Images

Bust of the Greek philosopher Democritus (ca. 460 - ca. 370 BCE).

A print by Utagawa Toyokuni III showing the sun goddess Amaterasu, the most important deity of the Japanese Shinto religion. Here she emerges from self-exile in a cave. The figure on the right is most probably the god Ame-no-tajikara-wo.

Photo of the Bükk Hills (Hungary) in autumn.

Lion attacking gazelles in a mosaic from the floor of the bath hall in the palace complex of Khirbat Al Mafjar. The palace was built by Walid Ibn Yazid in 734 CE and is located near Jericho in the Jordan Valley. It is one of the last surviving...

The wedded rocks known as Meoto-iwa are located in Japan near Ise jingu. They represent the two creator gods of the Shinto religion, Izanami and Izanagi. The rocks are joined by a sacred rope (shimenawa) of plaited rice stalks which symbolizes...

The six Ionic columns of the front entrance of the Erechtheion temple on the Athenian acropolis which was constructed between 421 and 406 BCE.

A detail of the south porch of the Erechtheion temple on the Athenian acropolis. The building was constructed between 421 to 406 BCE to house the ancient wooden cult statue of Athena and as a shrine to various local deities including Erechtheus...

A floor plan of the Erechtheion on the Athenian acropolis, constructed 421-406 BCE. On the right, indicated in purple are the six Caryatids of the south porch. The main cella is divided into four chambers, the largest of which housed the...

A print of the Jade Emperor, (aka Yuhuang Shangdi, Yudi and Mr Heaven), the supreme deity in Chinese traditional religion. He is often depicted, as here, seated on a throne and wearing full imperial costume.

No contemporary portrait of the Chinese philosopher Confucius (c. 551 to c. 479 BCE) survives but the most popular print during the Imperial period was taken from a now lost original by Wu Daozi (Wu Taoutsi) in the 8th century CE.