History Buffs



A relic from 1600 BC, the Ancient Minoan Snake Goddess is housed at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum in Crete.

Zeus Hurling Lightning Archaic bronze statue from Dodona, circa 530-520 BCE. The sanctuary at Dodona dates at least to the Mycenaean era. It was the site of one of the most prestigious oracles in Greece, which features in both the Iliad and the Odyssey. It functioned until the Decree of Theodosius in 392 CE closed all non-Christian places of worship. (Photograph by Daderot, 2011 at Glyptothek, Munich)

King Tutankhamun's Heart Scarab. "A special kind of scarab, known as a heart scarab, was placed in the wrappings of Egyptian mummies approximately over the heart. It was larger than the scarabs worn as seals or as amulets by living people, and it was generally made of stone, as...See more

Belt ornament in the form of a bird demon Iron Age III circa late 8th–7th century BCE Urartu Urartian culture Bronze

A Chimbote coiled trumpet, from the Santa Valley, Peru. This artifact is at least 2100 years old. Now housed at the Art Institute of Chicago, in Chicago, Illinois, United States.

In terms of their archaeological importance, Huaca Rajada and the Tombs of Sipán are considered Peru's equivalent of Egypt's King Tut's tomb. Ancient burial practices across the Andes demonstrate that indigenous cultures here believed in an afterlife for millennia. Individuals...See more