Images

A marble bust of Athenian statesman and general Themistocles (c. 524 - c. 460 BCE), the victorious commander at the crucial battle of Salamis against Persia. (Museo Ostiense, Ostia)

Group of polished stone tools from the Jomon Period.

Earthenware cup decorated with cord-markings from the Late Jomon Period.

Deep pot (32 cm high) with impressed decoration from the Middle Jomon Period.

The mandapa (hallway) roof and three-storey vimana tower with its octagonal dome of the Kailasa temple at Ellora, central India. The 32 metre high temple was dedicated to Shiva and was built in the 8-9th centuries CE.

The rock-cut Hindu temple the Kailasa of Ellora, central India. The 32 metre high temple was dedicated to Shiva and was built in the 8-9th centuries CE.

Shang Dynasty oracle bone from China.

Chinese oracle bone dating from the Shang Dynasty.

Top left: Athenian statesman Pericles (495–429 BCE). Top right: Athenian statesman and general Alcibiades (c. 451-403 BCE). Bottom left: Alexander the Great (356 - 323 BCE). Bottom right:Roman general Scipio Africanus the Elder, 236-183 BCE...

Woodblock print in the shangtu xiawen format (illustration above, text below) from the 9th century CE, Tang Dynasty. The top part shows the seated Bodhisattva Avalokitesvara, flanked by two inscribed cartouches. The bottom part contains a...