Images

The shrine contains a figure of Osiris, the god of the dead. This statue stood in a temple at Sais, then capital of Egypt. The text on the back-pillar calls Wahibra an "overseer of access of foreign lands (who managed trade on Egypt's southern...

Examples of the Murex haustellum brandaris shellfish, one of the sources of Tyrian purple dye.

The silk shroud of Charlemagne made with gold and Tyrian purple. The design shows a quadriga (four-horse chariot). 9th century CE. (Musée National du Moyen Âge, Paris)

Bells made from an alloy of gold and copper (tumbaga) by the Tairona people of Colombia. c. 1500 A.D.

Stained glass detail from a window in St Paul's within-the-Walls, Rome, depicting Ignatius of Antioch (35-108 CE).

Ignatius of Antioch is thrown to the lions in the arena. Print by Jan Luyken, 1701 CE, Rijksmuseum, Amsterdam.

The Inca Sacsayhuaman fortress-temple complex at Cuzco. The structure was begun in the reign of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (1438 - 1471 CE) and completed by his successors.

One of the terrace gateways of the Inca Sacsayhuaman fortress-temple complex at Cuzco. The structure was begun in the reign of Pachacuti Inca Yupanqui (1438 - 1471 CE) and completed by his successors.

This slab, later used a millstone, tells of the world's creation by Ptah, chief god of Memphis. The text is Archaic, and a preface claims that Shabaqo (Shabako) A Kushite King, had it copied from an ancient worm-eaten scroll in the temple...

Teti, who held many official and priestly titles, sits on a mat. He wears a priest's leopard skin and sandals. The tail of the leopard lies beside his right foot. His right hand clasps a lotus flower, a symbol of rejuvenation. The hieroglyphic...