List of Ancient Objects
- Musical Instrument (42,000 years old)
In 2012, researchers identified what they say are the oldest-known musical instruments in the world. A couple of flutes made from bird bone and mammoth ivory came from Hohle Fels Cave in southern Germany, which contains early evidence of the occupation of Europe by modern humans, or Homo sapiens. Scientists used carbon dating to show that the flutes were between 42,000 and 43,000 years old.
source: http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-18196349
- Mask (9,000 years old)
Stone mask from the pre-ceramic neolithic period dates to 7,000 BC and is probably the oldest mask in the world. It can be seen at the Musée Bible et Terre Sainte in Paris.
source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mask
Also another set of stone masks: 9,000 years old a group of nine stone masks found in Israel’s Judean hills have been put together for an original exhibition. The masks are generally between 11 and 12 inches in height, and after much studying it has been determined they were worn in important ancestor rituals, likely by early farmers. There was no writing 9,000 years ago, and the hunter-gatherer lifestyle had recently vanished, leaving new farmers in the stead of their wandering ancestors. It is thought these ancestral masks would have been the only proof a farmer had of land ownership — the imprint of the face of his grandfather or great-grandfather, for example, demonstrating facial structures specific to the family.
- Swiss Army Knife (1800 Years Old)
The world's first Swiss Army Knife. It bears a striking resemblance to modern multi-tools and has at least six distinct functions. It is not Swiss – it originates from the Roman Empire, circa 200 A.D.
This Roman predecessor to the Swiss Army Knife is useful for enjoying food. The tool includes a spike that historians think was used to snag snails out of their shells. A hook-like spatula is thought to have helped coax sauce out of a bottle. The device also includes a fork, spoon, and knife for mealtime, as well as a toothpick to clean up with afterward. Amazingly, all of these tools appear to fold into the handle of the knife to keep everything compact, just like Swiss Army Knives and Leatherman multi-tools we use today.
The tool was found in the Mediterranean in the early 90s, and it predates the modern Swiss Army Knife, invented in 1897, by nearly 1,800 years.
- Song (3,400 Years Old)
Clay tablets relating to music, containing the cuneiform signs of the “Hurrian” language, were excavated in the early 1950s in the Syrian city of ancient Ugarit (in what is now modern Ras Shamra.) One text contained a complete hymn and is the oldest known preserved music notation in the world.
The tablets date back to approximately 1400 B.C. and contain a hymn to the moon god's wife, Nikal. Remarkably, they even contain detailed performance instructions for a singer accompanied by a harpist, as well as instructions on how to tune the harp.
In 1972, after 15 years of research, Anne Kilmer (professor of Assyriology, University of California, and a curator at the Lowie Museum of Anthropology at Berkeley) transcribed the oldest known piece of music notation in the world.
source: http://www.amaranthpublishing.com/hurrian.htm
- Complaint Letter (3750 Years Old)
The oldest known complaint letter goes back 3750 years.
The letter, inscribed on an ancient clay tablet and dating from 1750 B.C., corresponds to the period of Old Babylon. The complaint was made by a certain Nanni to Ea-nasir regarding the delivery of the wrong grade of copper ore after a gulf voyage and about misdirection and delay of a further delivery.
The letter reads:
When you came, you said to me as follows: “I will give Gimil-Sin (when he comes) fine quality copper ingots.” You left then, but you did not do what you promised me. You put ingots which were not good before my messenger (Sit-Sin) and said: “If you want to take them, take them; if you do not want to take them, go away!”
What do you take me for, that you treat somebody like me with such contempt? I have sent as messengers gentlemen like ourselves to collect the bag with my money (deposited with you) but you have treated me with contempt by sending them back to me empty-handed several times, and that through enemy territory. Is there anyone among the merchants who trade with Telmun who has treated me in this way? You alone treat my messenger with contempt! On account of that one (trifling) mina of silver which I owe(?) you, you feel free to speak in such a way, while I have given to the palace on your behalf 1,080 pounds of copper, and umi-abum has likewise given 1,080 pounds of copper, apart from what we both have had written on a sealed tablet to be kept in the temple of Samas.
How have you treated me for that copper? You have withheld my money bag from me in enemy territory; it is now up to you to restore (my money) to me in full. Take cognizance that (from now on) I will not accept here any copper from you that is not of fine quality. I shall (from now on) select and take the ingots individually in my own yard, and I shall exercise against you my right of rejection because you have treated me with contempt.
It just goes to show – good customer service has always been hard to find!
Source: http://www.abc.net.au/science/articles/2015/03/24/4200708.htm
- Map: 14,000 years old
In 2009 the oldest known map was discovered carved on a hand-sized sandstone rock. The small rock with etchings of mountains, rivers and even animals was found in a cave called Abauntz Lamizulo in the Navarre region of Northern Spain, an area in the middle of the Basque country. It is believed that the map of the area where the rock was found was used by Magdalenian hunter-gatherers who were only a few centuries removed from the ice age. Marking territory in a rapidly changing landscape would have been very important to these semi-nomadic people, who may have used the map to navigate or to tell the tale of a previous hunt.