Images

A sculpted panel at the Gupta-period (4th-6th century CE) caves of Udayagiri, Madhya Pradesh, India. The caves are rock-cut Hindu shrines and this panel shows Vishnu as the boar-headed incarnation Varaha. The god rises from the cosmic waters...

The Vishnu Anantasayana panel, Dashavatara Temple, Deogarh. 5th-6th century CE. The Gupta-period sculpture adorning the temple includes many images from Hindu mythology. This celebrated panel from the south wall of the temple has Vishnu reclining...

The Gupta style Dashavatara temple, Deogarh in Madhya Pradesh, India. 5th-6th Century CE.

A map showing the maximum extent of the Gupta Empire in northern India, c. 320-550 CE.

The brick shikhara tower of the Hindu temple at Bhitargaon, Uttar Pradesh, northern India. Built in the late 5th century CE during the Gupta reign it is one of the oldest surviving Hindu temple buildings in existence.

This is a map of Anglo-Saxon London between circa 500 CE and 1066 CE. The main purpose of this map is to highlight those place names which can still be recognized in modern London. As this map spans over 500 years, some of these places may...

This winged ibex was a handle for a metal amphora-shaped vessel, made in the 4th century BCE in Achaemenid Persia. This high level of detail was achieved through the use of lost-wax technique. It has been suggested that this piece of art...

Sarcophagus of Eshmunazor II, king of Sidon. This sarcophagus is significant because it contains the longest known inscription in Phoenician writing. The king clearly shows an Egyptian style, with the fake beard and an Egyptian hairstyle...

Lamp handle made of bronze in the shape of an ibex. 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. Southern Arabia. Louvre Museum, Paris.

Limestone relief from Palmyra (Syria) showing the moon god Aglibol, the supreme god Baalshamin, and the sun god Malakbel (from left to right). First half of the first century CE. Exhibited in the Louvre Museum, Paris.