Ancestor

<n>The Great Sphinx of Giza</n> and <n>Pyramid of Khufu</n>, 1867. Photo by <n>Antonio Beato</n>.

A bas-relief from the <n>Tomb of Nefertari</n> shows the goddess <n>Hathor</n> leading Queen <n>Nefertari</n>.

<n>smoke and flame</n> (2002), a painting by <n>Robilee Frederick</n>.

The 1946 discovery of the <n>Olmec Colossal Head 1 ('El Rey')</n> in San Lorenzo, Mexico. Photo by <n>Richard Hewitt Stewart</n> for <n>National Geographic</n>.

The <n>Great Sphinx of Giza</n> in Egypt, photographed between 1900 and 1920.

<n>White Sands Spiral</n>, a 2010 sand drawing by artist <n>Jim Denevan</n> in White Sands, New Mexico.

<n>Pyramid, Giza, Egypt, 1985</n>, a photograph by <n>Kenro Izu</n>.

A worker on the face of the <n>Abraham Lincoln</n> sculpture at <n>Mount Rushmore</n>, 1928. Sculpture by <n>Gutzon Borglum</n>.

<n>schizoïde</n>, a sculpture by artist <n>Christ Candaele</n> in Evergem, Belgium.

<n>L'antica porta d'ingrezza a Persepolis</n> (1858) by <n>Luigi Pesce</n>.

The cover of <n>Olivia Laing</n>'s book features <n>David Wojnarowicz</n>'s 1970 photograph, <n>Untitled (Facial Fragment)</n>.

The <n>Pyramid of Khufu</n> during the <n>Nile River flood</n>, photographed by <n>Félix Bonfils</n> ca. 1860-1880.

Digital artwork <n>Ultimus</n> by <n>John Karborn</n>.

<n>Vue vers les Pyramides de Gizeh</n>, a photograph of the <n>Pyramids of Giza</n> from the 1870s.

A sculpture by <n>Igor Mitoraj</n> on display at the <n>Valley of the Temples</n> in Agrigento, Sicily, 2011.

Archaeologist <n>Matthew Stirling</n> with the <n>Olmec</n> colossal head, <n>La Venta Monument 1</n>, excavated in 1940.

The <n>Swing Pavilion</n> at <n>Pattabhirama Temple</n> in Hampi, India. Photo by <n>Alexander Greenlaw</n>, c. 1856.

The <n>Arca tipe 'Polinesia' dari Ciaruteun Ilir</n>, a statue from Bogor, Indonesia.

The <n>Ramesseum</n> temple in Thebes, Egypt, photographed by <n>G. Lekegian</n> in the 1870s.

Self-portrait sculpture <n>El Espejo</n> by <n>Ángela Gurría</n>, photographed by <n>Bob Schalkwijk</n> in the 1970s.

A carving of <n>The Eye of Providence</n> on a gravestone in Halifax, photographed by <n>Words on Stone</n>.

A view of the <n>Bridge of Shadman Malik</n> in Samarkand, photographed 1871-1872. From the <n>Library of Congress</n>.

The <n>Nefertiti Bust</n>, sculpted by <n>Thutmose</n> c. 1345 BC. Photo by <n>Deutsche Orient-Gesellschaft</n>, 1912.

<n>Françoise Huguier</n>'s "Tombouctou, Mali, 1988," the cover of her book <n>Sur les traces de l'Afrique fantôme</n>.

A volcanic stone <n>Mace or staff head</n> from Costa Rica, c. 1000-1500 AD.

<n>Colossal faces of Bayon</n> at <n>Angkor Thom</n>, c. 1200. Photo by <n>Jacques Arthaud</n>.