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Truck loaded with plague victims in Elliant drawn by a woman with tattered clothes. Moynet lithograph based on Duveau’s Collections.

The Black Death: the Plague that Sowed Terror and Death in Medieval Europe - Part 1

In recent months, health authorities in California, USA, have been obliged to report two cases of the plague that appeared in West Coast state. In the state of Colorado two other people also...
Dante e Virgilio nel Purgatorio, Domenico Morelli

A Pilgrimage of Thought, Pt 4: Dante Ascends Mount Purgatory

Read Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Purgatory is presented within The Divine Comedy as a mountain that must be climbed to be overcome. Following Dante and Virgil's sojourn into Hell, he and his guide...
The Dance of Zalongo, Theophilos Hatzimichail

From Here to Eternity: the Tragic Tale of the Dance of Zalongo

Once known as the birthplace of Alexander the Great's mother Olympia, the former Ottoman Empire region of Epirus has a much more recent historical significance. Under the reign of Ali Pasha, a Muslim...
The Mycenaean Death Mask of Agamemnon

Questioning the Mycenaean Death Mask of Agamemnon

The German archaeologist, Heinrich Schliemann is perhaps one of the luckiest archaeologists in history. His discovery of the Mask of Agamemnon was not his first, but second remarkable discovery...
The Defense of the Sampo, by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, shows Louhi in the form of a flying, winged creature. Created in 1895 by unknown artist.

Loviatar: Finnish Goddess of Desolation, Death, and Decay

Known as the blind daughter in Finnish mythology, Loviatar is the goddess of death and disease. Born from the union of Tuoni, the god of death, and his underworld queen Tuonetar, Loviatar is...
The body of Shinnyokai Shonin, found in Oaminaka, Japan. He had practiced self-mummification.

Dying to Live Forever: The Reasons behind Self-Mummification

Sunada Tetsu (1768-1829) was arguably the most famous individual who successfully mummified himself. Early in life, he was not religiously inclined. He loved a prostitute in Akagawa, Tsuruoka’s...
Mummified feet on display at museum.

Walk Like An Egyptian… Scientists Preserve Modern Human Leg using Ancient Egyptian Methods

Scientists have unwrapped ancient knowledge and used it to mummify a modern human. Inspired by the preservation techniques as perfected by ancient Egyptians, a team of researchers have mummified...
Vilas and rusalkas were dangerous female spirits, souls of young women who had died prematurely

Songs and Shrouds: The Mythical Banshee and the Bean Nighe as Harbingers

The Irish banshee and the Scottish bean nighe tread the darkest of nights as omens from another world, that of the unknown beyond. Though similar at first glance, they were regarded as quite...
Tablets left in honor of family members who practiced Sallekhana

Ancient tablets reveal whole family underwent Sallekhana, ritual fasting unto death

Archaeologists in the state of Karnataka, in South West India, have discovered a set of ancient tablets with inscriptions that reveal a family of six people underwent the sacrificial rite of...
Duke Margiris defending Pilėnai against Teutonic Knights 1336.

Mass suicide at Pilenai: Lithuanian Defenders Choose Death over Enslavement

The Crusades are best known as a series of military campaigns launched by Western European states, and sanctioned by the Roman Catholic Church, aimed at reclaiming the Holy Land from the Muslims...
Manuscript of the Prose Edda - Norse Mythology

The Saga of Norna-Gest: Does Man Control His Destiny?

The tale of Norna-Gest goes down in literary record as a tale of destiny and a character’s attempt to fight it. Not one of the titular Icelandic sagas, Norna-Gest’s story was recorded around the year...
17th century illustration of a woman committing sati: self-immolation on her husband’s funeral pyre.

Jauhar - The History of Collective Self Immolation during War in India

Sadly, the fate of civilians in war has often been harsh, perhaps even more so in the past. Men would invariably be killed, and children were often sold into slavery. As for the women, they might be...
Buddha statue at Borobudur.

Large, Rare Statue Portraying the Death of Buddha Unearthed at Ancient Bahmala Stupa Site

Two rare and ancient Buddha statues have been unearthed at the Bhamala Stupa site in Pakistan. The largest ever statue found at the site depicts the death of ancient sage Buddha. A second statue...
Mayan Music: A painted image of a file of Mayan musicians playing rattle, ocarina, and trumpets while a theatrical scene goes on.

The Music of the Maya: Mysterious whistles Confound Experts

Music has held a special role in human society for thousands of years. In ancient China, for instance, sets of bronze bells were played for entertainment and ritual purposes at court. The...
Æsir gathered around the body of Baldr. Painting by Christoffer Wilhelm Eckersberg 1817

Baldr: The Shining God Who Shines No More

Known among the pre-Christian Scandinavians, and the gods themselves, as the "Shining God", Baldr was the image of perfection in the Norse religion, and the pride and joy of the Æsir (members of the...
Necromanteion – The Ancient Temple of the Dead

Necromanteion – The Ancient Temple of the Dead

The Necromanteion was an ancient temple dedicated to the god of the Underworld, Hades, and his consort, the goddess Persephone. According to ancient Greek beliefs, while the bodies of the dead...
Mummified Detmold Child - Peru

Scientists reveal cause of death of 6,500-year-old Detmold child

The Detmold Child is the name that has been given to an ancient Peruvian mummy that dates back an incredible 6,500 years - that's 3,000 years before the birth of Tutankhamun. Recent computer...

Historians claim to have tracked down remains of Vlad the Impaler

A team of Estonian scholars believe they have finally discovered the long-lost location of Vlad the Impaler, the 15 th century Prince upon which Bram Stoker based his 1897 gothic novel ‘Dracula’...
Viking ship with dead

Why and How Different Cultures Bury the Dead

By Tara MacIsaac , Epoch Times Funerary rites, like death, are a source of fascination tinged by mystery and fear. Closely related to how we view the afterlife and how we relate to one another, these...
Famous Figure and Omens -Julius Caesar

Famous Figures & Omens: Julius Caesar

According to Suetonius (Lives of the Caesars, Julius 81) there were many warnings presented to Julius Caesar about his impending doom. He received bad omens such as the discovery of a table of brass...
Aztec dog cemetery

Discovery of Aztec dog cemetery puzzles archaeologists

Archaeologists have discovered “an exceptional” Aztec burial site under an apartment building in Mexico City containing the remains of twelve dogs , animals that had major religious and symbolic...
Ancient Roman infanticide

Ancient Roman infanticide did not favour boys

A team of scientists who have been trying to unravel why ancient Romans committed infanticide have discovered that equal numbers of boys and girls were killed . This challenges the assumption that...
Alexander the Great

Who or what killed Alexander the Great?

In June 323 BC, Alexander the Great died in Babylon aged 32, having conquered an empire stretching from modern Albania to eastern Pakistan. The question of what, or who, killed the Macedonian king...
Top Ten grisly Discoveries in 2013

Top ten grisly discoveries in archaeology

Archaeologists sometimes face the same gruesome discoveries that forensic scientists deal with today, having to unravel the stories behind brutal murders, sacrifices and other dark rituals. Here are...

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