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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Queen Adelaide wax bust from 1830. Ancient wax sculpture. Funeral effigy. Source: Timothy Millett/CC BY-SA 4.0, © Trustees of the British Museum /CC BY-NC-SA 4.0, Public Domain

Eerie Ancient Wax Sculptures For Hexing Enemies and Destroying Demons

The eerie, sightless stare of wax-figure mannequins disconcerts many an onlooker, but the famous wax museums of today which host hyper-realistic looking wax models of celebrities and historical wax...
The Hohle Fels “horse” figurine with all its fragments. Source: Ria Litzenberg / University of Tübingen

A Case of Mistaken Identity: Hohle Fels “Horse” Was Not a Horse at All

The first example of ancient ivory artwork ever recovered from the World Heritage cave Hohle Fels in southwestern Germany was a piece of a broken figurine that depicted a horse’s head—or so...
Left; Female figurine found at Battifratta Cave. Right; archaeologists investigating at the cave. Source: Sapienza University of Rome

Enigmatic 7,000-year-old Figurine Found In Italian Cave Shocks Archaeologists

When archaeologists in Italy were exploring the spectacular Battifratta Cave, they did not expect to unearth “a rare” clay female figurine. And neither were they ready for the dating of the piece,...
The latest find of a 7,800-year-old female figurine in Ulucak Mound, Turkey. Source: Anadolu Agency

7,800-year-old Female Figurine Found at Anatolia’s Ulucak Mound

One of the most prominent and oldest Neolithic sites found in what is now Turkey has yielded yet another interesting find – a clay statuette of a female figurine has been unearthed in Izmir, dated to...
The clay figurine suspected to be a water deity discovered in Unkenbach, Germany. Source: Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments

Weird Hooded Prehistoric Water Deity Unearthed in Germany

For as long as humans have prayed, water has been a focus of divine adoration. Even the sight of water can spark wonder, terror and joy depending on whether it's a bubbling spring, the destructive...
8,000-year-old Mother Goddess figurine excavated at Sha’ar HaGolan, Israel Source: Anna Eirikh-Rose / Jerusalem Post

8,000-Year-Old Yarmukian Mother Goddess Unearthed

An 8,000-year-old "Mother Goddess" figurine has been uncovered at a Neolithic site in Israel. Why then, does she have “coffee-shaped” eyes? Located at the foot of the Golan Heights in the Jordan...
Ubaid Lizardmen Source: CC by SA 4.0

Ancient Reptilians: The Unanswered Mystery of the 7,000-Year-Old Ubaid Lizardmen

It is a commonly accepted view in mainstream archaeology that civilization started in ancient Mesopotamia with the great civilization of Sumer in what is now modern-day Iraq. However, at the...
The rare medieval falconry figurine found in an ancient land fill site uncovered in the Old Town of Norway, Oslo.		Source: NIKU

Rare 13th-century Falconry Figurine Miraculously Found in Oslo

A Norwegian archaeologist digging in the frozen ground at a medieval excavation site in Oslo found something extremely rare and most unexpected. While sorting through a waste layer left behind by...
The wooden snake staff was discovered in south-west Finland. Source: Satu Koivisto/Antiquity Publications Ltd

Discovery of Snake Staff Leaves Archaeologist “Utterly Speechless”

While excavating a site in southwest Finland , archaeologists came across something extraordinary. Hidden in the muddy soil in the wetland site of Järvensuo-I they unearthed a delicately carved snake...
Conservators clean up the bronze bull idol uncovered in Olympia.	Source: Greek Ministry of Culture and Sports

Beautiful Bronze Bull Idol Revealed By Rains In Olympia

A 2,700-year-old bronze bull idol has ‘come to light’ during excavations at the ancient site of Olympia in Greece. The stunning and perfectly preserved artifact is thought to have been a votive...
Footprints, Fairies and even a Foreskin: 10 Bizarre Relics from History

Footprints, Fairies and even a Foreskin: 10 Bizarre Relics from History

From time immemorial, people had the need to venerate objects of great significance: religious relics, mythical symbols, or depictions of holy figures. And as if answering this need, the religious...
Humanoid Figurine Found In Wimpole: Man Or God, Roman Or Celtic?

Humanoid Figurine Found In Wimpole: Man Or God, Roman Or Celtic?

