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Ancient Traditions

Ancient Origins brings you articles related to Ancient Traditions from all over the world. Find related articles in the sections of history, archaeology, human origins, unexplained, artifacts, ancient places and myths and legends.

Corpse medicine sounds revolting today but for thousands of years “doctors” believed the human spirit and its powers could be ingested in the form of human fat, blood, or brains. "Saturn eating his son,” painted by Francisco de Goya.
13 May, 2022 - 19:03 Sahir

Corpse Medicine: Brains, Mellified Man’s Honey-flesh, or Blood Drinks!

In the 16th and 17th centuries while, with astonishing hypocrisy, Europeans were reacting with disgust and outrage to reports of cannibalism brought back by travelers from the New World. And yet in...
Wife auctions were popular with the lower classes in England from about 1700 to 1850 because divorce was expensive and complicated. This work of art is by Thomas Rowlandson (1756–1827) and is called Selling a Wife. Source: Thomas Rowlandson / Public domain
11 May, 2022 - 18:56 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Why Did Victorian Women Willingly Sell Themselves at Wife Auctions?

The year was 1832 when Joseph Thompson, a local Cardiff man, led his wife by halter to the local marketplace hoping for a good price in what was, after all, just a wife auction. Before the bidding,...
Representational image of Ermine de Reims. Source: inarik / Adobe Stock
2 May, 2022 - 22:58 Meagan Dickerson

The Visions of Ermine de Reims - Supernatural Forces in Everyday Medieval Life

Ermine de Reims was a relatively inconsequential peasant woman who moved to the town of Reims, in northeastern France, from rural Vermandois with her elderly husband in 1384. She was a pious woman,...
Researcher Li Nan, from Peking University, pictured with her team, holding the foot amputation evidence that was subjected to biomedical analysis. Source: South China Morning Post
2 May, 2022 - 18:22 Sahir

Punishment: 3000-year-old Chinese Foot Amputation May Be Oldest Ever!

Researchers in China believe a skeleton found in a tomb in the northwest of the country is the earliest known example of foot amputation as punishment for a crime, reports the South China Morning...
The continuous use of lavender throughout history reveals its popularity. Source: asife / Adobe Stock
1 May, 2022 - 14:59 Lex Leigh

History’s Love of Lavender: From Mummies to Bathhouses and Beyond!

Lavender is one of the most well-known plants throughout the world. It is popular in gardening, baking, cleaning, and medicine. The soft purple flowers have been around for a few thousand years and...
Baron Samedi and his Voodoo powers over death continues to be a powerful force in the Caribbean region, especially in Haiti.
29 April, 2022 - 19:07 Khadija Tauseef

Baron Samedi And the Voodoo Loa of Haiti

Death is an inevitability that every person must face. It is the fate of all humans. However, to make death easier, each religion provides a guide that assists the transition from the human world to...
Vaccination poster image. The story of inoculation is far older than you might think. Source: bakhtiarzein / Adobe Stock
27 April, 2022 - 22:54 Lex Leigh

Just a Poke: The Origins of Inoculation

With the recent pandemic and the still-spreading Covid-19 virus, inoculation has become a hot topic throughout several areas of the world. Regardless of what side you’re on, the history of...
Archaeologists have deciphered what could be the origins of the Latin alphabet in graffiti found at the Temple of Hathor near the Serâbît el-Khâdim mines. Serâbît el-Khâdim in the background and the evolution of the letter “A” in the foreground. Source: Einsamer Schütze / CC BY-SA 3.0 & Till Nikolaus von Heiseler / CC BY 4.0
22 April, 2022 - 19:12 Laura Tabone

From an Ox to an “A”: The Ancient Egyptian Origins of the Latin Alphabet

As crazy as it sounds, it’s now well attested that the letter “A” started out its evolution as the Egyptian hieroglyph for an ox. But its truly mind-blowing transformation came when turquoise miners...
Left: An unknown Egyptian mummy. Right: Modern equivalent of Mummy Brown pigment. Source: michal812 / Adobe Stock
19 April, 2022 - 01:55 dhwty

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...
The bloodletting of a patient by a surgeon with three dismayed onlookers; represented by five faun-like demons. Source: Wellcome Images / CC BY 4.0
16 April, 2022 - 18:58 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Bleeding Your Way to Health: The Horrible History of Bloodletting

Bloodletting, or phlebotomy, is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as “the surgical removal of some of a patient’s blood for therapeutic purposes.” Throughout the majority of history, this gruesome,...
Selection of Greek Magical Papyri which are kept at the British Library. Source: British Library
8 April, 2022 - 18:54 Jessica Nadeau

Curious and Unusual Spells from the Greek Magical Papyri

The Greek magical papyri, as it is commonly known, is an extensive collection of ancient Greco-Roman Egypt magical spells, rituals, remedies, hymns, and myth. Scholars have placed its origin between...
Sacrifice and care on Chinese Tomb Sweeping Day. Source: tuayai / Adobe Stock
8 April, 2022 - 01:58 aprilholloway

