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Colorful, stone snake deity head recovered in Mexico City.      Source: LANCIC. UNAM/INAH

Huge, Vibrant Snake Head from the Mexica Era Uncovered in Mexico City

In September 2022, beneath the surface of Mexico City and amidst the tremors of an earthquake, a massive stone-carved snake head emerged, believed to hail from the ancient Tenochtitlan era. Over a...
Cleopatra’s Death as depicted in a painting entitled ‘The Death of Cleopatra’ by Jean-André Rixens. Source: Public domain

The Enigma of Cleopatra's Death: Was it Suicide or Murder?

Accepted historical accounts claim that Cleopatra, the last active pharaoh of ancient Egypt, committed suicide. Cleopatra assumed the throne of Egypt after the demise of Alexander the Great during...
Could there be a snake as large as Titanoboa still living in the Amazon? Source: Dottedyeti / Adobe Stock.

The Giant Anaconda: Is There a Monster in the Amazon?

Everyone has heard of Big Foot and the Loch Ness Monster, but what about the Giant Anaconda? The Giant Anaconda is a fascinating creature first described by 19 th century explorer Percy H. Fawcett,...
snake venom Source: Mark Kostich / Adobe Stock

How Prehistoric Primates Survived Deadly Snake Venom

The story of human evolution is one peppered with the acquisition of a variety of adaptive traits that have been acquired over thousands of years. While we take many of these for granted today, each...
Who Was Shahmaran? Lover, Trickster, Ancient Persian Snake Lady

Who Was Shahmaran? Lover, Trickster, Ancient Persian Snake Lady

Shahmaran is the name given to a mythical creature found in the various cultures of the Middle East, in particular, those of the eastern Anatolian region of Turkey. According to the folklore of these...
Healing Temple of Aesculapius (Asklepios) by Robert Thom

The Healing Power of Dream Incubation in Ancient Greece

In the ancient world, many cultures built elaborate temple complexes dedicated to their healer gods - Imhotep in Egypt and Asklepios in Greece for example. These gods were recognized as having the...
The wooden snake staff was discovered in south-west Finland. Source: Satu Koivisto/Antiquity Publications Ltd

Discovery of Snake Staff Leaves Archaeologist “Utterly Speechless”

While excavating a site in southwest Finland , archaeologists came across something extraordinary. Hidden in the muddy soil in the wetland site of Järvensuo-I they unearthed a delicately carved snake...
Artistic representation of Titanoboa.

Titanoboa: The Monster Snake that Ruled Prehistoric Colombia

You may not want to read about this frightening creature if you suffer to any degree from ophidiophobia, or even if you are about to embark on a camping trip. Titanoboa fossils show it was the...
One of the ancient Egyptian animal mummies (Andrea Izzotti /Adobe Stock) scanned in the study was a cat. (Nature)

Scans Reveal Cruelty Behind Ancient Egyptian Animal Mummies

Ancient Egypt is famous for its mummies of pharaohs, however, the ancient Egyptians mummified animals as well as people. In 2020, new non-invasive technology was used to digitally unwrap three animal...
The stork has been a bird of legends through the centuries.	Source: Serghei Velusceac / Adobe Stock

How Stork Legends, Myths and Omens Set Their Place in History

Contrary to what is happening today, humans of the past had close relationships to nature and wild animals. These bonds did not concern only utilitarian aspects, but also involved the sphere of the...
The Maya goddess Ix Chel wearing a coiled snake headdress

Ix Chel’s Coiled Snake Headdress: Sacred Symbol of Maya Women

The coiled snake headdress is a significant artifact connected with Maya women, both ancient and modern. Images of ancient Maya women wearing this distinctive headdress have been found carved on...
The newly uncovered wall carvings found in Vichama, Peru.

3800-Year-Old Carvings Show Starving City’s Pleas To Water God Were Answered

3,800 years ago, the people living in what is now called Vichama, Peru carved snakes and human heads into their walls alongside depictions of emaciated people. They were starving and dying and hoped...
Some of the animal species that held a special place in ancient folklore: Horse (Pixabay License), dog (Pixabay License), hedgehog (Pixabay License), squirrel (Pixabay License), baboon (Pixabay License), cat (Pixabay License).

