Images

An illustration of a Portuguese carrack ship from a 16th-century map. (Digital Library, University of Minnesota)

Trade routes of the ancient Romans to Africa and India as described in the 1st-century CE Periplus of the Erythreaen Sea.

The Standard of Ur is a (reconstructed) hollow box and its precise purpose is unknown. The scenes are made using a mosaic of lapis lazuli, red limestone, and shell. This reverse side shows men bringing animals as tribute or war booty while...

Alexander the Great (r. 356-323 BCE) founded, reorganized, or re-established several towns and cities across his empire and gave most of them the name of Alexandria.

The garden area of the Fullonica of Stephanus, which had been converted to the drying area of the laundry, Pompeii.

Scarabs of Hatshepsut (r. 1479-1458 BCE), 18th Dynasty, New Kingdom of Egypt. Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York. The Metropolitan Museum of Art was an integral part of the excavations of Hatshepsut's temple at Deir al-Bahri...

Anicius Manlius Severinus Boethius (c. 475-525 CE) is depicted on the far left. An allegory of Philosophy presents to him the allegories of the Seven Liberal Arts dressed in 15th century clothing, each holding a symbol of their subject; from...

This alabaster statue of Pharaoh Pepi II (2284 - c. 2216 BCE) and his mother, is one of the more famous representations of the two because the statue technically has two “front” sides. By placing Pepi II and his mother in opposite directions...

Fort Jesus, Mombasa, Kenya. The fort was built in 1593 when Mombasa and other parts of the Swahili Coast were part of the Portuguese Empire.

A 1755 illustration of the port of Luanda, capital of the colony of Portuguese Angola and capital of today's Angola. Luanda was one of the major points of assembly for African slaves destined for the Americas.