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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.

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...
Funerary Mask, from Malagana 200BC-200AD on exhibit with the exhibit "The Spirit of Ancient Columbian Gold".
14 August, 2015 - 21:54 lizleafloor

The Malagana Treasure: Gold and Greed, A Lost Civilization Plundered

When a Colombian sugarcane plantation worker and his tractor plunged into a hole which had suddenly opened up in the earth, the spectacular discovery buried under the soil would lead to a large-scale...
Close-up of the Liesborn Prayer Wheel
11 August, 2015 - 20:55 dhwty

The Liesborn Gospel Book and its Mysterious Prayer Wheel

The Liesborn Prayer Wheel was discovered recently on the blank first page of a copy of the Liesborn Gospel Book. This was an unusual find in an already rare piece of work. This medieval tome is one...
The mummified remains of Usermontu, Rosicrucian San Jose Museum
20 July, 2015 - 14:35 aprilholloway

Medical Mystery of Usermontu: Why the Discovery of 2,600-Year-Old Knee Screw Left Experts Dumbfounded

In 1971, the Rosicrucian Museum in California acquired a sealed ancient Egyptian coffin containing the well-preserved mummy of a high status Egyptian male. More than two decades later, a team of...
The Lydenburg Heads: The Earliest Iron Age Art South of the Equator
17 July, 2015 - 14:00 dhwty

The Lydenburg Heads: The Earliest Iron Age Art South of the Equator

The Lydenburg Heads are a set of terracotta heads discovered in the eastern Transvaal of South Africa. One of the heads has been dated to around 500 AD, and it is believed that the rest of the heads...
The Mycenaean Death Mask of Agamemnon
16 July, 2015 - 22:17 dhwty

Questioning the Mycenaean Death Mask of Agamemnon

The German archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann is perhaps one of the luckiest archaeologists in history. His discovery of the Mask of Agamemnon was not his first, but second remarkable discovery...
The Canine Figurines of Mesoamerican Colima
14 July, 2015 - 03:51 Riley Winters

A Dog Eat Dog World: The Canine Figurines of Mesoamerican Colima

The ceramics of West Mexico were very different from contemporary civilizations. Jalisco, Nayarit and Colima were the primary sites, creating some of the most intriguing and visually stimulating art...
Treasures of Priam
3 July, 2015 - 04:40 dhwty

The Treasures of Priam: Golden Riches from the Legendary City of Troy

Homer’s Iliad is often considered as one of the greatest works of Western literature. For many centuries, Homer’s Troy, the city besieged by the Greeks, was considered to be a myth by scholars...
Ten Legendary Swords from the Ancient World
1 July, 2015 - 00:43 aprilholloway

Ten Legendary Swords from the Ancient World

Swords are not only weapons, but symbols of great power, used over the centuries as offerings, in ceremonies, for coronations, and as precious items for trade. Over the years, a number of swords have...
The Eberswalde Hoard: Golden Treasure
26 June, 2015 - 03:27 dhwty

The Eberswalde Hoard: Golden Treasure Trove of the Bronze Age

One of the highlights of an exhibition held in 2013 entitled ‘Bronze Age. Europe without Borders. Fourth - First millennia BC’, is a set of impressive artifacts known as the Eberswalde Hoard. The...
A section of a Chinese Eastern Han Dynasty (25–220 AD) fresco of 9 chariots, 50 horses, and over 70 men, from a tomb in Luoyang, China, which was once the capital of the Eastern Han.
22 June, 2015 - 03:47 dhwty

Power and Prestige across Asia: A History of Chariots, Part II

Read Part I: Superweapon of the Ancient World: A History of Chariots According to written sources from ancient China, the chariot is reported to have been first used during the Xia dynasty. A Xia...
Pharaoh Tutankhamun riding a chariot
18 June, 2015 - 21:22 dhwty

Superweapon of the Ancient World: A History of Chariots - Part I

The chariot is often associated with the ancient Egyptian civilization. It became a prominent weapon of war during the New Kingdom. In fact, it is often considered a superweapon of the ancient world...
Mixtec Zouche-Nuttall Codex
17 June, 2015 - 04:14 Mark Miller

Treasures of Mexico: The Mixtec, Aztec & Maya Codices that Survived the Conquistadors

