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Looking across the objects in A History of the World you can see that various, almost universal, themes emerge. Some because they are part of the story Neil MacGregor aims to tell on Radio 4, others simply because us humans have needs and tendencies that haven't changed all that much in two million years.

A couple of weeks ago, the radio series focused on one of these universal themes: belief and faith. Neil talked about a group of objects that tell the early histories of some of the world's great faiths, from the birth of Hinduism, to the spread of Christianity, growth of Buddhism and emergence of Islam.

When I wrote about these programmes I was struck by the number of religious, or faith-based objects that have been uploaded to the A History of the World website, and the amazing stories behind some of them.

Take this Bible given in thanks to the captain of a ship that carried orphaned and destitute children from Liverpool to a new life across the Atlantic. Or a tile from the Alhambra in Granada, where belief, art and power came together in the royal palace of Spain's then Islamic rulers. Some of these stories are being told on Radio 4's Sunday programme each week, such as poet Andrew Motion's small Hindu figure that watches over his every written word.

This is clearly a theme many of us can relate to and understand, often in very different ways, and this Thursday there's a chance to explore it further. Here at the British Museum our is made up of - amongst other things - talks, lectures, art workshops, storytelling and music celebrating the beliefs and faiths associated with the objects that feature in the series.

You can hear author discuss what religion really is, and our very own JD Hill, whom readers of this blog will know as lead curator of the series, speak about how you make a history through objects.

But it is, of course, also a chance to grab a moment with the stars of the Radio 4 show: the objects. Personally, I'll be spending some time in the company of the broken pieces of pottery, which you can hear about this Friday. Theirs is a story of trade that reminds us how ideas and beliefs are exchanged in the marketplace as well as products.

I hope many of you also take the chance to get close and make a connection - spiritual or otherwise - with one of these portals into the past.

• You can add your faith objects to the growing collection on the site. Find out about how to upload an object to the site.
• The photo is of a church in Saint-Germain-des-Prés, Paris taken by and it's used .

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