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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Artifacts

There are undoubtedly millions of ancient artifacts from the past that have served to shed light on the lives of our ancestors from many millennia ago. But some ancient mystical artifacts stand out for their uniqueness, their intrigue, or their ability to expand our knowledge about previously unknown aspects of our history. Here we feature many such ancient history artifacts, from amazing examples of ancient technology, to artistic masterpieces, unexplained objects, ancient texts, and mysterious artifacts that shed light on the daily lives of our ancestors.

Reading religious book. Source: 4Max / Adobe Stock
12 April, 2022 - 01:59 Forest Bauer

Does The Iliad Deserve Reverence as Scripture Like The Bible?

Ten thousand years from now, when humanity has moved out among the stars, and an alien race discovers the Earth and explores it, can you imagine one of them coming across the Bible and reading it?...
Selection of Greek Magical Papyri which are kept at the British Library. Source: British Library
8 April, 2022 - 18:54 Jessica Nadeau

Curious and Unusual Spells from the Greek Magical Papyri

The Greek magical papyri, as it is commonly known, is an extensive collection of ancient Greco-Roman Egypt magical spells, rituals, remedies, hymns, and myth. Scholars have placed its origin between...
Ancient Mesopotamian boat unearthed near Uruk. Source: Julia Nador - Deutsches Archäologisches Institut / CC-BY-NC-ND
8 April, 2022 - 14:58 Cecilia Bogaard

4,000-Year-Old Mesopotamian Boat Near Uruk Rescued

4,000 years ago, a boat sank onto the bed of a channel of the Euphrates River, near the ancient city of Uruk. Now, archaeologists working in modern-day southern Iraq have been forced to conduct an...
One of the four Umayyad inscriptions recently discovered at the ancient city of Knidos in southwestern Turkey. Source: DHA
6 April, 2022 - 18:49 Sahir

Four Umayyad Inscriptions Unearthed in Turkey’s Ancient City of Knidos

Four Umayyad inscriptions inscribed on limestone and marble blocks have been discovered among the ruins of the 2,600-year-old city of Knidos in western Turkey. The four Umayyad inscriptions, from...
Composite of in-article images
6 April, 2022 - 02:00 ancient-origins

Six of the Best: A Run Down of Last Week’s Top Stories

In last week’s top stories; features on the magic mushrooms of the Aztecs, and their devastating weapons arsenal, a very lucky 10-year-old, a tooled-up Roman mercenary, the world’s first known...
Darwin’s notebooks, stolen in 2000-2001, on top of their original box, with the box from “X” at the top. Source: Cambridge University Library
5 April, 2022 - 22:35 ashley cowie

Darwin’s Notebooks, Stolen in 2000-2001, Returned in Pink Gift Bag!

Two of Charles Darwin’s notebooks mysteriously vanished from Cambridge University 22 years ago. They have reappeared, in a pink gift bag, but nobody on campus or in the police force has a clue where...
Semih Güneri, a professor from Dokuz Eylül University who has been working on Mongolian petroglyphs for a decade, taking a rubbing of the possibly 15,000-year-old Gobi Desert petroglyphs he has identified with ancient Turkish speaking peoples. Source: Demirören News Agency
5 April, 2022 - 18:50 Sahir

“15,000-year-old” Gobi Desert Petroglyphs Made By Ancient Turks?

A Turkish archaeologist who is an expert on petroglyphs claims his team has found extremely old Gobi Desert petroglyphs made by ancient Turkish-speaking peoples, reports Hurriyet Daily . Although not...
A detail from the Urgell Beatus, depicting the Siege of (Christian) Jerusalem by Nebudchadnezzar, which was threat to Christianity as was the Moorish Islamic takeover of most of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century AD, when monk Beatus' work was so popular. Source: Public Domain
5 April, 2022 - 14:57 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Monk’s Beatus Apocalypses Warned of The End of the World

Based on interpretations of the Book of Revelations, the Commentary on the Apocalypses, written between 776 and 784 by visionary monk Beatus of Liébana, were a series of manuscripts that foretold...
Representational image of an Aztec warrior holding a double-ended spear. Source: Warpedgalerie / Adobe Stock
3 April, 2022 - 22:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Aztec Weapons: The Horrifying Aztec Armory

The Aztecs were a native Mesoamerican culture that thrived in the forests, jungles, and plains of Central Mexico from 1300 until 1521, when their capital Tenochtitlan was seized by Hernán Cortés and...
Oklo, Gabon has the world's first and only natural nuclear reactor. Source: WORLDKINGS
3 April, 2022 - 14:59 Lex Leigh

Gabon: The Home of Ancient Nuclear Reactors

Nuclear reactors, manmade machines designed to generate energy from nuclear fission, have been around since 1942. Some may be surprised to find out, however, that though manmade nuclear reactors were...
One of the Sinaia lead plates. Source: Vatra Stră-Rumînă
2 April, 2022 - 22:47 Jake Leigh-Howarth

The Sinaia Lead Plates: Dacian Treasure Trove or Impressive Fakes?

