All  

Store Banner Mobile

Store Banner Mobile

Artifacts

There are undoubtedly millions of ancient artifacts from the past that have served to shed light on the lives of our ancestors from many millennia ago. But some ancient mystical artifacts stand out for their uniqueness, their intrigue, or their ability to expand our knowledge about previously unknown aspects of our history. Here we feature many such ancient history artifacts, from amazing examples of ancient technology, to artistic masterpieces, unexplained objects, ancient texts, and mysterious artifacts that shed light on the daily lives of our ancestors.

Main: A painting titled “Sylvan Men” by Albrecht Durer, 1499; “sylvan” means of the forest. (Wikimedia Commons). Inset: The Wild Man has a long history in humanity’s legends and myths. This photo shows the spoon handle found near Ipswich. (Photo by Suffolk County Council Archaeological Service)
14 December, 2015 - 00:56 Mark Miller

Medieval Wild Man relic discovered by treasure hunters has roots in ancient history

English metal detectorists have found a Medieval spoon handle depicting a figure of the Wild Man, a hairy, club-wielding legend who existed on the edges of civilization from ancient times. Stories...
“The Alchymist, in Search of the Philosopher's Stone” by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1771.
2 December, 2015 - 14:49 valdar

From Magic to Science: The Intriguing Ritual and Powerful Work of Alchemy

Throughout time, history has recorded numerous rituals and magic practices, some more bizarre than others. While alchemists were preoccupied with finding the Philosopher's Stone and the elixir of...
Burning witches and holding others in the Stocks, 14th century.
29 November, 2015 - 14:46 ancient-origins

The Malleus Maleficarum: A Medieval Manual for Witch Hunters

The Salem witch trials, which began in 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts bay colony, are one of the most well-known and notorious witch trials in history. Yet, this was not the only case of these...
Painting entitled ‘Abulcasis blistering a patient in the hospital at Cordova.’
26 November, 2015 - 14:50 dhwty

Al-Zahrawi: The Legacy of the Father of Modern Surgery

The period from the 8th century until the 13th century AD is commonly referred to as the Islamic Golden Age. During this era, the Islamic world produced numerous scholars who contributed greatly to...
The Laguna Copperplate Inscription.
20 November, 2015 - 21:53 dhwty

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription: An Ancient Text That Changed the Perception of the History of the Philippines

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription is the name of an inscription written on an artifact that has great significance for the understanding of the history of the Philippines during the 10th century AD...
Strange beasts, mythological and real, graced the pages of ancient bestiaries.
19 November, 2015 - 00:45 lizleafloor

Bestiary, The Book of Beasts: Compendiums of Medieval Monsters and Moral Lessons

During the Middle Ages the phoenix rose from its ashes to be reborn, dangerous dragons battled elephants to the death, and the pelican tore out its own breast to feed its young with its life’s blood—...
The mysterious whereabouts of the Ark of the Covenant has long captured the attention of archaeologists and treasure-seekers alike.
15 November, 2015 - 20:55 ancient-origins

The Lost and Coveted Treasures of King Solomon

In the Hebrew Bible, the third king of Israel, Solomon, is depicted as a wise, powerful, and immensely wealthy king, who ruled between 965 BC and 925 BC. It is written that he reigned over a...
The world’s first-known abecedary in ancient Egyptian hieratic script has been deciphered by a Dutch Egyptologist.
28 October, 2015 - 23:53 Mark Miller

Scholar deciphers oldest known alphabet primer, in ancient Egyptian

A Dutch Egyptologist recently deciphered the oldest known abecedary or alphabet-like primer on a 3,500-year-old shard of pottery from an Egyptian tomb excavated 20 years ago. The earliest alphabets...
A collection of tablets displaying Indus Valley script.
23 October, 2015 - 14:50 Mark Miller

Decoding the mysterious ancient Indus Valley script will shed light on powerful ancient civilization

Linguists have cracked many tough scripts, from Mesopotamian cuneiform to Egyptian hieroglyphic to Central American Mayan glyphs, but there are a few ancient, mysterious scripts still in the field...
Section of the Derveni Papyrus
17 October, 2015 - 21:41 Alicia McDermott

The Derveni Papyrus: The Most Ancient Book in Europe Involved in a Campaign Against Orpheus?

The Derveni Papyrus has recently been inscribed as one of the works for protection within the Memory of the World Register by UNESCO. Named as the ‘Most Ancient Book in Europe,’ the history of the...
Kaolin ceramic vessel with ceramic stopper, 10cm x 4 cm
16 October, 2015 - 14:56 Indigenous Peop...

