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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Lead white was a lethal pigment. Source: rodjulian / Adobe Stock.

Lead White Was a Lethal Pigment That Painted a Deadly History

Lead white, a pigment as notorious as it is historic, has painted a perilous line through human history. For over two millennia, this deceptively vibrant hue has been a silent killer , lurking in the...
Erechtheion with Original Paintwork Reconstruction. Source: Mark Cartwright / CC by NC-SA.

Why Ancient Marble Statues Aren’t Meant to Be Seen As “White” (Video)

In the world of classical art, a recent discussion emerged that thrust classicist Sarah Bond into unexpected controversy. Her focus? Ancient statues and the concept of "polychromy." Unlike the serene...
Forbes pigment collection. Source: YouTube Screenshot / Great Big Story.

Forbes Pigment Collection: The World's Rarest and Most Ancient Colors (Video)

Amid the vast palette of colors that grace our world, some hues have more intriguing origins than others. Nestled within Harvard University lies the Forbes pigment collection, a treasury of...
Victorian children died from arsenic-laden wallpaper. Source: Olek / Adobe Stock

Victorian-Era Wallpaper Killed Countless Children

Wallpaper isn’t as popular as it once was, and perhaps the reason for its fall from fashion was its ability to kill! In the Victorian Era, a brilliant green-colored pigment proved popular in wall...
Left: An unknown Egyptian mummy.  Right: Modern equivalent of Mummy Brown pigment. Source: michal812 / Adobe Stock

Mummy Brown – 16th Century Paint Made from Ground Up Mummies

Most people today would probably associate Egyptian mummies with museums. This is unsurprising, as this is probably where most of us have seen them, especially in Europe. Yet, if I were to say that...
This statue was originally painted. Left: Painted replica of Augustus of Prima Porta statue with pigments reconstructed for the Tarraco Viva 2014 Festival

A More Colorful Ancient World: Classical Statues Were Once Painted

Once upon a time, long before wars, natural disasters, and erosion took hold of the ancient Greek statues, these ivory gems vibrated with color. Ancient Greek sculptors valued animated and pulsating...
Artifacts unearthed during excavations at the Library House in Pompeii point to work being done painting frescos at the time of the volcanic eruption. Source: Pompeii Archaeological Park

Evidence of Fresco Painting Uncovered at Library House in Pompeii

Recent restoration work in ancient Pompeii has uncovered evidence that work was being carried out at the Library House, or Casa della Biblioteca , when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 AD, reports...
An ancient Peruvian funerary mask. Source: Olena / Adobe Stock

Ancient Peruvian Gold Mask Was Painted with Human Blood!

Archaeologists with the Sicán Archaeological Project , a decades-long study of a lost pre-Incan culture, unearthed a tomb and its contents along the northern coast of Peru in the early 1990s...
4300-Year-Old Egyptian Tomb Discovered in Saqqara Hold Keys to Secrets of World’s First Alchemists

4300-Year-Old Egyptian Tomb Discovered in Saqqara Hold Keys to Secrets of World’s First Alchemists

On 13 April, Khaled Anany, Egyptian Minister of Antiquities announced the exceptional discovery of a 4,300-year-old Egyptian tomb in Saqqara, which belonging to a noble called ‘Khuwy’ and its walls...
Roman Painting - Villa dei Misteri, Pompeii, Italy. Miltos was used for yellow and sometimes red in many Greco-Roman paintings

Miltos, The Wonder Dust of the Ancient World

What pigment could be used for ship maintenance, art, agriculture, medicine, and cosmetics? In the Greco-Roman world, the multi-use ocher pigment called Miltos filled all these roles. The powerful...
Prehistoric rock art using ochre paint on a cave wall in Drakensberg, South Africa

Prehistoric Man in South Africa Made Milk-based Paint 49000 years ago

A paint mixture of ochre and wild bovid milk, possibly from a buffalo or eland or similar animal, was found on a chip of a stone tool dating back 49,000 years in Sibudu Cave, a rock shelter in...
Henry Wallis – Poet Thomas Chatterton’s death by arsenic.

Death by Wallpaper: When Arsenic in the Walls Was Killing Children

Wallpaper isn’t as popular as it once was, and perhaps the reason for this falling out of fashion was its ability to kill! In 1778, a Swedish Chemist named Carl Scheele created a brilliant green...
A view inside the painted village of Tiébélé in Burkina Faso.

Cultural Identity Painted on the Walls in This One-of-a-Kind Village

Crocodiles and snakes wind their ways across the walls. The creatures swim in a sea of stars, moons and geometric designs... Traditional art and architecture are alive in the village of Tiébélé in...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji

Ostraca: Voices from the Place of Truth—An intimate glimpse into New Kingdom Egypt

Athenians meted out harsh punishments to those who fell afoul of prevalent laws or societal norms. If citizens had done something terrible, they ran the risk of being exiled from the city for up to...
Bearded Man Mystery

Unravelling the Mystery of the Bearded Man

“He looks almost Byzantine or Greek, gazing doe-eyed over the viewer’s left shoulder, his mouth forming a slight pout, like a star-struck lover or perhaps a fan of the races witnessing his favorite...