All  

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

film

Image representing pirate in suit with gun and saber sitting on barrel. Source: Fotokvadrat/Adobe Stock

What the Media Gets Right About Pirates (Video)

Within the realm of pirate lore depicted in media, there exists a delicate balance between fiction and historical accuracy. Notably, Howard Pyle's evocative paintings stand as vivid portrayals of the...
Joaquin Phoenix as Napoleon. Source: Courtesy of Apple / The Conversation

Did Napoleon Really Fire at the Pyramids? The Truth Behind Ridley Scott’s Biopic

Directors of historical feature films face a difficult task. How can they make the characters familiar to an audience without reducing them to caricatures? How can they make sure that knowledge of...
Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown game hero, Sargon. 	Source: Ubisoft

The New Prince of Persia Game is Announced. How Does the History Stack Up?

The popular, but almost archaic Prince of Persia video game franchise is back, with a new game, and a new hero on the scene. So what’s the new backstory, who is this new hero, and is there any basis...
Ancient Roman sculpture of Cleopatra VII in the Antikensammlung Berlin (Sailko/CC BY 3.0) ; Netflix Queen Cleopatra played by English Adele James (Netflix); Cleopatra by John William Waterhouse. (Public Domain)

Egyptian Authorities Push Back on Cleopatra Portrayal

The Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities (to be precise, Dr. Mostafa Waziri) has accused Netflix of the “falsification of Egyptian history.” They are pushing back, hard, after a new Cleopatra...
Image from the poster of Uncharted. Source: Clay Enos / Columbia Picture / Sony Pictures Entertainment

Ancient Origins Features in Box Office Hit Film Uncharted

With mystery, treasure and the hunt for answers as its theme, Ancient Origins was a natural choice for the film makers of $400 million (£323 million) grossing feature film Uncharted to use as the...
An aerial view of what remains of Boleskine House, owned by occultist Aleister Crowley from 1899 to 1913, which is the subject of a new film by Scottish filmmaker Ashley Cowie.		Source: Ashley Cowie / www.thebeastoflochness.com/

New Film Shatters 'Fake News' of Occultist Aleister Crowley’s Scottish Boleskine House

A filmmaker from the north of Scotland has vowed to dissolve decades of “fake news” surrounding a famous Boleskine House Jacobite era hunting lodge, and center of Aleister Crowley’s “magical...
Wesley Snipes played Eric Brooks in the Blade trilogy. Source: New Line Cinema / Fair Use

Six Fantastic and Mythological Beings from the Blade Trilogy

In the original Blade trilogy, Wesley Snipes played Eric Brooks, the title character also known as Blade. The film, written by David S. Goyer and directed by Stephen Norrington, was released in 1998...
Mysterious Bigfoot figure in the forest. Source: Dave / Adobe Stock

Bigfoot: Giant Hoax or Giant Hominid?

Fact or fiction, Bigfoot has captured the world’s imagination after a road construction crew spotted giant 16-inch-long human footprints near Bluff Creek in northern California in 1958. The discovery...
Wonder Woman is just one of the mythological movies based on legendary myths told throughout ancient history. Source: Stanislav / Adobe Stock

9 Famous Movies Based on Ancient Myths and Legends

Since the beginning of movie making at the end of the 1880s, films have touched on a plethora of mythological themes. From the 1970s classic The Asphyx , to the action-packed Wonder Woman , we’ve...
Desert landscape on planet Arrakis in the film Dune. Source: Warner Bros

Would Humans Survive the Climate on Planet Arrakis from Dune?

Dune has been all over the news, as the first instalment of Frank Herbert’s novel series has been made into a blockbuster film (for the second time), by the acclaimed Denis Villeneuve. Set in the far...
Jaques Le Gris, played by Adam Driver on the left, and Jean de Carrouges, played by Matt Damon, in The Last Duel. 	Source: 20th Century Studios

The True History Behind “The Last Duel” - A Tale of Trial by Combat

Medieval chivalric duels were undoubtedly the most thrilling events of the time. The last vestige of the ancient gladiatorial fights, knightly duels were a true display of the skill with arms and...
The first trailer for The Dig about the Sutton Hoo treasure hoard, filmed in Suffolk, has been released.

