Images

Toy ball made of linen, hollow, exterior elaborated with red and green segmented decoration form by strips of reed, with circular fragments of reed at either end. From Roman Egypt. British Museum, London.

Mehen, Egyptian snake game, 5th-6th Dynasty, 2575-2150 BCE. Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden.

Toy milling servant, 1300-1200 BCE, 19th Dynasty, Egypt. Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden.

A 12th century CE illustration from an edition of the Japanese classic, the 'Tale of the Genji' or Genji Monogatari, written in the 11th century CE by Murasaki Shikibu. (Tokugawa Museum in Nagoya, Japan)

An Iberian falcata sword, 399-200 BCE. (National Archeological Museum of Spain, Madrid)

A modern statue of Viriathus (c. 180-140 BCE), leader of the Lusitani in several victories against Rome. Zamora, Spain.

A 19th century CE illustration by Kunichika Toyohara showing Genji, central charactar of the Japanese classic novel The Tale of Genji bu Murasaki Shikibu. (Museum Victoria, Australia)

A sumo wrestling bout where many of the pre-contact rituals derive from Shinto practices.

The Ryogoku Sumo Hall, Tokyo.

The torii or sacred gate at the wooden Uji Bridge at the Ise Grand Shrine, sacred to the Shinto goddess Amaterasu. The shrine was first built in 4 BCE and since the 7th century CE the bridge and torii at either end have...