Images

Statue of Khonsirdis, 26th Dynasty, 664-610 BCE. Provenance unknown. The British Museum, (photo taken at The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia) Khonsirdis wears the typical trappings of a priest. His head is shaved and he wears a leopard...

Stela of Qeh, early 19th Dynasty, about 1250 BCE. Probably from Abydos, Egypt. The British Museum, (photo taken at The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia) Priests made offerings of food and drink to both the gods and the dead. Here...

Situla of Hor, end of the Late Period to the beginning of the Ptolemaic Period, about 350-280 BCE. From Thebes, Egypt. The British Museum (photo taken at The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia). Situlae were important vessels used for...

Egyptian soul house, 12th Dynasty, about 1985-1795 BCE. Provenance unknown. The British Museum, (photo taken at the Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia) Model houses placed in tombs were another way to ensure the deceased's eternal access...

12th Dynasty, about 1985-1795 BCE. Provenance unknown. The British Museum, (photo taken at The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia) Wooden funerary model representing the slaughtering of a bull, enabling it to be sacrificed for eternity...

Egyptian wine jars, 18th-19th Dynasties, about 1550-1186 BCE. Provenance unknown. The British Museum, (photo taken at The Powerhouse Museum, Sydney, Australia) Originally part of a set of at least four jars, these two vessels belonged...

A wooden figure representing Kukai, aka Kobo Daishi (774-835 CE), a scholar, poet and monk who founded Shingon Buddhism in Japan. (Guimet Museum, Paris)

The main shrine of the Kitano-tenmangu shrine at Kyoto, Japan. The shrine is dedicated to Sugawara no Michizane, aka Tenjin (845-903 CE). Michizane was a scholar, poet and high-level administrator in the Japanese court during the Heian Period...

A painted wood figure representing Sugawara no Michizane, aka Tenjin (845-903 CE). Michizane was a scholar, poet and high-level administrator in the Japanese court during the Heian Period. He was later deified as the god of scholarship and...

A representation of Sugawara no Michizane, aka Tenjin, (845-903 CE) on painted silk. Michizane was a scholar, poet and high-level administrator in the Japanese court during the Heian Period. He was later deified as the god of scholarship...