bah . . . no disrespect to eurocentricism (it's here to last) but some stuff from other parts of the world . . .
(speaking from the birthplace and home city of Gandhi, btw)
Lord Shiva's bow: was so large, heavy, and massive that only another diety could string the solid gold bow. a king came into the possessition of said weapon and staged a contest. he who would be strong enough to string the bow, and use it to strike a target would be the man strong enough and powerful enough to forever protect his most beloved daughter. kings from all over the realms came to compete, and in their overconfidences they all failed but one, the avatar of another deity.
The (don't know the real word here) Sextant of the unknown archetect: the head archetect / engineer who constructed the Taj Mahal had such a device he used to make the completely white palace / mounment to a dead queen. after its' completion the king Shah Jahan had the archetect and every single worker who had even touched a stone to build the momument killed -- so that they would never again be able to have a part in the construction of any other structure which could rival its' beauty. somewhere the sextant which the engineer used lies unclaimed to the passage of time
The Thumb of the true student: in ancient times there was such a skilled man in the ways of war. from dilpomacy to hand to hand fighting. he was much sought out as a teacher to would be warriors, who would go to insane measures to please him. this great teacher was Dhronacharya. he was intrusted to teaching the ways of war to the 105 princes of the great kingdom. (not all from the same father or mothers, btw . . . but an extended family of royality) he had made a promise that one of them would be his best student, and that student would always be victorious in battle. one of those 105 students was truely worth of his teacher's praise, and he focused on making him the utlimate warrior. (though in reality politics came into play) there was a commoner who wished to be the best, and had traved from modern day indonesia alone to india as a boy (for the ancient kingdoms of india were that vast). he pleaded for Dhrona to teach him, but the teacher refused, stating that the Prince Arjuna would be the best, and that he would never ever instruct the boy. saddened, but resolute, the boy ran away into the forest, and constructed a shrine to Dhronacharya. For years he trained everyday, practicing the arts of war (sword fighting, archery, etc) infront of the shrine which he reveared over anything else -- such was his admiration of Dhronacharya. over the years word of this boys exploits grew, and of his abilities in the art of fighting, espectially archery. Dhrona was enranged, and he accosted the youth with Arjuna in tow. How dare he try to be the best? Dhrona confronted the youngman and asked him what was he doing. The boy, overcome with happiness at the sight of his teacher (in the flesh) dropped to bow to his teacher, touching his feet. Dhrona was not pleased, for he swore to never teach this boy, and swore that Arjuna would be the best. the boy said, "ask me for something master, for i have studied in your presense (meaning the shrine) for all the years and your inspiration has taught me much."
dhrona thought, and simply answered, "i am your teacher, and i have come for payment. i have taught you so much and asked for nothing. but i will today. if you are truely my student, and truely wish to please me, then cut off your thumb so that you can never be the best at archery (and other forms of combat)."
the boy without any hesitation did so.
The Parchment of Law: 1500 BC document which details all the known laws of the land, also known as the Laws of Manu. (a mix of the development of western thought regarding society and Aristottle with religious rights, like the bible)
The Edicts of King Asoka: 14 edicts etched in stone, and 7 main pillars scattered throughout his entire emipre detailing all sorts of wonderous things. (from the middle of nowhere in jungles to cities to harsh wastelands . . . ) can be a scavenger hunt for rival power groups (the PCs, another adventuring party, some bad guys . . .) to visit all of the main ones (21), there are countless minor ones (stone etchings and pillars written in the fantastic ancient script)
The Piri Reis Map: In 1929, a group of historians found an amazing map drawn on a gazelle skin. Research showed that it was a genuine document drawn in 1513 by Piri Reis, a famous admiral of the Turkish fleet in the sixteenth century. His passion was cartography. His high rank within the Turkish navy allowed him to have a privileged access to the Imperial Library of Constantinople. The Turkish admiral admits in a series of notes on the map that he compiled and copied the data from a large number of source maps, some of which dated back to the fourth century BC or earlier. The Piri Reis map shows the western coast of Africa, the eastern coast of South America, and the northern coast of Antarctica. The northern coastline of Antarctica is perfectly detailed. The most puzzling however is not so much how Piri Reis managed to draw such an accurate map of the Antarctic region 300 years before it was discovered, but that the map shows the coastline under the ice. Geological evidence confirms that the latest date Queen Maud Land could have been charted in an ice-free state is 4000 BC. The official science has been saying all along that the ice-cap which covers the Antarctic is million years old. The Piri Reis map shows that the northern part of that continent has been mapped before the ice did cover it. That should make think it has been mapped million years ago, but that's impossible since mankind did not exist at that time...
The Sun Stone: The original object is a 12 feet, massive stone slab, carved in the middle of the 15th century. Many renditions of it exist and have existed through the years and throughout Mexico. Historically, the Aztec name for the huge basaltic monolith is Cuauhxicalli Eagle Bowl, but it is universally known as the Aztec Calendar or Sun Stone. It was during the reign of the 6th Aztec monarch in 1479 that this stone was carved and dedicated to the principal Aztec deity: the sun. The stone has both mythological and astronomical significance. It weighs almost 25 tons, has a diameter of just under 12 feet, and a thickness of 3 feet. On December 17th, 1760 the stone was discovered, buried in the "Zocalo" (the main square) of Mexico City. The viceroy of New Spain at the time was don Joaquin de Monserrat, Marquis of Cruillas. fterwards it was embedded in the wall of the Western tower of the metropolitan Cathedral, where it remained until 1885. At that time it was transferred to the national Museum of Archaeology and History by order of the then President of the Republic, General Porfirio Diaz. I'm sure it can be used as some massive key to some crazy old divination temple complex for watching the stars . . .
there's alot of stuff that's interesting from ancient texts (be them mythology or reality).
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0932813127/worldmyster07-20/102-9130408-1143334
that's one thing linking flight to ancient india and atlantis. (fyi, atlantis, nope, not in the mediterrainan. not in the atlantic ocean as we now know it. (back then they didn't know about north america, so the atlantic ocean was all the oceans, no division between atlantic and pacifis) look at maps of the earth before the polar ice caps melted (hence the sinking of the island into the ocea), it is none other than the area inbetween south east asia to the philippines down to indonesia . . .)
other things to note: the arabs (or people who now live where the arabs live) and others in the grey area between the middle east, north africa and south asia had batteries. check for it on the web. not a magical artifact, but ancient tech for sure.
if you're going to include things like lincon's hat (man, how does that compare to something magical?) then you must most likely have to consider alot of asian stuff too. and not just asian stuff, but alot of non-eurocentric stuff. like, king khamemeah (sp?) spear, which he used to unite the hawaiian islands.
also of note is that gandhi also made his own clothes, and his own salt from the sea for his cooking (which of course got him arrested). his methods of non-violence was later used by Martin Luther King Jr.
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