​"Dravidian Woman, South India" - The portrait depicts a descendant of the ancient Dravidians. The Greek writer Herodotus called them "Eastern Ethiopians" (or Kushites). Originally, the ancient Dravidians inhabited a wide geographic area including Africa's Nile Valley, Southwest Asia (Syria, Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan), and India's Indus Valley. (James E. Brunson)

Kefti (Cretan/Minoans) bringing tribute to Egypt, the dominant power of the Mediterranean during the era known as 'Pax Egypticana'. From the tomb of Rekhmire, Governor of the Thebes (Waset), and Vizier (Prime Minister) during the reigns of Tuthmosis III and Amenhotep II - 18th dynasty, c. 1400 B.C. 

​"Wooly-Headed Blacks" Island of Thera (ancient Mediterranean) 1786 B.C.E. (Photo: James E. Brunson)

Portrait of a Black Warrior of Mari" ancient Syria, 1786 BCE (Photo: James E. Brunson)

Greek headed rhyta (drinking vessel) c. 400 B.C. Note Black features of satyr to the left.

"Head of a Black" Wall Painting Fragment. Detail. From the ancient Mediterranean Island of Thera. 1550-1500 B.C.E. The figure depicts one of the "Minoans" associated with the ancient Greek mythology of King Minos and the Minotaur. The dark-complexioned figure has tightly curled hair, thick lips, and flat nose. (Photo: James E. Brunson)

"Portrait of a Black Warrior of Mari" ancient Syria, 1786 BCE (Photo: James E. Brunson)

"Head of a Negro" Silver coin from ancient Greece (Delphi). V century B.C.E. The black man depicted is "Delphos," the eponym of Delphi. The father of Delphos in one ancient story was Apollo; in another, Poseidon. (Photo: James E. Brunson)

Sculpted Head of a Man. Anatolia (Ancient Turkey). Date: 100 B.C.E. - 100 C.E. (Photo: James E. Brunson)

"Head of a Black" ancient Greece. Polychrome mosaic. (Photo: James E. Brunson)

Roman Coin (depicting Christ on one side and the Emperor Justinian on the other) 3rd century AD. (Photo: James E. Brunson)

"Sculptural Portrait of Black Royal Woman" Champa (ancient Vietnam), 5th - 7th Centuries CE. (Photo: James E. Brunson)

"Black Uighur Chieftain" Tang Dynasty 660 C.E. (ancient China) Painting. (Photo: James E. Brunson)

"Portrait of a Black King" Bronze Yu Vessel. Detail. Shang Dynasty, ancient China (1766-1022 B.C.E.). (Photo: James E. Brunson)

Contemporary Portrait of Kuei Young Man (Note hair texture), descendants of the ancient people of Southern China, Thailand and Kampuchea (Cambodia). (Photo: James E. Brunson)

Contemporary Portrait of Kuei Woman, descendants of the ancient people of Thailand and Kampuchea (Cambodia). (Photo: James E. Brunson)

This portrait depicts a Mon-Khmer woman, a descendant of the ancient communities of present-day Thailand and are closely related to the Khmer of Cambodia (Kampuchea). (Photo: James E. Brunson)

Sculpture of Black Greek in Anatolia (ancient Turkey) c. 200 B.C.

Black Mongols, also known as Huns, during the Yuan dynasty (1271-1364), officially the Great Yuan, the empire or ruling dynasty of Mongolia established by Kublai Khan, grandson of Genghis Khan. 

​African Presence in Renaissance Europe: Quito Ecuador Don Francisco de Arobe and his two sons. Esmeraldas, Ecuador c.1599. (Photo: Museo Nacional del Prado, Madrid)