Asia
Constantinian Edicts
Many of the records that survive from Constantine’s reign are official edicts and proclamations, written on papyrus and parchment.
Poem by Qiu Jin, Chinese feminist
While the discussion surrounding the Chinese practice of footbinding often focuses on the writings of western missionaries, the example of Qiu Jin, a Chinese feminist and poet, demonstrates that the practice was criticized by Chinese individuals as well.
Indian textile fragment, 14th-15th century
This block-printed, cotton textile fragment, found in Old Cairo, Egypt, was made in Gujarat, India. It features a repeated stylized tendril pattern made by stamping red-brown dye on the cloth in vertical sections.
Porcelain tankard, fifteenth century China
This Ming dynasty porcelain tankard incorporates some Chinese elements, such as the peony flower design on the body and the dragon-shaped handle. Its shape was not Chinese, however, but based on Islamic metalwork, which indicates it was made for export.
Excerpt from the Asokavadana
The Asokavadana is a text written in Sanskrit that brings together oral traditions about Ashoka’s reign that did not die out when the Mauryan Empire collapsed, but spread throughout India
Selections from Ashoka, Rock and Pillar Edicts
The “rock and pillar edicts,” inscriptions that King Ashoka ordered carved in stone on large rocks in prominent places or on tall pillars that he had erected for this purpose, are the best record we have of Ashoka’s reign. The edicts are found in a number of different locations
Short Teaching Module: Emperor Ashoka and Buddhism
Buddhism is based on the ideas of a north Indian prince, Siddhartha Gautama (fl. ca. 500 B.C.E.), called the Buddha (“enlightened one”), who through meditation gained insight into what he understood were cosmic truths.
Short Teaching Module: European Maps of the Early Modern World
I use images of three historical maps for topics on colonial exploration and for interpreting historical evidence in undergraduate courses on history and historical methodology. I have several aims in using the maps.
From John Bartholomew, Literary and historical atlas of America
This unusual map appeared in a 1911 atlas of America by John George Bartholomew, a prestigious Scottish cartographer and geographer. In this map Bartholomew dramatized the provincialism of European cartography three centuries earlier.
Early Modern Ottoman Carpet at the Walters Art Museum
This carpet is a specific type of carpet woven in the Islamic world called a sajjadah or prayer rug.