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Rejecting the Image

Neil MacGregor considers the role that images play in the expression of shared beliefs - how they are reproduced, interpreted and rejected, and how they change our behaviour.

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.

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14 minutes

Last on

Sun 21 Aug 202200:15
BBC Radio 4

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Change Your Life

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Living with Many Gods

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Broadcasts

  • Fri 17 Nov 201709:45
    BBC Radio 4 FM
  • Fri 17 Nov 201719:45
    BBC Radio 4
  • Fri 19 Aug 202214:45
    BBC Radio 4 FM
  • Sun 21 Aug 202200:15
    BBC Radio 4

Animations

Animations

Neil MacGregor tells the stories of some of the key objects in the series.

Podcast

  • Living with the Gods

    Neil MacGregor explores the role and expression of shared beliefs around the world.