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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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A baked clay theater mask that was discovered among the grave goods provides information about the people whose bodies were buried in the chamber.

Striking Grave Goods Begin to Shed Light on Hellenistic Life in Turkey

A burial chamber had been discovered near the city of Aydin, Turkey, located in the southwestern part of the country. Aydin is a famous location for very well preserved archaeological sites. It bears...
This piece of glass, a footed bowl, was blown about 1500 in Venice and enameled in the late 19th century in France.

Expert Reveals Top Secret Venetian Glassblowing Techniques from the Renaissance

Throughout history, some artists, craftsmen and chefs have carefully protected and concealed knowledge about their processes or recipes. One such art was glass-blowing in Venice, where the process...
A modern statue of a Viking with the mythical horned helmet

Exposing the Roots of the Viking Horned Helmet Myth

Yes, some helmeted Vikings traveled around Europe, West Asia, and even North America raiding and pillaging. It is a myth, though, that their helmets were decorated with horns, antlers, or wings. But...
(A) A map of the cave with prehistoric representations of volcanoes, including (B) and (C) the Chauvet-Pont d’Arc megaloceros and volcanic spray (Photo by D. Genty, drawing by V. Feruglio-D Baffier).

Stone age Rock Art in Famous Cave of Forgotten Dreams May Show Oldest Human Depiction of Volcanic Eruption

A team of researchers has theorized that rock carvings in the form of spray-like flourishes from a cone shape are the earliest known depictions of a volcanic eruption. The carvings and associated...
Some of lines are straight and some curved in this, one of three of the earliest known examples of art from the British Isles, unearthed at Jersey Island.

14,500-Year-Old Stone Engravings: Archaeologists Uncover Earliest Known Art in Britain

Examples of the work of Britain’s earliest known artists, rock carvings at least 14,500-years-old, have been discovered on the island of Jersey. One of the pieces will be on display through 2016 in...
Anthromorphic clay figurines from the Sao civilization, Chad.

Lost in the Mists of Time: The Ancient Sao Civilization in Central Africa

The Sao Civilization was an ancient culture located in Central Africa, in an area which is today partly owned by the countries of Cameroon and Chad. They settled along the Chari River, which is...
A close-up shows part of one of the murals that may date back 4,600 years—well before the brush-stroke process of painting was known previously in China.

Brush strokes on very ancient murals may rewrite the history of art in China

Recent discoveries in the ruins of a prehistoric city may rewrite the history of art in China. Archaeologists working in the ruins of the Neolithic Shimao Ruins have identified mural fragments that...
The Lydenburg Heads: The Earliest  Iron Age Art South of the Equator

The Lydenburg Heads: The Earliest Iron Age Art South of the Equator

The Lydenburg Heads are a set of terracotta heads discovered in the eastern Transvaal of South Africa. One of the heads has been dated to around 500 AD, and it is believed that the rest of the heads...
Statue of King Rene House of Valois-Anjou.

Rene of Anjou - the Littlefinger of the pre-Renaissance Game of Thrones

Ask someone of the most notable figures in the 15 th century and they may respond with: Jeanne d’Arc, Cosimo de Medici, Leonardo da Vinci, Christopher Columbus, or those involved in the War of the...
Painting considered masterpiece of ancient Egypt

Painting considered masterpiece of ancient Egypt may be an 1870s fake

A painting that was considered a masterpiece of ancient Egyptian art may have been faked in the 1870s by an archaeologist excavating the pharaonic family tomb in which the painting was found. Live...
Akhenaten depicted as a sphinx at Amarna, solar rays bathing him.

The Art of Amarna: Akhenaten and his life under the Sun

The Amarna period, roughly 1353-1336 BCE, introduced a new form of art that completely contradicted what was known and revered in the Egyptian culture. The pharaoh Amenhotep IV not only changed his...
A Council at Lanka, an episode from the Ramayana. Color and gold on paper.

Smithsonian releases massive digitized collection of Asian treasures for public use

The Smithsonian Institution has released more than 44,000 images of precious artworks and artifacts from two of their museums of Asian art, many of which have never been shown publicly before. The...
2,400-year-old Egyptian coffin with amateurish images

Rare scenes on ancient Egyptian coffin reveal influence of Persian Empire occupation

A coffin from ancient Egypt has been revealed decorated with rare and unusual art that is not typical of the Egyptian style, demonstrating how much is lost when a civilization loses its most highly...
Design of the Amphipolis tomb and the magnificent sculptures

The artistic value of the magnificent sculptures of Amphipolis

Roman writer Pliny the Elder (1 st century AD), in his writings about ancient Greek art, said that after the Greek sculptor Lysippus, art ceased to exist (“deinde cessarit ars”). He believed that...
Indus Valley Civilization artifact

The Indus Valley Civilization: An ornamented past, revealed in 5,000-year-old artifacts and jewelry

The Indus Valley Civilization was rich with culture and tradition, revealed in its wealth of beautiful, intricate, and elaborate ornaments, jewelry and artifacts. These items and more are on exhibit...
Phidias Showing the Frieze of the Parthenon to his Friends

The masterful works of ancient sculptor Phidias

Phidias was a master sculptor in ancient Greece. Very little is known of his life, but his accomplishments are famous throughout the world. Phidias worked masterfully with bronze and other materials...
Göbekli Tepe - oldest known sculptural workshop

Excavations reveal Gobekli Tepe had oldest known sculptural workshop

Göbekli Tepe is a very ancient archaeological site located at the top of a mountain ridge in south-eastern Anatolia region of Turkey. Dating back at least 12,000 years, it is home to the oldest known...
Etruscan sarcophagus

The Enigmatic Etruscans

The Etruscans emerged in what was Etruria (modern day Tuscany) in the Western and central regions of Italy, North of Latium. While their origins are continuously debated in the academic world, one...
Ancient humans creating art

Cultural and technological boom 50,000 years ago linked with less testosterone

Archaeological findings around the world have revealed a cultural and technological boom around 50,000 years ago in which making art and advanced tools became widespread. A new study appearing in the...
Ancient Ivory Figurine

Archaeologists unearth fragment of ivory belonging to 40,000 year old animal figurine

Archaeologists from the University of Tübingen have found an ancient fragment of ivory belonging to a 40,000 year old animal figurine. Both pieces were found in the Vogelherd Cave in southwestern...
Egyptian Blue pigment

Egyptian Blue – The Oldest Known Artificial Pigment

Egyptian Blue, also known as calcium copper silicate, is one of the first artificial pigments known to have been used by man. The oldest known example of the exquisite pigment is said to be about...
Hidden paintings in Angkor Wat

The hidden paintings discovered at ancient temple of Angkor Wat

A recent study published in the journal Antiquity revealed more than 200 paintings dating to the 16th century, which were recently discovered at Cambodia’s Temple of Angkor Wat, the world’s largest...
Griffin

The ancient origins of the legendary griffin

The griffin is a legendary creature with the head and wings of an eagle, and the body, tail, and hind legs of a lion. As the eagle was considered the ‘king of the birds’, and the lion the ‘king of...
Longmen Grottoes in China

The Longmen Grottoes and the largest collection of ancient art in China

The Longmen Grottoes (Dragon Gate Grottoes), which are situated near present day Luoyang, in Henan Province, are one of the three most famous grottoes in China, the other two being the Yungang Caves...

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