Civilisation’s story told through British Museum exhibits in Singapore

On show at the National Museum of Singapore are artefacts such as this painted wooden model of a boat from Meir, Middle Egypt, from the 12th Dynasty or around 1900 BC. Photos: Straits Times Singapore/ANN

The oldest exhibit in the Treasures Of The World From The British Museum exhibition is a prehistoric stone axe from Tanzania no larger than the palm of your hand.

More than 800,000 years old, the yellowish, teardrop-shaped tool was fashioned from quartzite, a hard crystal that required considerable technological skills to shape.