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.

“The Alchymist, in Search of the Philosopher's Stone” by Joseph Wright of Derby, 1771.

2 December, 2015 - 14:49 valdar

From Magic to Science: The Intriguing Ritual and Powerful Work of Alchemy

Throughout time, history has recorded numerous rituals and magic practices, some more bizarre than others. While alchemists were preoccupied with finding the Philosopher's Stone and the elixir of...

Burning witches and holding others in the Stocks, 14th century.

29 November, 2015 - 14:46 ancient-origins

The Malleus Maleficarum: A Medieval Manual for Witch Hunters

The Salem witch trials, which began in 1692 in Salem Village, Massachusetts bay colony, are one of the most well-known and notorious witch trials in history. Yet, this was not the only case of these...

Painting entitled ‘Abulcasis blistering a patient in the hospital at Cordova.’

26 November, 2015 - 14:50 dhwty

Al-Zahrawi: The Legacy of the Father of Modern Surgery

The period from the 8th century until the 13th century AD is commonly referred to as the Islamic Golden Age. During this era, the Islamic world produced numerous scholars who contributed greatly to...

20 November, 2015 - 21:53 dhwty

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription: An Ancient Text That Changed the Perception of the History of the Philippines

The Laguna Copperplate Inscription is the name of an inscription written on an artifact that has great significance for the understanding of the history of the Philippines during the 10th century AD...

Strange beasts, mythological and real, graced the pages of ancient bestiaries.

19 November, 2015 - 00:45 lizleafloor

Bestiary, The Book of Beasts: Compendiums of Medieval Monsters and Moral Lessons

During the Middle Ages the phoenix rose from its ashes to be reborn, dangerous dragons battled elephants to the death, and the pelican tore out its own breast to feed its young with its life’s blood—...

The world’s first-known abecedary in ancient Egyptian hieratic script has been deciphered by a Dutch Egyptologist.

28 October, 2015 - 23:53 Mark Miller

Scholar deciphers oldest known alphabet primer, in ancient Egyptian

A Dutch Egyptologist recently deciphered the oldest known abecedary or alphabet-like primer on a 3,500-year-old shard of pottery from an Egyptian tomb excavated 20 years ago. The earliest alphabets...

A collection of tablets displaying Indus Valley script.

23 October, 2015 - 14:50 Mark Miller

Decoding the mysterious ancient Indus Valley script will shed light on powerful ancient civilization

Linguists have cracked many tough scripts, from Mesopotamian cuneiform to Egyptian hieroglyphic to Central American Mayan glyphs, but there are a few ancient, mysterious scripts still in the field...

17 October, 2015 - 21:41 Alicia McDermott

The Derveni Papyrus: The Most Ancient Book in Europe Involved in a Campaign Against Orpheus?

The Derveni Papyrus has recently been inscribed as one of the works for protection within the Memory of the World Register by UNESCO. Named as the ‘Most Ancient Book in Europe,’ the history of the...

A five-volume treatise concerning medical matters, Dioscorides, De Materia Medica, Byzantium, 15th century.

7 October, 2015 - 21:34 ancient-origins

Could ancient textbooks be the source of the next medical breakthrough?

The discovery that won the latest Nobel Prize for Medicine wouldn’t have been much of a revelation to doctors in ancient China. Pharmaceutical chemist Tu Youyou established that the compound...

The text resembles Cyrillic letters, according to experts.

28 September, 2015 - 00:32 Mark Miller

Is The Book of Veles a great Slavic text or a charlatan’s forgery?

The Book of Veles is so controversial it is banned in Russia. Its supporters say it lays out cultural, religious and historical facts about Slavs from the 7 th century BC until the 9 th century AD,...

The Blinding of Vasilko of Terebovl from The Tale of Bygone Years/The Primary Codex. (15th Century).

14 September, 2015 - 02:18 dhwty

The Precious Knowledge of the Hypatian Codex: Detailed Chronicle of the Southern Rus

The Hypatian Codex , known also as the Hypatian Chronicle , is said to be the main source of information for the history of the Southern Rus’ (Kyivan Rus’.) The Hypatian Codex was discovered by the...

