ancient egypt

Departure of the Israelites by David Roberts, (1829)

4 February, 2019 - 16:59 Cam Rea

Exodus: Were the Israelites Slaves in Egypt or Not?

The Book of Exodus has intrigued churchgoers, academics and everyday readers. The approach to its content varies; an apologetic approach includes a literal interpretation of the Bible however a...

9 January, 2019 - 13:59 dhwty

Elongated Skulls and Indecipherable Language: What Does the Mysterious Starving of Saqqara Sculpture Mean?

The Starving of Saqqara is the name given to an ancient Egyptian sculpture believed to date to the Pre-Dynastic period. Little is known about the origins and provenance of this statue, which is today...

20 October, 2018 - 02:16 Mark Miller

Ancient Egyptian Texts contain Hangover Cure and Radical Eye Disease Treatments

Radical surgery and medicaments with ingredients now known to be toxic are among eye disease treatments in 1,900-year-old medical papyri of ancient Egypt that have been under translation from Greek...

Egyptian blue shabti figures on display in the Egyptian exhibit at the Louvre in France in 2006.

17 October, 2018 - 13:57 ashley cowie

Eco-Architecture in Egyptian Blue: Scientists Discover Modern Usage for the 4000-Year-Old Pigment

Egyptian blue was a brilliant blue color first created in ancient Egypt over 4000 years ago. Now, scientists have found it to hold unique qualities that can “reduce building energy consumption and...

The rulers of the Oryx Nome created some elaborate tombs for themselves in Beni Hasan.

22 September, 2018 - 23:33 Carly Silver

Plenty of Wiggle Tomb: The Intriguing Monuments of the Middle Kingdom Rulers of the Oryx Nome

Even in periods we might not think of as being glamorous, ancient Egyptians still knew how to be stylish. Take Khnumhoteps I and II, nomarchs (governors/administrators) of the Oryx nome (province)...

Statue of Queen Ankhnes-meryre II and Her Son, Pepy II. (Brooklyn Museum) Background: Papyrus with ancient Egyptian writing.

19 July, 2018 - 14:01 Mark Oliver

Explorer Rushes Back to Collect Pygmy Prize After Child Pharaoh’s Golden Letter

Harkhuf the Explorer, while traveling through Nubia, received an urgent message from the Pharaoh himself. “Come to the Palace at once!” the king’s letter read. “Drop everything!” This was unusual...

The Osiris statuette from Saqqara, Egypt.

5 July, 2018 - 13:59 Ed Whelan

Restoration Work Uncovers Statuette of Osiris Secreted in Pyramid Wall

Mostafa el-Waziri, the head of the Supreme Council of Antiquities in Egypt has announced an amazing discovery, one which is exciting and intriguing the experts. During routine restoration work on the...

The stele has hieroglyphic and demotic inscriptions and measures 41 inches

8 June, 2018 - 02:36 Mark Miller

Rosetta-style engraving lauding Cleopatra I and two Ptolemaic Pharaohs unearthed in Egypt

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...

The newly-discovered carving at Gebel el Sisila

24 May, 2018 - 03:40 Mark Miller

Pharaoh bows to god of gods in newly discovered quarry carving

A team of archaeologists from a Swedish university has made some important discoveries at a large ancient Egyptian quarry. They’ve found a rock carving up to 3,000 years old depicting a pharaoh...

This ancient Egyptian coffin was not empty.

27 March, 2018 - 23:00 Alicia McDermott

Empty Ancient Egyptian Coffin in Sydney Museum Is Not Actually Empty

This 2,500-year-old ancient Egyptian coffin has sat, mostly ignored, in a museum for 150 years. But when someone finally decided to take a peek inside the rather plain-looking artifact last year,...

The Israelites Leaving Egypt by David Roberts. Representative of an ancient Egyptian City.

27 March, 2018 - 13:58 dhwty

The Lost City of Thinis, First Capital of a United Egypt

Thinis was a city of the ancient Egyptian civilization. Whilst Thinis and its alternative, This, were the Greek names of the city, the ancient Egyptians knew it as Tjenu. This city once served as the...

The imposing mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu. Design by Anand Balaji.

