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On the left: a 2400-year-old letter from Tushratta, king of Mitanni, to Amenhotep III requesting solid-gold statues as bride-price for his daughter. Right: another letter from Tushratta to Queen Tiye, complaining that the received statues were not solid gold, but merely gold-plated wood

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On the left: a 2400-year-old letter from Tushratta, king of Mitanni, to Amenhotep III requesting solid-gold statues as bride-price for his daughter. Right: another letter from Tushratta to Queen Tiye, complaining that the received statues were not solid gold, but merely gold-plated wood

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A 2,000-year-old Roman tombstone has been found in a New Orleans backyard, left there by the granddaughter of a U.S. soldier who brought it from Italy during World War II. The tombstone belonged to a Roman soldier and sailor named Sextus Congenius Verus.

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A 2,000-year-old Roman tombstone has been found in a New Orleans backyard, left there by the granddaughter of a U.S. soldier who brought it from Italy during World War II. The tombstone belonged to a Roman soldier and sailor named Sextus Congenius Verus.

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Amarna letter from Labayu to Amenhotep III, denying accusation of treachery &failure to comply with the pharaoh's orders. He justifies his capture of a town with a proverb "When an ant is struck, does it not fight back and bite the hand of the man that struck it?"

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Amarna letter from Labayu to Amenhotep III, denying accusation of treachery &failure to comply with the pharaoh's orders. He justifies his capture of a town with a proverb "When an ant is struck, does it not fight back and bite the hand of the man that struck it?"

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Beethoven kept his hearing loss a secret. He once wrote this letter to his brothers confessing it and explained that people mistakenly thought he was antisocial: he longed for human contact but became a recluse out of shame for his condition and all this made him contemplate suicide

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Beethoven kept his hearing loss a secret. He once wrote this letter to his brothers confessing it and explained that people mistakenly thought he was antisocial: he longed for human contact but became a recluse out of shame for his condition and all this made him contemplate suicide

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A gold Angel coin from the reign of Henry VIII was part of a big horde found in the garden of house in the New Forest, Hampshire in 2020. Sixty-nine gold and one silver coins were found: four kings, two queens and one cardinal across five denominations dating from the early Tudor period.

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A gold Angel coin from the reign of Henry VIII was part of a big horde found in the garden of house in the New Forest, Hampshire in 2020. Sixty-nine gold and one silver coins were found: four kings, two queens and one cardinal across five denominations dating from the early Tudor period.

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2400 year old Scythian leather made of human skin confirming what was for centuries thought to be an exaggeration from Greek historian Herodotus

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2400 year old Scythian leather made of human skin confirming what was for centuries thought to be an exaggeration from Greek historian Herodotus

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A 2,500-year-old Persian Acinaces, one of the few remaining royal swords from the Achaemenid Empire in exceptional condition. Made of pure gold and related to the era of Darius the Great, it was discovered in Hamadan , and is housed at National Museum of Iran.

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A 2,500-year-old Persian Acinaces, one of the few remaining royal swords from the Achaemenid Empire in exceptional condition. Made of pure gold and related to the era of Darius the Great, it was discovered in Hamadan , and is housed at National Museum of Iran.

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Sarcophagus of Prince Thutmose’s beloved cat, Ta-miu . Crown Prince Thutmose was the eldest son, and original heir apparent, of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III, ca. 1391-1353 BC

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Sarcophagus of Prince Thutmose’s beloved cat, Ta-miu . Crown Prince Thutmose was the eldest son, and original heir apparent, of Pharaoh Amenhotep III and Queen Tiye during the Eighteenth Dynasty of Egypt. New Kingdom, late 18th Dynasty, reign of Amenhotep III, ca. 1391-1353 BC

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Tablet from Nineveh, letter from princess Serua-eterat, daughter of Esarhaddon and sister of Ashurbanipal, to Libbali-sharrat, wife of l Ashurbanipal, reprimending the future queen for not studying. 7th century BC. British Museum

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Tablet from Nineveh, letter from princess Serua-eterat, daughter of Esarhaddon and sister of Ashurbanipal, to Libbali-sharrat, wife of l Ashurbanipal, reprimending the future queen for not studying. 7th century BC. British Museum

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Apollo of Gaza, in 2012 a Palestinian fisherman from Gaza recovered the Ancient Greek bronze statue of Apollo and put it up for sale for $500k on EBay. The statue, more than 2000 years old, was seized by police and never seen again.

