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A hooded scribe working on an ancient manuscript.  Source: UniverseInside / Adobe Stock

Top 10 Mysterious Ancient Manuscripts and Inscriptions Yet to be Deciphered

While exploring the enigmatic depths of ancient history, scholars often stumble upon cryptic relics, among which lie manuscripts that continue to defy the most skilled scholars and linguists. The...
Inveraray Castle. Source: Richard Johnson / Adobe Stock.

Inveraray Castle: An Ancient Archive Treasure Trove (Video)

Inveraray Castle's archives, a treasure trove of historical documents dating back to the 13th century, stands as one of Britain's most significant private collections . These invaluable records,...
Ancient bible manuscript. Source: Cla78 / Adobe Stock.

Mysterious Manuscripts: The Fascinating Story of Ancient Bibles (Video)

Ancient religious texts have always been a source of fascination and intrigue, offering a glimpse into the beliefs and customs of people from bygone eras. A collection of mysterious and ancient...
A sample of Codex Leicester by Leonardo da Vinci. Source: Public Domain

Leonardo da Vinci’s Codex Leicester: A Masterpiece of Science and Art

Have you ever wanted to explore the mind of one of history's greatest polymaths? The Codex Leicester gives history experts and art gurus alike the opportunity to do so. This famous book is a treasure...
A grotesque image of an ogre shooting an arrow into another creature’s rear from the Rutland Psalter, c. 1260. (British Library Royal MS 62925, f. 87v.)

20 Bizarre, Crude and Downright Weird Sketches in Medieval Manuscripts

Many medieval manuscripts are works of art with devotional passages written in careful calligraphy, accompanied by vivid illustrations and ornate, decorative borders. But equally captivating is the...
Medieval medicine manuscript with drawings of urine flasks, illustrating the different colors of a patient's urine, with their ailments described alongside, 15th century. Source: © University of Cambridge

Curious Cures: Cambridge to Publish Astonishing Medieval Medical Manuscripts

The Cambridge University Library has just launched an ambitious new initiative that will result in the public release of an extensive collection of manuscripts from medieval times. The Curious Cures...
This Italian copy of the Nostradamus manuscript was stolen in the mid-2000s from a library in Rome, but a member of the Italian military’s Cultural Heritage Conservation Command (Carabinieri) spotted it online in a German auction and “saved” it.		Source: Carabinieri

Stolen Nostradamus Manuscript Returned to Library in Rome!

A pilfered copy of the Nostradamus manuscript written by Renaissance-era French physician, astrologer and psychic Michel de Nostredame, has been recovered and returned to the library from which it...
Tiny bible (representational image). Source: Kevin Carden / Adobe Stock

Miniature Bible the Size of a Coin Found in UK Library Storage

A miniature Bible surfaced in the vast Leeds library during lockdown. The tiny holy book includes both old and new testaments and was printed on 876 stamp-sized pages. However, nobody knows where...
A detail from the Urgell Beatus, depicting the Siege of (Christian) Jerusalem by Nebudchadnezzar, which was threat to Christianity as was the Moorish Islamic takeover of most of the Iberian Peninsula in the 8th century AD, when monk Beatus' work was so popular.		Source: Public Domain

Monk’s Beatus Apocalypses Warned of The End of the World

Based on interpretations of the Book of Revelations, the Commentary on the Apocalypses, written between 776 and 784 by visionary monk Beatus of Liébana, were a series of manuscripts that foretold...
Scanning the Mali manuscripts, which are now under the protection of SAVAMA-DCI, who are digitizing the rescued artifacts. Source: Mali Magic / Google Arts & Culture

Mali Manuscripts Rescued and Digitized to Celebrate the Malian Renaissance

Mali has recently been in the news for its decision to oust French troops from its territory. The French were originally summoned to prevent jihadists from taking control over Africa’s eighth-largest...
Pages from the 15th century medieval manuscript the Talbot Shrewsbury Book.       Source: British Library / Public domain

Lost Lovers and Heroes: 90% of Medieval Manuscripts Have Not Survived

A study comparing the survival of medieval manuscripts and tales from regions around Europe has arrived at some stark conclusions about the preservation of the medieval European past. A vast majority...
The famous mosaic of Marco Polo displayed in the Palazzo Doria-Tursi, Italy, a man we now know more about with the latest evidence of a likely-earlier daughter by him in Venice.		Source: Salviati / Public domain

