Images

Image from a Japanese scroll which describes the realm of the hungry ghosts and how to placate them. Kyoto National Museum.

As part of the Hungry Ghosts Festival, incense is burned in front of homes in remembrance of one's ancestors and to give a pleasing scent to the spirits as they walk by.

Celebrations of the Ghost Festival include public altars and parades where food is thrown into the air. The ghosts are thought to be hungry and so food is provided for them in homes and also in public places. Altars of fresh fruit and sweet...

In China gods (menshen) were often painted on either side of a doorway to guard against evil demons or ghosts.

A sculpture from Gandhara depicting Panchika and Hariti (the god of wealth and his wife). The purse and cornucopia suggest the figures may also represent Kubera and Ardochsho. Schist, 100-300 CE. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)

Relief from a limestone column depicting Queen Nefertiti offering a bouquet to the Aten. From Tell el-Amarna, Egypt, c. 1330 BCE. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)

Limestone relief from an Etruscan tomb monument depicting dancers, 500-400 BCE. Probably from Chiusi, northern Italy. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)

Granite gneiss of the Ram of Amun. The standing figure is King Taharqa. 25th Dynasty, c. 680 BCE, from Temple T, Kawa, Egypt. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)

A Thracian gold pectoral. From a king's tomb at Dalboki, Bulgaria. 500-400 BCE. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)

A stone statue of Varaha, the boar incarnation of Vishnu. The standing figure is Bhudevi, the Earth goddess whom Varaha was sent to rescue. From northern India, c. 900 CE. (Ashmolean Museum, Oxford)