Images

Perforated silver plaque; lightly embossed scene of two long-tailed hunting dogs resembling mastiffs, one on either side of a male wild boar facing right, with a forked tail, from Iran, 6-7th century. The British Museum, London.

Gilded silver plate, Sassanian style, 7th-8th century CE. This fabulous creature is a mixture of a dog and a bird, combined with what may be fish scales. The dog in Zoroastrianism is associated with rituals connected to the dead. British...

The Simurgh on the wall of church Samtavisi, Georgia.

Sassanian dish with Simurgh and stylized palmette motifs Iran, 7th-8th century CE Pergamonmuseum, Berlin

Life of the Buddha: King Bimbisara's Conversion, 15th-century CE painting from Japan.

King Bimbisara goes to meet the Buddha, East Gate, Stupa no. 1, Sanchi

King Bimbisara (c. 545/544 BCE - c. 493/492 BCE) offers food to the Bodhisattva at Borobudur.

A 14th century CE illustration of Henry I of England (r. 1100-1135 CE). From the 'Chronicle of England' manuscript. (British Library, London).

A mid-13th century CE illustration of Henry I of England (r. 1100-1135 CE). From a work by Mathew Paris, c. 1200-1259 CE. (British Library, London).

A stained glass window depicting Thomas Becket (also known as St. Thomas of Canterbury; c. 1119 - 1170 CE). Thomas Becket was the archbishop of Canterbury from 1162 - 1170 CE, and is well known for his conflict with Henry II of England (r...