In the first part of this article, we attempted to unravel the mystery symbolism on the oldest board game in the world - the Royal Game of Ur. The Heliopolitan creation myth was used to explain how...
The world’s first known board game was found in Mesopotamia (c. 2600 BC). Despite this, Egyptian beliefs help us best to understand the Royal Game of Ur’s board design, rules and all. Especially the...
Seti I is one of the lesser-known pharaohs of the New Kingdom period of ancient Egypt. However, his temple in Abydos is among the most famous, cited by many as the most impressive religious structure...
The Book of the Dead is not a book per se , but rather, a corpus of ancient Egyptian funerary texts from the New Kingdom . Each ‘book’ is unique, as it contains its own combination of spells. In...
In part one of this article we saw how there is compelling evidence to suggest that the ancient Egyptians of the Pyramid age incorporated sound technology into the design of Giza’s Great Pyramid ...
Osiris, the green-skinned god of the underworld, lord of the afterlife and judge of the dead, is one of the best-known gods from ancient Egypt. His story provided his followers with reassurance for...
Set, sometimes known as Seth, but also as Sutekh or Seteh is an ancient Egyptian god depicted with the head of an unknown animal and referred to by Egyptologists as a ‘Set animal’. The ancient...
In Egypt, Sirius was the Star of Isis, Isis being the companion and rescuer of the god Osiris. In a very deep way, Osiris was Egypt. His body was believed to be the body of Egypt, an actual overlay...
The Eye of Horus is one of the best-known symbols of ancient Egypt. Known also as the Wadjet, this magical symbol is believed to provide protection, health, and rejuvenation. Due to its powerful...
Serapis (also called Sarapis ) was a deity invented by the Ptolemies, and was meant to bridge the gap between their Egyptian and Greek subjects. The Ptolemies were one of the successors of Alexander...
A 2,200-year-old Rosetta-style limestone stele has been found at an ancient site near the Mediterranean Sea and the city of Alexandria in Egypt. Though archaeologists and Egyptologists haven’t...
From being a god with militaristic overtones, in time, Wepwawet was hailed as the ‘Lord of the Necropolis’, a role he acquired from Osiris, at his cult centers in Abydos and later Asyut too. A...
Recent discoveries at two of the major ancient sites in Egypt emphasize the diversity of culture and power that existed in the region over time. In Aswan, the head of a marble statue of the Roman...
The Imiut is a peculiar artifact which has puzzled Egyptologists for a very long time. It was worshipped for its supposed magical powers, making it a fetish, but no one is entirely sure what it was...
One of the pivots for the successful implementation of ‘heka’, the ancient Egyptian term for magic, was words – both spoken and written – and the latter was considered the most powerful form. Scores...
The ancient Egyptians took great care to prepare for the Afterlife. In fact, they were so meticulous about getting every minute detail in order, that to us they come across as having been obsessed...
Nectanebo II is known as the last native ruler of ancient Egypt; Persians and the ancestors of Alexander the Great took over after his reign. Although these circumstances led to Nectanebo II being...
Ancient Etruscan deities continue to puzzle researchers. Unveiling the truth about their cults and positions in the pantheon took decades, yet they still protect some of their secrets. One of the...
A dead noble stands trembling in the Hall of Truth. Behind the noble, Horus, the half-falcon, half-man ruler of Earth, unleashes a piercing stare at the quivering man. Thoth, the sharp-beaked, ibis-...
Chapter XVII of the Egyptian Book of the Dead highlights an indisputable detail: ritual formulas hid proofs of prehistoric events. They were handed down orally, and after millennia they inspired the...
The Djed, by its very nature, is one of the highest mysteries in the Ancient Egypt history. It was built in the core of the so-called Cheops pyramid, just off the King Chamber, perfectly integrated...
Vampires are a relatively recent creation. However, most of the ancient world knew of the practice of consuming blood. It seems that this was a fascinating ritual centuries before the term ''vampire...
The tomb of Tutankhamun revealed a wealth of anomalies, beginning with its discovery in 1922, right through the subsequent years of its excavation. The plethora of mysteries that surround the boy...
Six ancient Egyptian tombs belonging to elite members of the 26 th dynasty of the Late Pharaonic Period have been excavated by an Egyptian archaeological team. The Egyptian Ministry of Antiquities...