Archaeologists in England have discovered an ancient humanoid figurine but they’re unsure whether it represents a god, or an everyday person. What do you think? The ancient humanoid figurine is...
The way in which these objects, made from ivory and animal bones, has led scientists to realize that the prehistoric hunters used techniques that were far more advanced than previously understood. Source: Evgeny Artemyev / Russian Academy of Sciences

Hunters Melted and Sculpted Ivory 12,000 Years Ago

A report out this week has evidence of ivory softening for creating tools and ornamental animals being achieved by ancient people more than 12,000 years ago. However, the Siberian scientist who made...
Pharoah’s Little Helpers: The Shabti Funerary Statuettes of the Ancient Egyptians

Pharaoh’s Little Helpers: The Shabti Funerary Statuettes of the Ancient Egyptians

A shabti is a funerary figurine used by the ancient Egyptians. These statuettes were placed in tombs as grave goods and were believed to function as servants for the deceased in the afterlife...
5,000-Year-Old Masked Figurine Found in Siberian Mass Grave

5,000-Year-Old Masked Figurine Found in Siberian Mass Grave

Archaeologists have discovered a strange little masked figurine in Siberia. It was found upon the shoulder of a woman who was buried face down in a mass grave 5,000 years ago. The whole scenario has...
The figurine and foil from the Inca treasure chest.     Source: Teddy Senguin, Université libre de Bruxelles / Antiquity Publications Ltd

Stone ‘Treasure Chest’ With Inca Offerings Discovered In Lake Titicaca

Underwater archaeologists in Peru have discovered an ancient stone box containing treasures pertaining to an “alternative” sacrificial ritual, they reveal in a study published in Antiquity. The Inca...
A professor of archaeology has made a controversial claim that a 3,000-year-old clay head, found at Khirbet Qeiyafa in Israel, is a Yahweh idol representing the Jewish god Yahweh. Source: Clara Amit / Israel Antiquities Authority

Professors Clash Over Controversial 3,000-Year-Old ‘Yahweh’ Idol

A professor of archaeology has claimed a 3,000-year-old clay head idol represents the Jewish god Yahweh. However, two other archaeologists have challenged this interpretation by pointing out why this...
Kosher Female Figurines in Judah During The Biblical Period?

Kosher Female Figurines in Judah During The Biblical Period?

Israeli archeologist Dr. Aaron Greener asks “what are clay female figurines doing in Judah during the biblical period?” My non-archeologist answer is; they represent kosher (suitable for religious...
The cave lion figurine found recently in Siberia’s Denisova Cave.        Source: The Siberian Times

45,000-year-old Cave Lion Figurine Uncovered At Denisova Cave

Another sensational first for the Denisovans, supporting their advanced nature. From the Siberian Times of November 20, 2019 comes news that archaeologists working within the Denisovan layer in...
A Wari figurine of a warrior with a spear and shield found at Pikillaqta.

Elaborate Wari Offerings Found At Pikillaqta Ritual Site [New Find]

Sometime around 1100 AD, Pikillaqta, a major feasting and ceremonial site located near Cusco, Peru , was abandoned by the Wari people. The reason behind their sudden departure is uncertain, but the...
Left: The clay horse head from the Hellenistic period. Right: The Iron Age clay horse head

Riders On The Storm: Ancient Clay Horse Heads Emerge After Heavy Rain In Israel

Many important archaeological finds are a result of chance events and good fortune. In Israel, two clay horses’ heads which once were part of equine sculptures have been found by sheer luck. They...
Asherah - Veiled Mother of the World

Asherah: God’s Forgotten Wife

Those raised in the Judeo-Christian tradition may be surprised to learn that the god we were told was singularly sacred once had a wife. How do we know? Asherah figures prominently as the wife of El—...
Oldest Wooden Statue in the World: The 11,000-Year-Old Shigir Idol

Oldest Wooden Statue in the World: The 11,000-Year-Old Shigir Idol

The Shigir Idol is considered to be one of the most important and mysterious pieces of pre-historic art from ancient Europe. The ancient wooden carving, which today sits in a museum in Russia, has...
The Venus of Brassempouy

Timeless Beauty of the 25,000-Year-Old Venus of Brassempouy

About 25,000 years ago an Upper Paleolithic artist took up a piece of ivory and lovingly carved the details of a woman’s coiffed hair or headdress, gracefully curved chin, intense eyes, and carefully...

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