8 of the Most Popular Animal Species in the Ancient World

Animals far outnumber us on the planet. And while humans have domesticated some of them for work or food, others have been observed, admired, feared, and revered from afar. For many ancient cultures...
The Legendary Mongolian Death Worm

Searching for the Terrifying Mongolian Death Worm

Deep within the shifting sands of the Gobi Desert lies the elusive Olgoi-Khorkhoi, the Mongolian Death Worm – or so legend has it. The Mongolian Death Worm is a bright red worm, a mysterious cryptid...
A popular Celtic symbol is the Celtic Cross.

Irish and Celtic Symbols: The True Meanings Behind Signs of Pride and Power

Irish and Celtic symbols reflect ancient beliefs and traditions and were believed to influence lives. The meanings of symbols such as the Claddagh, Crann Bethadh, Triquetra, and Triskelion have lived...
The ‘Older’ serpent head  figurine. This artifact provides new insight on Ukraine rock art and snakes in ancient Ukrainian culture.

Sculptured Serpents Provide a Peek at Mysterious Ukrainian Rock Art and a Forgotten Stone Age Snake Culture

Two curiously shaped ‘ophidian sculptured stones’ discovered in what is now Ukraine were crafted by Stone Age sculptors. The artifacts resemble ‘beady-eyed’ serpent heads, according to the team of...
Vipera palaestinae, Israel, the same species seen at the Western Wall

The End of The World is Here if Snake Appearing in Israel's Western Wall is Symbolic of Ancient Biblical Prophecy

We had all better get ourselves prepared for a very big day in next year’s calendar, if a snake seen scaring away a pigeon between the ancient stones of Israel’s Western Wall is indeed, as some are...
Detail of Stela 1, Fragment 1, front. La Corona, Guatemala.

Maya Snake King Dynasty Used Local Gods to Gain Authority in Rural Guatemala

Taking political control is often a violent affair, but tactics, knowledge of local customs and beliefs, and trickery can also be used to get an ambitious leader’s foot in the door. New research on...
Left:  Hopi snake dancer ( adobegallery) Right: A Hopi male during the annual snake dance and ritual prayers for rain, 1946 (public domain)

Dances with Snakes: The Real Reason for the Hopi Snake Dance – Part II

The day prior to the final Snake Dance performance in the plaza, before sunrise with Orion and Sirius rising, two warriors of the Snake society make several circuits around the Snake and Antelope...
Detail of ‘Hopi Snake Dance’ by Cornelia Cassady-Davis.

Dances with Snakes: The Real Reason for the Hopi Snake Dance

For thousands of years the Hopi tribe of northern Arizona has performed a secretive, sacred ceremony that embodies the manifold and richly evocative archetypal nature of the serpent. In modern times...
Rice goddesses are found across cultures

Rice Goddesses - Earth Mothers who Influenced Heaven, Earth, and the Underworld

For centuries, rice has been a staple diet and plays an important role in Asian culture. Although rice farmers have found their lives becoming more difficult due to climate change, Bloomberg states...
A modern depiction of the hellhound Cerberus.

Gate to Hell Guardians Were Used to Ward People Off Deadly Cave

The Gate to Hell, also known as Pluto’s Gate, was the Greco-Roman entrance to the Underworld. When archaeologists found an example of this sacred site in Turkey they also discovered two guardians who...
Quetzalcoatl – Public Domain, and El Castillo at Chichén Itzá – CC BY-SA 4.0

The ‘Myth’ of the Plumed Serpent: Revealing the Real Message Behind the Feathered Snake

The Plumed (or Feathered) Serpent is a Mesoamerican myth that has fascinated modern people for quite some time. Among the Aztecs and Toltecs this divinity went by the name of Quetzalcoatl and to the...

A Hopi Hero’s Journey: How the Snake Clan Came to Arizona

Joseph Campbell, in his classic book The Hero With A Thousand Faces explores in depth the universal mythic narrative of the culture-hero (traditionally male) who goes forth not to conquer but...

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