Summary of Neil MacGregor's A History of the World in 100 Objects

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 Human life began in Africa. Our ancestors there created the first stone tools to chop meat, bones, and wood. It was this increasing dependency on the things we create that makes humans different from all other animals. #2 The mummy of Hornedjitef, an Egyptian priest, is still yielding new information and sending us messages through time. The objects that were made for him demonstrate the ways in which this history will ask and occasionally answer different kinds of questions about objects. #3 The inner coffin has a gilded face, which indicates divine status. It also has an image of the sun god as a winged scarab beetle, symbol of spontaneous life, flanked by baboons who worship the rising sun. #4 Thanks to scientific advances, we can learn a lot more about Hornedjitef today than was possible in 1835. For example, we can see how old he was, what kind of food he ate, and how he died.