Thanks to Zack Snyder’s 2007 fantasy historical film, 300 , the Battle of Thermopylae has become one of the most famous battles in history, while the name Leonidas is now synonymous with the...
The Maya were the longest-lived civilization in history. Their history lasted for 3,500 years and traced parallel time lines with other ancient civilizations. They began their civilization in 2500 BC...
Ancient technology used by craftsmen 2000 years ago to apply thin films of metal onto their statues surpassed modern standards for producing DVDs, solar cells, and electronic devices. It makes you...
An extremely rare find of an ivory icon has been made just a few days after a unique Byzantine gold coin dating back to Emperor Phocas' reign (602-610 AD) was uncovered during excavation works at...
Archaeologists have discovered a sacrificial wolf carefully adorned with some of the best quality Aztec gold ever found. It is believed that the wolf was buried more than five centuries ago in the...
Chapurukha Kusimba / The Conversation Sometimes you run across a grimy, tattered dollar bill that seems like it’s been around since the beginning of time. Assuredly it hasn’t, but the history of...
One of history’s most intriguing ancient mysteries remains the elusive and legendary Ark of the Covenant, also known as the Ark of the Testimony. According to Biblical sources, it was constructed...
The National Museum in Quito, Ecuador exhibits an otherworldly collection of sheet-gold masks representing the Andean sun god Inti. Zig-zag rays of golden light burst from his face and some end in...
Henry IV of Spain – known as "The Impotent" for his weakness, both on the throne and (allegedly) in the marriage chamber – died in 1474. A long and inconclusive war of succession ensued, pitting...
Along with the harp and Saint Patrick, leprechauns have become iconic of Ireland. These mischievous fairies; with their green coats and hats, pots of gold at the edge of rainbows, and promise of...
The German Egyptologist Walther Wolf was unsparing in his description of Akhenaten, calling him a man who epitomized “sick ugliness and nervous decadence”. The greatest irony of the entire Amarna...
Chinese archaeologists announced yesterday the discovery of an immense underwater treasure. They stated that they recovered more than 10,000 gold and silver items which had been sitting at the bottom...
Researchers have recovered yet more ingots, possibly of the fabled metal orichalcum, from a ship that sank off the coast of Sicily around 2,600 years ago. The find has led some to ponder whether the...
Two amateur treasure seekers have unearthed extremely valuable jewelry which is speculated to be the oldest Iron Age gold ever discovered in England. The four torcs – three necklaces and one bracelet...
Cleopatra was one of four female alchemists who worked on producing the famous Philosopher's stone. She lived during the last remarkable period in Alexandria’s history, when it was still a city of...
A precious hoard of amazing ancient artifacts, including a bronze sword and a rare gold-decorated spearhead have been found in Scotland. From preliminary examination, archaeologists estimate that the...
“As Persepolis had exceeded all other cities in prosperity, so in the same measure it now exceeded all others in misery.” Miseries along with poverty, for the people were raped of their land and...
To his subjects, King Tutankhamen was part man, part god. His death in 1323 BC signaled the end of an era - the end of Egypt as an imperial power. The circumstances surrounding King Tut’s death are...
The ancient city of Aegae in Greece, where the royal tombs are located, dates back to the 7th century BCE; it became Macedonia’s first capital after it was conglomerated from a collection of villages...
In March, 1898 within a dark side chamber of Amenhotep II's tomb (KV35) the famed French Egyptologist, Victor Loret gazed upon the face of a severely damaged mummy of an ancient woman, which to him...
In the mythology / religious belief system of the Incas, Inti was the god of the Sun, and one of the most important deities in the Inca pantheon. As a solar deity, Inti is closely associated with...
An incredible treasure discovered near the Oxus River is one of the most precious collections of ancient Persian artifacts. Only 180 pieces of jewelry, plaques, and statuettes, and about 200 coins...
The long and glorious history of ancient Egypt gave the world an array of pharaohs whose qualities spanned the entire spectrum of human emotions and achievements: the builders, the warriors, the...
Yamashita’s Gold (known also as Yamashita’s Treasure) is the name given to the alleged war loot accumulated by the Japanese armed forces in Southeast Asia during the Second World War. This alleged...
