People have always been fascinated by history and its mysteries, and our subject for today is the 10 most famous artifacts from the Ancient World. These unique objects can be found almost anywhere on the planet, and scientists and archeologists have been discovering them for many decades and even centuries. These ancient artifacts are the testament of distant and mysterious times, telling us a story of the people who lived before us. The importance of the discoveries is priceless, and it cannot be measured by any criteria that we know. We cannot say that one is more important than another, but we can try to list the most famous ones, like we did with the most famous sculptures in the world. By learning from the past and ancient civilizations, we will be able to understand better our place in the world and hope for a brighter future.
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During the last century, a large collection of artifacts was found. Many of them helped scientists reveal some mysteries, but there were others that were actually confusing them. The term “out-of-place artifact” refers to an object that was found in unusual or even impossible conditions, considering our knowledge. These objects are still a mystery to the scientists, and we hope they will provide relevant answers in the near future.
While we looked for the most famous artifacts, we came across some already published lists on this topic. Since there are many notable discoveries, we were influenced by one of the most prestigious magazines on the planet – National Geographic, to help us create our list. We also took into consideration the published works of Ancient-Origines and Hub Pages, to have detailed insights into the theme. Finally, we were able to create our list by combining these resources. To rank the artifacts we used Google Keyword Planner Tool to check their popularity on Google, and added 1 point for every 100 searches per month. After that, we also took into consideration the museum’s annual visit number in which the artifact is exhibited and added 1 point for every 100 000 visitors on an annual level. Calculating the total score of these two criteria we can rank the artifacts correctly and according to their popularity.
Let’s see the list of the 10 most famous artifacts from the Ancient World; hope you will learn something new and interesting.
10. The Baghdad Battery
Total Score: 6
During the excavations of a 2000 years old village next to Baghdad, archeologist came across a mysterious vase. Today it found its place at Technisches Museum Wien (Vienna Technical Museum). The vase is 6 inches high, and it was made from yellow clay. It also has a copper cylinder in the center of the jar. This strange object was a mystery until Wilhelm Konig examined it in 1938 and had some astonishing discoveries. The vase was an electrical battery, and this artifact is more than a millennia older from batteries invented by Alessandro Volta. Research shows that the Parthians brought these batteries during the occupation of Iraq (248 BC and 226 CE), and it is speculated that they inherited it from civilizations before them, making this artifact even older.
9. The Mask of Agamemnon
Total Score: 10
The mask of Agamemnon was discovered by an archeologist called Heinrich Schliemann in 1876 near Mycenae. The mask was made of gold, and it is a traditional funeral mask, suspected to be created for this Greek ruler. Schliemann named the mask after Agamemnon and along with the findings from the tomb, presented the evidence that the Trojan War was a historical event. Modern research proves that the mask predates Agamemnon, and scientists are still arguing about the relevance of the artifact.
The mask of Agamemnon is kept at the National Archaeological Museum of Athens, and it is one the most beautiful discoveries from the ancient world no matter the mystery behind it.
8. Phaistos Disc
Total Score: 25
The Phaistos Disc was discovered by the Italian archeologist Luigi Pernier in 1908, near the Minoan palace of Phaistos. The disc is believed to have its origins from the late Minoan Bronze Age. It is 15 cm wide, and it has stamped symbols on both sides. Scientists are still arguing about its true purpose and its place of manufacture, making this artifact one of the most mysterious objects today. We can hope that they will find answers in days that come and that we will be able to understand this artifact to have better knowledge of the ancient civilizations.
The Phaistos Disc is displayed at the Heraklion Archaeological Museum situated on Crete, where the disk was found initially.
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7. The Dead Sea Scrolls
Total Score: 74
The Dead Sea Scrolls are a collection of ancient Hebrew manuscripts discovered at the shore of the Dead Sea. Somewhere around 825 to 870 scrolls were found between 1947 and 1956. The scrolls are a collection of texts from the Old Testament including rule books and war strategies. The collection is suspected to have origins from the Jewish sect named Essenes and hidden in the caves during the First Jewish Revolt around 66-70 AD.
