18 artifacts that prove ancient people could create incredible beauty (19 photos)

These objects are separated by millennia and thousands of kilometers.





China, Japan, Greece—three points on the map, three eras. Three facets of the same world: ritual, protection, and art, but with the same level of craftsmanship. The owl is frozen in bronze majesty, the spider on the fabric looks comical yet alive, and the marble Io carefully guards the secret of its essence. These and other objects in this collection were not created for everyday use; they were created to amaze. Take a look at the artifacts that breathe life from bygone eras.

1. Broken seal, 1st century BC. depicting a house, excavated in Jubblepore, India, private collection, Agra



2. The Fayum Mummy Portrait is a funerary painted portrait created in Roman Egypt in the 1st–3rd centuries AD.





3. Bronze wine vessel in the shape of an owl. China, 1100 BC



4. A large, ornate single-barreled flintlock pistol with ivory inlay, late 18th century, India, Salar Jung Museum



5. A stele commemorating the spread of the famous teachings (Nestorian Christianity) of the Great Qin Dynasty (Chinese Tang Dynasty) in the Middle Kingdom, 781 AD, Beiling Museum Xi'an



6. 19th-century Japanese firefighter's jacket decorated with a spider hovering over an abandoned Go board



7. Majapahit terracotta head figurine, Trowulan, East Java, Indonesia, 14th-15th centuries century



8. Brick temple, 4th-5th century, in Tenduli, Uttar Pradesh, India



9. Magnifying glass, circa 18th century century



10. A Renaissance cameo, made around 1840, depicts Roman deities on a shell base.



The set includes a necklace and five brooches depicting figures such as Minerva, Juno, and Apollo. Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

11. A white cotton muslin dress with a green floral print, made in the 1860s and currently housed in the Fashion Museum in Bath, England.



12. A silver cup, circa 2nd century BC, found during the excavation of Ropar Mound, India.



13. Stone Shrines at Unjusa Temple. Korea, Goryeo Dynasty, 918-1392



14. Kantharos Head of a Female Faun or Io, circa 375-350 BCE



Red-figure ceramic vessel, made circa 375–350 BCE. in Southern Italy (Apulia). The vessel's body depicts a female head with horns—a detail that has given rise to two main theories regarding the depicted character: either it is a female faun (half-human, half-goat, companion of Dionysus), or Io—a character from ancient Greek mythology, Zeus's lover, transformed into a cow by Hera.

15. Marble bust of Cardinal Scipione Borghese, executed by Giuliano Finelli in 1631-32



The half-open mozzetta (a hooded cape worn by clergy) and a cord hanging from the vestment beneath the cape give the cardinal's attire an informal touch.

16. The plastered façade of Sak Kok Naa, the royal mausoleum of the Mayan king Ukit Kan Lek'k Tok, who reigned from May 26, 770, until sometime after 797 CE.



Located in the acropolis at Ek Balam, Mexico. The doorway is shaped like the mouth of a monster, possibly a jaguar.

17. Dhal (shield) made of buffalo hide. India, 18th century



18. Eagle-shaped cuauhxicalli - a ritual stone vessel for holding the hearts of victims of human sacrifice. Mexico, Aztec civilization, 14th century