Key Takeaways on 6 Ancient Artifacts:
Venus of Willendorf: This four-inch-tall figurine is a female icon of the Ice Age and is 30,000 years old.
Olmec Colossal Heads: These 17 similar heads were thought to be portraits of Olmec rulers in Central America from 3,400 years ago.
King Tut’s Funerary Mask: The 24-pound facial replica capped the wrapped mummy of the Egyptian king, who died in 1323 B.C. at the age of 19, after ruling just 10 years.
Rosetta Stone: This bilingual, tri-script inscription enabled decipherment of Egyptian hieroglyphs, unlocking all of the ancient civilization's writings.
Terracotta Army: Thousands of life-sized clay warriors, lining trenches in military formation in the complex commissioned by Qin Shihuang, the first emperor to rule a unified China from 210 to 221 B.C.
Dead Sea Scrolls: Nearly 1,000 tattered texts written between 300 B.C. and A.D. 70 that transcribe stories that predate the Bible.
You've probably heard of the Dead Sea Scrolls and seen King Tut's mask. But if you want to beat your family at Jeopardy, you'd better learn their backstories. Here's our cheat sheet for six iconic artifacts from the ancient world.
