ago, as ambitious new forces set about creating the first cities and building sophisticated new societies - from the Middle East to South America. Neil describes what was happening along the River Nile and how a powerful new king conquered Egypt from Sudan. His name was Taharqo and he ruled from a vibrant new civilisation (in modern day Sudan) called Kush. These days few people even know that the mighty land of the Pharaohs was once ruled over by its southern neighbour. The evidence is summed up by a small sculpture at the British Museum that shows the black ruler from Kush in the style of an Egyptian sphinx