Ancient Writings

There are literally thousands of incredible texts that have survived from the ancient world, which are etched onto copper, beautifully inscribed on papyrus, chipped onto tablets, and even written using the ink of ground down gold and precious stones. Here we feature many ancient writings, which have served to open a window onto the daily lives of our ancestors and enhanced the knowledge we hold about our ancient past.

Sayburç relief in Turkey shows men in combat with animals and is the oldest narrative scene on record. Source: K. Akdemir/Antiquity Publications Ltd

8 December, 2022 - 17:10 Sahir

Oldest Narrative Scene: A Man, Holding His Penis, and Fighting Leopards!

An 11,000-year-old carving from a Neolithic bench in south-eastern Turkey maybe the world’s oldest narrative scene. It depicts menacing leopards, amongst other animals, flanking two men, one of whom...

Inscribed lead Roman curse tablet. Source: British Museum / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

1 December, 2022 - 21:50 Lex Leigh

8 Hilarious Curse Tablets from the Roman World

The Roman Empire was famous for many things, but did you know they were also famous for their curse tablets? These tablets, called defixiones by researchers, were a way for ancient Romans to express...

Using torchlight to reveal rock carvings in Norway by night. Source: Fjeld, Klavestad, Tangen / Science in Norway

30 November, 2022 - 02:00 Sahir

600 Rock Carvings Found by Clever Inquiry and Torchlight

Three friends in Norway have a remarkable way of spending in their spare time. Armed with torches, they go looking for prehistoric rock carvings, and with singular success. So far, they have helped...

The encrypted letter from Charles V. Painting of Charles V by Juan Pantoja de la Cruz. Photo of Mummified corpse of Charles V. Source: Bibliotheque Stanislas de Nancy; Public Domain; CC BY 4.0

25 November, 2022 - 20:13 Sahir

Encrypted Letter of Charles V Reveals A Rumored Assassination Attempt

Holy Roman Emperor and King of Spain, Charles V, was one of the 16th century’s most powerful people, but certainly not well liked. A rumored French plot to assassinate the erstwhile emperor has been...

Ulysses (Odysseus) and the Sirens of Greek mythology in a painting dating to circa 1909 by Herbert James Draper. Source: Public domain

22 November, 2022 - 00:57 dhwty

Seductive Sirens of Greek Mythology and How Heroes Resisted Them

Sirens are a type of creature found in ancient Greek mythology. Commonly described as beautiful but dangerous creatures , the sirens are remembered for seducing sailors with their sweet voices, and,...

The team exploring the cave system found in Kyiv. Source: Dmytro Perov

19 November, 2022 - 02:00 ashley cowie

Ancient “Hieroglyphs” Discovered In Ukrainian Caves

A Ukrainian explorer followed his grandmother's clues and discovered a lost cave system in the middle of Kyiv. Professors are “amazed” that such a treasure was hidden in plain sight for thousands of...

Medieval medicine understood that the placebo effect could induce self-healing. Source: GINGER_Tsukahara / Adobe Stock

17 November, 2022 - 21:41 ashley cowie

Medieval Medicine Understood How the Placebo Effect Could Heal

Is it time to kill the term “placebo effect”? A researcher looking at questionable medieval medicines, that are today shunned as placebos, has shown how early physicians triggered patient’s brains...

First Canaanite writing scratched onto an ivory comb. Source: Dafna Gazit/Israel Antiquities Authority

10 November, 2022 - 02:00 Nathan Falde

Oldest Written Sentence Found Inscribed on Ancient Head-Lice Comb

One would expect the oldest written words found during archaeological excavations to be carved into the face of a stone tablet, or perhaps into the surface of an ancient stone monument. But they can...

7 November, 2022 - 18:00 Sahir

Mary Queen of Scots Received Luxury Treatment in Prison

One of history’s most famous queens, Mary Stuart, better known as Mary Queen of Scots , reigned over Scotland between 1542 and 1567, until her infamous forced abdication in favor of her one-year-old...

Depiction of Valhalla, where Odin held court at Asgard, from the 1878 staging by Hermann Burghart of Das Rheingold by Richard Wagner. (Public domain)

7 November, 2022 - 13:47 Molly Dowdeswell

Asgard: The Fabled Home of the Aesir Gods of Norse Mythology

Asgard was the home of the mighty Norse gods, from where they watched over the other eight realms and administered justice. It was also the final resting place of the dead and where Odin, King of the...

Pastel style drawing of Anna Komnene writing the Alexiad in the monastery of the Virgin Mary Full of Grace. Source: Midjourney AI / Public Domain

27 October, 2022 - 14:52 Robbie Mitchell

Anna Komnene: The Byzantine Biographer Princess and First Female Historian

These days, it seems that if an author wants to go straight to the top of the New York Times bestseller list, all they need to do is release a tell-all memoir or biography aimed at a famous...

Detail of the palimpsest under multispectral analysis. Source: Museum of the Bible / CC BY-SA 4.0

19 October, 2022 - 18:52 ashley cowie

World’s Oldest Star Chart Discovered Hidden in Medieval Codex

In 2012, a student at Cambridge University identified what he suspected was an ancient Greek star map hidden behind text in a medieval codex. Compiled with astronomical data from the 2nd century AD,...

