Images

A traditional banco (pounded earth) house, Oualata (Walata), Mauritania.

A trans-Saharan camel caravan carrying salt. Agadez to Bilma, Niger.

A map indicating the major trans-Saharan trade routes across West Africa c. 1100-1500 CE. The darker yellow areas indicate gold fields.

Al-Balu's stele is a Moabite document. This stele found in Al-Balu'a, north of Kark, in 1930 CE contains an illegible hieroglyphic inscription. There are three figures depicted on the stele, which may represent a king and two deities. It...

These distinctive small juglets belong to the "Tell el-Yahudiyeh Ware", named after the Egyptian site where they were first discovered, although this type of ware was produced elsewhere. The juglets are of a dark color, burnished black or...

The term "Mycenaean" is derived from the site of Mycenae; it refers to the culture of Greece during the Middle and Late Bronze Ages. Mycenaean imports greatly increased around 1400 BCE and were mostly stirrup vessels, pyxides, and piriform...

Jar decorated in red, like a burnished slip or groups of lines The spouts applied to some jars may have served as stands for dipper juglets. Early Bronze Age, 3600-3100 BCE. From Arqub az-Zahr, Jordan. (The Jordan Museum, Amman, Jordan).

Cleavers are large hand axes with a flat chopping edge. They were used for butchering and are among the oldest known tools. Late Acheulian period, around 300,000 BCE. From Ayn Soda, Jordan. (The Jordan Museum, Amman, Jordan).

This map shows the conquests made by Gupta rulers in the 4th century CE and early 5th century CE. Of these three rulers—Chandragupta I, Samudragupta and Chandragupta II—Samudragupta’s conquests are the most important and the most extensive...

This map shows the extent of the Gupta Empire at the end of Emperor Samudragupta’s reign in around 375/380 CE. It shows in detail the core region or base of the Gupta dynasty and the extensive conquests made by Samudragupta, as well as the...