Images

Lombardic disc brooches from modern-day Italy, 7th century. The garnet on the gold brooch (right) is recycled from an earlier piece of jewellery while the other shows an enamelled woman bust (left; the so-called the Castellani Brooch). The...

Marble relief depicting two pairs of collared slaves being led on ropes by helmeted men, from Smyrna (Izmir, Turkey), 200 CE. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)

Portrait of the Roman poet Virgil (VERGILLVS MARO) on the Monnus mosaic from Augusta Treverorum (Trier), end of the 3rd century CE. (Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Germany)

Kamose of Thebes sacked Avaris in an attempt to unify Egypt and drive out foreign kings c. 1575 BCE, Second Intermediate Period of Egypt. Stela on display in the Luxor Museum, Egypt.

A map showing the territory of the Unified Silla Kingdom (668- 935 CE) and Balhae (Parhae) Kingdom (698-926 CE), which controlled parts of Manchuria.

The large cast-bronze bell known as the Emille Bell at Bongdeoksa, Unified Silla Kingdom, Korea. It was cast in 771 CE to honour King Seongdeok. 3.3 metres tall and over 2.2 metres in diameter, it is decorated with lotus flowers and heavenly...

The White Chapel, a structure significant to archaeologists and scholars for listing all the nomes of the time on it, built by Senusret I, 1971-1926 BCE, Middle Kingdom of Egypt. The White Chapel was destroyed and recycled for use in the...

Portrait of the Greek poet Hesiod (ESIODVS) on the Monnus mosaic from Augusta Treverorum (Trier), end of the 3rd century CE. It is the only known authenticated portrait of Hesiod. (Rheinisches Landesmuseum Trier, Germany)

The burial chamber at Sutton Hoo contained 6 spearheads of different shapes and 3 angons (barbed lances), all of iron. Spears are the most common weapons found in Anglo-Saxon graves, but the number and variety here are unparalleled. The rare...

This glass disc came from the base of a drinking vessel, which may have been made as a wedding gift. Many such discs have been found in the catacombs of Rome, suggesting that when one of a married couple died, the vessel's decorative base...