Images

This is a chased sheet made of bronze with human figures. It is from Iran (Luristan), and it dates from the 8th-7th century BCE. (Museum Rietberg, Zürich)

This is a fragment from a Buddhist temple in Afghanistan. It dates from between 100-500 CE. (Musée Guimet, Paris)

This ancient Egyptian plaque dates from the 13th-12th century BCE. It is made of silver and other metals. (Collection of Jude and Michael Steinhardt, New York)

This ancient Egyptian plaque dates from the 13th-12th century BCE, and it is made of silver and other metals. (Collection of Jude and Michael Steinhardt, New York)

This funerary relief originally adorned the tomb in Egyptian Thebes of Inherkhau, a high official at the court of Ramesses III. It dates from 1184-1153 BCE or later, and it is made of limestone. Inherkhau kneels in a lower right position...

A mounted archer hunting, Han dynasty, 206 BCE - 220 CE. From a funeral slab.

An earthenware cavalry rider from the Northern Wei dynasty. 386-534 CE. Height: 21.5 cm. (Brtish Museum, London)

An earthenware cavalry rider from the Tang dynasty, China. 618-906 CE. Height: 24 cm. (The British Museum, London)

A bronze sword from the Eastern Zhou dynasty, China, 5th-3rd century BCE. (British Museum, London)

A Han dynasty iron sword and scabbard with wood and lacquer decoration, China, 2nd century BCE. (British Museum, London)