All  

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

lead

Made from boiled grape syrup and used to sweeten both food and wine, sapa had a downside – its production utilized lead pots which may have caused the Roman Empire’s demise. Source: Ruslan Gilmanshin/Adobe Stock

Did an Artificial Sweetener Destroy the Roman Empire? (Video)

The fall of the mighty Roman Empire remains shrouded in historical mystery, with various theories attempting to unravel its demise. One intriguing proposition suggests that the empire's collapse may...
Etching by Francisco Heylan depicting the discover of the Lead Books of Sacromonte. Source: Public domain

The Lead Books of Sacromonte: Historic Forgery or a True Christian Relic?

The Lead Books of Sacromonte, also known as the Libros Plúmbeos or the Sacromonte manuscripts, are a collection of purportedly ancient religious texts that were supposedly discovered in the 16th...
Four of the Tucson Artifacts  Source: The Tucson Artifacts / Photographs by Robert C. Hyde. © Donald N. Yates, 2013. All rights reserved. Used by special permission.

Mystery of the Latin Inscribed Artifacts Found in Arizona (Video)

Charles Manier's serendipitous discovery in 1924 led to the unearthing of 32 lead artifacts inscribed with Latin text near Tucson, Arizona . Dating back to the 9th century A.D., the Tucson artifacts...
A photograph of a similar Roman-era lead coffin discovered in Spain in 2019. This is not the sarcophagus reported in this article, but is representational, based on its similar appearance. Source: Granada Hoy

Roman-Era Sarcophagus Made of Lead Discovered in Gaza

Deep in the heart of the hotly contested Palestinian strip of Gaza, a 2,000-year-old lead sarcophagus has been unearthed, believed to hail from the illustrious Roman era. Located just 500 meters (0.3...
People have been dying to be beautiful for centuries, and toxic cosmetics are nothing new. Many makeup ingredients have proven painful, or even deadly, over the years. Source: KNV / Adobe Stock

Dying to be Beautiful: 7 Crazy Ingredients Used in Ancient Cosmetics

Makeup has been around for centuries, but getting your glam on in ancient times wasn’t as simple as going to your local Sephora. Before safe and regulated products existed on the market, ancient...
Europeans were terrified of tomatoes when they were first introduced. Source: humanissa_rt / Adobe Stock

Terrifying Tomatoes! Europeans Were Afraid of Newly Introduced ‘Poisonous Apples’

Everyone has a friend who hates tomatoes. But did you know that this fear or hatred of tomatoes is nothing new? Used in pizza , pasta and even gazpacho, the ubiquitous tomato is associated with Italy...
Greek god Dionysus with wine. Source: rudall30 / Adobe Stock

Romans Added Lead Sweetener to Their Wine and it Killed Them

How far did ancient people go to enhance the flavor of their food and drinks? Would they consume toxic substances if it made things a little more appetizing? Well, the Romans did, by adding a sweet...
Queen Elizabeth I as depicted in the film Mary, Queen of Scots. Credit: Focus Features

Was Queen Elizabeth I Killed by her Poisonous White Makeup?

Queen Elizabeth I was one of the most successful, celebrated queens in British history. The daughter of Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn , she came to the throne on November 17, 1558, following the death...
 The four lead ingots discovered in a shipwreck off the coast of Israel. Source: Ehud Galili / University of Haifa’s Institute for Maritime Studies

Four Ancient Lead Ingots Rewrite Cyprus’ Role in Bronze Age Trade

It’s all changed in the ancient history of Cyprus, thanks to the discovery by archaeologists that the copper-rich island was a significant trader during the fall of empires in 1200 BC. The keys to...
Woman practicing molybdomancy for New Year’s Eve. (Source: Gina Sanders / Adobe Stock

Molybdomancy: Divination and the Search for Omens in Molten Lead

Throughout history people have been looking for answers and salvation, seeking the assistance of the gods, the spirits of nature, and looking to them for help. When looking for answers about what lay...
Egyptian writing sample from a medical treatise (inv. P. Carlsberg 930) belonging to the Tebtunis temple library with headings marked in red ink.

