Discover these 7 ancient artefacts at Expo 2020 Dubai

Expo 2020 Dubai is the perfect opportunity for all your archaeology geek-outs, especially if you have a penchant for random history factoids. For instance, did you know that the official Expo logo was inspired by a gold ring dating back to the Iron Age and excavated from Saruq Al Hadid in Dubai? Get ready to impress friends, families and even strangers with nuggets on ancient collectibles after you traverse these seven country pavilions, which will transport you to the earliest civilisations recorded or present you with cultural jewels from the burrows of time.

TREASURE OF DOMAGNANO AT THE SAN MARINO PAVILION: In the 19th century, a treasure hoard of the Ostrogoths (a Germanic tribe that conquered Italy in the year 488) was found in the San Marino city of Domagnano. Speculated to be the jewels of a high rank lady, the 22 pieces of nearly pure gold jewellery (pendants, necklace, earrings, hairpin) ended up in the museums of six different countries around the world. Abu Dhabi’s Louvre, for instance, is home to an eagle-shaped brooch (pictured). The San Marino Pavilion is now rebuilding its artistic heritage by offering visitors a look at the recreated pieces by Bologna-based goldsmith Marco Casagrande in a special display case.

ENCYCLOPÉDIE AT THE FRANCE PAVILION: Did you know that an encyclopaedia could have spurred the French Revolution in 1789? A revolutionary body of work, the ‘Encyclopédie’ has 35 volumes in total, all of which are coming to Dubai thanks to a loan from the French National Archives. Over a period of nearly 30 years, the volumes were published secretly for their philosophical and scientific contents amassed from all over the world by Diderot & d'Alembert. The loaned ‘Encyclopédie’ will be on display as part of the France Pavilion’s permanent exhibition titled ‘Progress’.

LUCY AT THE ETHIOPIA PAVILION: Lucy or ‘Dinkinesh’, meaning ‘you are marvellous’ in Amharic, in is one of our oldest ancestors to have been excavated from the earth – she is 3.18 million years old. Though Lucy is unable to make the trip to Expo 2020 Dubai from the National Museum of Ethiopia, her replica will marvel visitors at the Ethiopia Pavilion. Enclosed in a makeshift cave, the Lucy exhibit will tell the tales of ancient tribes, crafts and jewellery. She was discovered in 1974 in the Awash Valley of Ethiopia and ever since has been called ‘the grandmother of humanity’.

MICHELANGELO’S DAVID AT THE ITALY PAVILION: Italian artist Michelangelo’s marble sculpture of the biblical hero David was replicated by a 3D printer for the Italy Pavilion. The 17-foot statue - the same dimensions as the original - can be found at the heart of the pavilion, where visitors will be able to see the process that required 40 hours of digital scanning. Engineers in Florence made use of high-tech cameras to capture minute details of 16th-century David for his twin. They even applied marble dust to the acrylic resin it is made of, courtesy of one of the largest 3D printers in the world.

HIEROGLYPHS AT THE EGYPT PAVILION: Ever tried your hand at reading pictorial writing? Here’s your chance. Hieroglyphs or Greek for ‘sacred carving’, a writing system synonymous with the ancient Egyptians, are embossed on the facade of the Egypt Pavilion (pictured). While the English alphabet only consists of 26 letters, the Egyptians in the early Bronze Age had more than 1,000 distinct symbols for words, sounds and determinatives. The names of pharaohs were written in hieroglyphs on the walls of their tombs so as to protect them in the afterlife. Speaking of ancient monarchs, the Egypt Pavilion will also showcase three antique pharaoh statues.

Q’ESWACHAKA BRIDGE AT THE PERU PAVILION: The last standing Inca monument, aged 600 years, is getting a replica (pictured) to pave the way for visitors to the Peru Pavilion at Expo. The grass-woven Incan bridge is rebuilt every June as part of a sacred ceremony to strengthen social ties between the four communities of Huinchiri, Chaupibanda, Choccayhua and Ccollana Quehue in Cusco, a city that was once the capital of the Inca Empire. This renewal of tradition and skills is a testament to ancient Peruvian wisdom that will weave the theme of ‘Timeless, Always Peru’.

CITY OF SARAZM AT THE TAJIKISTAN PAVILION: An ancient city dating back 5,500 years was the export hub for metalwork in Central Asia. Despite being in the business of trading axes, chisels, needles and daggers, the settlement was an agricultural one and is now a Unesco World Heritage site. Tajik residents at the time processed grains using pestles and graters, advanced tools for a time when writing had barely been invented. Discover all of this and more about the proto-urban civilisation through pictures at the Tajikistan Pavilion.