In ancient Islamic legend, there exists the wonderful, contrary figure of Al-Khiḍr, an immortal prophet who kills a youth out of mercy and who scuttles a boat of some travelers to deny the greed of a...
The famous Egyptian boy king, Pharaoh Tutankhamun is believed to have been wet-nursed by a woman named Maia—who may have been his sister. The tomb of this mysterious woman has been opened to the...
The Abydos boats are a fleet of ships discovered in the sands of Abydos, Egypt. Sea vessels played an important role in ancient Egypt, not only in the everyday life of its people, but also in its...
Excavations at a Kursi site on the shores of the Sea of Galilee have uncovered an inscription in Hebrew letters engraved on a large marble slab, dating back ca. 1,600 years. No similar artifact has...
Are the symbols on the Dighton Rock Native American? Norse? Phoenician? Chinese? Portuguese? Japanese? All or none of the above? There have been numerous theories about who carved the inscriptions...
Much has been written about human sacrifice in Mesoamerica, but a new study says the people of Teotihuacan up to 2,000 years ago had a wild animal captivity and sacrifice program that included...
It has been an exciting year for human evolution with several discoveries dramatically rewriting major episodes of our ancient past. Some of this progress stems from major advances in fields like...
Throughout history a large number of books have been banned only because they contained various uncomfortable truths or tales. Such books have been systematically hunted down and destroyed by...
Dry weather has caused a drop in the level of the Shalmala River in Karnataka State, India, revealing thousands of carvings in the rock bed of male and female sexual symbols – linga and yoni – and of...
Chinese archaeologists have excavated the sixth century tomb of a nomadic tribal princess of the ancient Tuyuhun Kingdom in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. In the tomb they found two skeletons...
There have long been theories that the mythological texts of the ancient Egyptians contain scripture related to astronomical phenomena. It is also known that as part of their cosmology, the Egyptians...
On May 29th, 1593, a government informer, Richard Baines, formally charged the famous playwright, Christopher Marlowe, with blasphemy. The complaint sent to Queen Elizabeth I read: “Containing the...
Present day movies show elves as beautiful beings who help people in their times of need. However, the original ancient form of these beings was quite hostile towards humans. Often enough, elves...
A new study reveals that the origin of man’s best friend may not have been where, or when, the scientific community previously believed. The analysis of a variety of ancient canine DNA has also...
The sphinx is a famous icon from ancient Egypt of 5,000 years ago, but a statue of one has been excavated in China dating back more than 1,000 years. The marble sphinx, which has western features, is...
An enigmatic clay tablet pulled from the ruins of an ancient Minoan palace has been one of the most puzzling mysteries in archaeology. But now a linguist believes a goddess is the key to unlocking...
Researchers investigating the mysterious Oak Island, located on the south shore of Nova Scotia, Canada, have made a startling announcement regarding the discovery of a Roman ceremonial sword and what...
Many speak of observing the Christmas holidays with a return to more traditional or spiritual celebrations, but one man is taking that to heart by going on a medieval pilgrimage across England. He is...
A man whose foot was apparently amputated in battle during the sixth century AD had a prosthesis and may have used a crutch, says a team of researchers. An analysis of the man’s skeleton, exhumed...
Ice skating has been called the oldest human-powered means of transportation. During the winter it is easy for one to imagine our ancient ancestors gliding across frozen lakes in search of food or...
The Battle of Empel was a decisive battle. The Spanish force was decimated and backed onto a mountain without food and their fate seemed to be left to the enemy’s whims. The die appeared to be cast...
For being one of the most widely recognized men in the last 2,000 years, the true appearance of Jesus of Nazareth remains a mystery. Traditionally portrayed in western art as a be-robed, light-...
A cluster of 113 hanging coffins dating back 1,200 years have been discovered on cliff-faces and in caves in Zigui county, Hubei province, close to the site of the Three Gorges Dam in China. The...
The temple of Angkor Wat was much larger and more complex than previously thought, University of Sydney archaeologists have discovered. The University of Sydney's Professor Roland Fletcher and Dr...