It was 1875 when 200 mysterious artifacts known as the Sinaia lead plates unexpectedly turned up at the Museum of Antiquities in Bucharest, Romania. They were all rectangular, apart from one, and...
The 65 sandstone jars were found scattered over four sites in the north-eastern state of Assam, India. Source: Tilok Thakuria et al., Asian Archaeology, 2022
1 April, 2022 - 14:52 Sahir

Ancient Stone Jars Discovered at Four Forest Sites in India’s Assam

A team of researchers has documented the find of “mystery” stone jars from the state of Assam in northeastern India. The 65 stone jars were unearthed in 2020 from four sites across the Dima Hasao...
A researcher holding the bollock dagger that was found at Ypres, Belgium. Source: VRT
31 March, 2022 - 14:33 ashley cowie

Dropped Your Bastard Sword? Then Whip Out Your Bollock Dagger

If you find the term ‘bollock dagger’ too crude, you could rightfully call this weapon a ‘kidney dagger.’ But that’s how the Victorians attempted to mask the true nature of this horrendous invention...
This is the rare 3,300-year-old Hittite bracelet that a Turkish farmer found in his field, which he turned in to the proper authorities. Source: Anadolu Agency
29 March, 2022 - 18:30 Sahir

Farmer Finds 3,300-year-old Rare Hittite Bracelet in Field in Turkey!

While plowing his field, a farmer in Turkey’s central Çorum province came across something highly unusual. The plow of the farmer, from Çitli village in the Mecitözü district, had struck a bracelet...
A recent extensive new analysis published in the Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports has more or less proven that the mysterious 1863 Cape Cod shipwreck is the 1626 Sparrow-Hawk small pinnace that sailed to the early English colonies but floundered at sea. Source: Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports
27 March, 2022 - 23:00 Nathan Falde

Salvaged Cape Cod Shipwreck Wood is the 1626 Sparrow-Hawk, Says Study

Did the remains of a Cape Cod shipwreck found in Massachusetts in 1863 really come from the long-lost Sparrow-Hawk, a name given in the 19th century to a “small pinnace” vessel known to have sunk in...
The lead curse tablet found on Mount Ebal. Source: Michael C. Luddeni | Associates for Biblical Research (ABR)
26 March, 2022 - 17:47 Sahir

Curse Tablet Found on Mount Ebal Suggests Early Literacy Came to Israel

One of two mountains in the West Bank, Mount Ebal occupies a special place in the hearts and mythology of the Israelites, but not in the most positive light. In advance of the entry of the Jews into...
Gold signet ring bearing the coat of arms of Sir Matthew Jenison, once Sheriff of Nottingham. Source: Hansons Auctioneers
26 March, 2022 - 13:56 Nathan Falde

Gold Ring that Belonged to Real Sheriff of Nottingham Sold

On March 24 Hansons Auctioneers in Derbyshire, England began taking bids on one of the more fascinating historical artifacts they’ve put up for auction. The item they’re selling is a flashy golden...
The rare St George seal, a matrix seal, found during the Villers-Cotterêts medieval castle restoration project last year. Source: Serge Le Maho / Inrap
23 March, 2022 - 13:31 Nathan Falde

Unique St George Seal Found in Castle Ruins in Northern France

In 2020 the Regional Directorate of Cultural Affairs (DRAC) in France’s northernmost region, Hauts-de-France, requested that the country’s National Monuments Center (CMN) begin renovation of an...
The largest Aztec starfish altar was found last year in the biggest temple, Templo Major, in the ancient city of Tenochtitlán (Mexico City) along with jaguar bones and countless seashells. Source: INAH
22 March, 2022 - 21:52 Sahir

Biggest Aztec Starfish Altar Ever, Found in Templo Mayor, Mexico City!

Archaeologists from Mexico’s National Institute of Anthropology and History (INAH) found the largest ever Aztec starfish altar offering site at Templo Mayor, the largest Aztec temple. Templo Mayor...
The early Bronze Age Maykop culture of the Caucuses region between the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea dates to the 4th-3rd millennium BC and was connected to more places than you might think! Source: Google Arts & Culture
22 March, 2022 - 13:59 Jake Leigh-Howarth

The Maykop: Lost Bronze Age Culture of the Exotic Caucasus Region

In 1897, Professor Nikolay Veselovsky, a Russian archaeologist and orientalist, specializing in the history and archaeology of Central Asia, uncovered one of the greatest archaeological finds of...
A new study posits that tools with handles, which came after countless generation of archaic humans used handheld rocks to cut, chop, and kill, are the oldest and most important technological invention of hominins. Source: ExQuisine / Adobe Stock
17 March, 2022 - 18:02 Sahir

The Handle NOT the Wheel Was Our Most Revolutionary Invention, Study

A new study published in the Journal of the Royal Society Interface has claimed that early man’s greatest invention was actually not the wheel but the tool handle! With an impact on transport,...
A new study has revealed that archaic humans reused tools at the Revadim Israel dig site as a way of honoring and remembering their ancestors in a "sentimental" way. Source: Andy Ilmberger / Adobe Stock
17 March, 2022 - 00:59 Nathan Falde

Archaic Humans Reused Old Tools To Stay Connected With Their Ancestors

Many of the stone tools that are found during archaeological digs at prehistoric sites show signs of having been reused. In fact, there is a typical pattern that seems to repeat itself time and time...
Anne Boleyn’s carved falcon that went on display at Hampton Court Palace earlier this month. Source: © Historic Royal Palaces
16 March, 2022 - 13:35 Sahir

Heraldic Falcon Emblem Of Anne Boleyn Rediscovered

After a one-sided courtship which mostly involved her putting a stop to King Henry VIII’s advances, the posthumously famous Anne Boleyn finally consented to his pursuit of her which culminated in a...
The distinctive double bend of what is being called a “perfect” wooden bow, made from spruce by a Native American tribe from southwestern Alaska, USA but found on Athabascan Dena’ina culture land. Source: National Park Service / J. Rogers
14 March, 2022 - 21:44 Sahir

‘Perfect’ Wooden Bow Found in Alaska Dated to Late 16th-Century

Lake Clark National Park and Preserve in southwest Alaska is renowned for the fact that no roads lead there, quite literally! Accessible only by boat or floatplanes, this vast expanse of gorgeous...

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