Images

This is a terracotta relief. Captured weapons and a cloak hang on a tree as a trophy (symbol of victory). The stamped inscription M(arcus) Anton(ius) Epaphra(s) refers to the workshop producing the plaque. Made in Rome, circa 1-20 CE. From...

Building operations were supervised by Gaius Julius Magnus, centurion of the 3rd Cyrenaican legion. The emperor Domitian's name has been erased following damnatio memoriae (formal condemnation of his memory) after his death in 96 CE. Roman...

Hadrian, like most Roman emperors, used statues to diffuse his image across the Roman World. Statues often showed the emperor as a general or priest. This bust shows Hadrian naked. This nakedness, originally a Greek style, showed that the...

This relief was found in Kuoyunjik (Nineveh), Iraq (700-695 BCE) decorating a royal building of King Sennacherib. The archer is probably an Aramaean while the spearman could be from Levant. This image was taken at the National Museum of...

This table is made of clay and was found in Southern Iraq (3100-3000 BCE). Early writing was used as a way to keep track of the administration and it was only in later years its uses evolved. Early writing in Mesopotamia was made by pressing...

This bronze hand was found in Yemen (100-300 CE). The inscription on the hand asks for good fortune for the devotee Ta'lab. This image was taken at the National Museum of Australia in the travelling exhibition A History of the World in...

This granite statue of Ramesses II was discovered at the Temple of Khnum, Elephantine, Egypt (1280 BCE). Ramesses II was a very successful ruler between around 1279-1213 BCE. Here he holds a crook and flail and wears a double crown, symbolising...

The Daeseongjeon Shrine at the Confucian School in Gangneung, Korea. Originally constructed during the Joseon Dynasty, 14th century CE.

Pair of sandals from Egypt, made of plaited reed and palm leaves or papyrus, with pointed toe, complete with ankle strap and toe strap now detached from each other.

The papyrus of Egypt is most closely associated with writing - in fact, the English word 'paper' comes from the word 'papyrus' - but the Egyptians found many uses for the plant other than a writing surface for documents and texts. Papyrus...