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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Fresco found in Knossos palace, Crete, Greece, dated 1600 - 1450 BC (CC0)

Minos Taurus The Bull Of Knossos

I am the bull of Knossos, where rich Minoans live amidst painted splendour. On the island of Crete I am surrounded by the Mediterranean Sea, by mountains and plains, by bronze, by plaster, by...
The Sirrush Dragons guarded the Gate of Ishtar.	Source: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP (Glasg)/CC BY-SA 4.0

The Ishtar Gate and the Deities of Babylon

The Ishtar Gate was the main entrance into the great city of Babylon, commissioned by King Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC) as part of his plan to create one of the most splendid and powerful cities of...
The cow’s head on the Silver Lyre. Source: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Bask in the Beauty and Melody of the Ancient Mesopotamian Lyres of Ur

It is unknown which culture was the first to create music, but a set of beautiful Sumerian instruments from the city of Ur provide us with some insight into the world of ancient music. Over 4,000...
Conservators clean up the bronze bull idol uncovered in Olympia.	Source: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

Beautiful Bronze Bull Idol Revealed By Rains In Olympia

A 2,700-year-old bronze bull idol has ‘come to light’ during excavations at the ancient site of Olympia in Greece. The stunning and perfectly preserved artifact is thought to have been a votive...
Minotaur

Myth of the Minotaur: The Making of a Monster

One of the most intriguing myths of ancient Greece is that of the Minotaur on the island of Crete, the bull-headed human-animal hybrid of Greek mythology. The story of the bestial Minotaur trapped in...
Sacrificed Bulls of Ramses II Excavated in Abydos Temple

Sacrificed Bulls of Ramses II Excavated in Abydos Temple

Ramses II, or the Great (c. 1303– 1213 BC), was the third pharaoh of the Nineteenth Dynasty of Egypt and is often regarded as the greatest and most powerful pharaoh of the New Kingdom. During recent...
Colorful Indian Kangayam Holy Cow ready for pongal festival.           Source: pradeep/ Adobe stock

Happy Pongal! The Ancient Indian Festival That Honors Nature

Many societies celebrate the changing of the seasons and harvest time. One of the most elaborate festivals in India is the Lohri, better known as the Pongal. This is a four-day Hindu festival that...
Left: Front angle of the reconstructed Bull Headed Lyre found in the Sumerian Royal Tombs of Ur in Mesopotamia, c. 2500 BC. Source: Penn Museum

Satire in Mesopotamia: Unravelling the Bull Headed Lyre of Ur

Many of us tend to think that the people of early cultures were less sophisticated than us. The wealthiest people may have lived lives of luxury with gold and slaves, but admittedly we cannot really...
The reconstructed Bull’s Lyre.

A Bull-Headed Lyre: Reconstructing the Sound and Style of Ancient Mesopotamia

A musician may have strummed its strings all the way back in the 3rd millennium BC. This means that the Bull’s Lyre, aka the Golden Lyre of Ur, is one of the oldest string instruments in the world...
Green Man (ElliotBrown/CC BY 2.0) and Bull Nandi (Public Domain)/Deriv.

From Green Man to Bull Son, The Universal Shaivite Bull Cult – Part I

In ancient times a new culture suddenly exploded across the vast terrain of Asia, Europe and Africa that was an evolution of the primeval Goddess Culture of the Neolithic Age that had previously...
Pasiphae

Pasiphae: Daughter of the Sun, Wife of a King, and Mother of the Minotaur

Pasiphae is a figure from Greek mythology. She is best-known as the wife of Minos, the legendary king of Crete, and the mother of the Minotaur. But Greek mythology has more to say about this...
Two cultic incense altars found in one of the rooms of the structure (Image: Michal Haber, Israel Antiquities Authority)

Drone Footage Helps Detect Rare 2,200-year-old Ruins in Military Zone

A unique Hellenistic period building, dating to the 3 rd century BC, built by the Idumeans has been unearthed in Israel’s Shephelah region. The impressive 2200-year-old structure, possibly an Idumean...
Ay as Sem Priest in tomb of King Tutankhamun. Note the leopard pelt – this is an example of the Imiut.

The Enigmatic Imiut: Magical Gear for Ancient Egyptian Priests

The Imiut is a peculiar artifact which has puzzled Egyptologists for a very long time. It was worshipped for its supposed magical powers, making it a fetish, but no one is entirely sure what it was...
Detail of the famous Minoan bull leaping fresco.

Taking the Bull by the Horns: The Perilous Minoan Practice of Bull-Leaping

If bull-leaping was a genuine practice in Bronze Age Minoan courts (estimated c.3200 BC-1100 BC), it was likely not nearly as fun as it appears in frescoes. Modern day professional matadors have...
Could the Egyptian Ankh Symbol Be Spawned of the Viscera of Bulls?

Could the Egyptian Ankh Symbol Be Spawned of the Viscera of Bulls?

The ankh symbol has for centuries been a symbol of eternal life, the universe, the divine, and other religious and metaphysical ideas. It was originally used as a symbol in ancient Egypt to represent...
The Bull by Stuart Yeates.

Brazen Bull: Gruesome Ancient Greek Torture Device Turned Screams into ‘Music’

The Brazen Bull (known also as the ‘Bull of Phalaris’, the ‘Bronze Bull’ or the ‘Sicilian Bull’) was a type of ancient torture and execution device from ancient Greece. The story of the Brazen Bull...
The Valley of the Kings and the Hopi: Constellations Send Ancient Messages

The Valley of the Kings and the Hopi: Constellations Send Ancient Messages

The thread of the constellations was very important to the builders of the pyramid complex. They went to great lengths to create them; carve them into solid stone and place them in the roof of the...
The Gate of Nimrud (Metropolitan Museum)

The Mythical Lamassu: Impressive Symbols for Mesopotamian Protection

Lamassu are human-headed, eagle-winged, bulls or lions that once protected cities in Mesopotamia. They were believed to be very powerful creatures, and served both as a clear reminder of the king’s...
The riverbed rock carvings also show Nandi, Shiva’s bull mount. The lingam in this photo is the protuberance, and the figure that encircles it is the yoni, or feminine symbol.

Incredible Shiva Lingas Carvings Emerge from the Shalmala River as Dry Weather Lowers the Water

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...