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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Ancient Writings

There are literally thousands of incredible texts that have survived from the ancient world, which are etched onto copper, beautifully inscribed on papyrus, chipped onto tablets, and even written using the ink of ground down gold and precious stones. Here we feature many ancient writings, which have served to open a window onto the daily lives of our ancestors and enhanced the knowledge we hold about our ancient past.

Book of Kells, Folio 32v, Christ Enthroned. Scanned from Treasures of Irish Art, 1500 BC to 1500 AD, From the Collections of the National Museum of Ireland.
12 February, 2018 - 22:58 ashley cowie

Priceless Medieval Sacred Text Reveals Its True Origins

Arguably the world’s most famous medieval manuscript, the wonderfully illustrated Book of Kells , was “created in 2 parts over 50 years,” Dr Bernard Meehan of Trinity College, Dublin, told reporters...
Sun and Moon image,left; Lucian, the satirist. Engraving by William Faithorne, The Library of Congress
6 February, 2018 - 14:00 dhwty

Satire or the First Science Fiction? Lucian of Samosata’s A True History

A True History (known in its original Greek as Alēthē diēgēmata , or in Latin as Vera Historia ) is a story written by Lucian of Samosata, an author of Syrian / Assyrian origin who lived during the 2...
Charter of Henry II: 1171-2.
30 January, 2018 - 02:01 Theodoros Karasavvas

Might This Small Ancient Manuscript Give Post-Brexit Bristolians Entry to Dublin?

Did you know that Bristolians are entitled to live in Dublin thanks to an 846-year-old charter written by King Henry II which has never been revoked? In other words, people from Bristol could remain...
60 pieces of scroll have been reassembled in the latest scroll.
23 January, 2018 - 22:58 Theodoros Karasavvas

One of the Last Two Known Dead Sea Scrolls Is Deciphered

Researchers from the Haifa University have reconstructed the contents of one of the last two undeciphered Dead Sea Scrolls , disclosing a distinctive calendar used by a Jewish sect that lived in the...
San Lorenzo Colossal Head 1, Olmec culture, Museo de Antropología de Xalapa, Mexico.
19 January, 2018 - 18:57 ancient-origins

6 Discoveries that Show the Pre-Columbian Americas Traded Across the Oceans

Ancient civilizations look ever-more advanced with each passing year as new discoveries continue to showcase just how sophisticated they truly were. Yet, the idea that our ancestors were able to make...
The comb was discovered in Ribe, West Denmark.
17 January, 2018 - 13:57 Theodoros Karasavvas

Objects with Viking Rune Inscriptions Unearthed in Denmark’s Oldest Town

Ancient objects with rare Viking rune inscriptions have been discovered in Denmark. Experts suggest that the runic inscriptions could possibly shed new light on a very important period of the early...
Caves of Loltun, Mexico
16 January, 2018 - 19:00 ML Childs

Loltun Cave Art and Precious Clues to the Lost Mayan Civilization

There is a kid’s poem written by Jean Marzollo that begins: “In fourteen hundred ninety-two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue.” It goes on speak about the challenges and wonders of Columbus’s voyage to...
Photo of Zecharia Sitchin (left)(CC0)Akkadian cylinder seal dating to circa 2300 BC depicting the deities Inanna, Utu, and Enki, three members of the Anunnaki.(right)
15 January, 2018 - 18:44 Jason Jarrell

Zecharia Sitchin and the Mistranslation of Sumerian Texts

In a previous 2-part article (1), the authors wrote about the faulty associations of the Sumerian deities known as the Anunnaki as they are portrayed in the books, television series, and other media...
Runic inscription found in Bergen.
11 January, 2018 - 01:50 ancient-origins

Erotic Medieval Runic Inscriptions Found in Bergen

By ThorNews A runic inscription found in Bergen is quite long and the author must have had a lot of “erotic energy” when he carved these runes into the 33 centimeter-long (13 inches) wooden stick: “I...
Old books
5 January, 2018 - 01:56 Winston Hall

A Masterful $2.5 Million Dollar Rare-Book Heist Stuns Community

In an unprecedented incident in 2017, a group of unknown thieves rappelled down into a specially secured warehouse in Feltham, Middlesex in the early hours of January 30 th and made off with 160 rare...
Wooden Tablets Verify China's First Emperor’s Obsession with Immortality
26 December, 2017 - 19:04 Theodoros Karasavvas

Wooden Tablets Verify China's First Emperor’s Obsession with Immortality

New archaeological finds shed light on Qin Shi Huang’s (first Emperor of China) quest for eternal life. According to 2000-year-old texts written on thousands of wooden slats, the Chinese Emperor did...
Relief from a scribe's tomb found in Flavia Solva. (Public Domain) Background: Latin stone inscription.
23 December, 2017 - 13:58 dhwty

Acta Diurna: The Telegraph of Ancient Rome, Bringing You All the Latest Gladiator Combat News

