Grave of ‘Griffin Warrior’ at Pylos

The grave of a Mycenaean warrior was uncovered in 2016 in Pylos in the southwest of Greece was that of a warrior in his mid-30s who died around 1500 B.C. Buried with him thousands of objects, including silver cups, beads made of precious stones, ivory combs, a sword and four intricately decorated solid gold rings. The discovery of the “Griffin Warrior” offers evidence that Mycenaean culture recognized and appreciated Minoan culture. The man's rings are made of multiple sheets of gold and depict very detailed scenes and iconography straight out of Minoan mythology. The rings probably come from Crete where they were used to place seals on documents or objects.

All the cups, pitchers and basins found were made of metal – bronze, silver and gold. The man was hugely rich. Since discovery the number of artifacts recovered from the grave has reached over 3,500, including a significant Minoan stone called the Pylos Combat Agate and four signet gold rings with detailed images from Minoan mythology.

A bronze mirror with an ivory handle.

Archaeologists digging at Pylos, an ancient city on the southwest coast of Greece, discovered the rich grave of a warrior who was buried at the dawn of European civilization. Archaeologists expressed astonishment at the richness of the find and its potential for shedding light on the emergence of the Mycenaean civilization, the lost world of Agamemnon, Nestor, Odysseus and other heroes described in the epics of Homer.

The tomb is said to be the the most complete Greek find of its kind since the 1950s. The find includes gold, silver, ivory, and bronze artifacts, as well as engraved gemstones and an ornate ivory-and gilt-hilted sword. The warrior was buried around 1500 B.C., next to the site on Pylos on which, many years later, arose the palace of Nestor, a large administrative center that was destroyed in 1180 B.C., about the same time as Homer’s Troy. The palace was part of the Mycenaean civilization; from its ashes, classical Greek culture arose several centuries later.

The Cyrus Cylinder

Residing at the British Museum, the Cyrus cylinder is a clay cylinder containing an account of the conquest of Babylon by Cyrus the Great in 539 BC. Written in Akkadian cuneiform script, it describes his restoration of various temples and statues removed by Nabonidus, the previous king of Babylon, and of his own work at Babylon.

The Cyrus Cylinder serves as a declaration promoting the return of the deported and freedom of worship, aligning with the return of Jewish exiles mentioned in the Bible. It is regarded as a precursor to modern human rights and a testament to the multicultural management by the Achaemenid Empire. The artifact, about the size of a football, was designed to be embedded in the walls of Babylon as a foundation deposit.

The Staffordshire Hoard

With more than 3,500 items, amounting to some 5kg of gold and 1.4kg of silver – plus thousands of garnets – the Staffordshire hoard is the largest cache of Anglo-Saxon metalwork ever found.

Archaeologists think the treasures were trophies, captured over multiple mid-seventh century battles.

It's likely that they were seized by the English midlands kingdom of Mercia from the kingdoms of Northumbria, East Anglia and Wessex.

The items are almost exclusively military. The hoard was made up of fittings from up to 150 swords, gold and garnet elements of high status seax (fighting knifes), a gilded silver helmet, crosses, and a probable bishop’s headdress.

The ornate bishop’s headdress is the world’s earliest surviving example of high status ecclesiastical headgear. One element bears an inscription – a quotation from the Book of Numbers. It reads “Rise up, LORD, and let thine enemies be scattered; and let them that hate thee flee before thee”. It's possible that the hoard was war booty captured by the pagan Mercian king, Penda, from armies led by Christians.

The Peacock Throne

The Peacock Throne was a famous jewelled throne that was the seat of the Mughal emperors of India. It was commissioned in the early 17th century by emperor Shah Jahan and was located in the Red Fort of Delhi. The original throne was captured and taken as a war trophy in 1739 by the Persian king Nader Shah, and has been lost ever since. The Peacock Throne took 7 years to complete. Large amounts of gold, precious stones and pearls were used, creating a masterpiece of Mughal workmanship that was unsurpassed before or since.

A 2000 report estimated the value of the Peacock Throne at $810m

The throne was inaugurated with a triumphant ceremony on 22 March 1635.

Shah Jahan ruled in what is considered the Golden Age of the Mughal Empire, which covered most of the Indian subcontinent. It was ruled from the capital of Shahjahanabad and the imperial citadel Red Fort.

It was only seen by a small minority of courtiers, aristocrats and visiting dignitaries. The throne was even for the Golden Age Mughal standards supremely extravagant and cost twice as much as the construction of the Taj Mahal. Shah Jahan's son Aurangzeb ascended the Peacock Throne and is considered the last of the strong Mughal emperors. By his death in 1707 the empire was in inexorable decline. Nadir Shah's invasion of India culminated in the Battle of Karnal on February 13, 1739 and the defeat of Muhammad Shah. Nader Shah of Persia sacked Delhi and stole the Peacock Throne.