The Dead Sea scrolls are presented at the Israel Museum in Jerusalem and the Jordan Archaeological Museum, and their significance is priceless considering its historical, religious and linguistic value.
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6. Catalan Atlas
Total Score: 134
The Catalan Atlas was written in 1375, and it is the most important map in medieval times. It is kept in the Bibliothèque Nationale de France, formerly the Royal Library of France, since the reign of King Charles V. The map shows drawings of cities with a cross or a dome, depending on the religion preached. Political allegiance was marked with a flag, and places of greater importance are written in red. Other less important areas are black while oceans are illustrated with wavy blue lines. The Catalan Atlas consists of six leaves painted with gold and silver colors.
The importance of the Catalan Atlas lies in the understanding of the medieval world and uncovering its secrets and it is #6 on our list of the 10 most famous artifacts from the Ancient World.
5. Funeral Mask of Tutankhamen
Total Score: 204
Tutankhamen was a boy king, often described as weak but handsome. He reigned from 1332 to 1323 BC, and the time of his rule was one of the most troubled periods. Tutankhamen was the successor of Akhenaten, who was the first extremist in the known history. He married Akhenaten’s daughter and claimed the right to rule. On 26th of November in 1922, Howard Carter discovered this magnificent artifact that lay forgotten in Tutankhamen’s tomb. Tutankhamen’s eyes are made of white quartz with obsidian. His eyes are godlike and in the same time very calm and human alike. The mask represents the boy king at its prime and has similarities with the god of the dead, Osiris.
The Funeral mask of Tutankhamen is kept at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo.
4. Antikythera Mechanism
Total Score: 228
The Antikythera Mechanism is the oldest complex mechanism known, and it is often called the first computer. It was constructed in the Hellenistic period. Since Greeks were fascinated with astronomy and mathematics, this mechanism combines the concept of both, and it is suspected that it was made in 100 BC. It was believed that its purpose was to calculate the period of two Olympics and other astronomy research by the Greek philosophers.
The mechanism was discovered by a group of sponge divers in October 1900. The group encountered a shipwreck near the island of Antikythera and found many artifacts from the ancient world. All of the findings including the mechanism were transported to the National Museum of Archaeology in Athens for further examinations were it is still kept today.
3. Fertility Goddess
Total Score: 529
This artifact represents the Aztec goddess Tlazolteotl. She was a goddess of sex and fertility, known for encouraging people to sin, and at the same time the one who absolves them from all their sins. The name Tlazolteotl means the “Filth Goddess”, and she is also known as the “Mother-Earth” goddess. The figurine is displayed at the Tate Gallery in London, and the Tlazolteotl is shown during childbirth in a form of the mother-earth goddess. It is important to mention that the Fertility Goddess had four different ways, describing her from a very young age to her destructive moments as a grown woman.
This figurine shows how ancient civilizations treated women and how they favored their gods, because of that it is one the most valuable artifacts that enables us to understand the past better.
2. Ram in a Thicket
Total Score: 581
While archeologists excavated the cemetery in Ur, in Iraq, they encountered a pair of ram figures that are suspected to date from 2600-2400 BC. They were discovered lying together in one of the graves at the Royal Cemetery of Ur called the “Great Death Pit.” The figures are kept in the British Museum in London at the Mesopotamia Gallery and in the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology.
This artifact has an enormous significance because of its artistic value, and it provides us an insight in early civilizations and how they respected crafting and arts.
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1. Rosetta Stone
Total Score: 680
The Rosetta Stone was discovered by a French soldier in 1799, and it is one of the greatest discoveries of all time. The stone provided a better understanding of the mysterious Egyptian hieroglyphs, and since then it is the key to deciphering this ancient language. The stone is a part of a larger stone, and it contained the decree by the King Ptolemy V in three languages, Egyptian, Ancient Greek and Demotic script. The Rosetta Stone is a crucial key to helping us in discovering the secrets of ancient Egypt, and the ways of revealing them. The importance of this discovery is beyond measurable, and it is surely one the most famous making it number one on our list of the 10 most famous artifacts from the Ancient World.
Today the Rosetta Stone is kept in the British Museum in London, available for everyone to admire this ancient artifact.
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