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Apollo of Gaza, in 2012 a Palestinian fisherman from Gaza recovered the Ancient Greek bronze statue of Apollo and put it up for sale for $500k on EBay. The statue, more than 2000 years old, was seized by police and never seen again.

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A 2,000-year-old hat intended to keep Roman soldiers cool in the heat of the desert following their conquest of Ancient Egypt has been painstakingly brought back to life. The artefact, now held at Bolton Museum, is believed to be one of only 3 similar headpieces remaining in the world

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A 2,000-year-old hat intended to keep Roman soldiers cool in the heat of the desert following their conquest of Ancient Egypt has been painstakingly brought back to life. The artefact, now held at Bolton Museum, is believed to be one of only 3 similar headpieces remaining in the world

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In 1864, a slave-turned-soldier named Spotswood Rice wrote the following letter to his former owner, Katherine Diggs, warning her that she would soon be seeing him again: he was returning to Missouri, together with an army of black soldiers, to rescue his still-enslaved children.

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In 1864, a slave-turned-soldier named Spotswood Rice wrote the following letter to his former owner, Katherine Diggs, warning her that she would soon be seeing him again: he was returning to Missouri, together with an army of black soldiers, to rescue his still-enslaved children.

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The bloody chair which Qajar king Naser al-Din Shah died on. After his assassination in 1896 by gunshot, royal companions brought him to Golestan Palace and placed him on this chair, where his blood remains clearly visible to this day.

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The bloody chair which Qajar king Naser al-Din Shah died on. After his assassination in 1896 by gunshot, royal companions brought him to Golestan Palace and placed him on this chair, where his blood remains clearly visible to this day.

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A trepanned neolithic skull of a woman that had a prosthetic ear made from seashell attached, found at Roque d'Aille in France and dates from 3000-2000 BCE. The skull shows evidence the woman had survived the "open brain" operation and gone on to live for many years

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A trepanned neolithic skull of a woman that had a prosthetic ear made from seashell attached, found at Roque d'Aille in France and dates from 3000-2000 BCE. The skull shows evidence the woman had survived the "open brain" operation and gone on to live for many years

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An ancient maya vase, from Naranjo in Guatemala, depicting on the left, a cheeky rabbit steeling the clothes of God L, as he tells him "smell your sweat, wizard penis". And on the right we see the same deity complaining to the supreme creator god Itzamnaaj

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An ancient maya vase, from Naranjo in Guatemala, depicting on the left, a cheeky rabbit steeling the clothes of God L, as he tells him "smell your sweat, wizard penis". And on the right we see the same deity complaining to the supreme creator god Itzamnaaj

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A 5,200-year-old pottery bowl from Shahr-e Sukhteh bearing what is considered the world's oldest example of animation. It shows five sequential images of a wild goat leaping to reach a tree, and when placed in sequence, they create a brief animated scene. National Museum of Iran.

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A 5,200-year-old pottery bowl from Shahr-e Sukhteh bearing what is considered the world's oldest example of animation. It shows five sequential images of a wild goat leaping to reach a tree, and when placed in sequence, they create a brief animated scene. National Museum of Iran.

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Discovered in a cave in southern Poland in the 1980s, this prehistoric boomerang was made from a mammoth tusk and estimated to be 18,000 years old. But new analysis has uncovered that the boomerang is between 39,000 to 42,000 years old, making it the oldest known boomerang in history.

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Discovered in a cave in southern Poland in the 1980s, this prehistoric boomerang was made from a mammoth tusk and estimated to be 18,000 years old. But new analysis has uncovered that the boomerang is between 39,000 to 42,000 years old, making it the oldest known boomerang in history.

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