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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Eve tempted by the serpent in a paradise illustrated according to the texts of the Bible. An image showing good and evil in one scene.

Lilith: Ancient Demon, Dark Deity or Sensual Goddess?

Lilith, an ancient mythological figure and one of the oldest known female spirits in the world, has embodied various roles across cultures. In some sources she has been described as a demon, while in...
Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove in Nigeria. A sacred forest along the banks of the Osun River just outside the city of Osogbo in Osun State. Source:	 Oloyedejuwonlo/CC BY-SA 4.0

Osun Sacred Grove: Where A West African Spiritual Tradition Flourishes

The Osun-Osogbo Sacred Grove, located on the outskirts of Osogbo in southwestern Nigeria, is a UNESCO World Heritage Site renowned for its cultural and spiritual significance. This sacred forest,...
Statue of Anubis at the Gregorian Egyptian Museum. Source: Miguel Hermoso Cuesta / CC BY-SA 3.0

The Rise of Hermanubis: The Hybrid God of Both Rome and Egypt

When the Romans invaded and incorporated ancient Egypt into their vast empire, they inevitably brought with them their own customs, traditions, and religion. But, even so, they could not extinguish...
Seventh Plague of Egypt (1823) by John Martin, a painting of the Old Testament bible story. Source: Public domain

Egypt Remembers: Where are the Ancient Accounts of the Great Exodus?

The biblical story of the Israelites’ Descent and Great Exodus speaks about important events that took place in Egypt. We should, therefore, expect to find records of these events in Egyptian sources...
The god Khnum, accompanied by Heqet, in a relief from the mammisi (birth temple) at Dendera Temple complex. Source: Roland Unger/CC BY-SA 3.0

Beyond Fertility: Goddess Heqet’s Extensive Influence on Ancient Egypt

In ancient Egypt, the goddess Heqet reigned supreme as a symbol of fertility and childbirth. Heqet’s following spanned the ages, from the Old Kingdom to the Ptolemaic period, due to her impact on...
Unicorns and their alluring influence in ancient civilizations.  Source: Pradeep/Adobe Stock

Beyond Myth and Legend: Tracing the Footsteps of Unicorns in Ancient Cultures

Throughout the annals of history, the unicorn has captivated humanity’s imagination, leaving traces of its existence in the art and artifacts of ancient civilizations. Join us on a fascinating...
Representation of Egyptian super god, Ra known also as Ra-Horakhty. Source: AkuAku/Adobe Stock

The Egyptian God Ra - Lord of Life and Light

The Ancient Egyptian pantheon was filled with imaginative deities of all kinds. In fact, this pantheon numbered hundreds of different gods and goddesses, whose importance often waned over the passing...
A 1572 depiction of the city of Kilwa on Kilwa Island from Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg's atlas Civitates orbis terrarum. Source: Public domain

The Kilwa Sultanate: The Island State That Dominated Medieval East Africa

The Kilwa Sultanate was a powerful and prosperous city-state that once dominated the Swahili coast of East Africa. For centuries, this kingdom thrived as a hub of international trade, connecting the...
Moses parting the Red Sea. (pozitivo / Adobe Stock)

Why Mount Sinai is in Egypt and Other Exodus Enigmas

Historians have dedicated significant efforts to authenticating the biblical narratives of the Exodus. Despite their best efforts, the actual locations of the events described in the account remain...
The Weighing of the Heart ritual, shown in the Book of the Dead of Sesostris. Source: Manfred Werner - Tsui / CC BY-SA 3.0

Did the Ancient Egyptians Create Art as a Way to Manifest Reality?

Among the extravagantly decorated tombs and temples that made Egyptian art immortal, there is something obscure. It could even be considered supernatural or otherworldly. Telling the stories of what...
Some information can be gathered about sex in ancient Egypt by viewing scenes from the mastaba tomb of Khnumhotep and Niankhkhnum at Saqqara in Egypt. Source: Sailingstone / Adobe Stock

Exploring Sex in Ancient Egypt

People often have the strange idea that people in the “olden days” were much more conservative when it came to sex than they are today. However, if modern history tells us anything it is that people...
The Cataclysm of Ra: Saving Humankind from Hathor Using Beer

The Cataclysm of Ra: Saving Humankind from Hathor Using Beer

The concept of cataclysm is very common in almost all mythologies and religions. It is when the god or gods decide that humanity is not serving them anymore and, thus, they order humanity’s...
Israel’s Exodus from Egypt. Will archaeologists ever find concrete evidence for the Exodus and the metropolises the Israelites built in Egypt? Source: Public domain

