Images

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...

The left half of this front panel of the casket refers to the Germanic tale of Weland, a smith who was imprisoned and lamed by a legendary king. Weland took revenge by killing the king's sons and turning their skulls into drinking cups. Here...

Image of the Sumerian god Enki. Modern reproduction of a detail of the Adda seal (c. 2300 BCE)

The Gwanggaeto Stele which describes the key events of the Goguryeo king Gwanggaeto the Great (r. 391-413). The 7.3 metre tall stele was erected in 414 CE and stands outside the king's tomb at modern Tonggou, Korea.

This bottle is the only piece of pottery from the Sutton Hoo ship-burial. It was made on a wheel, like Frankish pottery; early Anglo-Saxon pottery was typically handmade. Unglazed and therefore porous, it was only suitable for viscous liquids...