History of the World in 100 Objects (Part 3)

Flood Tablet – One of the tablets that makes up the surviving fragments of The Epic of Gilgamesh. Translated in the 19th century, it tells the story of a great flood, pre-dating the biblical flood by 500 years. The similarities are remarkable. Did the writers of the biblical story copy from the Mesopotamian stone tablets, or are they both based on an earlier mythic or historic event?

Rhind Mathematical Papyrus – large papyrus with over 100 everyday mathematical puzzles, such as how to calculate the amount of grain needed to feed 500 workers for a month. The narrator called it ‘an entrance exam for the Egyptian Civil service’. It was certainly the revision handbook at least. This is also one of the few examples of Egyptian mathematics that survives, and not by mathematicians, so the question of whether the Egyptians made many of the important mathematical discoveries rather than the Greeks (i.e. did the Greeks get what they know from the Egyptians) is still unknown.

Mold Gold Cape – This was a gold cape made from a single ingot of gold (about the size of a ping pong ball) about 1900-1600 B.C., and beaten incredibly thin. This was found in a grave by a group of workmen in the early 1800’s. The gold was divided up amongst the workers and the farmer whose land it was found on. It probably would have been forgotten to history but for a local vicar who wrote about the find, attracting the attention of the British museum, which over the following 150 years sought out the different pieces and found most, but not all, of them. The cape was unique in all of Europe, and was of immense value, obviously worn by someone very important, though the size of it indicates it was for a small woman or a child. It is likely the owners of the cape were connected with the Great Orme Copper mine nearby, the largest bronze age copper mine in north west Europe.

Indus Seal – Series of small stone seals with pictures and symbols/writing on, dating back 4,500 years old. These were probably used in trade. The Indus Valley civilisations were only rediscovered in the early 20th century, despite being one of the world’s first civilisations, and one without evidence of violence in their culture. They built over 150 cities, one of the largest of which was Harappa, where these seals were found. Some cities had advanced sanitation systems, large scale architecture and even a modern grid layout of their cities. What is amazing is that it was so recently discovered, there’s so much still to be learned, including the language of the Indus civilisation, which has yet to be deciphered. It’s just waiting for someone to crack the code.

Gold Coin of Croesus – (550 B.C). One of the first gold coins, made in the city state of Lydia, in modern day Turkey. Lydia was a trading centre, renowned for its wealth. Its last King, Croesus, invented money. This was probably because before then people used gold and other precious metals but when trading, the gold had to be tested for weight and purity which was time consuming and difficult. So Croesus had the idea of minting coins that had a standard weight and purity, thus taking the responsibility for ensuring weight and purity away from merchants and to the hands of the government. This was a very successful move and made Croesus and Lydia incredibly rich. Even today there exists the phrase, ‘as rich as Croesus’.

Eventually Lydia was invaded and conquered by the Persians, and Croesus was taken by the Persian king as his advisor, and he helped develop money throughout the Persian empire.

Sphinx of Taharqo – Sphinx showing a black pharaoh. This is because for a period around 680 B.C.. the neighbouring Kingdom of Kush, in modern day Sudan, successfully invaded Egypt and took over, but maintained Egyptian customs and government etc. They created a hybrid identity combining Kushite and Egyptian customs. The Kushite reign ended after less than 100 years, when they were invaded by the Assyrians.