Images

A painting by Salvator Rosa (c. 1663 CE) depicting the two Greek philosophers Protagoras (right) and Democritus (centre). (Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg)

The Famine Stele is an inscription from the Ptolemaic Dynasty of Egypt (332-30 BCE), which tells the story of how King Djoser saved his country.

Statue of Djoser, ruler in the Third Dynasty of Egypt, in his serdab.

A fresco by Cesare Maccari (1840-1919 CE) depicting Roman senator Cicero (106-43 BCE) denouncing the conspirator Catiline in the Roman senate. (Palazzo Madama, Rome)

Statue of Khasekhemwy, ruler of the Second Dynasty in Ancient Egypt. The statue is located in the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, UK.

The side of the Narmer Palette with the two serpopards, c. 3100 BCE. (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)

Bronze figure of Bastet from the Late Period of Ancient Egypt. Bastet, represented as a cat or a woman with a cat's head, was adored as goddess of fertility, festivity and intoxication. The British Museum, London.

Granite stela of Peribsen, 2nd Dynasty ruler of Egypt. The inscription consists of the serekh of Peribsen surmounted by the animal of Seth, the latter having been hammered out at a later date.

A bronze plaque upon which is engraved an edict from the second emepror of the Qin Dynasty (221-206 BCE) in China. (Royal Ontario Museum, Toronto)

A detail from the Narmer Palette, Egypt, c. 3100 BCE. The inscribed slab depicts a king identified as Narmer conquering his enemies and subjugating the land. (Egyptian Museum, Cairo)