All  

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

History

From the powerful civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley, to the fearsome yet sophisticated society of the Vikings, the ancient world was a surprising and challenging place. Here we feature some of the most seminal and influential events and people throughout history, that have helped shape the world we know today.

Street art illustrating what the Spanish conquistadores did to the Inca during their conquest and the Battle of Cajamarca. Source: shantihesse / Adobe Stock.

The Battle of Cajamarca – The Conquest of the Spanish and the End of the Inca Empire

The Battle of Cajamarca was a battle fought between the Spanish and Inca in 1532. The battle, which is sometimes considered to be an ambush or a skirmish, saw a small band of Spaniards led by the...
Hungarian Vizsla out hunting with a pheasant in its mouth.   Source: oroszgy / Adobe stock

Link Between the Huns and Vizsla Dogs Unravels an Ancient Enigma

The history of the Vizsla or Hungarian Pointer breed goes hand in hand with that of the Huns’ (later called Hungarians’ or Magyars’) and even the history of their language. Recent DNA analysis...
Universe Explosion (Gerd Altmann/CC0)

From Pigeon Poop to the Origin of the Universe

The term, ‘Big Bang’ was coined by the English astronomer and cosmologist Sir Fred Hoyle in 1949. But when he first employed it, during a BBC radio broadcast on astronomy, it was meant to be derisive...
Cyrus the Great. Source: armin dara / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

Cyrus the Great – Conqueror or Uber Human Rights Activist?

Cyrus II of Persia (more commonly known as Cyrus the Great and called Cyrus the Elder by the ancient Greeks) was the founder of the Achaemenid Empire. Although there are various ancient sources for...
Kosher Female Figurines in Judah During The Biblical Period?

Kosher Female Figurines in Judah During The Biblical Period?

Israeli archeologist Dr. Aaron Greener asks “what are clay female figurines doing in Judah during the biblical period?” My non-archeologist answer is; they represent kosher (suitable for religious...
Captain Kidd in New York Harbor by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris (1863 – 1930) (Public Domain)

Pirates of the Northern Seas and Scotland’s Oceanic Criminals

Pirates, maybe even more than mermaids and sea serpents, are the most fascinating and misunderstood entities of maritime history and while it is known today that mermaids were seals and giant...
The Battle of Zama. Source: Art Institute of Chicago / Public domain

When Hannibal Met His Nemesis: The Battle of Zama

The Battle of Zama was a decisive battle of the Second Punic War (also known as the Hannibalic War, or the War Against Hannibal), which was fought between Rome and Carthage. The battle was won by the...
The Wind by Giovanni Battista Tiepolo (1746) Pallazo Labia (Public Domain)

Beware the Fate of the Fairy Winds

In many folk tales from around the world there are accounts of a midwife who is taken by fairies to help with a birth. Apart from the overall otherworldly nature of these tales, the mode of transport...
Main: Group of Moai monoliths during sunset on Easter Island. Inset: Birdman cult carvings on the back of standing Moai.       Source: Aliaksei & thakala / Adobe stock

Easter Island’s Birdman Cult: A Story of Struggle and Survival

The Pacific Ocean is a world filled with diverse and remote islands, which are the home to some truly unique natives. Many of these islands were discovered comparatively recently in our history, and...
Sumerian Artifact with the Tree of Life. (swisshippo  / Adobe Stock)

In Rome, I Saw Written On Top Of A Door

In Rome "I saw written on top of a door." ( Inferno , III, v. 11, Dante) In Rome, hidden a corner of Piazza Vittorio Emanuele II, one will find the last remnant of the Academia dell’ Arcadia , an...
Colorful hot air balloons flying over Red valley in Cappadocia, Anatolia, Turkey (Svetlana Nikolaeva/ Adobe Stock)

Who Built This City? Underground Derinkuyu, and the Rock Churches of Göreme

Could the underground cities in Cappadocia, Turkey date back to 12,800 years ago? In 1963, so the story goes, a man living in Cappadocia excavated some large stones from his basement while renovating...
Portuguese caravel of the 15th century. Credit: Michael Rosskothen / Adobe Stock

