Images

These bronze door knockers come from burial no. 1 at Dong Tac, Dong Son, Thanh Hoa in Vietnam. They date from the 1st-3rd centures CE. (Musée Guimet, Paris)

The Dolmen of Sciacca, in "Contrada Femmina Morta", Sicily.

The portative stele depicts scenes from the life of Buddha. It was made from white marble in northern China during the Northern Wei dynasty (386-524 CE). A date marker on this stele indicates that it was created during the first year of the...

This is a 6th century CE gravestone for a German man named Leo. The text is in Latin. (Translation of the text into English: "In this tomb rests in peace Leo of good memory. He lived for 52 years. He died the day before the Ides of October."...

This painted goblet dates from the first half of the 3rd century CE, and it was found in 1991 when archaeologists opened an ash casket located on Richard Wagner Straße in Cologne, Germany. The brilliant enamel paint was as fresh as if it...

Sextus Haparonius Iustinus was a "seplasarius" — a trader in perfumes and unguents — who lived in what's present-day Cologne, Germany during the 2nd century CE. When he died, his "brothers" erected a funeral monument of stone in his honor...

A portrait of an Eastern Han woman from the Dahuting tomb, Zhengzhou, Henan province, China. 25-220 CE. Part of a wider secene showing daily life in Han China.

A 17th century CE painting by Rembrandt of the future King David of Israel playing the harp to soothe the tormented mind of Saul. (Stadel Museum, Frankfurt, Germany)

A statue of King David, second king of the ancient United Kingdom of Israel during the 10th century BCE. (By Nicolas Cordier, Borghese Chapel, Basilica di Santa Maria Maggiore, Rome)

A detail of the David statue by Michelangelo Buonarroti, 1501-1504 CE. David was the second king in the ancient United Kingdom of Israel during the 10th century BCE. (Academia Gallery, Florence)