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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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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.

Hanging out in the margin of an illuminated manuscript

Beautiful, Decorative, and Sometimes Crude: Illuminated Manuscripts and Marginalia

Illuminated manuscripts are manuscripts that are covered with painted ornaments presented under several forms. These documents are perhaps most commonly associated with the European Middle Ages...
Landowning houses used charters to confirm their ownings. Source: Thomas Mucha / Adobe Stock.

Forged Medieval Charters: How To Rewrite History In The Middle Ages

At first glance, charters seem to be nothing more than obscure and boring legal documents, as dull in the Middle Ages as they are today. On closer examination however, there is much more to charters...
Pictogram in the Aztec Codex Telleriano Remensi representing an earthquake that took place in 1507. Source: Gerardo Suárez and Virginia García-Acosta

Aztec Codex is Oldest Written Account of Earthquakes in the Americas

Between the 1300s and the devastating arrival of the Spanish conquistadors in the early 1500s, the Aztecs were a flourishing Mesoamerican culture in the Valley of Mexico in Central Mexico, building...
The Vergilius Vaticanus and How It Survived 1,500 Years

The Vergilius Vaticanus and How It Survived 1,500 Years

The Vergilius Vaticanus is an illuminated manuscript from the Late Antique period, said to have been created in the 400’s. Containing one of the few surviving fragments of Virgil’s Aeneid , as well...
What Really Lies Hidden in the Vatican Secret Archives?

What Really Lies Hidden in the Vatican Secret Archives?

Mystery and intrigue are inherent to the Holy See. People will always wonder what religious authorities are conspiring to behind closed doors, what treasures lie within the vaults of the Vatican...
Deriv; Bust of Plato, map of Santorini, 1703, underwater ruin.

Atlantis: Examining the Legendary Tale of Plato

Around 360 BC, in his dialogues of Timaeus and Critias , the Greek philosopher Plato introduced an incredible story, a tale of an enigmatic island civilization which has since captivated the...
Ordered universe and cuneiform (Public Domain) and Akkadian cylinder featuring Anunnaki.

Anunnaki Revealed: Who Were These Beings of Ancient Astronaut Theory? – Part I

The modern era has witnessed an incredible surge in the popularity of all forms of media concerning the mythology of the ancient Mesopotamians. Fueling this ever-growing trend are the writings of a...
The Tripitaka Koreana: A Vast Trove of Buddhist Woodblock Wisdom

The Tripitaka Koreana: A Vast Trove of Buddhist Woodblock Wisdom

The Tripitaka Koreana is a collection of Buddhist texts, laws, and treaties originally created during the 11 th century by the Korean kingdom of Goryeo. The Tripitaka Koreana was carved onto...
The Curious Case of the Rocky Valley Labyrinths

The Curious Case of the Rocky Valley Labyrinths

Located between Boscastle and Tintagel , Rocky Valley is a small valley in northern Cornwall , England, carved by the Trevillet River. A site of mystic and historical fascination, it is home to two...
A young priest listens to confession.

Penitentials - Medieval Priests Had Handbooks to Deal with Sexual Deviance

Penance has played a prominent role in religions all over the world. And the interesting thing is there are documents spanning the globe which discuss penance and provide clear opportunities to find...
Medieval Sex and Scandal: Consistory Courts and Morality in Medieval England

Medieval Sex and Scandal: Consistory Courts and Morality in Medieval England

In the 21st century, most people would consider their intimate and sexual relationships to be a private matter. In the Middle Ages however, the division between private and public areas in the lives...
Square & compasses (Insignia of Freemasons) carved into stone. (Public Domain) Part of The Beale Papers Names Cipher C3.

Does Cryptic Code Hidden in Beale Ciphers Reveal Secrets of the Freemasons?

The Beale Ciphers have challenged treasure hunters for almost 200 years. Is the Declaration of Independence the key to finding the gold, silver, and precious stones that Beale buried near Bedford,...
Pseudo-History or Famed Fiction? Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia

Pseudo-History or Famed Fiction? Geoffrey of Monmouth’s Historia

Geoffrey of Monmouth has gone down in history for his classic epic, the Historia Regum Britanniae , known in English as The History of the Kings of Britain . This masterpiece of medieval literature...
The Mysterious Codex Argenteus: Famed Silver Bible of the Goths

The Mysterious Codex Argenteus: Famed Silver Bible of the Goths

The Goths, one of the major Germanic tribes of ancient times, were a key player in the events that marked the downfall of the Western Roman Empire. Although their era lasted only a few centuries,...
The futhark on the Vadstena bracteate.

Unearthing Ancient Magic in The Runes –Messages with Hidden Symbols and Powerful Numbers

The etymology of the word “rune” means: “to carve, or to cut.” In Low German the word is “raunen.” As the runes were cut and carved into wood, metal or stone, the word “rune” was analogous to the...
The Northern Mysteries Current: Futhark and Mystery Schools of the Viking Age

The Northern Mysteries Current: Futhark and Mystery Schools of the Viking Age

The existence of mystery schools in the Viking Age (800-1200 CE) is deduced from myth and folklore. The poems of the Edda display the structure and content of cultic texts used within the framework...
Person holding an ancient grimoire filled with spells, curses, and incantations

Magic of the Ancients: Five Incredible Texts of Spells, Curses, and Incantations

As long as humanity has had beliefs in a higher power, the use of magic, spells, curses, and incantations have featured widely across cultures. A number of influential texts or ‘grimoires’ (textbooks...
The Viking Discovery of Iceland

Floki and the Viking Discovery of Iceland

The Vikings’ next step out into the Atlantic – the discovery and settlement of Iceland – is one of the best documented events of the Viking Age. Medieval Icelanders were fascinated by genealogy, not...
The Domesday Book, volume 2

The Domesday Book: Don’t Worry, It’s Not the End of The World

Have you ever wondered how many people lived in England in the late 11th century? Well, William the Conqueror did, but mostly so that he could know how much land and money those people had. To figure...
Egyptian Hieroglyphs: The Language of the Gods

Egyptian Hieroglyphs: The Language of the Gods

Egyptian hieroglyphs are among the oldest writing systems in the world, dating back some 5,200 years. Known in ancient Egyptian as the “language of the gods” and said to have been created by the god...
The Controversial Dashka Stone: 120 Million-Year-Old Map?

The Controversial Dashka Stone: 120 Million-Year-Old Map?

The Dashka Stone is a controversial artifact that it is believed by some to be the guidelines used by the architect of the world. Known as the Map of the Creator, this stone tablet has baffled...
Study finds that medieval remedy found in 1000-year-old medical text could hold key to treating antibiotic-resistant infections. Source: shaiith / Adobe Stock

Medieval Remedy Could Treat Antibiotic-Resistant Infections

A possible medical breakthrough has been made by experts, all thanks to a 1000-year-old medieval English medical text. A treatment, that dates to the Dark Ages , is helping researchers to treat a...
Kama Sutra couple on bed

The Kama Sutra: Setting the Record Straight

Out of all the necessities in the world, three come to the forefront: food, water, and reproduction. While the first two are necessary for the survival of the individual among the many, the latter is...
An ancient stone wall showing many Egyptian hieroglyphics that can now be translated with Google’s cyber Rosetta Stone.                Source: Camshea / CC BY-SA 4.0)

Google Launches AI Cyber Rosetta Stone for Hieroglyphic Translations

Google , the American multinational technology giant built around a search engine that specializes in internet-related services and products, gets most of its profits from online advertising...

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