Mythical Metropolises: Pithom, Piramesses, and the Israelite Exodus of Egypt

The legendary Egyptian metropolises of Pithom and Piramesses were first noted in the Exodus story of the Old Testament. One of the foundations of the Jewish religion, it told of the plight of the...
In summer Tunisia's Chott el Djerid salt lake is almost entirely dried up, as seen in this photo from May 2021, but many believe that beneath this sand lies the remains of Tunisian Atlantis. 		Source: Kais photographies / CC BY-SA 4.0

The Theory of the Tunisian Atlantis - Beneath the Sands of Africa!

Ever since the age of the classical antiquity, there was a widespread myth of the fabled, sunken city of Atlantis. A true ancient metropolis that was in many ways the epitome of advanced civilization...
Giovanni Battista Tiepolo's famous painting of The Banquet of Cleopatra (painted 1743–44) shows Cleopatra's pearl above the tall glass of vinegar as Mark Antony looks on.	Source: Giovanni Battista Tiepolo / Public domain

Roman Historian’s Cleopatra’s Pearl Story: Is It Fact or Fiction?

“Cleopatra’s Pearl” is a story told by the Roman author Pliny the Elder in his famous long-read book Natural History . According to this tale, the last Ptolemaic ruler of Egypt, Cleopatra VII, drank...
Anubis and Xolotl: The Remarkable Resemblance of the Death Dog Gods

Anubis and Xolotl: The Remarkable Resemblance of the Death Dog Gods

Few ancient cultures have captured the modern imagination like the Egyptian and Maya civilizations, with their elaborate belief structures. The author traces a remarkable resemblance between two dog-...
Nabu: Ancient Mesopotamian God of Scribes and Wisdom

Nabu: Ancient Mesopotamian God of Scribes and Wisdom

Nestled in the fertile region around the River Tigris and Euphrates, the historical region of ancient Mesopotamia has long been regarded as one of the earliest cradles of civilization. Home to...
Noah's Sacrifice - watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot

The ‘Dynastic Race’ and the Biblical ‘Japheth’ – Part I: After the Deluge

The imperfect state of archaeological research in the Near East impedes any definite identification of the original race or races that created the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt...
Egypt’s Buried & Layer Pyramids: Unsolved Homicide & Hidden Heritage

Egypt’s Buried & Layer Pyramids: Unsolved Homicide & Hidden Heritage

Beneath the sun scorched sands of the Giza Necropolis sleeps the enchanted ruins of ancient Egyptian civilization. While the secretive Sphinx and the spectacular Great Pyramid rush to mind, there are...
The god Horus represented by a falcon at the Temple of Edfu. Source: Edyta / Adobe Stock

The Cult of Horus: Myths That Stretch From Egypt To Rome

Horus (also known as Heru) was one of the most important deities in the ancient Egyptian pantheon . The ancient Egyptians worshipped Horus mainly as the sky god and the god of kingship. In the cult...
Ramesses II

The Life and Death of Ramesses II, Ramesses the Great

Ramesses II is arguably one of the greatest pharaohs of ancient Egypt (hence named Ramesses the Great), and also one of its most well-known. Ramesses II, the third pharaoh of the 19 th Dynasty,...
Fragment of the Alley of the Sphinxes in the Karnak Temple, Luxor, Egypt. The image of a sphinx with the head of a ram was a common depiction of the god Amun and this connected him with fertility.                   Source: Anton / Adobe stock

Amun, The Creator God Whose Supremacy Surpassed Egypt

The world of the ancient Egyptians was diverse and enigmatic, filled with untold wonders and beliefs that were closely interwoven with the nature around them. Of particular interest is the vast...
Heryshaf depicted as a ram wearing symbolic headdress. (Rama / CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Egyptian God Heryshaf – Mysterious Lord of Heracleopolis

We all know that the wonders of the ancient Egyptian pantheon are many and so amazing – and the deities that lurk within that pantheon are almost impossible to count and mention. Many of these...
Egyptian gods and goddess. From left to right, Sekhmet, Isis, Ra, Horus, Wadjet, and Set. Source: Hotaru Ito / Public Domain.

Understanding the Gods of Egypt: In Unison With Nature

Ancient Egypt is a never ending source of inspiration for many of us – their myths , their history, and their art are so wonderful and enigmatic, that they have intrigued researchers for decades. But...

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