Images

A Roman fountain mosaic from Anzio depicting the hero Hercules and his faithful companion Iolaus. (Palazzo Massimo alle Terme, Rome)

A detail of a red-figure vase showing the king of Argos, Eurystheus, hiding from Hercules who, after one of his labours, carries the Erymanthian boar. (Louvre Museum, Paris)

This haniwa tomb figure is thought to represent a chieftain. He wears a tall wide-brimmed hat, his hair is plaited in a style called mizura, and there is a sword on his belt. It came from Ibaraki prefecture in eastern Japan; it was in this...

The Buddha sits on a canopied lotus throne in front of the Bodhi tree where he became enlighted. He is surrounded by attendants and Buddhist angels rain down flowers. Temple walls in China were decorated with such plaques and this one probably...

The interior of Grossmünster (“large cathedral” in German), a Romanesque ex-cathedral situated in the heart of Zürich, Switzerland, which was built over the course of the 11th and 13th centuries CE.

Grossmünster (“large cathedral” in German) is a Romanesque ex-cathedral situated in the heart of Zürich, Switzerland, which was built over the course of the 11th and 13th centuries CE.

The inscription yong'an wuzhu, 5 gram coin of Yong'an period, is one of the earliest dated coin inscriptions. Copper alloy. Obverse, 4-character Chinese inscription. Minted in China; ruler Emperor Xiaozhuangdi. Northern Wei Dynasty, c. 529...

This is a copper alloy coin with a double rim, worth 50 standard coins. Obverse, Chinese inscription. Minted in China. Tang Dynasty, 759 CE. (The British Museum, London).

So-called knife money, worth 5000 standard coins. Obverse, Chinese inscription. Minted in China; ruler Wang Mang. Wang Mang's four coinage reforms were not successful and the widely accepted wuzhu were soon re-issued. Xin Dynasty, 9-23 CE...

Also called Kaiyuan tongbao. This was the first imperial coin to use a four-character inscription with the term tongbao , meaning "coin", (circulating money), which then became customary on Chinese coins up to the 20th century. Copper alloy...