British Museum tour

I constructed a tour of Rule of Law Treasures at the British Museum for the Folke Bernadotte Academy Rule of Law Research Group meeting on the theme of 'Addicted to Law?' co-hosted by Chandra Lekha Sriram and I in April 2013 at SOAS, University of London. Thanks to the Folke Bernadotte Academy for funding.

The tour is based on the British Museum-BBC History of the World in 100 Objects project and the accompanying volume by Neil MacGregor.

For best results listen to each linked podcast episode, listening out for the relevant theme. Then print out the guide and visit each object in the British Museum--it should take about an hour. Alternatively, you can do it all virtually.

The tour is part of the Legal Treasures Tours series.

1. Ife Head Room 25 (Level -1)

Theme: Rule of law within.
Origins: Wunmonije Compound, Ife, Nigeria, 1300s – early 1400s AD.
Reading: B Davidson West Africa before the Colonial Era

2. Pillar of Ashoka Room 33 (Level 1)

Theme: Spreading the word.
Origins: Uttar Pradesh (probably), India, about 238 BC
Reading: N A Nikam and R Mckeon Edicts of Asoka

3. Standard of Ur Room 56 (Level 3)

Theme: Urban economy and security.

Origins: Ur, southern Iraq, about 2600-2400 BC
Reading: N Postgate Early Mesopotamia: Society and economy at the dawn of history

4. Ming bank note Room 68 (Level 3)

Theme: Rule by faith.
Origins: China, AD 1375
Reading: R Huang Taxation and Government Finance in Sixteenth-Century Ming China

5. Suffragette-defaced coin Room 68 (Level 3)

Theme: Subverting the rule.
Origins: United Kingdom, AD 1903
Reading: M Phillips The Ascent of Woman