Unknown Estranged Daughter of Marco Polo Revealed In Venetian Will

The Venetian merchant, explorer, and traveler, Marco Polo, is one of history’s most revered names, and his travels through Asia along the Silk Road at the end of the 13th century are documented in...
Monk chronicler writes an ancient manuscript. Source: Nejron Photo / Adobe Stock

How Did it All Begin? The Rich Origins of the English Language

Language is a universal tool for every person in this world. It is the connecting link between nations, ethnicities, and people sharing a common background. The world of language is colorful and...
Image portraying North America discovered by a Viking ship. A 14th-century Latin text now proves the Vikings knew about North America.	Source: Nejron Photo / Adobe Stock

Pre-Columbian Latin Text Proves Early Knowledge of the Americas

The accepted mainstream story has long been that no one in southern or western Europe knew anything about the Americas before the discoveries associated with the voyages of Columbus. But a new...
What Really Lies Hidden in the Vatican Secret Archives?

What Really Lies Hidden in the Vatican Secret Archives?

Mystery and intrigue are inherent to the Holy See. People will always wonder what religious authorities are conspiring to behind closed doors, what treasures lie within the vaults of the Vatican...
The Pskov-Caves Monastery and its 10,000 Monk Necropolis

The Pskov-Caves Monastery and its 10,000 Monk Necropolis

The Pskov-Caves Monastery is a Russian Orthodox monastery located in the town of Pechory, in the northwestern part of Russia. The monastery was established during the 15th century AD and is well-...
Person holding an ancient grimoire filled with spells, curses, and incantations

Magic of the Ancients: Five Incredible Texts of Spells, Curses, and Incantations

As long as humanity has had beliefs in a higher power, the use of magic, spells, curses, and incantations have featured widely across cultures. A number of influential texts or ‘grimoires’ (textbooks...
Study finds that medieval remedy found in 1000-year-old medical text could hold key to treating antibiotic-resistant infections. Source: shaiith / Adobe Stock

Medieval Remedy Could Treat Antibiotic-Resistant Infections

A possible medical breakthrough has been made by experts, all thanks to a 1000-year-old medieval English medical text. A treatment, that dates to the Dark Ages , is helping researchers to treat a...
‘Picture on the Box’ for Dead Sea Scrolls Puzzle Found in DNA

Dead Sea Scrolls' DNA Helps Reassemble the Fragments

The Dead Sea scrolls have been analyzed up close revealing the origins of the animal skins upon which they were written. Discovered in the Qumran Caves , near the Dead Sea, in 1946, the Dead Sea...
Ancient Volcanic Data - Ireland

Ancient Knowledge from Irish Manuscripts Used to Track Volcanic Activity and Climate Change

Using voluminous data left behind by our ancestors, modern scientists have discovered a correlation between volcanic activity and periods of bitterly cold weather in Ireland. They uncovered this...
The head of a Buddha statue. Credit: Richard / Adobe Stock. Inset: Fragments of a birch bark manuscript from ancient Gandhara. Credit: British Library (public domain)

Scholars Get Closer to Words of Buddha as They Unravel Oldest Buddhist Scrolls in the World

The oldest Buddhist scrolls ever discovered were made on birch bark and spent two millennia folded in clay pots, in a cave, situated along the northern border of Afghanistan and Pakistan, and now...
Drolleries were common in medieval manuscripts.

Drolleries of the Middle Ages Included Comical Yet Sinister Killer Rabbits and Erotic Art

A drollerie (also spelled as drollery) is a type of marginalia found on Medieval manuscripts. Drolleries are amusing, often grotesque, figures drawn on the edges of manuscripts and may be found in...
The Tremulous Hand of Worcester was a medieval scribe in the 13th Century.

The Tremulous Hand of Worcester: Unfurling the Medical Mystery of a Medieval Scribe

Handwriting is one of those things most people don’t really give a second thought to today – we live in a world where we are surrounded by text and the vast majority of the time it is printed rather...
Mayan script is typically in the form of blocks, which can represent a sound, word, or sentence.

Linguists Are Finally Unravelling the Mysteries Trapped Within Mayan Hieroglyphs

Today, there are over six million people that speak a language that evolved out of the Maya civilization, which inhabited parts of what are now Mexico, Guatemala, Belize, Honduras and El Salvador for...

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