Images

The Pyramid of the Magician, Uxmal, Mexico. The Maya temple was first built in the 6th century CE with additions made up to the 10th century CE.

A black turtle and azure dragon representing the cardinal directions of north and east respectively. From Xanadu (Shangdu), the summer capital of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368 CE). (Archaeological Museum of Inner Mongolia, Hohhot)

A map indicating the territory of the Mongol Yuan dynasty of China (1271-1368 CE).

An 18th century CE engraving by Jacques Gabriel Huquier illustrating an audience with a Chinese emperor. (The Metropolitan Museum of Art, New York)

An artist's impression of Xanadu, the summer capital of Kublai Khan (r. 1260-1294 CE), located in northeast China and also known as Shangdu. Painting by Dmitri Smirnov.

This limestone fragment came from a New Kingdom tomb at Abusir/Saqqara, Egypt. The relief depicts five enthroned pharaohs, looking to the left. In front of the face of every one of them, a cartouche is inscribed. Only the cartouche at the...

This is a detail of a large limestone fragment which came from the pyramid complex of the Egyptian pharaoh Sneferu (r. 2613 to 2589 BCE) of the 4th Dynasty of Egypt. This is one of the very few and important legal texts from the Old Kingdom...

This painted limestone fragment came from the mortuary temple of the Egyptian Pharaoh Sahure at Abusir, Egypt. It depicts Syrian bears and a vessel (possibly tributary). Old Kingdom, 5th Dynasty, 2496-2483 BCE. On display at the Neues Museum...

This small pottery vessel was found at Tell Al-Namil (Arabic: تل النمل), Saladin province, Iraq. The rim and the surface of the vessel were painted and decorated with different shapes. Jemdet Nasr period, 3000-2900 BCE. On display at the...

On this basalt cylinder seal, the name of the Egyptian pharaoh Menkaure (2532 - c. 2500 BCE) appears within a cartouche. From Egypt, precise provenance is unknown. Old Kingdom, 4th Dynasty, reign of Menkaure, 2539-2511 BCE. On display at...