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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Book of the dead

Ancient Egypt funeral of a pharaoh. Source: Robert / Adobe Stock.

Ancient Egypt’s Mystifying Burial Practices (Video)

Unveiling the mysteries of ancient burial practices, the Valley of the Kings stands as an enigmatic testament to Egypt's rich history. Unlike the iconic pyramids , the tombs here delve deep...
Ancient Egypt’s Book of the Dead. Source: Paolo Gallo / Adobe Stock.

Book of the Dead: Ancient Egypt’s Quest for Eternal Life (Video)

The Egyptian Book of the Dead , or "The Book of Coming Forth by Day," is an ancient religious text that played a significant role in Egyptian funerary practices around 1550 BC. It contains spells,...
 Part of the 16-meter-long document from Saqqara that includes illustrations and text from the Book of the Dead of Ahmose. Source: Supreme Council of Antiquities

First Public Display of 16-meter-long Papyrus Found in Saqqara Casket

The exciting discovery of a 16-meter-long (52.5 ft) ancient papyrus found in a sarcophagus in Egypt's Saqqara region has now been unveiled. A papyrus of this size and quality had not been discovered...
Water lily Nymphaea, known as ‘blue lotus’. Source: Public Domain

The Blue Lotus: A Narcotic Lily That Mesmerized Ancient Egypt

A water lily from the genus Nymphaea , this plant became known as the ‘Blue Lotus’, or the ‘Egyptian Lotus’. This aquatic plant is not just a thing of beauty, it has a secret too, and the ancient...
Akhenaten pic compliments of Jo from her trip. Osiris is a bronze/gold statue of the god, Louvre (Rama / CC BY-SA 3.0) (author created).

Akhenaten Heretic Pharaoh: The New Osiris

Did Egypt’s Heretic Pharaoh outlaw the God of the Dead, or become him? Akhenaten has been called ancient Egypt’s ‘Heretic Pharaoh’. From 1354-1337 BC Akhenaten so drastically altered his country’s...
An Egyptian Book of the Dead manuscript papyrus. Recently two pieces of a death shroud worn by an ancient Egyptian, which had been torn into fragments, were "reunited." One fragment was from the Getty Museum collection in California and the other fragment was in the collection of the Teece Museum of Classical Antiquities in New Zealand.

Two Egyptian Book Of The Dead Shroud Fragments Have Been Reunited!

Thanks to researchers on opposite sides of the Pacific Ocean two ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead shroud fragments, one in New Zealand, and the other one in Los Angeles, have been reunited. The two...
Major Discoveries of Coffins, Burial Shafts and Texts Made in Saqqara

Major Discoveries of Coffins, Burial Shafts and Texts Made in Saqqara

Archaeologists excavating at the famous Saqqara necropolis in Egypt have announced a list of top-level ancient discoveries. Within a matrix of 52 burial shafts the researchers discovered 50 sealed...
Part of the Egyptian Book of Breathing, a hieratic papyrus probably from Thebes, Egypt written during the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Resuscitation of the Ancient Egyptian Book of Breathing

Recently, an American professor has for the first time analyzed the First Book of Breathing , a famous ancient Egyptian book that reveals incredible insights into the afterlife. What happens to us...
Egyptian papyrus, Book of the Dead

Book of the Dead: A Magical Guide to the Egyptian Underworld

The Book of the Dead is not a book per se , but rather, a corpus of ancient Egyptian funerary texts from the New Kingdom . Each ‘book’ is unique, as it contains its own combination of spells. In...
Oldest Egyptian Soul Map has been found on the text of a woman’s coffin.     Source: Boggy / Adobe Stock

Inscription on Coffin Discovered to be Oldest Egyptian Soul Map

A 4000-year-old ancient Egyptian text illustrates the oldest map of the underworld in existence. In 2012 archaeologists opened a burial shaft in the Middle Egyptian necropolis of Dayr al-Barsha and...
The goddess Hathor

Hathor: Goddess of Joy and Motherhood Near the Nile

The shadow of Hathor is still present in many places related to the monumental history of ancient Egypt. She was one of the most important goddesses near the Nile and remains one of the best-known...
Maat, goddess of truth and justice

Maat: Ancient Egyptian Goddess of Truth, Justice and Morality

Maat, also known as Ma’at or Mayet, was a female goddess in the ancient Egyptian religion who represented truth, justice, balance and morality. The daughter of the Egyptian sun deity Ra and wife of...
On the Southern Part of the East Wall of Horemheb’s Saqqaran tomb, military scribes, magnificently represented, scrupulously record the details of long files of prisoners escorted by Egyptian soldiers (not in pic). This depiction is often speculated to represent women scribes.

Scribes in Ancient Egypt: Custodians of the Voice and Words of the Divine – Part I

The rich scribal tradition of ancient Egypt was one of the foremost pillars of the development of that culture. At a time when much of the world could not read or write; these resourceful and erudite...
A small statue of goddess Nephthys guards the golden canopic shrine of Tutankhamun; and detail from the north wall of KV62.

When the Falcon Had Flown: Evidence of Approximate Order in Burial Paraphernalia – Part II

A great deal of ritualistic activity was involved in the burial of royals in the ‘Valley of the Kings’. This apart, stocking their tombs with everything that they would need in the Afterlife was...
This collage shows the Valley of the Kings, statuettes of funerary deities and the Antechamber of the tomb of Tutankhamun.

When the Falcon Had Flown: Understanding the Process of Stocking Pharaonic Tombs – Part I

Given their overwhelming belief in the Afterlife, did ancient Egyptian royalty organize their tombs in advance of their eventual demise; or were preparations made post mortem? Although we do not...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji

Life after Life: Guidebook to Conquering Dangerous Demons and Dark Waters in Duat – Part II

One of the pivots for the successful implementation of ‘heka’, the ancient Egyptian term for magic, was words – both spoken and written – and the latter was considered the most powerful form. Scores...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji

Life after Life: In the Quest for Eternity, Death is Only the Beginning – Part I

The ancient Egyptians took great care to prepare for the Afterlife. In fact, they were so meticulous about getting every minute detail in order, that to us they come across as having been obsessed...
Weighing of the heart scene from the Book of the Dead of Hunefer.

Death and Rebirth: Startling New Information Emerges About Ancient Egyptian Pot Burials

Ancient Egyptian funerary practices were not just about making mummies. Surprising new information reveals that pot burials were not just for poor children in ancient Egypt either. Instead, it seems...
Spanish Archaeologists Try to Reconstruct Fragments of the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead

Spanish Archaeologists Try to Reconstruct Fragments of the Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead

For the last 14 years, twenty archaeologists, Egyptologists, and Spanish specialists have been working on the southern foot of the hill of Dra Abu el-Naga with a team of over a hundred Egyptian...
The rediscovered leather manuscript has been compared to the Egyptian Book of the Dead (pictured). Book of the Dead papyrus of Pinedjem II, 21st dynasty, circa 990-969 BC. Originally from the Deir el-Bahri royal cache.

4,000-year-old Ancient Egyptian manuscript measuring more than 8ft has been rediscovered in Cairo

The oldest known Egyptian leather manuscript, dating back some 4,000 years, has been rediscovered at the Egyptian Museum in Cairo after it was pulled from a dusty, old storage box, where it had been...