Neil MacGregor explores the role and expression of shared beliefs in communities around the world. Produced in partnership with the British Museum.
Neil MacGregor explores the role and expression of shared beliefs in communities around the world. Produced in partnership with the British Museum.
Neil MacGregor's series on the role and expression of beliefs continues with a reflection on faiths which focus on the word rather than the image.
A striking cobalt blue mosque lamp, from around 1570, shows an Islamic way of doing honour to the word: calligraphy. In Jewish religious ceremonies a yad - a small silver rod with a little hand and a pointing index finger - is used to follow the text during readings from the Torah, to avoid any damage to the delicate parchment.
Producer Paul Kobrak
Produced in partnership with the British Museum Photograph (c) The Trustees of the British Museum.