10 November, 2017 - 15:30 anand balaji

Butehamun, Opener of the Gates to the Underworld: Dismantling Sacred Places of the Dead

At the very end of the Twentieth Dynasty and through to the beginning of the early Twenty-First Dynasty, one after another, the many royal dead in the Valley of the Kings were divested of their...

Illustration of missing aspects of Egyptian talatat, design by Anand Balaji.

6 October, 2017 - 15:28 anand balaji

Objects of Wonder: The Symbolism and Suspense behind Ancient Egyptian artifacts

Ancient Egypt was a land of great mystery and intrigue. Her secrets were not easy to comprehend, even if they were hidden in plain sight. It still takes a keen eye to understand the deep philosophy...

16 August, 2017 - 22:52 Theodoros Karasavvas

2,000-Year-Old Tombs and Sarcophagi Uncovered in Hidden Burial Chambers in Egypt

A team of archaeologists has discovered three tombs dating back 2,000 years in southern Egypt. The three new discoveries in El-Kamin El-Sahrawi point to a large cemetery covering the 27th Dynasty and...

Chamber in the Tomb of Senwosret III. The tomb features sloping passages between chambers.

19 June, 2017 - 23:01 Theodoros Karasavvas

Huge 4000-year-old Underground Hidden Tomb of Cult Egyptian King Senwosret III Will Soon Open to the Public

The tomb of King Khakaure Senusret III (Senwosret III), one of the most dominant and popular pharaohs of ancient Egypt’s Middle Kingdom, is set to open to the public within a couple of years. This...

Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji

26 May, 2017 - 15:28 anand balaji

Tutankhamun and the Age of Appropriation: Missing Skullcap of the Last Sun King–Part II

The oft-repeated phrase “the Amarna era is shrouded in mystery” could be a thing of the past if only closer scrutiny of key artifacts from Tutankhamun’s tomb are permitted by the authorities...

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Myths & Legends

Baphomet: Was the Diabolical Demon Really Worshipped by Knights Templars?

Baphomet is the demonic entity allegedly worshipped by the Knights Templars who later became a symbol for Satanic worship. During the Inquisition of the Templars in the 14th century, the knights were falsely accused of worshipping this figure.

The Ancient Pagan Origins of Easter

The Black Book - Source of Devils Magic that Wizards Wager Their Soul to Obtain

The Wooing of Etain: An Irish Tale of Love, Loss, and Jealousy

The symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000-year-old history

The Legendary Kraken

Human Origins

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Sumer, or the ‘land of civilized kings’, flourished in Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq, around 4500 BC. Sumerians created an advanced civilization with its own system of elaborate language and writing, architecture and arts, astronomy and mathematics.

11 Mysterious Human Species That Most People Don’t Know Existed

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

Forensic Facial Reconstruction: The Journey to Connect with our Ancestors

The human skull that challenges the Out of Africa theory

The Secret Life of an Ancient Concubine

Ancient Technology

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

The Norimitsu Odachi is a huge sword from Japan. It is so large, in fact, that it was said to have been wielded by a giant. Apart from the basic knowledge of it having been forged in the 15th century AD, measuring 3.77 meters (12.37 ft.) in length, and weighing as much as 14.5 kg (31.97 lbs.), this impressive sword is shrouded in mystery.

Robots Guarded Buddha’s Relics in a Legend of Ancient India

The Indian Sage who developed Atomic Theory 2,600 years ago

Boggling Bannerstones of Ancient Americans: Were They a Function of Flight or More a Flight of Fancy?

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

Ancient Journeys: What was Travel Like for the Romans?

Ancient Places

Palmerston Island part of the Cook Islands.

Populating Palmerston Island: One Man, Three Wives and A Desert Island Paradise

Palmerston Island is part of the Cook Islands in the South Pacific Ocean. This island is one of the six main islands located on a coral atoll and is the only one that is inhabited. Palmerston Island is one of the most isolated places on earth, and almost all of its inhabitants today are related to each other, as they are all descended from one Englishman who settled there about 150 years ago.

Khajuraho: The Sexiest Temples in India

The White Slaves of Barbary

Nsongezi Rock Shelter Offers Proof of Stone Age Craftsmen

The Mysterious Prehistoric Triple Burial of Dolni Vestonice

How Ancient People Marked the Equinox Around the World

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.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

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.