Images

The Great Massacre, illustration from page 237 of An illustrated history of the New world: containing a general history of all the various nations, states, and republics of the western continent ... and a complete history of the United States...

A Celtic bowl with embossed gold leaf decoration from the princely burial at Schwarzenbach, Rhineland, Germany. 5th century BCE. (Staatliche Museen zu Berlin)

Ashoka pillar at Vaishali, Bihar, India, 3rd century BCE.

Marble herms. Athens Stone Sculpture Gallery, National Archaeological Museum of Greece, Athens.

Noah's Ark on Mount Ararat, oil on canvas painting by Simon de Myle, 1570 CE. Private collection, Paris.

Interior of a reconstructed Powhatan longhouse (yehakin) in the living history museum Jamestown Settlement, Jamestown, Virginia.

"La Joyeuse" (French for "The Joyous") was the name given to the sword of Charlemagne (l. 742-814 CE) in Medieval legend. This 9th-10th Century CE sword, popularly identified as "Joyeuse", has been used in French coronation ceremonies from...

The khanda is a type of double-edged straight sword originating in the Gupta Empire c. 320-550 CE. The khanda is used in many forms of Indian martial arts, and its symbolism carries religious and cultural significance. This example has the...

A pair of "antennna swords" made c. 1050-800 BCE during the Hallstatt B Period in Late Bronze Age Europe. Bronze, Hallstatt culture. Found near Lake Neuchâtel, present day Switzerland.

A Roman gladius made c. 15 CE, pictured besides its bronze sheath, which is decorated with tin and gold. This particular sword was found near Mainz, Germany, which is where the style of gladius gets its name. The Mainz gladius was longer...