Artifacts

Muggles Are Selling the Chair in Which 'Harry Potter' Was Created

The decorated dining room chair J.K. Rowling used to write her iconic novels is going on sale

Jefferson, Washington and Hamilton came together during Washington’s tenure as president and worked, fought, compromised—and wrote—in the struggle to establish a nation.

The Laptops That Powered the American Revolution

Always on the go, the Founding Fathers waged their war of words from the mahogany mobile devices of their time

The statue of Abu Bint Deimun, from third century B.C. Hatra, Iraq. A global network of preservationists are teaming up to protect the world’s antiquities.

Crash Courses Prepare Art Conservators for Catastrophic Disasters

Smithsonian experts train a brave band of conservators in northern Iraq to brace buildings and rescue artifacts in a hurry

A human-headed winged bull from the eighth century B.C. Assyrian royal palace in Khorsabad. ISIS razed the city’s ruins last year.

The Race to Save Syria's Archaeological Treasures

The deliberate destruction of antiquities by ISIS and others in the birthplace of human civilization is cultural genocide

The archway of the Temple of Bel in Palmyra will be recreated in New York City and London.

Replicas of a Temple Nearly Destroyed by ISIS Are Coming to New York and London

A surviving archway from Palmyra will be recreated as a symbol of defiance

This mysterious object was discovered buried in a Jerusalem cemetery.

It Took Israeli Authorities Months to Identify This Strange, Gold Object

Ancient artifact or back massager?

In a photograph by Devin Allen, a young girl holds a sign at a protest in Baltimore.

How the African American History Museum Is Curating "Black Lives Matter"

Photographs, posters and other artifacts documenting the protests find a home at the new Smithsonian museum

The manuscript found in the attic

An Intern Saved a Museum by Finding This Revolutionary War Treasure in the Attic

The obvious lesson: never throw anything away

The crew promised the donation of the iconic two-foot hourglass and the original audio tape of late cast member MacDonald Carey saying, “like sands through the hourglass, so are the days of our lives.”

For 50 Years, Days of Our Lives Has Made History. Now, It's a Part of the Smithsonian

The show's iconic hourglass is among a host of donations the show's producer and cast members made to the American History Museum

A bowl done in a style first seen around A.D. 1100 has “acid blooms” on its interior—imperfections suggesting that someone used modern soaps to clean the bowl up, possibly to fetch a higher price on the black market.

An Exclusive Look at the Greatest Haul of Native American Artifacts, Ever

In a warehouse in Utah, federal agents are storing tens of thousands of looted objects recovered in a massive sting

A museum worker wearing gloves holds up a cuneiform clay tablet, one of a collection of over 100, on display at a museum in Jerusalem.

What the Heck is Cuneiform, Anyway?

The writing system is 6,000 years old, but its influence is still felt today

ISIS Demolished Yet Another Priceless Syrian Monument

The 1,800-year-old Arch of Triumph was destroyed on Sunday

Divers examine ceramic artifacts that may hold clues about ancient medicines, perfumes and food.

Antikythera Shipwreck Yields New Cache of Ancient Treasures

Scientists have recovered more than 50 artifacts from the site, including a bronze armrest that was possibly part of a throne

Can You Guess the Invention Based on These Patent Illustrations?

Hint: They are all part of the National Museum of American History’s collection

A diver holds a granite head, meant to be the head of a priest, from the Ptolemaic period. The now-hollow eyes were probably inlaid when it was first made in ancient Egypt.

Sunken Treasures From Ancient Egypt Are Now on Display in France

The Arab World Institute in Paris shows off 250 artifacts once lost underwater

The Broken Promise of the Levees That Failed New Orleans

A piece of concrete serves as a reminder of how Hurricane Katrina shattered a city's faith

George Washington's bedpan

The Strange Saga of George Washington’s Bedpan

Even the most mundane of objects associated with the Founding Father have a story

The famous terracotta army guards the tomb of Chinese emperor Qin Shi Huang. Dozens of other graves and ruins around China are not so well secured.

What's Behind China's Professional Tomb Raiding Trend?

Move over, Lara Croft: raiding tombs is an increasingly viable career in China

These Academics Are Outracing (and Outwitting) ISIS

Historians, archaeologists and librarians scramble to save precious cultural capital before it can be sold or destroyed by militants

Dating human remains (such as this 800-year old skeleton found in Bulgaria) often relies on radiocarbon dating

Climate Change Might Break Carbon Dating

Fossil fuel emissions mess with the ratio of carbon isotopes in the atmosphere

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