Codex vaticanus: Did you mean...?

The poem Lokasenna belongs to the Poetic Edda, a bulk of Old Norse poetry written down in Iceland in the 1200s but based on linguistic features dating back as far as the 900s. In this invaluable resource for Norse mythology, Lokasenna stands...

In the 5th century BCE, the Carthaginian explorer Hanno sailed beyond the Pillars of Hercules, out of the Mediterranean and into hitherto unknown territory down the Atlantic coast of Africa. In his search to find new resources and trading...

An illustration from the 16th century Codex Kingsborough showing the abuses of the encomienda forced labour system in the Viceroyalty of New Spain. (British Museum, London)

A depiction of the Aztec god of war and the sun Huitzilopochtli. The god carries his typical atl-atl or spear-thrower, feathered arrows and shield and wears hummingbird feathers. (Codex Barbonicus).

The devil is selling indulgences. Illustration from the Jena Codex, 1490-1510 CE.

An illustration of a medieval noble taking his bath and being attended to by servants. (Codex Manesse, 14th century CE, Zurich, Switzerland)

Portrait of the Devil, Codex Gigas, f. 290r., created in the early 13th century CE in Bohemia (modern-day Czech Republic). National Library of Sweden, Stockholm.

Xipe Totec, the Mesoamerican god of spring and patron of planting, seeds, and goldsmiths, and particularly worshipped by the Aztecs, as depicted in the Codex Barbonicus. Human sacrifices were made to the god and the skins of the victims worn...

A 1590 illustration showing a Spanish Manila galleon in the Ladrones Islands (Mariana Islands) in the Pacific Ocean. (From the Boxer Codex)

An illustration of seven noted physicians and botanists from ancient Greece in the Vienna Dioscurides(aka the Juliana Anicia Codex), a 6th Century CE Byzantine manuscript of De Materia Medica by Dioscurides (c. 40 - 90 CE). The illustration...