Epic Voyage of Vasco da Gama Connected Europe to the East

Vasco da Gama was a Portuguese sailor and explorer who lived between the 15th and 16th centuries. Not only is da Gama a significant figure in the history of Portugal and Europe, but he is also an...
The Frisians are historically recognized as brave warriors. Source: lassedesignen/Adobe Stock

The Frisians: Fierce Fighters of The North Sea Coasts

The world of Germanic nations is a diverse and rich cultural ethnosphere whose languages and cultures came to dominate Western Europe and much of the world. Their history is rich and spans centuries...
King Arthur statue at Tingagel (Deriv/ CC0)

Real World Locations, Where Myth Meets Reality

Mythology presented in books, arts, cartoons and movies have subliminally forged impressions of mythical castles, magical mountains and enchanted forests in people’s minds, but many of the places...
Return to the Convent by Eduardo Zamacois y Zabala (1868) Carmen Thyssen Museum (Public Domain)

Mockery of the Crucifixion: The Sacred Donkey and the Cross

In 1857 in a cell of the ruins of Imperial Palace on the Palantine Hill in Rome, a curious graffiti representing a crucified man ( corpus humanum... suffigitur in cruce ) but with the head and ears...
The Capture of Atahualpa. Juan B. Lepiani,  (1864-1932)(Public Domain)

God’s Devils: The Men Who Conquered South America

From the moment Christopher Columbus found land previously unknown to Europe in 1492, thousands of men came to the New World seeking their fortunes and for two centuries they explored and conquered...
The Age of Discovery was a time when European explorers journeyed across the world. Source: oleskalashnik/Adobe Stock

The Age of Discovery: A New World Dawns

The Age of Discovery (also known as the Age of Exploration) refers to an exciting era in European history when a number of extensive overseas voyages took place. This period lasted roughly from the...
An example of a Sheela na gig, a carving of a naked woman with an exaggerated vulva.

Viva La Vulva! When Did Female Genitalia Become Obscene?

In September 2019, a French ad for feminine hygiene products featuring taboo-breaking representations of vulvas and menstruation sparked controversy . Yet in a cultural context in France, phallic...
Hyper realistic reconstruction of Emperor Nero from bust. Photo courtesy of artist Salva Ruano, All Rights Reserved. https://cesaresderoma.com/

Roman Emperor Nero: Does He Deserve His Bad Boy Reputation?

Nero (in full Nero Claudius Caesar Augustus Germanicus) was a Roman emperor who lived during the 1 st century AD. He was the fifth and last emperor of the Julio-Claudian dynasty, which had been...
Cleopatra Testing Poisons on Condemned Prisoners by Alexandre Cabanel (1887) (Public Domain)

Poison Paranoia: Mythical Antidotes of Ancient Alchemists

Of all the ways to murder someone poisoning must be the most underhanded and downright evil way to proceed. The whole art of poisoning, as it is often referred too, was developed as a stealth way to...
Spartan woman in foreground with her warrior husband in the background.   Source: serhiibobyk / Adobe stock

What Makes Spartan Women So Different From Other Ancients?

In Sparta , the individual did not matter. Everything was for the preservation and continuous strengthening of the state. They built no walls since they welcomed any to challenge invasion. They lit...
Phaèdra by Alexandre Cabanel (1818) Musee Fabre. (Public Domain)

Fields of Mourning, Where Grieving Love-Sick Women Retire

Hidden deep within the bowels of the earth and ruled by the god Hades and his wife Persephone, the ancient Greek Underworld was the kingdom of the dead, the sunless, cold and shadowy place where the...
Egyptian gods. Source: Catmando / Adobe Stock

Polytheistic Religion: How Pantheons Reigned in the Ancient World

Over the years there have been gods for creation, death, love, war, and everything in between. Zeus, Hera, and their companions on Mount Olympus, Odin, Frigg, and the rest of the Æsir, Osiris, Isis,...
Sts Savinus and Cyprian are tortured (circa 1100) Abbey Church of Saint-Savin-sur-Gartempe (Public Domain)

Horrific Prolonged Capital Punishments in Ancient Times

All are familiar with the burning of witches and criminals – who often died by asphyxia or cardiac arrest before their flesh was consumed by the flames - but since antiquity the cruel ingenuity of...

Pages