Understanding history by reading accounts from people who experienced it or from scholars who have researched it is valuable, but there’s a unique power in directly observing objects that have endured for centuries or millennia. While we’ve incorporated some more recent artifacts of importance, our primary emphasis has been on items that have withstood the test of time from ancient eras.
1. A Viking-era ring found in the grave of a woman buried 1,200 years ago.
The grave was located in Birka, 25 kilometers west of modern-day Stockholm. The ring constitutes a unique material connection between the Vikings and the Abbasid Caliphate.
2. A 3,772-year-old tablet that tells the story of the god Enki speaking to the Sumerian king Atram-Hasis.
Atram-Hasis was the Noah figure in earlier versions of the Great Flood story. This tablet gives instructions on how he is to build an ark, which is described as a round, 220-foot-diameter coracle.
3. A 2000-year-old sapphire ring believed to have belonged to the Roman emperor Caligula.
It is thought to depict his fourth wife, Caesonia.
4. The ceiling of a 2000-year-old Hypostyle Hall in the Temple of Hathor in Dendera, Egypt.
5. The Swedish warship Vasa which sank in 1628 less than a mile into its maiden voyage.
After 333 years on the sea floor, it was recovered and now resides at the Vasa Museum in Stockholm. It’s the best preserved 17th-century ship in the world.
6. A 2,300-year-old Scythian woman’s boot.
This extremely well-preserved boot was frozen in the ground of the Altai Mountains in Mongolia.
7. Mourning clothes worn by Count Magnus Brahe at the funeral of King Karl XIV Johan of Sweden in 1844.
8. A 2000-year-old Roman silver dagger.
Presented with a before and after a nine-month restoration of the ancient knife.
9. A 8600-9000-year-old headdress of a 25-30-year-old woman buried in Germany.
Known as the Shaman of Bad Durrenberg, her headdress is made of bones and teeth from various animals, including deer, wild boar, crane, and turtle.
10. These stunning mosaics, dated to the 3rd to 4th century, were unearthed under a vineyard in Italy.
11. A gun concealed within a bible could be fired by pulling the silk bookmark.
This gun was made for Francesco Morozini, Dog of Venice (1619-1694), and is on display at the Museo Correr in Venice.
12. A 17th-century Ottoman three-mast tent made of silk and gilded leather.
13. A 4000-year-old wagon discovered in Lchasen Village near Lake Sevan, Armenia.
Made of oak, it’s one of the oldest known wagons in the world.
14. The Throne of Charlemagne built in the 790s and used until 1531 as the coronation throne of the King of the Romans
15. A cabin inside the Aachen, a 19th-century passenger and cargo ship, sunk by a torpedo from a British submarine in July 1915.
The Aachen lies off the coast of the Swedish island of Gotland.
16. The capstone of the Pyramid of Amenemhat III (1860-1814 BC)
17. Hercules armor, made in 1555, worn by Emperor Maximilian II of Austria.
18. A 9000-year-old stone mask found in the Judean desert in Israel. It is the oldest known mask in the world.
19. Drawings made by a 7-year-old boy named Onfim in the 13th century in Russia.
20. A 1500-year-old arrow discovered in Norway nestled between rocks. The research team believes it was encased in ice and transported as the ice melted.20.
21. This ceramic jar filled with bronze coins was buried outside a 15th-century Samurai’s home just north of Tokyo.
22. This is the top hat Abraham Lincoln wore the night he was shot at Ford’s Theater.
23. Armor made in 1549 for Ferdinand I, Holy Roman Emperor.
24. The ‘Sword of Goujian’ from Hubei, China, during the Spring and Autumn period (771-403 BC)
25. Ceramic water pipes near Epang Palace, China. They were made during the 5th-3rd century BC.
26. This gold bar with mint marks was recovered from the Atocha, a Spanish treasure ship that sank in 1622.
27. One of the first photos taken of Tutankhamun’s tomb in 1923 when it was opened.
28. Roman bird-shaped perfume bottles dated to the 1st century.
These bottles are sealed with the perfume safely inside. To open, the tip of the tail is broken off.
29. 17th-century cup made of 252 carats of pure emerald. It belonged to Emperor Jehangir of Mughal, India.
The inscription on the cup is a Persian poem that reads: “Wish god keep your fortune going, luck always helps you, the flower of your fortune blooms, and it be like a thorn to the eyes of your enemies.”
