Africa

Ruins and obelisks at Axum, former capital of the Kingdom of Aksum

13 April, 2019 - 01:51 Kerry Sullivan

The Kingdom of Axum: Facts and Legends of a First Millennium Powerhouse

Located on the Horn of Africa, the ancient Ethiopian kingdom of Axum (also spelled Aksum) played a significant role in international relations around the time of the first millennium. At its height,...

11 April, 2019 - 13:57 Ed Whelan

Namibia’s Apollo 11 Cave – How We Gained Insight Into The Minds Of Our Ancestors

Despite its name, the Apollo 11 cave in Namibia has nothing to do with space exploration. It’s the location of prehistoric art, some of the earliest examples of art in human history, and it has...

11 April, 2019 - 01:30 ancient-origins

Ancient DNA Data Fills in Thousands of Years of Human Movement and Genetic Adaptation in Africa

By sequencing the ancient genomes of 15 individuals from different parts of Africa, researchers reporting in the journal Cell in September 2017 reconstructed the prehistory of humans on the continent...

10 April, 2019 - 22:27 Kerry Sullivan

Mansa Musa: The Richest Man in History

When people think of the richest people in history , more often than not they think of industrialists from the modern era, such as the Rothschilds, the Rockefellers, or the Carnegies. Perhaps some...

A Place for Traditional African Medicine in a Modern World

9 April, 2019 - 18:25 dhwty

Traditional African Medicine and its Role in Healing in a Modern World

Herbalism, divination, and spiritualism often combine in traditional African medicine, perhaps the oldest and most varied therapeutic system in the world. This holistic health care system has many...

8 April, 2019 - 01:51 Ed Whelan

Are the Old Tombs of Kaole, Tanzania, Really Able To Heal?

Situated on the beautiful east coast of Africa, Tanzania is a fascinating country with a rich culture and no shortage of historic sites on its Indian Ocean coast. Kaole, an abandoned town and...

4 April, 2019 - 14:00 dhwty

The Mali Empire: The Rise of the Richest Civilization in West Africa

The Mali Empire (known also as the Manding Empire or Manden Kurufa) was a state that dominated West Africa between the 13th and 17th centuries. At its height of power during the 14th century, the...

An artist's depiction Sunni Ali Ber, African warrior king of the Songhai empire.

3 April, 2019 - 14:02 Sarah P Young

Ten of Africa’s Most Powerful Kings, Queens, Warriors and Legends

Africa is a region with a long and glorious history, with hundreds of distinct cultures and traditions. From the Egyptians to the Zulus each culture has produced some of the greatest warriors and...

3 April, 2019 - 02:01 Alicia McDermott

Researchers Get Closer to Finding the Origins of the Enigmatic Guanches…and No, They are Not Atlanteans

The Guanches were the white-skinned and fair-haired aboriginal people of the Canary Islands. With their location so near to North Africa, their origins have long presented a mystery for researchers...

18 March, 2019 - 00:45 Ed Whelan

Mumbwa Caves: Prehistoric Site in Zambia Sheds Light on Ancient Humans

The beginning of the Stone Age in Africa dates back at least 2.5 million years and it was an especially important era, not only in the history of Africans, but for all humanity. There are, however,...

2 March, 2019 - 13:54 Ed Whelan

How the Dogon Preserved Their Unique Culture Along The Cliff of Bandiagara Mali

The Cliff of Bandiagara (or Land of the Dogons) in Mali is an outstanding landscape and has earthen architecture that seems to defy the laws of nature and the passing of time. Despite globalization,...

23 February, 2019 - 01:57 Ed Whelan

Throne Hall of Dongola: Hidden Christian Beginnings Revealed in the Walls of the Oldest Preserved Mosque in Sudan

Relatively little is known of Sudan beyond the borders of Africa even though it is a country which has been home to significant civilizations and has many fascinating archaeological sites. One of the...

22 February, 2019 - 01:50 Ed Whelan

Trance Rock Art of Nsangwini - Communing With the Spirits

The San, often known as Bushmen or Khoisan, are people with an ancient culture and they have been living in Southern Africa for millennia. In Swaziland, officially known as the Kingdom of Eswatini,...

17 February, 2019 - 01:59 Ed Whelan

Chongoni Rock Art Offers Fascinating Insight into Mysterious Secret Society of the Chewa

Civilizations who have left no written records have in some cases left us with a way to understand their history and culture. The Chongoni Rock Art area, which contains a number of locations, is a...

