Artifacts

One of the world's oldest-known carvings of the Ten Commandments will soon go up for auction.

The Oldest-Known Carving of the 10 Commandments Is Going up for Auction

But the buyer won’t be able to take it home

Pan Am promoted its "First Moon Flights" Club on radio and TV after the Apollo 8 mission in 1968, saying that "fares are not fully resolved, and may be out of this world."

I Was a Card-Carrying Member of the "First Moon Flights" Club

My card is now a historical museum artifact, but I’ll never give up my dream to fly to the Moon

Re-enactor John Holman displays a newly discovered letter alongside period objects including a hardtack-crate desk.

Newly Discovered Letters Bring New Insight Into the Life of a Civil War Soldier

A mysterious package holds long-lost correspondence from a young Union infantryman

Lion’s Head
 Historic Syria, 9th–8th centuries BCE 
Ivory, carved


New Art Exhibition Celebrates 5,000 Years of Syria's History

Syria is more than just a refugee crisis

The stacked bricks represent the people enslaved by President Thomas Jefferson in 1776 and include his own children and their mother Sally Hemings.

At the New “Slavery and Freedom” Show, a Mother Finds an Empowering Message for Her Young Daughters

A child's shackles, a whip, and an auction block deliver a visceral experience of slavery

A diver recovering a bottle of beer from the wreck of the Sydney Cove.

Australian Researchers Brew Beer With Yeast Believed to Be from a 220-Year-Old Shipwreck

A glimpse into the boozy past

A set of Civil War-era cannonballs were uncovered on a South Carolina beach after Hurricane Matthew.

Civil War-Era Cannonballs Unearthed by Hurricane Matthew

The destructive storm dug up some old history

The walrus diorama at the American Museum of Natural History in New York, photographed in 2009, includes a "realistic" marine background.

The History and Future of the Once-Revolutionary Taxidermy Diorama

In their heyday, these dead animal displays were virtual reality machines

What These Mysterious Scrolls Tell Us About Women in Petra

In 1961, archaeologists in southern Israel discovered a mysterious set of documents. They provide clues into the elevated status of Nabataean women

Osgood says he can walk peacefully in total anonymity if he leaves his bow tie at home; but people always make him cakes with bow ties.

Charles Osgood's Love Affair With the Bow Tie Began With a Dire Warning About Clip-Ons

As one of his iconic bow ties arrives at the Smithsonian, Osgood reflects on good and bad doggerel and how to tie a good knot

Why Tomb Raiders Treated This Priceless Gem Like Trash

Why would grave robbers break into the King of Xuzhou's tomb and leave its most priceless jade treasure behind?

What Is the Glass Palace Chronicle and Why Is It Important?

One of the most important sources of Burmese history is a document known as the Glass Palace Chronicle

The Burmese Monument That Appears to Defy Gravity

On the peak of Mount Kyaiktiyo is a mind-bending Buddhist monument: a 25-foot rock that balances precariously on the edge of a cliff

Does China's Only Female Emperor Deserve Her Bad Rap?

Wu Zetian, empress of the Tang Dynasty, was believed to be a cunning and ruthless ruler

Leutwyler spent three weeks in the archives of the Elvis Presley Estate photographing objects, such as this gold-plated microphone (c. 1960).

A New Photo Book Reveals the Objects That Tell the Stories of the Rich and Famous

Photographer Henry Leutwyler usually shoots his camera at celebrities. For this book, he looked at their stuff

Visitors on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. arrive to see the grand opening ceremonies.

Thousands Converge on the National Mall For Music, Family, Remembrance and Celebration

Families from all over the country arrive to celebrate the grand opening of the National Museum of African American History and Culture

Colombian Statue Heads Home After 80 Years

The slab figure disappeared from Colombia's National Musuem in 1939

Why Dead Rulers of the Han Dynasty Were Plugged With Jade

During the days of China's Han dynasty, when a ruler died his corpse was carefully packed with jade "plugs"

Resurrection City Mural (detail), 1968

A Mural on View in the African American History Museum Recalls the Rise of Resurrection City

The 1968 Hunger Wall is a stark reminder of the days when the country's impoverished built a shantytown on the National Mall

How the Heated, Divisive Election of 1800 Was the First Real Test of American Democracy

A banner from the Smithsonian collections lays out the stakes of Jefferson vs. Adams

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