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The Elusive Quest: The Search for Antony and Cleopatra's Lost Tomb

The Elusive Quest: The Search for Antony and Cleopatra's Lost Tomb

When it comes to ancient love stories, few couples have captured the imagination quite like Mark Antony and Cleopatra. Their passionate romance, set against the backdrop of the Roman Empire’s...
Traditional cremation ceremony in Bali. Source: Victoria Boroda / Adobe Stock

From India and Taiwan to Tibet, the Living Assist the Dead in their Passage

Many people see death as a rite of a passage : a journey to some new place, or a threshold between two kinds of being. Zoroastrians believe that there is a bridge of judgment that each person who...
The practice of posthumous marriage continues to take place. Source: AIproduction / Adobe Stock

The Ancient Practice of Ghost Marriage Lives On Even Today

Marrying a ghost may sound like the plot of a paranormal horror movie, but even today posthumous marriage continues to exist. What’s more surprising is that it’s not just in far-flung corners of the...
Cleopatra’s Death as depicted in a painting entitled ‘The Death of Cleopatra’ by Jean-André Rixens. Source: Public domain

The Enigma of Cleopatra's Death: Was it Suicide or Murder?

Accepted historical accounts claim that Cleopatra, the last active pharaoh of ancient Egypt, committed suicide. Cleopatra assumed the throne of Egypt after the demise of Alexander the Great during...
Representative image of human skulls in one of the famous catacombs around the world. Source: mila103 / Adobe Stock

Tales from the Crypt: Exploring the World's Most Famous Catacombs

Beneath the streets and buildings of many of the world's most historic cities lie mysterious and ancient catacombs. These underground burial sites hold the remains of thousands of people and have...
Ancient Roman funeral and mourning. Source: Erica Guilane-Nachez / Adobe Stock.

Watch the Reenactment of a Traditional Roman Funeral (Video)

The ancient Romans had a unique relationship with death and dying, and their burial practices were no exception. When someone passed away, their loved ones would gather around the dying person's bed...
Living with the Dead: Corpses Dressed Up in Indonesian Tradition (Video)

Living with the Dead: Corpses Dressed Up in Indonesian Tradition (Video)

The Torajan people, living in Sulawesi, Indonesia, have a unique funeral tradition . According to their beliefs, a person isn't truly dead until water buffalo have been sacrificed at their funeral,...
Aokigahara Forest, a.k.a. Suicide Forest, in Japan. Source: Satoshi881 / Adobe Stock

Japan's Aokigahara Forest Struggles to Shed Historic Suicide Infamy

In the shadow of Japan’s Mount Fuji, lies the sprawling Aokigahara Forest, also known as Jukai , or the Sea of Trees, because its rustling branches reportedly resemble the sound of the sea. The...
Detail of a painting depiction the Sati of Ramabai, the wife of Madhavrao Peshwa the ninth Peshwa of the Maratha Empire who reigned from 1761 to 1772. Source: Public domain

Sati Widow-Burning: A Dark Chapter in Indian History

Sati, the practice of a widow self-immolating on her husband's funeral pyre, remains one of the most controversial and emotive issues in South Asian culture. While some view it as a sacred funerary...
Beethoven. Source: flint0010 / Adobe Stock

Beethoven Died of Alcoholism, Promiscuity and a Weak Liver

The answers to decades-long questions about the health issues suffered by famed classical music composer Ludwig van Beethoven have been found in the most unexpected of places. Thanks to in-depth...
Detail depicting the unusual death of King Edmund Ironside as portrayed in a 13th-century illustrated Anglo-Norman manuscript of the Life of St Edward the Confessor. Source: Cambridge University Library / CC BY-NC 3.0

King Edmund Ironside Was Killed on the Toilet by a Cesspit Assassin

Having ruled England for less than a year, King Edmund is primarily remembered for his unusual death. In one of the most uncomfortable murders in history, legend has it the Anglo-Saxon king was...
Foot of an Egyptian mummy in the British Museum. Source: Ibex73/CC BY-SA 4.0

5 Discoveries That Changed Our Understanding of Egyptian Mummification

By Jenefer Metcalfe / The Conversation Centuries after the first golden coffins were taken to Europe, ancient Egyptian mummies still vividly capture people’s imaginations. Perhaps we’re awed by the...
A traditional burial site in Tana Toraja, whose culture is known for elaborate funeral rituals. Source: fabio lamanna / Adobe Stock