Nadir Shah entered Delhi and sacked the city. Persian troops left Delhi at the beginning of May 1739, taking with them the throne as a war trophy with many other treasures. Among the known precious stones were the Akbar Shah diamond, Great Mogul diamond, Great Table diamond, Koh-i-Noor, Shah diamond, as well as the Samarian spinel and the Timur ruby.

An Imperial Mughal spinel necklace with eleven polished baroque spinels for a total weight of 1,131.59 carats. Three of the spinels are engraved. Two with the name of Emperor Jahangir (1569-1627), one with the three names of Emperor Jahangir, Emperor Shah Jahan and Emperor Alamgir, also known as Aurangzeb. Portrait of Mumtaz Mahal (Arjumand Banu Begum). She was the favourite wife of the Mughal Emperor Shah Jahan. She died shortly after giving birth to her fourteenth child in 1631. The following year the emperor began work on the mausoleum that would house her body. The result was the world-famous Taj Mahal.

Necklace features five pendant Golconda diamonds with emerald drops. The central stone weighs 28 carats and is the largest table-cut diamond known. The five surrounding stones—weighing 96 carats, collectively—comprise the largest known matching set of table-cut diamonds. A rare Mughal pale green jadeite snuff bottle. 1800-1900. The translucent stone is of pale icy green tone. 2 in. (5 cm.) high, pink tourmaline stopper and bone spoon.

The Circus Maximus

In AD 121, on the anniversary of Rome's founding, Hadrian inaugurated new games and chariot races at the Circus Maximus. A rare aureus commemorates the event, providing an absolute date of 874 years since the founding of Rome.

The coin depicts the Genius of the Circus Maximus holding a chariot wheel while reclining around the three-pointed metae (the turning posts that mark either end of the spina) of the Circus Maximus, accompanied by the accompanying legend: ANN. DCCCLXXIIII NAT. VRB. P. CIR. CON. ann(is) dccclxxiiii nat(ali) urb(is) P(rimum) cir(censes) con(stituti) Year 874 Since the Birth of the City; First Circus Games Established

The crucible of Roman chariot racing was the Circo Massimo, or Circus Maximus. Chariot racing was fast, dangerous and bloody. According to the historian Livy, the inaugural events and wooden seating were instituted by Tarquinius Priscus in the sixth century BC. Julius Caesar gave the Circus Maximus its iconic shape in the first century BC by greatly extending the racing track and seating capacity.

At its largest, the Circus Maximus reached a length of 621 metres and 190 metres in width. It had three tiers of seating, with the lowest, nearest the action, reserved for the elite. The Circus Maximus could accommodate over 150,000 spectators. Races began when the sponsor dropped his napkin and ended seven laps later. A race consisted of 13 turns of the spina, totalling seven laps of the Circus Maximus, run counterclockwise.

Those who didn't get maimed or killed and finished in the top three won prizes. Crashes were called naufragia ("shipwreck"). Drivers who became entangled in a crash risked being trampled or dragged along the track by their horses. Most commonly raced were four-horse chariots, known as quadrigae. Drivers (aurigae) wrapped the reins around their waists to steer with weight shifts, holding a knife (falx) to cut themselves free if needed. The two middle horses provided the primary pulling power, while the outer horses were steered. Life expectancy of aurigae was short.

Located in the valley between the Palatine and Aventine hills, the arena had numerous additions over the centuries as well as major rebuilds. The Greek historian Dionysius of Halicarnassus called it “one of the most beautiful” structures in Rome.

Caracalla. AD 198-217. AV Aureus (20mm, 6.90 g, 6h). Rome mint. Struck AD 213. ANTONINVS PIVS AVG BRIT, laureate, draped, and cuirassed bust right / P M TR P XVI, COS IIII P P in exergue, view of the Circus Maximus, with spina, metae, and obelisk in center. RIC IV 211B = BMCRE p. 439, † corr. (rev. legend); Calicó 2710 (same rev. die as illustration); Biaggi –. Near EF. Extremely rare with 4 known and an important architectural type. Est $75,000. Sold for $140,000.

Thracian tomb reveals gold

In late 2012 Bulgarian archaeologists found golden treasures in an ancient Thracian tomb near a Unesco world heritage site about 250 miles north-east of the capital Sofia.

Items included gold bracelets with snake heads, a tiara with animal motifs and a horse-head piece along with a hoard of other ancient golden artefacts. The items date to the end of the fourth or the beginning of the third century BC. They were found in the biggest of 150 ancient tombs of the Getae, a Thracian tribe.

Among the objects found were a golden laurel and ring, rhytons - silver drinking vessels shaped like horns, Greek pottery and military items including weapons and armour. The tomb in Zlatinitsa is extremely rare in that it has remained unopened since the 4th century BC. Virtually all Thracians tombs were looted in antiquity.

The tomb was that of a high status leader. Used weapons and the arrow wounds in the bones of his horse indicate that he was a warrior. He was buried in the biggest burial mound in the region.