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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Artifacts

There are undoubtedly millions of ancient artifacts from the past that have served to shed light on the lives of our ancestors from many millennia ago. But some ancient mystical artifacts stand out for their uniqueness, their intrigue, or their ability to expand our knowledge about previously unknown aspects of our history. Here we feature many such ancient history artifacts, from amazing examples of ancient technology, to artistic masterpieces, unexplained objects, ancient texts, and mysterious artifacts that shed light on the daily lives of our ancestors.

Vikings arriving in North America at the Newfoundland site. Source: Nejron Photo / Adobe Stock.
16 July, 2019 - 22:54 ashley cowie

Dispute Over Evidence Of Cannabis Use By Vikings In North America

Cannabis pollen discovered near an ancient Viking settlement in Newfoundland is generating differences in opinion as to whether or not the Vikings were smoking and eating the weed while they explored...
Photograph (top) and tracing (bottom) of an engraved human bone fragment found at Lingjing in China’s Henan Province. Source: Francesco d’Errico and Luc Doyon / Fair Use.
16 July, 2019 - 14:05 Ed Whelan

Oldest Human Bone Engraved and Painted By Hominid Found In China

In China a team of archaeologists has made a significant discovery after examining a human bone that may be up to 125,000 years old . They found a small bone that shows signs that it was cut and then...
Plastico di Roma imperiale at the Museum of the Roman Civilization. Source: Jean-Pierre Dalbéra / CC BY-SA 2.0.
14 July, 2019 - 23:05 Sarah P Young

The Plastico di Roma Imperiale Wasn’t Built in a Day: Accurate Mini Rome Model Took 35 Years

The Roman Empire dominated most of Europe and parts of Africa and the Middle East for over thousand years, evolving from a monarchy to a democracy and finally a militaristic dictatorship. The empire...
Catacomb Saint - Saint Gratian. Source: Xenophon / CC BY-SA 4.0.
10 July, 2019 - 19:08 Aleksa Vučković

A Beauty in Darkness: The Hidden Secrets of the Catacomb Saints

Death was always a source of mystery for people around the world. But what happens when we erase that invisible border and make the dead a thing to worship? Never too far from every major turn of...
Detail of a hurdy gurdy
10 July, 2019 - 18:07 dhwty

Hurdy Gurdy Man: Rock Star of the Medieval Music Scene

The hurdy gurdy is a musical instrument, or more precisely, a string instrument, that traces its origin to the Middle Ages of Europe. The hurdy gurdy was initially used to play sacred music, before...
Mount Vesuvius and Pompeii. Source: dbvirago / Adobe Stock.
7 July, 2019 - 01:40 Sarah P Young

Pompeii: The Ancient Roman City Frozen in Time

In the Campania region of Italy near the modern day city of Naples , there was once a prosperous Roman city - Pompeii. As a thriving center for trade, the inhabitants of the city were a mixture of...
Temple of Edfu illustration by artist David Roberts.
5 July, 2019 - 23:14 Morgan Smith

The Grand Architect: The Sacred Link Between Architecture and the Divine Across Ancient Cultures

In 1892, architect W.R. Lethaby wrote: “The main purpose and burden of sacred architecture - and all architecture, temple, tomb, or palace, was sacred in the early days - is…inextricably bound up...
The Step Pyramid of King Djoser, does it include a path to the afterlife? Source: WitR / Adobe Stock.
2 July, 2019 - 14:02 ashley cowie

A Quarry Is Actually A 3D Map Of The Ancient Egyptian Underworld, Suggests Polish Scientist

Ancient Egyptians are well known for their creation of vast architectural structures which penetrate the skies and each one required a thorough understanding of the universal dynamics of breadth,...
Ossuary of James. Source: Finavon / Public Domain.
22 June, 2019 - 23:01 Pierluigi Tombetti

Ossuary of James the Just: The First Archaeological Evidence of the Existence of Jesus of Nazareth?

The Ossuary of James was the archaeological find that triggered the most sensational cover up of the 21st century. From the first charges of forgery in 2002 to the absolute silence of the media at...
Was the Great Pyramid built with sound technology in mind? Source: © Andrew Collins
22 June, 2019 - 18:50 Andrew Collins

The Great Pyramid Experiment: Exploring Infrasound Technology Use By The Ancients

In part one of this article we saw how there is compelling evidence to suggest that the ancient Egyptians of the Pyramid age incorporated sound technology into the design of Giza’s Great Pyramid ...
Angel
8 June, 2019 - 18:53 Bryan Hill

Enochian: The Mysterious Lost Language of Angels

Enochian is a mysterious language that 16 th century occultists John Dee and Edward Kelley recorded in their private journals. They claimed this ‘celestial speech’ allowed magicians and occultists to...
Giza pyramids where the Dixon relics were discovered. Source: kanuman / Adobe.
30 May, 2019 - 18:55 Morgan Smith

