Clay: Did you mean...?

Henry Clay (1777-1852), the Great Compromiser, takes the Senate floor one final time to present the Compromise of 1850, drawn by P. F. Rothermel, engraved by R. Whitechurch, published circa 1855. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Portrait of a young Henry Clay, oil on canvas by Charles Bird King, 1821. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.

Portrait of Henry Clay by John Neagle, 1843. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Neolithic clay altar figurine of a mother goddess from Tumba Madzari, North Macedonia, the second half of the 6th millennium BCE. Archaeological Museum of the Republic of Macedonia, Skopje. Tumba Madzari (lit. hill of the tomb) is a Neolithic...

A commercial letter (clay tablet) enclosed by an envelope (a clay covering). The letter was supposed to be opened by the recipient. 2nd millennium BCE, Mesopotamia, Iraq. (The Sulaimaniya Museum, Iraq).

Neolithic clay goddess from Tappah Sarab, Kermanshah, 7000-6100 BCE. Clay figurines of female bodies with exaggerated reproductive organs are among the most common features of prehistoric sculpted art. With famous examples from Venus of...

Early Elamite clay tablet with numerical signs found in Tappeh Yahya, Kerman, dating to c. 3100 to 2900 BCE (Yahya Period IVc). National Museum of Iran, Tehran, inv. no. 4065. Photo by Nima Fakoorzadeh (Baloot Noghrei) Tappeh Yahya in...

These counterparts of real mastiffs were buried to guard a property from devils and demons. Ritual instructions for making and inscribing them survive on clay tablets. This pack was found beneath a palace doorway at Nineveh. Each is named...

This is a fired clay mould for the goddess Ishtar. The goddess is depicted nude. She holds her breasts with her hands and wears a horned crown. She has a pair of wings (or a cloak) and her feet are talon-like. On the left is the modern impression...

Example of a Linear B clay tablet found at Knossos. It records quantities of oil apparently offered to various deities.