2. 
The relief carving on
this 16th-century
casket from Sri Lanka
depicts a nobleman
riding an elephant as
attendants and
onlookers hail him.
Another side of the
casket is decorated
with gold and rubies.

3. 
This mask from
Kanganaman, Middle
Sepik area, New
Guinea, was meant to
be worn or carried in
rituals. The mask is
wood with
overmodeling, with
cowrie shells, boar’s
tusks, and human hair.
It stands 59 cm (about
23 in) and is part of
the collection of the
Tropical Museum,
Amsterdam.

4. 
Kilimanjaro, the tallest
mountain in Africa, lies
in northeastern
Tanzania near the
border of Kenya. The
mountain has two
volcanic peaks, spaced
11 km (7 mi) apart,
with the higher of the
two rising 5,895 m
(19,341 ft). Farmers
cultivate coffee beans
and plantains on
Kilimanjaro’s lower
slopes.

5. 
Lake
Tanganyika, located
in the Great Rift
Valley, is the
longest and second
deepest freshwater
lake in the world.

6. 
Wearing elaborate
wooden
headdresses, Dogon
tribesmen in Mali
leap in a funeral
dance. Dancing and
drumming continue
to be an important
part of traditional
religious
ceremonies, and
about 15 percent of
African peoples
practice indigenous
religions.

7. 
The waters of the mighty Nile flow
past the high banks at Aswān in
Upper Egypt. The Aswān High
Dam, completed in 1970, altered the
course of the river and enabled Egypt
to control the perpetual flooding that
had plagued it for centuries. The
large dam project increased the
country's amount of arable land and
provided much-needed additional
electricity. Controversy
ensued, however, when it became
known that the project would
submerge valuable antiquities. The
most famous of these
monuments, the temples of Abū
Simbel, were painstakingly moved to
higher ground and thereby saved
from destruction.

8. 
Acrobatic dances
performed by girls or
young athletes are
popular in Côte d’Ivoire
and other regions of
West Africa. In this snake
dance, supple young
girls writhe and coil as
though they were snakes.
They are then tossed into
the air by men who
appear to catch them on
the tips of knife blades.
The dance stems from a
ritual intended to protect
against snakebite.

9. 
Large-scale livestock
herding has been
practiced in Uganda
for centuries. Here, a
herder and his
Ankole cattle are
silhouetted against
the sunset. Ankole
cattle are distinctive
for their long curved
horns.

10. 
This carved wooden
staff from West Africa
shows the mischievous
deity known as Eshu.
He is said to serve as a
messenger between
the gods and
humans, and plays an
important role in many
rituals for the
Yoruba, Fon, and other
West African groups.

11. 
These members of a
Nilotic tribe in
Samburu, Kenya, are
wearing traditional
clothing. The men wear
solid bright red fabrics;
the women have vivid
designs on their
clothing and collars
made of roped beads.
Jewelry plays an
important role in
traditional African
dress.

12. ABOUT
ASIANS

13. 
Red mangroves grow along
the shore of Thailand’s
Lipe Island, one of many
offshore islands included in
the country’s Tarutao
Marine National Park,
off the western coast in the
Strait of Malacca.
Mangroves are an essential
part of the marine ecology in
many tropical areas of the
world, providing estuaries
for wildlife nesting and
feeding.

14.  Sculpture
from
Prambanan, Java

The largest Hindu
temple complex in Java
is at Prambanan and
was built from the 8th
to the 10th century.
Sculptures like this
rounded human figure
decorate the outside
walls of the temples.

15. 
The giant faces carved on
the Bayon temple at the
Angkor Thum complex in
northwestern Cambodia
represent both the Buddha
and King Jayavarman
VII (ruled about 11301219). Although a
Buddhist temple, Angkor
Thum was modeled after
the great Hindu temple
complex of Angkor Wat.

16. 
Dancers on the island of
Bali, Indonesia, perform a
barong dance-drama. Dancedramas enact battles between
good and evil, and dancers
appeal to the spirit world
during performances. The
barong dance-drama is
believed to exorcise evil
spirits from the village.
This scene depicts a
struggle between the witch
Rangda and the barong, a
mythical and benevolent
beast.