Images

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)

This clay tablet fragment gives detailed measurements for the inner city wall called Imgur-Enlil at the start of Nebuchadnezzar II's reign. It names landmarks including Zababa and Urash gates. Modern surveys show that the figures are realistic...

In order to protect the household, these protective figures (apkallu or sage) would be buried beneath the floor in groups of seven. From Nimrud, Northern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Neo-Assyrian Period, 900-612 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

These counterparts of real mastiffs were buried to guard a property from devils and demons. Ritual instructions for making and inscribing them survive on clay tablets. This pack was found beneath a palace doorway at Nineveh. Each is named...

Lahmu was a minor god associated with the god Ea. Ritual texts prescribe that such figures be buried in the corners of a room and in the courtyard. From Nineveh, Northern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Neo-Assyrian Period, 900-612 BCE. (The British Museum...

In order to protect the household, this protective figure (apkallu or sage) would be buried beneath the floor in groups of seven. This figurine represents a wise man dressed in a fish-cloak sent by the god Ea to impart knowledge to humans...

This luxurious marble cosmetic container has an inscriptions marking it as the property of Marduk, god of Babylon. From Sippar, Southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Circa 625-550 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

This mould was used to make small and cheap metal amulets. One is an image of demonic Lamashtu, to keep her away from women and their new-borne infants. From Nineveh, Northern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Neo-Assyrian Period, 800-612 BCE. (The British...

Mesopotamian amulet covered with a quotation from a poem, the Akkadian Erra Epic, thought suitable to ward off plague. From Ashur, Northern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Neo-Assyrian Period, 800-612 BCE. The British Museum, London.