All  

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

cross

The knight’s rare medieval reliquary – an encolpion. Source: Institute of Archeology of the University of Lodz

Polish Archaeologists Find Rare Reliquary Belonging to a Medieval Knight

The “first fully systematic study of mound relics” in Poland’s Wozniki, a stronghold, has led to the discovery of a rarely encountered encolpion, i.e., a cross-shaped reliquary, from the structure...
Left, The Trumpington Cross is found during the excavation of the burial in 2012. Top right, The Trumpington Cross. Bottom Right, Skull of Anglo-Saxon girl in the burial. Source: University of Cambridge Archaeological Unit

Rare Anglo-Saxon Trumpington Cross Girl Burial Has Been Given A Face

Who Was This Anglo-Saxon Girl? Face of Trumpington Cross Bed Burial Revealed In 2011, a mid-7th century Anglo-Saxon Christian burial of a 16-year-old teenage girl in a village had turned out to be...
The unearthing of the U shaped Miraflores stone temple in Huaral, Peru. Source: Global News/ YouTube Screenshot

Incredibly Ancient Temple Found in Peru with Mysterious Cross Symbol

While exploring in and around Lima, a team of Peruvian archaeologists from the National Major University of San Marcos (UNSM) uncovered the remains of a U-shaped stone temple that was somewhere...
Jesus on the cross. Source: ImagineDesign / Adobe Stock.

The Crucifixion Gap: Why it Took Hundreds of Years for Art to Depict Jesus on the Cross

The cross , or crucifix, is arguably the central image of Christianity. What’s the difference between the two? A cross is just that - an empty cross. It stands as a statement that Jesus is no longer...
Lithography of Saint Helena by Fridolin Leiber. Source: Public domain

St Helena, Discoverer of the True Cross, Was the First Archaeologist

In 326 AD the mother of the Roman Emperor Constantine set out on a legendary pilgrimage to the Holy Land. Dubbed the world’s “first archaeologist,” Saint Helena was posthumously credited with...
Detail of 16th-century prayer roll under analysis. Source: Gail Turner / Journal of the British Archaeological Association

16th-Century Prayer Roll Exposes Medieval Religious Cult

A first-time study of a privately owned 16th-century prayer roll from England is a valuable addition to knowledge on medieval England’s Christian ‘cult of the Cross’ in which the Holy Cross was...
This lintel engraved with a cross was found during excavations at a Christian town in Galilee. Source: G. Cinamon & Y. Lerer

Excavators Find Christian Town in Galilee’s ‘Forbidden Territories’

After years of investigations, Israeli archaeologists now believe that they have uncovered a Byzantine-era Christian town in Galilee. This site has yielded a host of remains and historic artifacts...
An exceptionally well-preserved mummified body of a woman in traditional Yakut clothes with a copper cross on her chest was found in summer 2019. Picture: Elena Solovyeva

Mummified Woman with Christian Cross Dashes Hopes of Finding Russian Fortress

By The Siberian Times reporter An exceptionally well-preserved mummified body of a woman in traditional Yakut clothes with a copper cross on her chest has been found on Lena River sand bank and ‘...
The Copper Scroll part of the Dead Sea Scrolls

The Copper Scroll Abacus: Is the Real Treasure Found In the Numbers?

Even the most intriguing mysteries have a sell-by date in a 24/7 mass communications age. But one has proven itself to be more enduring since a copper scroll was unearthed on the coast of the Dead...
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...
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...
A 13th century, double-edged sword, possibly of German manufacture but discovered in England in the 19th century (British Museum 1858,1116.5)

The Encoded Crusader Sword: Can You Solve the Cryptic Code?

Can you solve the cryptic code engraved into the blade of this 13th century sword? The curious inscription continues to baffle historians, cryptographers ad linguists and last year the British...
Surprising Carvings Depicting a Cross and a Menorah Found in an Undisclosed Ritual Cave

Surprising Carvings Depicting a Cross and a Menorah Found in an Undisclosed Ritual Cave

Three hikers discovered rare engravings of a menorah and a cross in an ancient water cistern in south-central Israel this past weekend. The religious symbols were found amongst other interesting...
What is in that Reliquary? Trying to Find the True Cross

What is in that Reliquary? Trying to Find the True Cross

The cross of Jesus is one of the most important objects in Christianity and there are many reliquaries around the world which are believed to contain a piece of the cross. The most famous one is...
Artist’s impression of the lost village of Cadzow.

Forgotten Medieval Village Found During Construction Work in Scotland

The village of Cadzow has been rediscovered during the upgrading of the M74 motorway (expressway) in South Lanarkshire, Scotland. Archaeologists discovered hundreds of objects which documented life...
Jesus Cross piece of wood

Archaeologists in Turkey Claim to Have Discovered Piece of Jesus’ Cross

Archaeologists in Turkey were excavating at the 1350-year-old Balatlar Church in the Black Sea province of Sinop when they discovered a fragment of a wooden cross , which they claim is linked to the...