Images

This statue weighs about 150 Kg and is made of pure copper, a more difficult casting that requires a much higher temperature than that of bronze. The diameter of the rounded pedestal is about 67 cm and the height...

A young man stands before and skims the votive Vase of Warka, one of the priceless objects in the Iraq Museum and represents one of the earliest surviving narrative art. The man was included in the image for comparison...

Lama Zhang (1123–1193 CE); Tibet; 14th century CE; bronze; 4.3 x 3.5 in. (11 x 9 cm); The Jacques Marchais Museum of Tibetan Art; 85.04.0650

This is part of the facade of the temple of goddess Inanna at Uruk (modern-day Warka, southern Iraq) and is made of bricks. There are standing male and female deities in alternating niches. Both hold...

Two terracotta lions found at the entrance to the Dagan Temple at Tell Harmal (ancient Shaduppum), in the eastern outskirt of Baghdad, Old Babylonian period, c. 1800 BCE. The temple was a typical Old-Babylonian...

A silver coin of Ezana I (r. c. 303-350 CE), king of the African kingdom of Axum (1st-8th century CE) on the coast of the Red Sea (modern Ethiopia & Eritrea). Classical Numismatic Group, Inc. http://www.cngcoins.com

A model of a palace/fortress structure at Axum, capital of the African kingdom of Axum (1st-8th century CE) on the coast of the Red Sea (modern Ethiopia & Eritrea). (Archaeological Museum of Axum, Ethiopia)

A map indicating the area controlled by the African kingdom of Axum (1st-8th century CE) on the coast of the Red Sea.

A modern representation of Saint Frumentius who is credited with introducing the African kingdom of Axum to Christianity in the mid-4th century CE.

Deities of the Padmakula Mandala; Dunhuang, China; period of Tibetan rule (781–848 CE); pigments on silk; 35 1/4 x 23 5/8 in. (89.6 x 60 cm); Musée des arts asiatiques – Guimet, Paris; Mission of Paul Pelliot, 1906–1908...