When Europeans arrived in the New World, they did not only kill people with war, slavery and disease, they also attempted to destroy the cultures of the native peoples. Among so many cultural...
The Yale world map of "Henricus Martellus Germanus" (Heinrich Hammer). It is the most detailed "Dragon Tail" map by Martellus. It is the only one with a coordinate grid.
15 June, 2015 - 21:40 Robin Whitlock

Hidden secrets revealed in 1491 world map that may have guided Columbus

A map of the world produced in 1491 by Henricus Martellus has been subjected to multispectral imaging, which has revealed hidden details on the map not previously visible, including numerous Latin...
The Mysterious Book of Soyga
15 June, 2015 - 00:17 Riley Winters

Holy Conversations: The Impact of the Mysterious Book of Soyga

The Book of Soyga , or the Aldaraia sive Soyga vocor, was written in the sixteenth century as a possible treatise on magic. The illustrious occultist John Dee of the court of Elizabeth I owned one of...
Seven-Branched Sword
6 June, 2015 - 02:55 dhwty

The Seven-Branched Sword: The Mystical Ceremonial Sword of Japan

The Isonokami Shrine is a Shinto shrine believed to have been built in 4 AD. Located in in the foothills of Tenri in Nara prefecture, Japan, this shrine is culturally significant for it houses...
An unconscious naked man lying on a table being attacked by little demons armed with surgical instruments
4 June, 2015 - 21:51 Riley Winters

Devils, Demons, and Dangerous Creatures of the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum

Pseudomonarchia Daemonum , also known as the False Hierarchy of Demons , is a great compendium from the 16 th century dictating the names of sixty-nine demons. The title itself indicates that the...
Butter Churn from the Saxon Period, found at Norton Bridge.
27 May, 2015 - 23:47 Robin Whitlock

Saxon butter churn found in Staffordshire sheds light on life in Mercian Kingdom

Archaeologists working on the site of a rail improvement project in the UK have discovered the lid of a butter churn from the Saxon period. The discovery of a wooden object at Norton Bridge, reported...
The Cascajal Block
20 May, 2015 - 16:39 Bryan Hill

Does the Cascajal Block provide evidence of a written language of the Olmecs?

The Cascajal Block is a stone tablet with the oldest known writing found in the Western Hemisphere. The inscription on the stone has been dated to 900 BC or 400 years before writing had been known to...
A sex-themed vessel found in Peru. Museo Arqueologico, Lima, Peru.
6 May, 2015 - 13:12 aprilholloway

Sex Pottery of Peru: Moche Ceramics Shed Light on Ancient Sexuality

The Moche were a mysterious civilization who ruled the northern coast of Peru beginning two thousand years ago. They built huge pyramids made of millions of mud bricks and created an extensive...
Sketches of inventions by Leonardo da Vinci
2 May, 2015 - 23:12 ancient-origins

Ancient Magic: The Illusions Created in Temples by Amazing Inventions

By Tara MacIsaac , Epoch Times Imagine you’re in an ancient temple, dimly lit by rays of sunlight peaking in. A worshipper lights a fire on the altar, and steps back. A statue beside the altar begins...
The Shabaka Stone: Ancient Relic tells of God Ptah and his Creation of the Universe
25 April, 2015 - 04:01 dhwty

The Shabaka Stone: Ancient Relic tells of God Ptah and his Creation of the Universe

The 26th Dynasty of Egypt was the last dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period, and was known also as the Nubian Dynasty or the Kushite Empire. The pharaohs of this dynasty hailed from Egypt’s...
4,000-Year-Old Ancient Babylonian Tablet
25 April, 2015 - 00:53 lizleafloor

4,000-Year-Old Ancient Babylonian Tablet is Oldest Customer Service Complaint Ever Discovered

A clay tablet from ancient Babylon reveals that no matter where (or when) you go, good customer service can be hard find. So it was revealed by the irate copper merchant, Nanni, in 1750 B.C. The...
Eight Impressive but Terrifying Cases of Ancient Surgery
23 April, 2015 - 01:29 aprilholloway

Eight Impressive but Terrifying Cases of Ancient Surgery

It is hard to fathom the way in which invasive surgery was carried out prior to the development of modern anaesthesia, but ancient people around the world have been cutting and drilling into the...

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