Images

This tablet records the exact coins required for transaction in Babylon. Because coins could circulate for many years, freshly minted coins were less worn and had a better silver weight. The tablet specifies the "staters of Seleucus with...

A gold crown of the Silla kingdom of Korea (1st century BCE to 7th century CE). National Treasure No. 191 from the north mound of the Great Tomb at Hwangnam, Geumseong (Gyeongju). 5th century CE. The crown is made of sheet-gold and decorated...

A map of the Korean states in 108 BCE.

An early 19th century CE portrait of Dangun Wanggeom (Tangun). According to Korean mythology, as recounted in the 13th century CE Samguk yusa ('Memorabilia of the Three Kingdoms'), the state of Gojoseon (Old Choson) was founded in 2333 BCE...

The Seated Scribe, from Saqqara, 4th or 5th Dynasty, Old Kingdom of Egypt, c. 2600 - 2350 BCE. Louvre, Paris.

This gravestone was recycled from a Roman building. It is inscribed with a cross and a fragmentary Latin inscription. The surviving part reads "Gundebebius the servant of God lived about...years". Gundebebius is a Germanic male name, suggesting...

This earthenware tile would have been mounted with others in a wooden frame to decorate the wall of a room. It shows a large chi-rho motif, comprising the first two letters of Christ's name in Greek (XP). This is flanked by the first and...

This panel depicts a scene from the famous Roman legend of twin brothers, Romulus and Remus. Abandoned as children, they were rescued and suckled by a she-wolf (centre). Another wolf, perhaps her mate, licks their feet, while men with spears...

This replica panel (the original is the Museo Nazionale del Bargello, Florence, Italy) refers to a lost Germanic legend about a figure called Hos who, the runic inscriptions relates, is made to suffer by Ertae. Its mysterious imagery includes...

This is the back panel of the Franks/Auzon Casket. This panel depicts the capture of the city of Jerusalem in 70 CE by the Roman general (later Emperor) Titus. The inscription on this panel appears as a mixture of Old English, Latin, runes...