Danish Experts Discover the Earliest Secrets of Egyptian Writing Ink

Egyptian writing has always fascinated modern people because it is so exotic. Researchers studying Egyptian writing in manuscripts from an ancient Egyptian temple have made an important discovery...
A collection of the medieval bones at the chapel in Montella, Italy. Source: University of Southern Denmark

Bone Analysis Reveals Disturbing Habits of Medieval Danes and Italians

A fascinating, and exceptionally niche, new scientific study has looked at the mineral content of medieval bones of Danish and Italian people. The results paint a fresh picture of the lifestyle...
Left: representation of an alpine glacier. (ryszard filipowicz / Adobe stock). Right: 19th-century depiction of St Thomas Becket, showing a sword piercing his head. St Peter’s Church, Berkhamsted, Hertfordshire, UK. (Cnbrb / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Alpine Glacier Reveals Unlikely Insights Into Murder of Thomas Becket

Laser scans of an alpine glacier reveal a climate catastrophe in the shadow of England’s Archbishop Thomas Becket’s murder. A team of researchers using lasers to read the levels of lead pollution in...
Hundreds of bottles of poisonous beer have been found at the site in Leeds, England. Source: Archaeological Services WYAS

Hundreds of Toxic Beer Bottles Found Under Old English House

Digging at the site of an old Victorian brewery in the city of Leeds in the northern English county of Yorkshire, archaeologists discovered 19th-century bottles of beer neatly stacked under a...
Ancient Egyptian eye makeup was protective and poisonous

Ancient Egyptian Makeup: Beauty and Protection with Poison

It’s sort of like the evil eye , but in reverse: the good eye, brought on by an application of lead-based kohl makeup that was unknowingly poisonous to ancient Egyptians but also had anti-microbial...
Roman wine was sweetened with toxic 'sugar of lead'

Savoring the Danger: Romans Loved Toxic 'Sugar of Lead' Wine

How far did ancient people go to enhance the flavor of their food and drinks? Would they consume toxic substances if it made things a little more appetizing? The Romans did, by adding a sweet version...
Several of the ancient pigments were deadly. Photo source: Ezume Images / Adobe Stock.

Poisonous Pigments: History’s Deadliest Colors

Throughout history, ancient civilizations have been using all kinds of ingenious ways to create pigments for the coloring of clothing, objects and even buildings. While some of the pigments were...
The lead sarcophagus found in Granada, Spain is believed to come from the Roman period. Source: Granada Hoy

Discovery of Lead Sarcophagus Surprises Spanish Archaeologists

Spanish archaeologists working in the downtown of Granada were going about routine excavations in a historic building in preparation for underground work at the site. With centuries of documented...
Slaves working in a mine. Corinthian terracotta plaque painting, 5th century BC.

Ice-Core Study Finds Evidence of Ancient European Plagues, Wars, and Imperial Expansion

To learn about the rise and fall of ancient European civilizations, researchers sometimes find clues in unlikely places: deep inside of the Greenland ice sheet, for example. Thousands of years ago,...
An original Roman lead waterpipe in Bath, England.

Poisonings Went Hand in Hand with the Drinking Water in Ancient Pompeii

The ancient Romans were famous for their advanced water supply. But the drinking water in the pipelines was probably poisoned on a scale that may have led to daily problems with vomiting, diarrhea,...
Eurasian Metals Discovered in Alaska from Centuries Before the Arrival of Europeans to the New World

Eurasian Metals Discovered in Alaska from Centuries Before the Arrival of Europeans to the New World

A new study of two bronze objects discovered in northwest Alaska shows that they provide the first known evidence of the presence of metals from Eurasia in prehistoric North America. The artifacts...
Close-up of a curse tablet targeting Demetrios and Phanagora - husband-and-wife tavern keepers who lived in Athens around 2,400 years ago.

Casting Hate: Greek Curse Tablets found in 2,400-Year-Old Grave

A recent study of the writing on four lead tablets shows the importance of staying on your neighbors’ good side in ancient Greece. The artifacts are “curse tablets”, and were created to send bad luck...
Slaves delved and worked the mines right underneath the acropolis of Thorikos. The mines were just discovered by archaeologists and are rewriting the history of the silver-mining Laurion region.

Silver Mines Within an Ancient Town Shed New Light on the Rich History of Greece

Thorikos, an ancient town in Attica, was the site of a network of 5 kilometers (3 miles) of silver mines right underneath the town’s acropolis. Researchers believe slaves did the hard work of...
The Ashalim cave artifact

Oldest Known Lead Artifact was Found with Skeletons, Suggesting Mystical Significance

Archaeologists working in a cave in Israel, which prehistoric people used as a burial ground, have found an object made of lead that is at least 6,000 years old. They are unsure what the artifact was...

Pages