Gold, Silver and Glass: Power Networks, Cultural Identities, Technology Transfers and Agency across the Old World (7th Century BC - 1st Century AD)

This volume explores how precious materials shaped power, identity and cultural exchange in the ancient world from the 7th century BC to early Roman times. Growing out of the British Museum special exhibition Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece, it brings together new perspectives on technology, value and artistic interaction from Greece to China. Gold, Silver and Glass takes an innovative approach to our understanding of cultural interaction in antiquity. It contains 14 papers arising from an international conference held at the British Museum in June 2023 and associated with the special exhibition Luxury and Power: Persia to Greece. The papers are by invited specialists ranging from the UK, America, France and Greece to Ukraine, Russia, Armenia, Kazakhstan, China and Japan. They are divided into two parts, focused on cultural and technological interactions respectively. The first examines definitions of Greek and Eurasian culture, challenges perceptions and creates new avenues of research. The second looks critically at issues of metrology and value of silver in antiquity, and presents case-studies containing new scientific analyses of Achaemenid, Saka and Chinese gold and silverwares, and gold-leaf glass.