14 February, 2019 - 02:11 Ed Whelan

Sacred Powers Fade Along With the Rock Art of the San People at Ha Baroana

As the world is getting smaller, thanks to technology and air travel, many previously mysterious, historic sites have become better known and it’s possible for ordinary tourists to visit these...

12 February, 2019 - 01:57 Ed Whelan

Kebokwe’s Cave: A Supernatural Site That Was Feared, Now a Sacred Place for Worship

Caves have always fascinated humans and often been regarded with awe and superstition. Kebokwe’s Cave , in the Southern African nation of Botswana , has many legends told about it and it has...

Pages

Myths & Legends

The Ancient Pagan Origins of Easter

Easter is a festival and holiday celebrated by millions of people around the world who honor the resurrection of Jesus from the dead, described in the New Testament as having occurred three days...

The Story of the Scary Shtorka and the Revival of Croatian Mythology

Ragnar Lothbrok: A Real Viking Hero Whose Life Became Lost to Legend

Involuntary Initiation: Tales of Demonic Powers of Sorcery Transmitted to the Unsuspecting

The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon

Britannia, Druids and the Surprisingly Modern Origins of Myths

Human Origins

Heavens Gates Opening. Source: Alswart / Adobe.

What and Where is Heaven? The Answers Are at the Heart of the Easter Story

My pious Baptist grandmother once shockingly confessed, at the ripe old age of 93, that she didn’t want to go to heaven. “Why,” we asked? “Well, I think it will be rather boring just sitting around on clouds and singing hymns all day” she answered. She had a point.

One Hundred Thousand Adams and Eves?

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Britannia, Druids and the Surprisingly Modern Origins of Myths

Rh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation?

Dark Skin and Blue Eyes: European Hunter-Gatherers Did Not Fit with Common Representations

Ancient Technology

Obsidian projectile point sourced to Batza Tena, Alaska.

Reconstructing an Ancient Lethal Weapon

Archaeologists are a little like forensic investigators: They scour the remains of past societies, looking for clues in pottery, tools and bones about how people lived, and how they died. And just as...

Is this a 300 million-year-old screw or just a fossilized sea creature?

Does ‘New Evidence’ Prove Noah’s Ark Is Buried on a Turkish Mountain?

The Man Who Stopped a Desert Using Ancient Farming

Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword?

Silphium, the ancient contraceptive herb driven to extinction

Ancient Places

Image shows the level of damage caused by the truck driving into the protected archaeological site.

Driver Plows Truck into 2,000-Year-Old Nazca Lines Causing Irreversible Damage

In a shocking example of destruction of a fragile archaeological site, a truck driver has been charged with careless driving and entering a prohibited zone after he accidentally drove his truck over the world-renowned Nazca lines in Peru.

The Dark Underworld of the Paris Catacombs

3,000-Year-Old Ain Dara Temple in Syria Reduced to Rubble by Turkish Airstrikes

Ashurbanipal: The Oldest Surviving Royal Library in the World with Over 30,000 Clay Tablets

Roque Bentayga, Gran Canaria: Vestiges of the Mysterious Guanche People

The Lost Tribe of Clover Hollow – Oldest Civilization in the World Found in Appalachian Mountains?

Opinion

The astronomical ceiling at the Pronaos, Detail of the first Band west from the center. From left to right: two wind creatures (the winged ram with four heads personifies the south wind), the snake- and frog-headed eight goddesses and gods of the Ogdoad who ruled the cosmos before the creation of the world and Osiris seated on a throne sails across the sky as personification of the full moon accompanied by the seated goddesses Nephtys (left) and Isis on the right (Maat stands near the bow of the ship). Siri

Changing Colors and Scampering Across the Night Sky: What Did the Ancients Say about Sirius?

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.

Cracking the Code to Discover Ancient Tarot Symbolism and Forgotten Universal Knowledge

The Secret Strategic Plans of Darius the Great

The Secrets of the Kabbalists Garden

Alchemy and Generating Lifeforce —Global Temples Made in the Shape of Lingams: Shaivite Bull Cult Part II

From Green Man to Bull Son, The Universal Shaivite Bull Cult – Part I

Our Mission

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

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By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.