As a part of a big countrywide project, ‘A History of the World’, the BBC and more than 350 museums across the nation have come together to celebrate our history through key pieces and artefacts. To contribute to this national project, BBC WM and Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery have composed a list on ten extraordinary objects that tell the history of the city…

Each object has a special significance to Birmingham, while telling a story from a far away land. For instance, fusing together the fascinating ancient art of Buddhism and the stories of British Colonialism, the famous Sultanganj Buddha is the first artefact chosen to be on this great list of historical objects.

Martin Ellis is the Curator of Fine Arts at Birmingham Museum and Art Gallery and he believes that the Sultanganj Buddha, having been on display since 1885 when the museum opened, is very worthy of being one of the chosen pieces. He said,”It is the  first object to ever enter the museum’s collections and many people would say it’s the single most important object in Birmingham Museum. It tells us so much.”

Other objects in the collection include the Fijian Ancestor Figure and a not so pretty section of the Transatlantic cable. Although not aesthetically stimulating, the cable is of great importance to the revolution of communication.

Birmingham: A History of the World – The Complete List