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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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The Sumela Monastery, Turkey

The Thousand-Year History of the Spectacular Cliff Face Monastery of Sumela

The Sumela Monastery is one of the oldest and most historic monasteries in the Christian world. There are no exact records about when it was built or by who, but it is estimated that its history...
Huqoq ancient synagogoue mosaic - inscription and face.

Mosaics Provide Clues on Life in an Ancient Galilean Jewish Village

Recent discoveries by a team of specialists and students at Huqoq in Israel's Galilee, led by University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill professor Jodi Magness, shed new light on the life and...
Painting of Father General Saint Francis Borgia, SJ, performing an exorcism, by Goya.

Exorcism – How Does it Work and Why is it on The Rise?

Exorcism is again in the news, as the Vatican announces a new training course will be held to meet increased demand for deliverance ministry. So, what does this actually mean, and should it be a...
The center of Calcata, Italy

The Hippie Town of Calcata - Hiding-Place of the Holy Foreskin of Christ

One of the most important relics in Christendom, the Holy Prepuce (Jesus’s circumcised foreskin) put this clifftop town on the map in the 16th century as a place of pilgrimage. In the 20th century it...
Frescos in the crypt of St. Agatha, including the outstanding inner chapel altar and fresco (center).

Excavation of the Maltese Catacombs of St. Agatha Revealed Some of the Finest 12th and 15th century Frescos in Europe!

Located just some 60 miles of the coast of Sicily, smack in the middle of the Mediterranean lie the Maltese Islands. The three small islands are Malta, it's sister island of Gozo and the small island...
Remains of the original apse built in 1077 was unearthed during excavation work at St Albans Cathedral.

1,000-Year-Old Norman Cathedral Ruins Unearthed Beneath Church in England

The foundations of a Norman cathedral have been found under just 3ft (90cm) of soil during excavations at St Albans Abbey, the oldest place of continuous Christian worship in England. They are dated...
Mosaic of the vault of the chapel of San Zeno (IX century).

Jesus’ Fashion Faux Pas: What Was He Wearing?

Joan Taylor / The Conversation Over the past few decades, the question of what Jesus looked like has cropped up again and again. Much has been made of a digital reconstruction of a Judaean man...
The Holy relic, St. Francis Xavier’s arm.

Sacred Mummified Arm Traverses Canada on a Holy Relic Road Show

A highly-venerated sacred arm and hand once belonging to St. Francis Xavier is being displayed on Canadian soil for the first time ever, and Angèle Regnier, co-founder of Catholic Christian Outreach...
Externsteine, north-eastern face, across Wiembecke pond.

Worship? Meditation? Sacrifice? What Ancient Ritual Activities Were Held at the Externsteine Sacred Stone Formation?

Externsteine is an unusual sandstone rock formation near Ostwestfalen-Lippe in the northwest of Germany. It is unique among other monolithic sites in Europe because it is a natural formation that has...
Symbol of the Knights Templar

Alternative-Right Claims to March in Step with the Knights Templar – This is Fake History

When market trader Tina Gayle was banned from selling mugs featuring Knights Templar logos in a Loughborough Market, Charnwood Borough Council ruled that they were offensive to Muslims. A story in...
They came from the fjords of Western Norway, and when they left, only silence could be heard.

Did the Viking Age Really Start on 8 June 793 AD?

BY THORNEWS “ Never before has such terror appeared in Britain as we have now suffered from a pagan race (…). The heathens poured out the blood of saints around the altar, and trampled on the bodies...
The Colosseum in Rome, once home to the most brutal games in history.

The Colosseum – From Gladiator Fights to Gory Executions and Sea Battles

Gladiatorial fights, sea battles, criminal (and Christian?) executions. These are only a few of the events, if they can even be called such, that happened in the walls of the Colosseum. Known during...
Fragment of Apocalypse of Peter, part of the Nag-Hammadi-Codex found in Egypt.

