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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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British Museum

Benin Bronze plaque. Source: Metropolitan Museum of Art / Public Domain.

Western Reactions to the Controversial Benin Bronzes (Video)

In the closing years of the 19th century, an extraordinary exhibit in London showcased the art of a culture considered foreign and "savage" by the prevailing Western mindset. This exhibit consisted...
The British Museum. Source: Sammy / Adobe Stock.

The British Museum is Full of Stolen Artifacts (Video)

The British Museum , the world's largest world history museum, houses over 8 million cultural and historical artifacts from around the world. However, nearly half of the highlighted pieces face...
The British Museum will no longer use the term ‘mummy’, in an attempt to show sensitivity towards the mummified remains. Source: fergregory / Adobe Stock

Woking the Dead: British Museum Bans the Word ‘Mummy’ for Ancient Remains

British Museum chiefs have been accused of being ‘woke’ and virtue signaling to the public after banning the word ‘mummy.’ The museum claims they “don’t want to offend dead Egyptians.” You might be...
Photo of the Parthenon Marbles, East Pediment. The Elgin Marbles have been controversial ever since they were taken from Greece. Source: Justin Norris / CC BY 2.0

Are the Controversial Elgin Marbles Finally Destined for Athens?

For over a decade, staff at The British Museum refused to even discuss returning the controversially procured Elgin Marbles to Greece. Now, they’re sitting around a table with Greek heritage...
New 3D scans may help return the Elgin Marbles to Greece. Source: Miguel Cabezon /Adobe Stock

“Secret” Scans of Elgin Marbles Could Feed into Demands for Their Return

Researchers from the Oxford-based Institute of Digital Archaeology (IDA) have “secretly” made 3D scans of the controversial Elgin Marbles inside the British Museum. The idea is to create “perfect”...
The Ru ware bowl in the Sir David Percival Collection at the British Museum that was long believed to be a Korean imitation but has proven to be authentic and worth a fortune as a result.		Source: Sir David Percival Collection / The Trustees of the British Museum

Museum’s “Korean” Ru Ware Bowl Is Chinese and Now Worth $21 Million!

It’s not unusual for people to have antique heirlooms or other rare items laying around that are far more valuable than they realize. Of course, no one would expect that to happen in a museum, where...
The British Museum’s long misunderstood 3500-year-old Babylonian tablet reveals a male ghost image on the left led by a woman on the right.	Source: The British Museum

3500-year-old Babylonian Ghost Image Discovered in British Museum Vaults!

What is believed to be the world’s oldest depiction of a ghost has recently been found on a Babylonian tablet, neglected in the vaults of the British Museum in London since its acquisition in the...
Tudor coins discovered in surprising hoard in the garden of a house in the New Forest, Hampshire. Source: The Trustees of the British Museum.

47,000 U.K. Pandemic Finds, But This Tudor Coin Hoard Is King!

Around 47,000 historical finds have been recorded with the British Museum’s Portable Antiquities Scheme (PAS) scheme in 2020. According to finds.org , 6,251 of the lost artifacts were reported during...
One of the decorated ostrich eggs used in the study.  Source: Tamar Hodos et al. / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Scientists Unscramble Secrets to World of Ancient Ostrich Eggs

An international team of scientists have revealed secrets about the ancient creation skills, trade and economy of decorated ostrich eggs in the Mediterranean and Middle East. Easter is here again and...
This Bronze Age gold arm ring is one of the ancient treasures found in Britain in 2019. Source: British Museum/Portable Antiquities Scheme

2019: Britain’s Record-Breaking Year of Ancient Treasures

The British Museum announced on Tuesday that in 2019 metal detectorists across England, Wales, and Northern Ireland discovered in excess of “80,000 ancient objects with 1,311 defined as treasure,”...
Close up of the marvelous design of the Great Dish of the Mildenhall Treasure.           Source: Ian

Controversy Erupts Over Mildenhall Treasure

A community in England is demanding that one of Britain’s finest treasure finds, famously written about by Roald Dahl , be renamed. It is angered that the treasure is called after a neighboring...
The Minoan cup, shown here next to a modern throwaway container that washed up in the Pacific.    Source: Trustees of the British Museum

3500-Year-Old Minoan Cup Proves Ancients Weren’t Green Either

A disposable Minoan cup forged by the early Mediterranean civilization will be displayed in a “stunning showcase,” which evaporates the cultural myth that ‘single-use’ crockery is a modern creation...
The Elgin Marbles on display at the British Museum, London. Source: Justin Norris / CC BY 2.0

