List of Illustrations xvii Ceramic vessel in the shape of a jaguar (Maya culture, Mexico, ca 950–1200) Red clay jar with green and blue glaze used to store hazardous or precious ingredients (Beauvais, France, ca 1500) Luster-painted pottery jar (Syria, late 13th century) Fragment of a multicolored woolen rug from a tomb at Qasr Ibrim, Egypt (Coptic period, fourth to sixth centuries) Fragment of a textile panel (camelid fiber and cotton, Peru, ca 600–850) Tapestry (China, Ming Dynasty, 1368– 1644) Ribbon (tablet-weave gold metal thread, Great Britain, ca ninth century) Tiraz textile fragment (silk tapestry weave on plain-weave linen, Islamic Egypt, 12th century) Calendar page (October) (Belgium, ca 1510) Pottery vessel (Cholula, Mexico, 1200– 1521) The Story of the Silk Princess (wooden panel painting, Xinjiang Province, China, sixth century) Baltic amber beads (Britain, 1400s) Blue-and-white brush rest with Arabic inscription (Jiangxi Province, southern China, as early as 1506) Ceramic model palanquin (Colima culture, Mexico, ca 200–600) Earthenware model of a cart with bullock and human figures (China, sixth century) Palanquin rings (gilt copper alloy, Cambodia, 13th century) Horseshoes (Britain, 12th century) Headstall (Granada, Spain, late 15th or early 16th century) 1049 1053 1055 1059 1061 1063 1065 1067 1077 1086 1088 1091 1093 1100 1103 1104 1106 1108 A trophy head representing a powerful defeated enemy (Benin Kingdom, Nigeria; 15th to early 16th centuries) Wooden slit drum decorated with scenes from a battle between two cities (Mixtec culture, Mexico, ca 14th century) Ceramic vessel in the form of a trophy head (Huastec culture, Mexico, ca 900–1200) Bone figure of a knight (Britain, mid-14th century) The Burghead Bull (Burghead, Morayshire, Scotland, seventh century) The siege of a Turanian stronghold by the forces of Kai Khusraw, from a Shahnama (Book of Kings) by Firdawsi (opaque watercolor, ink, and gold on paper; Persia; 15th century) Shield (wood, shell, and resin; Mexico; 1200–1500) Knife (Inca culture, Peruvian Andes, 1300–1560) Iron sword guard (Japan, ca 1400) Viking battle-axes and spears (Britain, ca 840–1020) Armor (forged steel, Turkey, 15th to 16th centuries) Weight for measuring gold dust (Ghana, Côte d’Ivoire, as early as the 15th century) Steelyard weight (Britain, 13th century) Mold-pressed glass weight (eastern Mediterranean, seventh or eighth century) Ostracon with Coptic inscription (Egypt, ca 250–650) Shell ornament with series of Mayan hieroglyphs incised on the interior (ca 600–800) Daoist Scripture of Constant Purity and Tranquility, in standard script (ink on silk, Yuan Dynasty, China, ca 1292) 1116 1122 1124 1130 1132 1137 1148 1149 1151 1152 1154 1159 1164 1166 1169 1171 1173