Images

These are miniature stupas (hyakumanto). A stupa is a structure in a Buddhist temple that contains religious relics. Empress Shotoku (reigned 764-770 CE) ordered a million of these miniature wooden stupas to be made. Each one contained a...

A coin of King Offa of Mercia, r. 757-796 CE. (British Museum, London)

A map showing the greatest extent of the Kingdom of Mercia (c. 527-879 CE), an Anglo-Saxon political entity located in the midlands of present-day Britain

A medieval manuscript illustration showing children having a snowball fight. A Book of Hours, c. 1510 CE. (Walters Art Museum, Baltimore, USA)

This is a griffin-headed demon of blackened ivory. Both arms are raised (the right is lost), probably to support a throne. From Toprakkale, Eastern Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Urartian, 8th to 7th century BCE. (The British Museum, London...

This ivory figure depicts a nude woman wearing an elaborate headgear and necklace. Excavated by E. Clayton and G. C. Raynolds. From Toprakkale, Eastern Anatolia, in modern-day Turkey. Urartian, 8th to 7th century BCE. (The British Museum...

This white stone bull's head was originally inlaid. It has an ornamented forelock. The artifact is socketed at the back, probably for an attachment to the corner of a seat (most likely an arm of the throne). There is a carved spiral pattern...

This bronze plaque is engraved, at the upper part, with a figure of a god in a winged sun-disc. Originally, this plaque was part of a horse-harness (side-piece ), which was stitched to a leather backing. From Eastern Anatolia, in modern-day...

This is a dedication to the god Haldi, the supreme god of the Urartians, from a temple built by Menua, son of Ishpuini, king of Urartu (reigned 810-786 BCE). It is written in Urartian cuneiform writing. From Toprakkale or Van, Eastern Anatolia...

The inscription is repeated three times and reads "Ishpuini, son of Sarduri, built this temple". Ishpuini was a king of Urartu (reigned 830-810 BCE). The drum was later re-used and hollowed out to form a shallow basin with a drainage hole...