Images

Stone carved Faravahar in Persepolis. Faravahar is one of the best-known symbols of Zoroastrianism, the state religion of ancient Iran.

The Castillo pyramid at the Maya (and possibly later Toltec) centre of Chichen Itza, Yucatan, Mexico. The pyramid was a temple built in honour of the Maya feathered-serpent god Kukulkan.

Modern artist's impression of what Attila the Hun may have looked like.

This is a modern watercolour sketch of how a Roman city under attack may have looked like.

A Western Zhou ceremonial bronze of cooking-vessel form inscribed to record that the King of Zhou gave a fiefdom to Shi You, ordering that he inherit the title as well as the land and people living there. Bronze Gui of Shi You (food container...

Archaeological site at Zakros, Crete.

This Assyrian relief from the North-West Palace in Kalhu (c. 865-860 BCE) shows King Ashurnasirpal advancing on an enemy city, protected by a shield-bearer. Ahead is a wheeled siege engine, which carries more archers and contains a lever-operated...

Astarte, the Mesopotamian goddess of war and fertility, also known as Ishtar and Inanna, oil on canvas by John Singer Sargent, 1890-95. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York.

Semiramis Receiving Word of the Revolt of Babylon by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri), 1624 CE, Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

Assyrian archers firing on the enemy during the siege of Lachish. Each archer was protected from enemy fire by a shield bearer. The pointy pattern in the background means that this scene is happening in the mountains. They represent the...