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“Amasis made me” is a signature found on many sixth century Greek pottery vases. Eight vases so signed were also painted by the same artist, who is known to us today simply as the Amasis (uh-MAY-suhs) Painter. Today 132 vases are attributed to the Amasis Painter. This artist has a distinctive, sharp, flat, and meticulous black figure style. Black figure vase painters left the background of the vase “in reserve” (the natural color of the clay) and painted their subjects in black, with touches of white and red. Additionally, patterns in textiles and hair were incised through the paint to reveal the lighter color beneath. The Amasis Painter’s figures are portrayed in silhouette, are muscular but sleek, and represent gods, nobles, and heroes. These elegant scenes exhibit exquisite detailing in hair, dress, and decorative bands of petals and spirals. The Amasis Painter preferred to paint on amphorae, vases with two handles used for storage, and is known for creating designs harmonious with the vases’ shape.

In the second half of the twentieth century, Chinese archaeology entered its golden age. Although China is arguably the oldest continuous civilization in human history, serious archaeological research into its ancient past did not occur until after the establishment of the People’s Republic. The literal translation for the traditional Chinese name for the country is “the middle kingdom,” meaning the center of Earth. Chinese religion was animistic in its earliest form, leading to Daoism, a kind of natural mysticism first expressed by Laozi (born 604 b.c.e.). Ancient China was eventually dominated by the ethical teachings of Confucius (551-479 b.c.e.), who prescribed a conservative philosophy founded on ritual, decorum, and social order. Buddhism arrived in China in the early first century c.e. and by the sixth century became the most popular religion.