Netflix Film Tells Dramatic Story of Sutton Hoo Treasure Discovery

Netflix has released the first trailer for “ The Dig ,” a new film set in England and based on the drama surrounding the history changing discovery of the Sutton Hoo burial site and treasure hoard...
The Sutton Hoo movie that will tell the story of the famous Anglo-Saxon treasure is due to come out on Netflix soon. Right: A replica of the Sutton Hoo helmet produced for the British Museum by the Royal Armouries. (CC BY-SA 2.5). Left: The original Sutton Hoo helmet. (CC BY-SA 2.0)

New Sutton Hoo Movie Rights the Wrongs of Archaeological Snobbery

The new Sutton Hoo movie, called The Dig, that is due to be released on Netflix is going to tell the real story behind one of Britain’s greatest archaeological discoveries. It dramatizes the...
Relief image on the Tablet of Shamash, British Library room 55. Found in Sippar (Tell Abu Habbah), in Ancient Babylonia; it dates from the 9th century BC and shows the sun god Shamash on the throne, in front of the Babylonian king Nabu-apla-iddina (888-855 BC) between two interceding deities. The Babylonian language text tells how the king made a new cultic statue for the god and gave privileges to his temple.

Ancient Babylonian Reborn After Having Been Silenced for 2000 Years

Almost 2,000 years after falling out of use, a Cambridge University linguistics specialist, Dr. Martin Worthington has learned how to speak ancient Babylonian and is not only campaigning to revive it...
The Rake by Inenarrable.

13-year-old Mythical Beast Filmed in Canadian Wilderness?

Was an unknown 'humanoid creature' spotted stalking a moose in Gaspésie, Québec, Canada, or is this shaky video another poor quality Internet hoax? What appears as a six-foot "faceless," hitherto...
Marvel Hi-Res Black Panther Image Revealed.

Becoming Beast: Marvel’s New Black Panther Movie Has a Surprising Medieval Connection

Lydia Zeldenrust / The Conversation Black Panther looks to be another hit for Marvel . The film has been highly anticipated, not least because it is a milestone in cinema with a black lead superhero...
Ötzi or Kelab as portrayed by Jürgen Vogel in Der Mann aus dem Eis (Iceman).

Ötzi the Iceman Becomes a Movie

Inspired by Ötzi’s fascinating story for survival, German filmmaker Felix Randau attempts to revive the life of the most famous natural mummy in history though a feature film. Der Mann aus dem Eis (...
Two cultic incense altars found in one of the rooms of the structure (Image: Michal Haber, Israel Antiquities Authority)

Drone Footage Helps Detect Rare 2,200-year-old Ruins in Military Zone

A unique Hellenistic period building, dating to the 3 rd century BC, built by the Idumeans has been unearthed in Israel’s Shephelah region. The impressive 2200-year-old structure, possibly an Idumean...
Bigfoot in the Patterson-Gimlin Film.

Why the Patterson-Gimlin Bigfoot Film Should Concern Scholars of Human Origins

The anthropological sciences occasionally have to deal with something which has a profound but unexpected impact on our understanding of human origins. Two events are noteworthy, in part because both...
Alexander Dmitrievich Litovchenko (1835 - 1890) "Charon carries souls across the river Styx."

Journeys to the Underworld – From Ancient Greece to Hollywood

Paul Salmond / The Conversation The success of Patty Jenkins’s Wonder Woman , depicting warring Olympians and Amazons, continues to stoke moviegoer interest in Greek mythology. Wonder Woman is the...
Why Do We Love (and Fear) Mummies?

Why Do We Love (and Fear) Mummies?

Christian-Georges Schwentzel / The Conversation Somewhere in Iraq, the tomb raider Nick Morton (a never-ageing Tom Cruise) flies over the desert. This is where Egyptian queen Ahmanet lies in her tomb...
Youtube video screenshot from the new movie ‘The Mummy.’

Desecration and Romanticization – The Real Curse of Mummies

Craig Barker / The Conversation This June Hollywood’s tomb of old ideas will creak open yet again and present the tale of an ancient Egyptian tomb disturbed by a bumbling archaeologist and/or action-...
Left: Gal Gadot as Wonder Woman. Right: Warrior heroine Saikal

Selling Sex: Wonder Woman and the Ancient Fantasy of Lady Warriors That Goes Back Millennia

When the film Wonder Woman is released in early June, it will surely join the blockbuster ranks of other recent comic book-inspired film franchises. Wonder Woman has long been a bestselling creation...