Images

China's bronze-casting traditions can be traced back to about 2000 BCE. Elaborate bronze vessels were made for ritual and ceremonial use, often to make offerings to ancestors. The materials and technology of this long-standing tradition were...

One side (reverse) of this elaborate gold pendant has designs based on coins of the Kushan rulers Kanishka I (100-126 CE) or Huvishka (126-163 CE); it shows an image of the goddess of wealth. On the other side (obverse, this image), the image...

Alexander conquered large areas of Europe, Asia, and North Africa. The coin types produced during his lifetime were still used after his death in 323 BCE. These had the same imagery and weight standard, with local symbols to distinguish the...

This coin depicts Vadfradad I, king of Persis (Fars) in Southern Iran, who can be identified on both sides of the coin by his special headgear. On the back (lower image), a figure holds up a royal headband (diadem) as a symbol of kingship...

The bronze bell at the Buddhist Sangwonsa temple in Pyeongchang. The bronze-cast bell dates to 725 CE and is the oldest surviving such bell from ancient Korea.

A detail of the dragon suspension of the bronze bell at the Sangwonsa temple in Pyeongchang. The bronze-cast bell dates to 725 and is the oldest surviving such bell from ancient Korea.

A painting of the royal palace at Songdo (Kaesong). Goryeo period (918-1392 CE), Korea.

An illuminated text of the Buddhist Lotus sutra. Goryeo period (918-1392 CE). Gwangdeoksa temple in Chenan, Korea.

In early Anglo-Saxon England, the highest status men were buried with unique and luxurious items, like this gold finger-ring set with an engraved Roman gem (intaglio). The gem itself dates back to around the 1st century CE while the ring...

Some Greek cities used images for their names, so "readers" did not have to be literate. In Rhodes, a rose (rhodon) was used. Silver tetradrachm coin, circa 400-380 BCE. From Rhodes, Greece. (The British Museum, London).