Lost Artifacts of the Great Pyramid: The Mysterious Case of the Dixon Relics

There is a certain perception of the Great Pyramid as an utterly void arrangement of empty halls and chambers, strangely bereft of artifacts and inscriptions that might offer clues to its...
Vintage armillary sphere.
30 May, 2019 - 18:53 dhwty

Armillary Spheres: Following Celestial Objects in the Ancient World

Astronomy is often considered to be one of the oldest branches of science. In many ancient societies, astronomical observations were used not only for the practical job of determine the rhythm of...
Angel and a page from the book of Raziel
22 May, 2019 - 19:28 Kerry Sullivan

Practical Magic: The Secret Teachings of the Book of Raziel the Angel

Within the varied teachings of the Jewish mystical tradition known as Kabbalah there is a minor tradition known as Practical Kabbalah (Kabbalah Ma’asit). This branch concerns itself with the use of...
Samurai armor is both brutal and delicate.
22 May, 2019 - 01:36 Kerry Sullivan

The Brutality and Delicacy of Samurai Armor: Superior Protection with a God-like Aesthetic

The Samurai class was officially dissolved over 150 years ago. Nonetheless, the warriors’ elaborate armor is still recognized globally as an iconic emblem of Japanese military strength and virtue...
Death mask of Napolean Bonaparte
21 May, 2019 - 23:03 ancient-origins

10 Sacred Masks for Hunting, Ritual, Shame and Death

Masks are one of the few things on the earth that connect all of humanity throughout time. We have created ritual masks since our very beginnings in order to disguise, protect, or entertain. They...
A comet strike/ Tutankhamun’s brooch/Tutanhhamun’s Sarcophagus
21 May, 2019 - 20:53 Joanna Gillan

Tutankhamun’s Scarab Brooch Confirmed as Born From a Direct Comet Hit

The fascinating story of the origins of a component in Tutankhamun ’s scarab brooch has been furthered this week. It has been established that some of the material found in that brooch was result of...
Royal Palace at Ebla. Source: CC BY-SA 3.0
21 May, 2019 - 19:05 ancient-origins

First Kingdoms: The Forgotten Mesopotamian Kingdom of Ebla

Spectacular things were happening in Mesopotamia in the period we call the Early Bronze Age, particularly in the southern part of it, commonly called Babylonia. It was here that the wealthy,...
Charred food remains from hearths were discovered, left by ancient humans eating starch. Source: PetarPaunchev / Adobe.
21 May, 2019 - 01:41 ancient-origins

Earliest Evidence for a Cooked Starch Paleo Diet

New discoveries made at the Klasies River Cave in South Africa's southern Cape, where charred food remains from hearths were found, provide the first archaeological evidence that anatomically modern...
Work using the Statue of Gilgamesh and Lamassu. Source: CC BY 4.0
19 May, 2019 - 22:58 Gordon Board

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Enlightenment and Source of Religions

This retelling of key parts of the Epic explores the unconventional idea that Gilgamesh was not searching for life eternal on Earth, as has been suggested as the theme of the Epic, but was instead...
The ancient Crusaders' DNA can help us understand historical events. Source: Alessandro Cristiano / Adobe.
19 May, 2019 - 18:58 ancient-origins

A History of the Crusades As Told by Crusaders' DNA

History can tell us a lot about the Crusades , the series of religious wars fought between 1095 and 1291, in which Christian invaders tried to claim the Near East. But the DNA of nine 13th century...
Finger bone fragment containing Denisovan DNA. Source: Thilo Parg / CC BY-SA 3.0.
18 May, 2019 - 18:49 Glenn Dahlem

Did the Denisovans Walk to North America?

For a people from whom one 41,000 year old finger bone fossil from a nine year old girl, along with a bracelet she wore, were (until recently) the only authenticated known artifacts, the mysterious...
The passage of carts over decades could cause ruts (like the one shown), particularly in high-traffic areas of Pompeii.
17 May, 2019 - 12:37 Ed Whelan

Romans in Pompeii Repaired the Roads with Molten Iron

The buried city of Pompeii continues to provide many insights into Roman society , economy, and culture. The ash and pumice , that fell on Pompeii from Mount Vesuvius , froze the city in time. A...
Example of an ancient calendar. The ancient Egyptians created a calendar with 365 days in a year.
16 May, 2019 - 16:52 dhwty

Why Are There 365 Days in a Year? Organizing Dates with an Ancient Egyptian Calendar

The calendar is one of mankind’s most important inventions. Calendars allowed societies to organize time for religious, social, economic, and administrative purposes. The calendar, or rather, two...

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