Professors Find Original Greek Copy of Jesus’ Teachings to James

Two biblical scholars from the University of Texas at Austin claim to have discovered the first-known original Greek copy of a heretical Christian writing that describes the secret teachings of Jesus...
The tombstone is engraved with a cross.

Intriguing Coptic Tombstone Belonging to a Little Girl Discovered in Luxor

A team of archaeologists in Egypt has recently uncovered an ancient Coptic tombstone during the excavation works taking place in the Avenue of Sphinxes. Now archaeologists suggest that the tomb...
Edmund killing Sweyn by Matthew Paris, 13th century (Cambridge University Library MS Ee.3.59 p. 4)

The Strange Death and Afterlife of King Edmund Part 2: Did the Martyred Saint Rise from the Grave to Kill a Viking King?

King Edmund was the man who died, indeed was martyred by the Vikings after enduring a tortuous death which ended in his beheading. He thus became St Edmund and was the England’s original heavenly...
Martrydom of St Edmund by Brian Whelan

The Strange Death and Afterlife of King Edmund Part 1: The Unfortunate Friendship With Ragnor Lodbrok that Led to Edmund’s Beheading

Over the past decade, there have been two major public campaigns in the UK to drum up support for removing St George as the patron saint of England and replacing him with St Edmund, the man who was...
The sarcophagus of Junius Bassus.

The Sarcophagus of Junius Bassus: How a Coffin Defeated the Gods

Bacchus into Jesus. This is a topic seen many times before and its relevance continues here. As mentioned in a previous article , the attributes of the Greco-Roman god of wine, transformation and...
This is the ceiling of the Pantheon in Rome, Italy Photograph by Anne Dirkse

The Roman Pantheon: National Treasure and Legacy of a Powerful Empire

Anyone who has paid a visit to Rome will know that around just about every corner of the historic center lies a reminder of Rome’s glorious and inglorious history. Be it buildings, fountains, statues...
Urmes Stave Church, Norway

Urnes Stave Church: A Final Vestige of Viking Innovation

At the edge of the world lies the last trace of Viking Christianity. Urnes Stave Church (c. 1130 AD) stands tall in Sognefjord in the west of Norway, yet it represents as much of an end as it does a...
Detail of ‘The Martyrdom of St. Andrew’ (1646-1647) by Charles Le Brun.

The Violent Birth of ‘Martyrdom’ – How the Ancient Concept Informs Modern Religious Violence

Gervase Phillips / The Conversation The word “ martyr ” has evolved into one of the most emotive terms in the English language. The faithful venerate their memories, celebrate their feast days, name...
A red devil.

Supreme Court Judge: Of Course I Believe in the Devil! ...Do You?

For Christians, the Devil is God’s opponent. He tricked Adam and Eve to eat the Forbidden Fruit, causing humanity to lose its place in the Garden of Eden. In Christianity, this being is the cause of...
Borgund Stave Church (Eduardo/CC BY-SA 2.0), pentagram, Vitruvian man, and serpent

The Viking Serpent: Serpent Worship, Sacred Geometry, and Secrets of the Celtic Church in Norway

Dan Brown wrote The Da Vinci Code, inspired by Henry Lincoln and his two co-authors’ The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail . The Norwegian researcher Harald Boehlke was inspired by the same book. Lincoln...
Little Known Links Between Spirits You Drink and the Holy Spirit

Little Known Links Between Spirits You Drink and the Holy Spirit

Beer may have been invented by the ancient Egyptians, but it was perfected in medieval monasteries, which gave us modern brewing as we know it. They also pioneered and improved several methods of...
The Katskhi Pillar in Georgia.

Monk Lives Life of Solitude on This 131-Foot-Tall Rock with a 2,000 Year History

The Katskhi Pillar is the name given to a natural limestone column located in Georgia. On the top of this monolith is a monastery, which was built during the 1990s. Today, a solitary monk by the name...

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