Images

Detail of the mural by Said Musa, presenting Yemaya, an Orisha from Yoruba religion. In Catholic Central and South America and the Caribbean, Yoruba religion became syncretized with Christianity and Yemaya was associated with the Virgin Mary...

A statue of an Orisha from the Yoruba religion, Nigeria, 19th century. African Museum of Lyon.

Oduduwa Statue, Oduduwa Shrine and Grove, Ile-Ife, Nigeria. Oduduwa is Orisha (or god) who is thought to have made the Yoruba people and established life at the city of Ife (also Ile-Ife) as well as the concept of cultural identity and kingship...

A map illustrating the current archeological evidence for the spread of the Scythians in the northern Black Sea region. It shows the distribution of the most notable ‘kurgans’ and monumental burial sites of the riding nomads of the Scythian...

A typical sentence for the most notorious pirate captains during the Golden Age of Piracy (1690-1730) was to be hanged and then have the corpse hung in a cage to rot. The idea was that mariners passing the shore would see this punishment...

This map illustrates the four voyages of Christopher Columbus between 1492 and 1504, commissioned by Queen Isabella I of Castile (reign 1474–1504) and King Ferdinand II of Aragon (reign 1479–1516). Overlaid on the prevailing winds and currents...

The pirate Mary Read (d. 1721), illustration by Alexandre Debelle from Histoire des pirates et corsaires de l'Océan et de la Méditerranée depuis leur origine jusqu'à nos jours, P. Christian, Paris, Cavaillès, 1846.

Ruth and Naomi, oil on canvas painting by Philip Hermogenes Calderon, 1886. Walker Art Gallery, Liverpool.

An artist's impression of how the pirate Mary Read (d. 1721) may have looked. Image from the computer game Assassin's Creed IV: Black Flag by Ubisoft. © 2013 Ubisoft

Ruth swearing her allegiance to Naomi, oil on canvas painting by Jan Victors, 1653. Private collection.