Images

A statue of Shi Huangdi (259-210 BCE, also known as Qin Shi Huang, Qin Shih Huandi, Shih Huan-ti and Shi Huangti) who was the first emperor of a unified China. Xi'an, Shaanxi, China.

An engraved amethyst ring of Roman Emperor Constantius II, c. 360 CE (British Museum, London)

A kylix depicting the god Apollo pouring a libation and holding an early version of the lyre (chelys) which was made from the shell of a tortoise. The bird may represent the crow which announced the marriage of the nymph Aigle-Korone, the...

A statue of Terpsichore, the Greek Muse of Dance. A 2nd century CE copy from a Greek original (The State Hermitage Museum, St. Petersburg).

An 1886 CE print by Toyohara Chikanobu of Susanoo, the Shinto storm god. Here he is about to rescue the beautiful Kushinada Hime from the serpent monster Yamato-no-Orochi. (San Diego Museum of Art).

A 12th century CE cover of the Sion Gospels from the Victoria and Albert Museum, London.

The Dead Sea Scrolls (DSS) are a collection of scrolls found in the desert east of Jerusalem on the shore of the Dead Sea. They represent the largest manuscript collections of texts from the Second Temple Period found in the area of Judah...

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.