The Myths, Legends and Traditions of Chinese Tomb Sweeping Day

Every year, the Chinese celebrate the historic Qingming Festival. Fondly known as Ancestors Day or Tomb Sweeping Day, it is a day that commemorates the onset spring and the occasion when families...
The ideas behind the Mormon creation theory are captured in the Replica of Christus (1838) by Bertel Thorvaldsen (1770–1844), located in the Temple Square North Visitors Center of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Salt Lake City, Utah. Source: Public domain
7 April, 2022 - 01:58 Forest Bauer

The Mormon Creation Theory and What it is Built Upon

From the time of early humankind, staring up at the night sky or watching the sunrise, we have wondered at the vastness and beauty of the world around us. Christians have a creation story, American...
A Kushan empire (30–375 AD) frieze showing the Buddha flanked on the left by a Greek-inspired Vajrapani that clearly highlights the aesthetic nuances of Greek Buddhism. Source: Goldsmelter / CC BY-SA 4.0
30 March, 2022 - 23:00 Thanos Matanis

Greek Buddhism, The Forgotten Chapter In A Philosophy That Began in India

A bygone era forgotten in Western circles but preserved in the histories of Buddhist traditions tells the story of the Greek contribution to Buddhism. Enshrined in the daily prayers of the Theravāda...
Evidence of ancient gambling is shown on this 540BC ceramic illustrating Achilles and Ajax playing dice. Source: Nick Thompson / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0)
30 March, 2022 - 02:01 johnblack

Gods and Gambling in Ancient Greece

When you talk about gambling usually your mind goes to casinos, baccarat, roulette, lottery, dice etc. But have you ever thought about when or how gambling first originated? The fact is that some...
Mythology was put to the service of ancient Greek diplomacy. Image of the mighty god Zeus. Source: zwiebackesser / Adobe Stock
24 March, 2022 - 21:52 Thanos Matanis

Of Kin and Kind: The Role of Myths in Ancient Greek Diplomacy

Myths in the ancient world were not confined to the world of movies and children’s books like they are today. They played a vital part in political life and ancient Greek diplomacy. For example,...
Analysis of Roman house design in virtual reality, with eye-catching areas highlighted. Source: Campanaro & Landeschi / Antiquity Publications Ltd
24 March, 2022 - 00:00 Sahir

VR Explores Pompeii to Understand the Tricks of Roman House Design

Ancient Roman houses—at least those of the wealthy—were built not just for comfort but also to impress. Many design elements and “tricks” were employed to enhance or hide specific parts of the house...
The “Norse Power” deodorant was designed by Norse experts in York, England so that anyone can have the Viking smell and all its powers! Source: Visit York
19 March, 2022 - 21:59 Lex Leigh

Smell Like a Viking - The Viking Odor Was Strangely Superior!

Sailing, exploring, and raiding. Three activities well-loved by Vikings in their time. These Scandinavian seafarers spent their days as brutal warriors, pillaging and colonizing cities all over...
Psilocybin magic mushrooms are being voted on in the Pennsylvania state legislature as a way to treat stress, trauma and more. Source: Iarygin Andrii / Adobe Stock
15 March, 2022 - 00:59 ashley cowie

US Vets and Others May Get Legal Access To Old World Magic Mushrooms

It has often been said that nature’s ancient medicine cabinet holds everything required for humans to reach and maintain a state of homeostasis. Following this timeworn rule US veterans are now using...
Common treatments for cancer included bloodletting. Source: Public domain
12 March, 2022 - 17:57 Lex Leigh

The Many Ways Cancer Was Treated in the Ancient World

How did people of ancient times treat the difficult and complex condition known today as cancer? In recent years, a rising number of scholars have taken a look at the prevalence of cancer diagnoses...
The caltrops the Ukrainian Art of Steel workshop has been manufacturing with traditional blacksmithing for the current war with Russia. Source: Art of Steel
10 March, 2022 - 17:39 Sahir

Medieval Caltrop Defense Weapon Coming to the Aid of Ukrainian Resistance

When nations go to war, the most tragic aspect is the disruption and annihilation of civilian lives. International media has been reporting the robust resistance put up by Ukrainian citizens in many...
Easter Island. Source: Aliaksei / Adobe Stock
6 March, 2022 - 14:00 Cecilia Bogaard

Easter Island and the Mysteries of the Moai

Easter Island, also known as Rapa Nui , is a remote Chilean island a few thousand kilometers west of South America in the Pacific Ocean. Described as an archaeological Disneyland, the island has...
Eating insects goes back to the beginning of human time and continues today in more ways than you might think of. Source: freshidea / Adobe Stock
5 March, 2022 - 18:00 Jake Leigh-Howarth

Eating Insects: The History of the Human Hunger for Bugs

Have you ever thought about eating insects? Do cricket cookies, chocolate covered silkworms, or smoke cured mopper moth caterpillars make you froth at the mouth? This certainly was the case for our...
4 March, 2022 - 21:50 Meagan Dickerson

King Aelle and the Blood Eagle: Ritual Sacrifice in Viking Age Britain

Thanks to recent attention in popular culture, the story of King Aelle’s violent death at the hands of Ivar the Boneless in a type of ritual killing known as the “blood eagle” is well-known. The...

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