‘Roman emperor conquers new lands !’ ‘Five new ways to use your fish paste .’ ‘When do the stars say you will marry ?’ ‘ Viae militares expand our reach to foreign lands.’ These may have been some of...
Aristotle's School, a painting from the 1880s by Gustav Adolph Spangenberg.
19 December, 2017 - 13:58 Dr. Sophia Protopapa

The Nicomachean Ethics: How to Approach the Ethical Musings of Aristotle

Aristotle spoke thoughtfully as he strolled along the natural pathways of the Lyceum and his companions were entranced by their teacher’s words. His philosophical musings seemed to intertwine...
The document was found hidden under the wooden loin cloth of the statue
11 December, 2017 - 22:50 Theodoros Karasavvas

Secret Centuries-Old Document Discovered Inside Buttocks of Jesus Statue

During restorations of an 18th century wooden statue of Jesus Christ, Spanish workers discovered a peculiar note that appears to be a makeshift time capsule. The most surprising and bizarre thing...
Bust of Euripides. Marble, Roman copy after a Greek original from ca. 330 BC. Codex Hierosolymitanus Sancti Sepulcri 36, p. 539.
9 December, 2017 - 01:49 aprilholloway

Overwriting Euripides: Hidden Classical Texts Were Washed Over in Medieval Times

The idea to reduce, re-use, and recycle is not a modern phenomenon. Over the last few years, there have been several instances in which scientists and historians have found ancient texts being...
Maiestas Domini page from Codex Amiatinus (fol. 796v), Firenze, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana and folio 5r from the Codex Amiatinus (Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Amiatinus 1), Ezra the scribe. "When the sacred books had been consumed in the fires of war, Ezra repaired the damage."
7 December, 2017 - 18:53 dhwty

The Codex Amiatinus: The Skins of 500 Calves Were Used to Create this Monumental Manuscript

The Codex Amiatinus dates to the end of the 7th century AD; making it the oldest known surviving complete Catholic Bible written in the Latin Vulgate. It has been estimated that over 1500 calves were...
The engraved whetstone found in Oslo, Norway. Credit: Karen Langsholt Holmqvist/NIKU
7 December, 2017 - 01:56 Gary Manners

Puzzling Medieval Runes Found on Stone in Norway

A rare find of a stone bearing engravings of runes that date back to the Middle Ages has been unearthed recently at an excavation near Oslo. The relic is a whetstone which was a tool used for...
Romanian Postage stamp design 1989 with Conrad Hass, Austrian military engineer with an early rocket design.
4 December, 2017 - 22:55 dhwty

Conrad Haas’ Flying Javelin: Yes, It Is 16th Century Rocket Science

Conrad Haas was a military engineer who lived during the 16 th century. Not much is known for certain about Haas’ life, in fact, he was largely forgotten by history. But this changed in 1961, when a...
Fragment of Apocalypse of Peter, part of the Nag-Hammadi-Codex found in Egypt.
2 December, 2017 - 01:55 Theodoros Karasavvas

Professors Find Original Greek Copy of Jesus’ Teachings to James

Two biblical scholars from the University of Texas at Austin claim to have discovered the first-known original Greek copy of a heretical Christian writing that describes the secret teachings of Jesus...
The letter (Image courtesy Andong National University)
28 November, 2017 - 02:01 aprilholloway

Last Words of Love Were Sealed for 500 Years in a Korean Tomb

I just want to go to you. Please take me to where you are. My feelings towards you I cannot forget in this world and my sorrow knows no limit. Where would I put my heart now and how can I live with...
Top left section detail of (1593) [The Codex Quetzalecatzin]. [Mexico: Producer not identified] [Map] Retrieved from the Library of Congress.
23 November, 2017 - 22:57 Theodoros Karasavvas

Library of Congress Obtains Mesoamerican Map from the Dawn of the Americas

The U.S. Library of Congress has recently announced that a unique, indigenous-made map of Mexico from the era of the Nahuatl people's first contact with European explorers is now part of its vast...
Ordered universe and cuneiform (Public Domain) and statue of Gilgamesh.
16 November, 2017 - 18:56 Jason Jarrell

Anunnaki Revealed: Finding the Nephilim in Myth, Giants Among Men– Part II

READ PART I Central to Ancient Astronaut Theory and author Zecharia Sitchin’s narrative, is a group of mythic beings known as the Anunnaki, whom he claimed crossed their own DNA with that of Homo...
The Gospel of Satan: Grand Grimoire is One of the Creepiest Medieval Manuscripts Out There!
12 November, 2017 - 18:49 dhwty

The Gospel of Satan: Grand Grimoire is One of the Creepiest Medieval Manuscripts Out There!

The Grand Grimoire, sometimes referred to as the ‘Red Dragon’ or the ‘Gospel of Satan’, is a medieval grimoire believed to possess immense powers. According to legend, it was written by an apocryphal...
Papyrus (P. BM EA 10591 recto column IX, beginning of lines 13-17).
11 November, 2017 - 22:50 ancient-origins

Ancient Advanced Technology Reveals Itself in Egyptian Papyrus Ink

A new study shows ink on 2,000-year-old Egyptian papyri fragments contains copper. This means the assumption that carbon was the only basis for ink to write on ancient papyri is now a thing of the...

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