Images

The kaguraden or dancing hall at the Ise Shinto shrine dedicated to Amaterasu. The site first had a shrine built in 4 BCE and is Japan's oldest Shinto shrine, as well as its most important.

The Torri at the Itsukushima Shrine, Hatsukaichi, Hiroshima Prefecture, Japan.

The kings of Egypt's 6th Dynasty from the Abydos King List.

The cartouche of Merenre Nemtyemsaf II, from the Abydos King List, Temple of Seti I, Abydos, Egypt

An alabaster statuette of Ankhnesmeryre II and her son Pepi II. Egypt, 6th Dynasty, c. 2288-2224/2194 BCE (Brooklyn Museum)

The Tower of the Winds, also called Horologion of Androkinos, is an octagonal Pentelic marble clocktower located in the Roman Agora in Athens. The structure features a combination of sundials, a water clock and a wind vane. It dates back...

The interior of the Tower of the Winds, also called Horologion of Androkinos, showing the central section of the floor of the monument. The holes were used for mounting the hydraulic mechanism which was installed inside the clocktower. The...

China, Ming dynasty (1468-1644) Copper alloy. Seated on a lotus of 1,000 petals that emit 100,000 buddhas. Stanford Museum

Seated Buddha. A bronze figure of the Buddha showing the Dharmachakra mudra. Danesar Khera, India, 6th century CE. British Museum, London.

This map shows all major civilizations of East Asia at the beginning of the 3rd century CE. Italicized texts indicate nomadic bands or tribal societies.