On the fourth floor of the Museum of the Bible in Washington DC, there is a permanent exhibit that many thousands of people have gladly paid more than $20 to visit in order to gaze with rapt...
In the northern hemisphere, when the summer solstice occurs around June 21, the North Pole is tilted about 23°27´ toward the Sun, which itself is traveling its longest path through the sky, and that...
It is perhaps the greatest unsolved mystery of all time: Did the lost city of Atlantis actually exist? And if it did once exist, where was it located before its watery demise? Fortunately, the...
Researchers believe that they have deciphered the secrets of a mysterious fossil that was found in Antarctica. They now believe that the Antarctica fossil was a soft egg that belonged to an extinct...
In 1872, construction workers digging a hole for a fence post near the shores of Lake Winnipesaukee in New England found a lump of clay with an egg shaped artifact inside it, six feet below the...
It is no secret that throughout the classical and early medieval period, trade played an immense role in the economy of the world. Trade routes were spread all over Eurasia, and effectively connected...
India is blessed with an abundance of ancient historic and religious sites, but the small village of Ramateertham is unique. Nestled in its hills are sites that are sacred to Buddhists, Jains, and...
The shoguns were the military rulers of Japan during the country’s feudal period . Although Japan had emperors, they were mere figureheads for centuries. Actual power was held by the shogun, who...
Many folktales, stories, and myths around the world begin with folk “straying from the path” and meeting beautiful females, only to discover that they are treacherous vampires. Since Bram Stoker’s...
In India , local people have discovered an old temple that had been buried beneath river sand for 80 years. The Hindhu temple is dedicated to Lord Nageswara and was once immensely popular with...
A new pit sanctuary has been uncovered in Bulgaria during construction work. This site is up to 2500 years old and is thought to have been used by Thracian tribal groups, for ritual purposes. The...
When people first arrived in what is now Queensland, they would have found the land inhabited by massive animals including goannas six meters long and kangaroos twice as tall as a human. We have...
A remarkable cave in France is revealing secrets about early human ritual practices and burial traditions. Grotte de Cussac cave is located in Dordogne, in southwest France, set between the Loire...
In Norse mythology, Valkyries were originally sinister spirits that would fly above the battlefield in search of the dead, deciding the fate of the fallen for Odin . The word “Valkyrie” means “...
In the early Middle Ages, the most eminent members who surrounded the sovereign of the empire were defined as Paladins, or Palatine Counts, who, among various other duties, served as Judges for...
The European Neolithic era was a time of change. The first agricultural revolution saw people take a stronger interest in farming, small-scale communities grew, polished stone axes cleared forests,...
By Anna Liesowska / The Siberian Times The 'stunning' discovery appears further confirmation of ancient Greek claims about female fighters known as Amazons among the Scythians of central Asia. In...
Mass burials are common remnants of the many plague outbreaks that ravaged medieval Europe . A number of these graveyards are well documented in historical sources, but the locations of most, and the...
In India, a farmer working his land has made an important discovery. He unearthed a rare Jain statue, that dates back over a millennium. It is believed that traces of a temple have also been...
Classical mythology is full of heroes, but Hercules (known to the Greeks as Heracles ) is undoubtedly the most celebrated of them all. Although his heroic life was packed with daring escapades from...
Archaeologists from the Instituto Nacional de Antropología e Historia ( INAH ) have confirmed the discovery of an ancient stone map carved into a volcanic rock in Colima , Mexico dating from between...
Demanding a rewrite of Icelandic history , in November 2015 a report in IcelandMag said archaeologists at an excavation in Fjarðabyggð, in east Iceland, found an old Viking farmstead at Stöð in...
In France, a brotherhood that is over 800 years old is helping to bury the dead during the COVID-19 pandemic. This fraternity, which has its origins in medieval times, continues to assist at burials...
The mummy of Maiherpri is so well preserved that it almost looks like he is in a peaceful sleep. He was buried in the Valley of the Kings, but his life is full of secrets. The mummy was unwrapped on...
![Ibn al-Haytham ("Alhasen") on the left pedestal of reason [while Galileo is on the right pedestal of the senses] as shown on the frontispiece of the Selenographia (Science of the Moon; 1647) of Johannes Hevelius. Source: Public domain provided by the author](https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/styles/slideshow/public/field/image/Ibn-al-Haytham-optics.jpg?itok=IeK5wUZc)