Large boab tree with coiled snake carving, northern Tanami Desert. Source: Darrell Lewis / Antiquity Publications Ltd

13 October, 2022 - 14:52 Nathan Falde

Tracking Down Ancient Artwork Carved into Australian Boab Trees

Archaeologists and historians from Australian National University, the University of Western Australia and the University of Canberra recently teamed up with a group of First Nations Australian...

Hecate sculpture at Antalya Archaeological Museum in Turkey. Source: neurobite / Adobe Stock

6 October, 2022 - 01:57 dhwty

Hecate: Triple-Bodied Greek Goddess of Witchcraft and Keeper of Keys

Hecate the goddess of Greek mythology has been primarily remembered for her associations with magic and witchcraft. Throughout history however, her sphere of influence also included the moon, night,...

1889 painting of Circe by Wright Barker. Source: Public domain

4 October, 2022 - 01:53 Natalia Klimczak

The Spellbinding Story of Circe, Goddess of Magic in Greek Mythology

Circe is a complex character within Greek mythology. Feared and desired in equal measure, Circe was a goddess of magic, and even today she continues to be one of the most enchanting and deadly...

Zoroastrian Fire temple at Baku, Azerbaijan adapted practiced according to the Avesta and other Zoroastrian scriptures. Source: Konstantin / Adobe Stock

3 October, 2022 - 22:56 Robbie Mitchell

The Avesta and Zoroastrianism: The Creation, Disappearance and Resurgence of an Ancient Text

Of all the religious texts, the Avesta is perhaps the least familiar. This is unsurprising, since the Avesta was written in a now-dead language, before being lost for almost one thousand years...

Painting of Freja by John Bauer. Source: Public domain

17 September, 2022 - 02:00 Molly Dowdeswell

The Story, Symbols and Powers of Freya, the Norse Goddess of Love

Freya is old Norse for “lady” and was the name given to the Norse goddess of love. Whilst she certainly sought out passion and pleasure, she was a complex character. In fact, to the Vikings she was a...

Model reproduction of the Dispilio tablet at the prehistoric lakeside settlement of Dispilio in northern Greece. Source: Мико / CC BY-SA 4.0

16 September, 2022 - 22:55 johnblack

The Dispilio Tablet and the Real Origins of Writing

Conventional archaeology claims that writing was not invented until some time between 3000 and 4000 BC in Sumeria . However, the discovery of a far older artifact in northern Greece appears to...

Oedipus the King of Sophoces theatrical costume Athens Greece. Source: Susan Vineyard / Adobe Stock

15 September, 2022 - 18:54 Molly Dowdeswell

The Mother of All Myths: Oedipus, The Story of the King of Thebes

The myth of Oedipus contains moral lessons about the dangers of tempting fate. It warns that fate cannot be neither challenged nor escaped. In doing so, the story is full of intrigue and revelation...

Scroll of Asclepius with an inscription. Source: Background; Alexey Pavluts / Adobe Stock, Insets; Left;CC BY-SA 3.0; Right; CC BY-SA 4.0

9 September, 2022 - 14:54 Nathan Falde

Second Century Asclepius Inscription Found at Anatolian Site

Archaeologists performing excavations in the ancient city of Hadrianopolis in Paphlagonia, in the Black Sea region of northern Turkey unearthed a piece of rock that contained a most revealing...

A grotesque image of an ogre shooting an arrow into another creature’s rear from the Rutland Psalter, c. 1260. (British Library Royal MS 62925, f. 87v.)

8 September, 2022 - 22:53 Joanna Gillan

20 Bizarre, Crude and Downright Weird Sketches in Medieval Manuscripts

Many medieval manuscripts are works of art with devotional passages written in careful calligraphy, accompanied by vivid illustrations and ornate, decorative borders. But equally captivating is the...

Odysseus and Polyphemus by Arnold Böcklin. Polyphemus is one of the only Cyclopes recognized by name. Source: Public domain

3 September, 2022 - 02:00 Natalia Klimczak

Is There Any Truth to Legends of Mighty Cyclopes from Greek Mythology?

The mysterious, one-eyed creatures revered in Greek and Roman mythologies remain one of the most riveting of the oldest Mediterranean legends. The mighty Cyclopes were members of a race of giants and...

Puriel is an angel who appears in the apocryphal work of the Testament of Abraham, the 2nd century AD apocalyptic tale of Abraham's journey to heaven. Puriel is described as “fiery and pitiless”, and is one of the two angels (along with Dokiel) charged with the task of examining the soul of each person brought to heaven after death. Source: chiaralily / CC BY NC 2.0

2 September, 2022 - 14:51 Robbie Mitchell

Apocalyptic Apocrypha: What was Removed from the Bible - and Why?

‘Biblical Apocrypha’ sounds like something out of a conspiracy theorist's darkest dreams. Books that have been hidden away from us. Books that contain secret information on the origins of...

This clay tablet, part of the Louvre Museum collection, covered in an ancient language is actually one of the few known Linear Elamite texts, which a research team has claimed to have deciphered almost completely. Source: Zunkir / CC BY-SA 4.0

2 September, 2022 - 01:58 Nathan Falde

Iranian 4,000-Year-Old Ancient Language Decoded But Questions Remain

Linguistics experts have been trying to decipher and translate an enigmatic type of ancient language known as Linear Elamite for more than 100 years. This writing system was used by people who lived...