Hyacinth House

Sumerian Necklace and Ring, 2nd Millennium BC

A very rare set, made of gold and sedimentary stone beads. 

De Furtivis Literarum Notis  — Giambattista della Porta, c. 1563

The first known example of a digraphic substitution cipher, wherein pairs of letters from the plaintext are enciphered as a single glyph. This was quite an advancement at the time as it removed frequency analysis from the cryptanalyst’s tool box. At least until the frequencies of the 676 possible digraphs could be calculated.

Seated Deity with Glyph C Headdress

Mexico, Oaxaca, Zapotec, Zapotec, 500-600

Detail from the Apadana Staircase, Persepolis, Iran. Achaemenid Persian, 6th-5th century BC.

Outer Coffin of Nepthys

12th Dynasty

Middle Kingdom

Labret from Maranhão, Brazil

The Royal Game of Ur

Ancient Sumerian gameboard found by archaeologist Leonard Woolley near the ancient city of Ur, 1920. It has been dated to around 2,600 BC - 2,400 BC. While the rules of the game are unknown scholars and board game experts theorize that it was an ancestor of backgammon based on the pieces and arrangement of the board. It is currently on display at the British Museum.

Bronze kneeling figure of Horus of Pe: there are many falcon-headed deities in the Egyptian pantheon, but the posture of this figure, who wears a short kilt and long wig, makes it clear that it represents a divine being known as a Soul of Pe. The characteristic posture, kneeling on one leg with fists clenched against the breast and above the shoulder, represents jubilation, and was adopted, whether greeting the rising sun or welcoming the dead king into the next world. The piece is hollow cast over a core by the lost wax technique, a method employed in the manufacture of large metal figures in order to save material. The wig, eyes and markings under the eyes (representing those of the lanner falcon) were originally inlaid with semi-precious stones or precious metal. The roughened surface might also represent keying for gilding, now lost. The body is powerfully modeled with particularly emphatic treatment of the muscles. The piece as a whole is very fine work.

Date600BC (after)

Building human towers

The tradition of building human towers or “castells” dates back to the 18th century and takes place during festivals in Catalonia, where “colles” or teams compete to build the tallest and most complicated towers. The structure of the “castells” varies depending on their complexity. A “castell” is considered completely successful when it is loaded and unloaded without falling apart. The highest “castell” in history was a 10 floor structure with 3 people in each floor. In 2010 “castells” were declared by UNESCO one of the Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity. (AP)

Gold nose ornament 

5.1cm high, 11.1cm wide and 0.3cm thick (2 x 4 3/8 x 1/8 inch.) 

The spider is associated, in peruvian culture, with sacrifice and later with rainfall and fertility 

Salinar culture, Peruvian, Precolumbian America, 1st century BC - 2nd century AD.