25 Very Old Human Creations That Still Surprise Us Today

The armor, called Hercules Armor, was made in the middle of the 16th century for Archduke (later the Holy Emperor) Maximilian II. As it can very well be seen in the picture, the armor is covered in ornamentation and mythological scenes. The armor was made in France and it demonstrates the refined and sophisticated skills of armorers of that time. The intricate details tell us that this armor wasn't made to be worn in war. Its real purpose was to denote Maximilian's exalted rank in court or in similar settings. Never mind the remarkable art on the steel, the armor could also fulfill its protective function.

It is widely known that in ancient Egypt, cats were an important figure in people’s religious life as some of their deities were depicted having cat-like heads, so it is not surprising that they would be represented in jewelry too. This ring is made of gold and the cat figure is carved out of a semi-precious stone, carnelian. Its estimated to be at least 2,700 years old. On the bottom of the cat, in the inner part of the ring, there is a carved Wadjet eye or the Eye of Horus, used as a protective amulet.

Very often, we learn about history through art, but this time, we can learn the history of making art. This is a painter’s palette, made from a single piece of ivory. This particular palette is really fascinating because it still contains the blue, green, brown, yellow, red, and black pigments in its wells, even though it was carved around 1390–1352 BCE. There is also an inscription of the pharaoh Amenhotep III in hieroglyphics as well as the epithet "beloved of Re." During the reign of the pharaoh Amenhotep III, Egypt was prospering in art and culture, and this piece of art history reminds us of an ancient civilization preceding even the Ancient Roman empire. If you want to learn more here's another article about it on Bored Panda.

This stunning sky-blue ring is a hololith, meaning it is made from a single piece of stone; in this case, it is made from sapphire. If the precious stone is not enough to define the ring’s value, it is also believed that it once belonged to the Roman Emperor Caligula, who reigned from 37 to 41 AD. The woman engraved at the top of the ring is assumed to be Caesonia, Caligula's fourth and last wife.

The ring was on sale in 2019 and though the internet doesn't reveal who was the buyer or at what price it was sold, there are a few hints that it might have been close to $600,000. Isn't it wild to think that the same ring which was possibly owned by one of the rulers of the Classical antiquity period is now sitting on someone else's finger? What stories it could tell, if it could talk?

The Hathor Temple is one of the best-preserved temples in Egypt and it the main temple of the Dendera Temple complex. It is wonderful how the colors are still this vibrant as it is known the inside was once covered in soot, but it has been successfully restored. The good condition of the art is all the more surprising knowing that it was built more than 2,000 years ago. The main temple was completed by Queen Cleopatra VII, around 54 to 20 BCE.

Romans weren't the only ones to wear fashionable shoes. Archeologists excavating graves in the Altai mountains found an even older, very well-preserved pair of shoes. These bedazzled boots were worn by a Scythian woman around 300–290 BCE. They are made of leather, textile, tin (or pewter), and gold. The shoes are in exceptionally good condition because of the low temperatures in the region, so the ground in which they were buried was frozen.

The condition of the sole sparked theories as to how the beads and the crystals are still perfectly in place. Some say that the shoes were made specifically for the burial; others speculate that it belonged to a high-ranking woman who didn't have to walk a lot, or it was just the Scythians' lifestyle to spend most of their time on a horse. A more interesting theory proposed by historians is that the soles of the Scythians' shoes were an important accent of their attire, as they were visible to others while sitting in front of a fire and socializing.

This globe is thought to have been created around 1510 and it would be the oldest map depicting the New World. The map is carved on an ostrich egg and is a size of a grapefruit. This unusual material makes the globe extremely special because more commonly, old maps were drawn on materials such as vellum (calfskin parchment), sealskin, or wood. It could be that the map was made for a noble Italian family, because at that time, it was fashionable to keep some ostrich eggs to show off a family's wealth.

It is even speculated that the globe could have a connection to the brilliant Renaissance figure Leonardo da Vinci. The author of the globe left an indication that the globe was made in Florence, also an Indian Ocean ship depicted on the globe is similar to one done by an artist associated with Leonardo, so it could be very possible that the engraver was influenced by or worked in the workshop of Leonardo da Vinci.