Looking for Answers: Unknown North American Artifact Unearthed in Pennsylvania

An artifact recovered from a hilltop site overlooking the Delaware River in Eastern Pennsylvania, along with other artifacts recovered during a ten-year investigation reveals there is much to be...
The Folkton Drums were found in East Yorkshire, England, and are on display in the British Museum.
13 October, 2015 - 00:49 Mark Miller

Study sheds new light on mysterious Stone Age drums

Archaeologists have used sophisticated techniques to study the enigmatic Folkton drums—three solid, decorated chalk cylinders dating back thousands of years that were found years ago in the grave of...
Painting of the second Peacock Throne from the Red Fort in Delhi, India. (1850) The first Peacock Throne was taken as a war trophy by the Persian King Nader Shah in 1739 and has been lost ever since.
10 October, 2015 - 03:40 dhwty

Thrones of Gods and Kings: Symbols of Power through History

The Iron Throne from the Game of Thrones is perhaps one of the most iconic objects in 21st century pop culture. The concept of the throne, as many already know, has been in existence for a much...
A five-volume treatise concerning medical matters, Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, Byzantium, 15th century.
7 October, 2015 - 21:34 ancient-origins

Could ancient textbooks be the source of the next medical breakthrough?

The discovery that won the latest Nobel Prize for Medicine wouldn’t have been much of a revelation to doctors in ancient China. Pharmaceutical chemist Tu Youyou established that the compound...
A Neolithic axe created by the Aboriginals of what is now Australia.
1 October, 2015 - 03:36 Patricia Anderson

Written in Stone: Neolithic Weapons and Tools of the Australian Aboriginals

The groundswell of interest world-wide in artifacts from our prehistoric past reveals our shared humanity at a time when no written records exist to bear testimony to it. Indeed, 99% of our history...
The text resembles Cyrillic letters, according to experts.
28 September, 2015 - 00:32 Mark Miller

Is The Book of Veles a great Slavic text or a charlatan’s forgery?

The Book of Veles is so controversial it is banned in Russia. Its supporters say it lays out cultural, religious and historical facts about Slavs from the 7 th century BC until the 9 th century AD,...
Bronze Age pot of the proto-Celtic Urnfield culture, sporting ritualistic symbols and mathematical markings.
25 September, 2015 - 00:30 luvartifacts1

Urnfield Vase Reveals 3,300 Year Old Lunar and Metaphysical Encoding

A vase dating back to Bronze Age Europe has strange symbols and abstract markings. Examination of the pottery has revealed a prehistoric mathematical approach to sacred numbers, as well as a moon...
Along the River during the Qingming Festival painting
21 September, 2015 - 19:28 Mark Miller

5-meter long ancient scroll painting is one of the most precious treasures of China

People lined up to wait for six hours to see one of China’s most famous artworks, an exquisite 12 th century scroll painting depicting the Song Dynasty capital of Haifeng during the festival of...
Mosaic depicting Persian Archers
18 September, 2015 - 22:56 dhwty

The Master Archers of the Powerful Achaemenid Empire

In the ancient Near East, archery became the predominant means of launching sharp projectiles, replacing spear-throwing. The history of archery, however, may have originated further down south during...
The Blinding of Vasilko of Terebovl from The Tale of Bygone Years/The Primary Codex. (15th Century).
14 September, 2015 - 02:18 dhwty

The Precious Knowledge of the Hypatian Codex: Detailed Chronicle of the Southern Rus

The Hypatian Codex , known also as the Hypatian Chronicle , is said to be the main source of information for the history of the Southern Rus’ (Kyivan Rus’.) The Hypatian Codex was discovered by the...
Ten Spectacular Golden Treasures of the Ancient World
13 September, 2015 - 21:35 aprilholloway

Ten Spectacular Golden Treasures of the Ancient World

Throughout the centuries, people have long been captivated by the prospect of finding a long lost treasure. While many have dedicated their entire lives to the search for gold before ‘striking it...
Detail, the sides and faces of the enigmatic Zbruch Idol.
9 September, 2015 - 15:05 lizleafloor

Rare and Enigmatic Zbruch Idol: 4-Headed Slavic God Pulled from a River

In 1848, a four-headed monolith was pulled from a muddy river bottom in Ukraine after a thousand year exile. The enigmatic stone pillar was inscribed with stoic faces and strange symbols, and the...
Fuenta Magna
24 August, 2015 - 00:55 aprilholloway

Fuente Magna, the Controversial Rosetta Stone of the Americas

By April Holloway | The Epoch Times The Fuenta Magna is a large stone vessel, resembling a libation bowl, that was found in 1958 near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. It features beautifully engraved...
A segment of the Egyptian papyrus containing a prenuptial agreement.
15 August, 2015 - 00:54 Robin Whitlock

Eight foot long scroll reveals Ancient Egyptian prenup

A rather interesting Ancient Egyptian document is currently being exhibited in the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago , which you might think, at first sight, is an example of Egyptian...

Pages