Elaborate Funeral Rituals and Exhumation of the Dead in Toraja Culture

The unforgettable Tana Toraja is a regency located in the picturesque mountains of South Sulawesi in Indonesia. This region is home to the indigenous Torajan people, whose way of life is deeply...
Scene from the funeral service for Constantine II at the Metropolitan Cathedral of Athens. Source: YouTube Screenshot

European Monarchies Pay Their Respects at the Funeral of Greece's Last King

The last man to serve as King of Greece, Constantine II, passed away on January 10, 2023 in an Athens hospital from complications related to a stroke. Constantine II hadn’t served as king since the...
The effigy of Edward the Black Prince at Canterbury Cathedral. Source: LMBO/Flickr

Edward the Black Prince Did Not Die of Chronic Dysentery, Study Reveals

Most historians long ago concluded that Edward of Woodstock, also known as Edward the Black Prince , the heir apparent to the English throne who died at the age of 45 in 1376, fell victim to chronic...
The hiring of professional mourners seems to have been a worldwide tradition in the ancient world, from Rome to Egypt to China. The Mourners, painting by Evelyn De Morgan, circa 1915. Source: National Trust / Public Domain

The Cost of Grief: Professional Mourners of the Ancient World

Funerals can be difficult to get through. The pain of loss can simply be too much for many. So why would anyone ever need to pay people to cry at their funeral? This didn’t just happen occasionally...
The upper body of Ötzi, protruding from the ice in the Tisenjoch pass on September 19, 1991. Photo: Helmut Simon. Used with kind permission from Erika Simon. Source: Erika Simon/SAGE Journals

Ötzi the Iceman Took a Posthumous Ride on River of Ice Water

A new proposal by researchers of the oldest known naturally mummified corpse, better known as Ötzi the Iceman, questions both the time and place of his death. New analysis points towards the time of...
Death comes for us all, but some leave better stories than others. These strange deaths will make you shake your head, and think twice! Source: xlaoma / Adobe Stock

11 Very Strange Deaths from History

We all die eventually, but some of us go out in weirder ways than others. With the number of people who have existed throughout human history, at least a few strange deaths are to be expected. Below...
The Death of King Attila the Hun in 453 from an illuminated manuscript within the Saxon World Chronicle (close up). Source: Public domain

The Fearsome Attila the Hun Died of a Nosebleed on His Wedding Night

In what must have been one of the worst honeymoons in history, Attila the Hun, the brutal nomadic warrior of the 5th century AD, was found dead in his nuptial bed, drenched in blood the morning after...
Two of these South American mummies were victims of violent deaths. Source: Begerock et al. 2022/ Frontiers in Medicine

Death Detectives Discover South American Mummies were Brutally Killed

There are cold cases, and there a really, really, cold cases. The story of two South American mummies falls into the latter category. When researchers analyzed the remains of three pre-Columbian...
Folding chair from circa 600 AD grave unearthed in Central Franconia, Germany. Source: Bayerisches Landesamt für Denkmalpflege

Ancient Folding Chair Found in Bavarian Grave Only Second Such Find Ever

Comfort in the afterlife was apparently a medieval concern. Gravesites can reveal aspects of past cultures and values, and are therefore a rich source for archaeologists and historians. An iron...
Medieval depiction of Empedocles of Acragas throwing himself into Mount Etna. Source: Public domain

Empedocles of Acragas Committed Suicide by Jumping into a Volcano

Empedocles of Acragas was a pre-Socratic Greek philosopher who lived in the 5th century BC. It is said that wanting to prove he was an all-powerful god, he decided to leap into the volcanic Mount...
Charon on the River Styx in the Greek Underworld. Source: Dracus / Goodfon

Dark Sketches & Stories from the Underworld in Greek Mythology

One of the most fascinating concepts of Greek mythology is that of the underworld. The Greek underworld is one of three realms that make up the cosmos. It was believed that after death, an individual...
A Roman soldier’s fart sparked a riot that killed 10,000 people! Source: Fxquadro/ Adobe Stock

A Roman Soldier’s Fart Led to the Death of 10,000 People!

Farts are controversial things. Sometimes they lead to arguments, and between young siblings or friends they may even provoke a punch (with some giggles); but there are at least a couple of times in...

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