Lost in Time Faces Revealed on the Elgin Marbles

The Elgin or Parthenon Marbles are among the most controversial artworks in the world. 19 th century plaster casts of the sculptures have been analyzed using 3D images and have revealed new details...
The Trials and Tribulations of BM 22542 (1889,0731)

The Trials and Tribulations of BM 22542 (1889,0731)

Spies have code names, so who was the mysterious BM 22542 (1889,0731), of Egyptian origin, that caused the deaths of many, sabotaged ships including the Titanic and Lusitania and disrupted the London...
Marine research and excavation in the area of the Mentor shipwreck

The Mentor Shipwreck and the Disastrous Journey of the Parthenon Marbles to Britain

The British Museum in London is one of the largest and extensive museums on earth, containing approximately eight million works—objects taken from all over the world during the time of the British...
 The broken top and bottom sections of the Assyrian stele.

British Museum Decided Against Uniting a Cursed Assyrian Stele and Bad Luck Fell to the Police

“Whoever discards this image from the presence of Salmanu puts it into another place, whether he throws it into water or covers it with earth or brings and places it into a taboo house where it is...
Detail of precious stones adorning the Grenville Jewel

Why Did Queen Victoria Want the Rothschilds to Buy this Precious Jewel?

The Grenville Jewel is a precious locket made in England during the 17th century. It has a rather strange story; one which begins with a Royalist general, involves Queen Victoria and a member of the...
The silver Tantalus Bowl found in Vinkovci, Croatia in 2012. Source: ©Damir Doracic, Archaeological Museum Zagreb

Practical Joke or Practicing Restraint? The Drinking Vessel That Turned Greedy Guests into Wet Blankets

A 4th century silver Roman bowl may be one of the earliest known examples of a practical joke. It looks like a regular drinking vessel at first, but the unsuspecting wine reveler who was given this...
Alexander the Great founding Alexandria (Placido Costanzi, 1737) In conquests from Greece and Egypt to Afghanistan, the Macedonian ruler Alexander the Great (356-323 BC) founded cities-often named for himself-in key military and trading locations.

Lost City Believed Founded by Alexander the Great Discovered in Iraq

An ancient city considered to have been founded during the reign of Alexander the Great has been discovered in Iraq, after hiding under tons of sand for more than 2,000 years. The discovery was made...
A gold plaque depicting a Scythian rider with a spear in his right hand. One of the artifacts currently on display.

A Warrior’s Face Frozen in Time, Gold, Hemp, Tents and Cheese Tell the Scythian Tale

The Scythians were a mysterious and fascinating people. They were nomads and left no known writing, yet their elaborate burials and tattoos have given up some of their story. A new exhibition at the...
Face of the Statue of Idrimi. Tell Atchana, Turkey, 16th century BC.

Valuable 3,500-Year-Old Statue of a Syrian Refugee Turned King from Aleppo Goes Online

A 3,500-year-old statue of a refugee from Aleppo, Syria, that has been in the British Museum for about eight decades due to conservation concerns, can finally be viewed by millions of people from...
Astounding Ancient Assyria: The Grand Palace of Assurnasirpal

Astounding Ancient Assyria: The Grand Palace of Assurnasirpal

The grand palace of Assurnasirpal (Ashurnasirpal) II was one of the most incredible sites of ancient Assyria. Located in Nimrud, Iraq, the immense palace was richly decorated with sophisticated...
The British Museum - Room 6. Foreground: Assyrian Gateway Human Headed Winged Lions 'Lamassu' from the North West Palace of Ashurnasirpal II in Nimrud.

Make Way for the Powerful Assyrian Kings: The History of the Message-Laden Balawat Gates

Over the years, researchers uncovered some remarkable Assyrian gates which led to different areas in the ancient city of Imgur-Enlil, now called Balawat, in Iraq. The huge gates were built during the...
Face of Man Who Lived 9,500 Years Ago in the Biblical City of Jericho Brought Back to Life

Face of Man Who Lived 9,500 Years Ago in the Biblical City of Jericho Brought Back to Life

A crew of facial reconstruction experts have successfully recreated the face of a male who lived in the Biblical city of Jericho. The project was based on an advanced analysis of the Jericho Skull -...

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