The Golden Buddha statue in Thailand, weighting 5.5 tons. At one point in its history, the statue was covered with a layer of stucco to conceal its true value. During relocation of the statue in 1955, the plaster was chipped off and the beautiful shining gold revealed. 13th-15th cent. CE [674×1346]March 27, 2025
A document dated October 24 1503 with the florentine chancellery’s official orders to N.Machiavelli for his mission to Rome in the aftermath of the death of Pope Pius III, who reigned for only 26 days. His orders included diplomatic talks and intel gathering(translation in comments) [906×1195]March 27, 2025
oman mask put on probably by a cavalaryman taking part in hippika gymnasia – Roman sports competitions intended for cavalary formations, which consisted of the mock struggle of two groups soldiers. [1200×1499]March 27, 2025
Mummy of the pharaoh Seqenenre Tao, 1553 BCE. From the wounds in his head, and his deformed hands that imply that he was possibly imprisoned with his hands tied, the most likely cause of death is execution at the hands of the Hyksos, following a Theban defeat on the battlefield [1024×2171]March 27, 2025
A photograph from 1911 showing the excavation of the Temple of Artemis at Sardis in Turkey. Construction of the temple, which is the fourth largest Ionic temple in the world, began around 334 BCE, soon after Alexander the Great liberated Sardis from the Persians [815×1200]March 27, 2025
Tangas from the Marajoara culture in Brazil. These highly decorated triangular ceramic objects were worn as pubic coverings by women and girls. 400-1350 CE [1725×4446]March 27, 2025
A writing brush made of animal hair, paper, bamboo and ivory, now housed at the Shosoin in Japan. Nara period (710-794 CE) [2110×5000]March 27, 2025
Diamond Spectacles from India, c.1620-1660 CE: these spectacles have diamond lenses that were cut from a single 200-300 carat diamond, and they’re so clear and so flat that it almost looks like the lenses are missing [3903×4826]March 27, 2025
The Stele of Vultures – the oldest known war monument. It was erected to celebrate the victory of king Eannatum of Lagash over Ush, King of Umma in the Umma-Lagash war (~2500BC). This particular fragment shows Eannatum leading a phalanx of soldiers into battle. [4032×3024]March 26, 2025
The Spiritual Master Guru Padmasambhava Western Tibet or Ladakh 14th century (900×1200)March 26, 2025