24 August, 2015 - 00:55 aprilholloway

Fuente Magna, the Controversial Rosetta Stone of the Americas

By April Holloway | The Epoch Times The Fuenta Magna is a large stone vessel, resembling a libation bowl, that was found in 1958 near Lake Titicaca in Bolivia. It features beautifully engraved...

A segment of the Egyptian papyrus containing a prenuptial agreement.

15 August, 2015 - 00:54 Robin Whitlock

Eight foot long scroll reveals Ancient Egyptian prenup

A rather interesting Ancient Egyptian document is currently being exhibited in the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago , which you might think, at first sight, is an example of Egyptian...

11 August, 2015 - 20:55 dhwty

The Liesborn Gospel Book and its Mysterious Prayer Wheel

The Liesborn Prayer Wheel was discovered recently on the blank first page of a copy of the Liesborn Gospel Book. This was an unusual find in an already rare piece of work. This medieval tome is one...

17 June, 2015 - 04:14 Mark Miller

Treasures of Mexico: The Mixtec, Aztec & Maya Codices that Survived the Conquistadors

When Europeans arrived in the New World, they did not only kill people with war, slavery and disease, they also attempted to destroy the cultures of the native peoples. Among so many cultural...

The Yale world map of "Henricus Martellus Germanus" (Heinrich Hammer). It is the most detailed "Dragon Tail" map by Martellus. It is the only one with a coordinate grid.

15 June, 2015 - 21:40 Robin Whitlock

Hidden secrets revealed in 1491 world map that may have guided Columbus

A map of the world produced in 1491 by Henricus Martellus has been subjected to multispectral imaging, which has revealed hidden details on the map not previously visible, including numerous Latin...

15 June, 2015 - 00:17 Riley Winters

Holy Conversations: The Impact of the Mysterious Book of Soyga

The Book of Soyga , or the Aldaraia sive Soyga vocor, was written in the sixteenth century as a possible treatise on magic. The illustrious occultist John Dee of the court of Elizabeth I owned one of...

An unconscious naked man lying on a table being attacked by little demons armed with surgical instruments

4 June, 2015 - 21:51 Riley Winters

Devils, Demons, and Dangerous Creatures of the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum

Pseudomonarchia Daemonum , also known as the False Hierarchy of Demons , is a great compendium from the 16 th century dictating the names of sixty-nine demons. The title itself indicates that the...

20 May, 2015 - 16:39 Bryan Hill

Does the Cascajal Block provide evidence of a written language of the Olmecs?

The Cascajal Block is a stone tablet with the oldest known writing found in the Western Hemisphere. The inscription on the stone has been dated to 900 BC or 400 years before writing had been known to...

25 April, 2015 - 04:01 dhwty

The Shabaka Stone: Ancient Relic tells of God Ptah and his Creation of the Universe

The 26th Dynasty of Egypt was the last dynasty of the Third Intermediate Period, and was known also as the Nubian Dynasty or the Kushite Empire. The pharaohs of this dynasty hailed from Egypt’s...

25 April, 2015 - 00:53 lizleafloor

4,000-Year-Old Ancient Babylonian Tablet is Oldest Customer Service Complaint Ever Discovered

A clay tablet from ancient Babylon reveals that no matter where (or when) you go, good customer service can be hard find. So it was revealed by the irate copper merchant, Nanni, in 1750 B.C. The...

The Third creation of the Universe by Toniná Divine Lords, Garra of Jaguar (left) amd Kinich Baknal Chaal (right). National Museum of Anthropology, Mexico City

11 April, 2015 - 21:56 dhwty

Popol Vuh: The Sacred Narrative of Maya Creation

One of the most famous of all creation stories is that found within the Book of Genesis, where the Judaeo-Christian god is said to have created the world in six days. Prior to the coming of...

27 February, 2015 - 12:53 dhwty

The Singapore Stone – Cryptic Inscription on Heritage Stone, and the Legendary Singapore Strongman

Sir Thomas Stamford Raffles, the British colonial administrator, is commonly regarded as the founder of modern-day Singapore. Yet, the history of this island nation stretches to well before the...

17 February, 2015 - 12:03 mrreese

The Ars Notoria - An Ancient Magical Book to Perfect Memory and Master Academia

Over the centuries many books have been written claiming that loyal readers and followers of the text will be bestowed with magical powers. In some cases these books are intended to invoke demons or...