ABSTRACT
All around us there are things, embracing various necessities. The world is primarily characterized by material things. Without them, human existence would be utterly inconceivable. In fact, the history of humanity is best understood as a continuous process of materialization, which means that nothing is as intimately related to humans as things. Most human endeavours revolve around the creation, utilization, alteration, recycling, and disposal of things. Therefore, things are an intrinsic part of human existence and human being. The questions is: What constitutes the essence of things themselves? And wherein lies the influence of things on humans? What is human–thing ontology? My intention is to delve into the material essence of things in light of their diverse manifestations within scholarly sources. What sets apart the essence of things described in texts from those displayed in museums? How are material fragments discovered at archaeological excavations different from depicted things in paintings or photographs? To what extent do these various manifestations of things exhibit differences or similarities in their nature? And finally, how does this divergence influence the processes of interpretation and historiography?
