Images

Size of some of the epic poems of the ancient world, reckoned by the number of lines they contain.

The Kuru family tree, from Shantanu downwards, at the time of the Mahabharata war. Those already dead at the time of the war are in grey; those who were formally coronated have a crown alongside with their names.

The bronze "Chimera of Arezzo" is one of the best-known examples of Etruscan art. It was found in Arezzo (Arretium), an ancient Etruscan and Roman city in Tuscany (Italy). The statue is estimated to have been created around 400 BCE. Museo...

Etruscan terracotta canopic urn with a female head and articulated arms, from Chiusi (Italy), around 550-500 BCE. (Louvre Lens, France)

Floral motifs on the walls of the Dhameka Stupa. Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, 3rd century BCE.

Remains of an Ashokan Pillar in the Buddhist monastery around the Dharmarajika Stupa. The pillar has three inscriptions: the earliest is an Ashokan edict warning the monks and nuns of the monastery against quarrelling with each other, the...

Remains of a Buddhist monastery around the Dharmarajika Stupa. Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh, India, 3rd century BCE.

Remains of a Buddhist monastery around the Dharmarajika Stupa. The rectangular cells are thought to be rooms where the monks slept. The yellow structure visible in the background is a relatively modern Jain temple. Sarnath, Uttar Pradesh...

The Chaukhandi Stupa was built during the Gupta period (4th and 5th century CE) and is believed to mark the place where the Buddha first met a group of five ascetics (who were later to become his first disciples). Rectangular in shape, with...

The Dhameka Stupa, as seen from the Dharmarajika Stupa. The Dhameka Stupa was built during the Mauryan period (3rd century BCE) and enlarged in the 11th century CE. It is said to mark the spot where the Buddha gave his first sermon to a group...