xiv List of Illustrations Bird bone engraved with animal heads from the cave of Courbet, Penne-Tarn, France Hermes with the Infant Dionysus, by the Greek sculptor Praxiteles Roman terra-cotta relief showing an Egyptian scene set on the Nile Inner coffin of the priest Hornedjitef, Thebes, Egypt Cuneiform tablet with observations of Venus, Nineveh, northern Iraq Chinese covered jar The Semna dispatches, administrative documents from an Egyptian outpost, from Thebes, Egypt Babylonian boundary marker, Sippar, southern Iraq Dedication by Alexander the Great to Athena Polias, from Priene, Asia Minor Wattle framework being filled with red mud, a construction technique used in ancient times, from Zambia Clay foundation peg from Bad-tibira, southern Iraq Dolphin fresco in the queen’s megaron (reception hall) at Knossos, the capital of Minoan Crete Iron window grill, Roman Britain View of the royal tombs at Meroë, ancient city of northeastern Africa in presentday Sudan Fragment of a basalt water clock, from Tell el-Yahudiya, Egypt Kerma ware pottery beaker, from Kerma, Sudan Painted pottery group of cattle, from el-Amra, Egypt Ceramic bowl with abstract decoration, from Tall-i-Bakun in modern-day Iran Pottery jar with dragon handles, from China Buccero ware water jug, from Chiusi, Tuscany, Italy 106 111 117 125 126 128 141 143 146 151 154 159 160 164 166 175 177 178 180 181 Terra-cotta statuette of a lady in a swing, from Agia Triada, Herakleion Amphora from Pompeii, Italy Feline-head ceramic bottle from Peru Boys kept in seclusion in an initiation camp in Angola, southern Africa Game of Senet from Egypt Terra-cotta figurine of a woman with a child, Cyprus Profile of a Greek boy Roman rag doll made of linen, rags, and papyrus Olmec figure of a baby (ceramic, cinnabar, and red ochre), Mexico Ancient Egyptian city of Sesebi Panels with striding lions, NeoBabylonian, during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar II Jade ritual reaping knife, from Henan, northern China Roman silver coins depicting the founding twins of the city of Rome, Romulus and Remus Pottery vessel of the storm god, Teotihuacán, Mexico Grass, sand, and volcanic formation in the Sahara, southern Algeria The Great Temple at Abu Simbel on the banks of the Nile Ax made from reindeer antler found at Earls Barton, Northamptonshire, England Petroglyph of a human figure wearing a loincloth, from the Sahara Desert at Tassili, Algeria, North Africa Pair of child’s leather sandals from Thebes, Egypt Two Assyrian court officials from the reign of Sargon II Caryatids from the Porch of the Maidens at Erechtheion, a temple on the north side of the Acropolis at Athens 182 184 185 188 190 191 195 196 197 206 211 215 227 232 236 243 254 273 275 276 280