xvi List of Illustrations “Empress” pepper pot, from the Hoxne hoard in Suffolk, Roman Britain Terra-cotta utensil with six receptacles, thought to be an egg dish or cup holder Detail of an Ethiopian tribute bearer, from a relief in stairway of the palace at Persepolis, Persia (modern-day Iran) Greek terra-cotta statuettes: woman holding pancake and woman kneading dough Spout and bridge vessel in the shape of a woman, holding what is thought to be a spindle wrapped in cloth, from the Nasca culture of Peru Olmec jade perforator, from Mexico Coffin with skeleton of a child, from Speos Artemidos, Egypt Terra-cotta votive womb, Italy Hellenistic ivory figure of a hunchback thought to show signs of Pott’s disease Altar from Roman Britain dedicated to the goddess Fortuna, the healing god Aesculapius, and Salus, goddess of health Paleolithic stone chopping tools from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania A folding wooden headrest, from Akhmin, Egypt Stone bowl and pitcher from Greece Roman jug, two-handled cup (the handles now missing), strainer, ladle, and stirrer, from Arcisate, near Como, northern Italy Archery case painted with a hunting scene, from Thebes, Egypt Impressions of cylinder seals on clay, depicting hunting scenes and found in the treasury of the palace at Persepolis Harpoon tips made of antler from the cave of Courbet, Penne-Tarn, France Fragments of a fresco from Tiryns, Greece, showing hunter and dog 478 480 486 500 503 536 547 551 553 554 562 563 567 569 574 575 578 579 Stone weight carved in the form of the head of an aquatic bird and thought to have been used in fishing, from Orange County, Florida A bronze lamp found at the palace of Persepolis, Persia Broken limestone lamp from the cave of Courbet, Penne-Tarn, France Roman lamp showing a chariot race Paleolithic stone hand ax from Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania Papyrus from the Book of the Dead of Nakht with agricultural scenes, from Thebes, Egypt An administrative text in cuneiform (the world’s earliest form of writing), recording food supplies, probably from southern Iraq Pair of fragments of silk, from Cave 17, Mogao, near Dunhuang, China Roman aqueduct in Tunis 582 586 589 591 593 595 597 599 602 VOLUME III Sandstone offering table with Meroitic cursive inscription around the edges, from Faras, Sudan Clay tablet with Elamite inscription found in the treasury of the palace at Persepolis, Persia (modern-day Iran) Jade disc inscribed with a poem by the Qianlong emperor, from China Linear A tablets, from Agia Triada, Heraklion The Rosetta Stone, from Fort St Julien, el-Rashid (Rosetta), Egypt Jade cicada, China Page from the Book of the Dead of Hunefer, Thebes, Egypt Sculpted panel depicting Vishnu Trivikrama, eastern India Frieze of three Greek muses 610 613 614 617 623 626 644 650 657