20 Spectacular Artifacts From the Ancient Past
It's time to go to school, so grab your book bag get ready for a fun archeology trip to the past. These pictures come to us from our fellow history nerds of the collective internet.
1.
"Venus Victrix" by Antonio Canova. The marble sculpture depicts Princess Pauline Borghese, the rather eccentric and scandalous younger sister of Napoleon Bonaparte, who allegedly posed in the buff, much to her brother's horror (ca. 1805–1808)
2.
Gold genital cover shaped like a shell with a reptile. Colombia, Tairona culture, 500-1550 AD
3.
Bronze ritual food vessel made of two hemispherical parts, originally gilded. China, Warring States, 5th-3rd century AD
4.
A 6000-year-old eagle-shaped pottery ding. Yangshao Neolithic Culture, now on display at the National Museum of China
5.
The blued and gilt helm of Sir Christopher Hatton, designed to be bulletproof by Jacob Halder, Greenwich, England, 1585. Housed at Windsor Castle by the Royal Collection Trust.
7.
A reconstruction of the Arch of Ctesiphon as it may have appeared in the 6th cent. compared to its remaining ruins today in Iraq. The arch, which was built either by Shapur I (242-272) or Kosrau I (531-579), is the largest single-span vaulted arch of unreinforced brickwork in the world.
8.
A ceramic mask. Tumaco-La Tolita culture, from Colombia or Ecuador, 1st century BCE–4th century CE. Now housed at the Metropolitan Museum
9.
A Maya painted vessel with a water bird. Late Classic Period, 550–950 CE, sold at Sotheby's in 2019
10.
"Dragon and Clouds" made by Soga Shohaku in 1763, set of eight panels, ink on paper. From Japan, Edo period, now housed at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston
12.
American Civil War-era naval uniform presented to 'powder boy' James V. Johnston, a child at the time of service aboard the Union gunboat, the USS Forest Rose, c. 1864.
13.
A stoneware figure of an assistant to the Judge of Hades, holding records of evil deeds. From China, Ming Dynasty, 1522-1620 CE, now on display at the British Museum
15.
Ashtadhatu (made of 8 metals) Gate of Lohagarh Fort, Bharatpur, India. Looted by Delhi Sultanate ruler Alauddin Khalji in 1303 from Chittorgarh fort and was taken to Delhi. In 1764 Bharatpur Jat ruler Jawahar Singh looted it back from Mughal Najib ad-Dawlah and was taken to Lohagarh Fort
16.
Cueva de las Manos ("Cave of Hands"), cave and complex of rock art sites, Santa Cruz, Argentina
17.
The Motilla del Azuer in Spain, built between 2200-1500 BCE, is a complex construction with several walls, tortuous corridors and a large courtyard where a recently discovered and excavated well is located. It was possibly a structure of refuge and defense
18.
The Holy of Holies in the temple of Isis in Philae, Egypt, built in the reign of Nectanebo I during 380-362 BCE
19.
1,700-year-old female mummy with visible tattoos on her arms. Nazca culture, now on display at the Maria Reiche Museum in Peru
20.
Gold and silver foundation tablets of the palace of Sargon II of Assyria in modern-day Iraq. Neo-Assyrian Empire, ca. 713 BCE, now housed at the Louvre museum
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