All  

Store Banner Mobile

Store Banner Mobile

History

From the powerful civilizations of Egypt, Mesopotamia, and the Indus Valley, to the fearsome yet sophisticated society of the Vikings, the ancient world was a surprising and challenging place. Here we feature some of the most seminal and influential events and people throughout history, that have helped shape the world we know today.

Gilded leopard head found in the Tomb of Tutankhamun (KV62); design by Anand Balaji
29 April, 2018 - 22:52 anand balaji

The Felines of Tutankhamun: Leopards, a Symbol of Royalty and Divinity—Part II

Beginning with one of the earliest feline deities, Mafdet, the ancient Egyptian pantheon grew steadily as the years passed to include a wide range of creatures, both big and small – furry and...
Resin-stained wooden leopard found in the tomb of King Amenhotep II (KV35); design by Anand Balaji
29 April, 2018 - 13:58 anand balaji

The Felines of Tutankhamun: Leopard Changes its Spots to turn Black Panther?—Part I

The modest sepulcher of Pharaoh Tutankhamun was crammed to the brim with all manner of treasures produced in different shapes, sizes and materials. These objects can be clearly divided into two...
Modern representation of a Carthaginian war elephant.
28 April, 2018 - 18:47 dhwty

War Elephants: The Military ‘Tanks’ of the Ancient World

“A few only of Ptolemy's elephants ventured to close with those of the enemy, and now the men in the towers on the back of these beasts made a gallant fight of it, striking with their pikes at close...
Famous Alexander Mosaic, showing Battle of Issus. Alexander is depicted mounted, on the left.
28 April, 2018 - 01:59 Cam Rea

Why did Alexander the Great Really Invade the Persian Empire?

By Cam Rea/ Classical Wisdom Alexander of Macedon, more widely known as Alexander the Great, is one of history’s most famous conquerors. Many historians, poets, and writers have been mesmerized by...
Native copper nugget from glacial drift, Ontonagon County, Michigan. An example of the raw material worked by the people of the Old Copper Complex
27 April, 2018 - 15:11 Jason Jarrell

The Cult of the Dead in Prehistoric America

Long ago, a type of ritualized worldview spread throughout a broad expanse of north-eastern America, described in the archaeological literature as the ancient ‘Cult of the Dead’ or the ‘Eastern...
Meteor strike.
27 April, 2018 - 01:57 Kirk Kirchev

Did an Astronomical Body Cause the Global Floods of Ancient Myths with Its Gravitational Tidal Floods? - Part 2

This is the concluding part of a two-part article that offers a unifying scientific hypothesis that connects diverse ancient flood myths with mainstream scientific fact. Part 1 offered scientific...
An illustration of a near-Earth object, or NEO, passing by Earth.
26 April, 2018 - 19:00 Kirk Kirchev

Did an Astronomical Body Cause the Global Floods of Ancient Myths with Its Gravitational Tidal Floods? - Part 1

The following is a unifying scientific hypothesis that connects diverse ancient flood myths with mainstream scientific fact. Currently the biblical narrative of the great flood falls short of...
Left to right- Barn Hammer Brewing Company Head Brewer Brian Westcott, Matt Gibbs of the University of Winnipeg and Barn Hammer owner Tyler Birch teamed up to re-create an ancient beer. THE CANADIAN PRESS/David Lipnowski/The Conversation
26 April, 2018 - 01:52 ancient-origins

We brewed an ancient Graeco-Roman beer and here’s how it tastes

Matt Gibbs / The Conversation Beer is the most consumed alcoholic beverage in the world; it is also the most popular drink after water and tea . In the modern world, however, little consideration is...
The Mapungubwe Gold Rhinoceros
25 April, 2018 - 15:32 Sian Tiley-Nel

South Africa’s National Gold Treasures Just Got Rarer

Gold has been prominent in human thought and history for over 6,000 years. Considered by some, to be one of earth’s rarest and most valued precious metals, it has gained a peculiar, and indeed, an...
The “Burney Relief,” which is believed to represent either Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of love and war, or her older sister Ereshkigal, Queen of the underworld (c. 19th or 18th century BC).
25 April, 2018 - 01:48 ancient-origins

In Ancient Mesopotamia, Sex among the Gods Shook Heaven and Earth

Sexuality was central to life in ancient Mesopotamia, an area of the Ancient Near East often described as the cradle of western civilisation roughly corresponding to modern-day Iraq, Kuwait, and...
Large trees in image are Yellowwood (Afrocarpus falcatus=Podocarpus falcatus) by Androstachys
24 April, 2018 - 19:05 micki pistorius

The Ghosts of Knysna Forest: Footsteps of the Once Great Elephant Herds Gone with the Wind

Before man invaded, a vast stretch along the southern coast of Africa, was once a lush green forest. A seagull’s view coming in from the sea would have seen the whitewash breakers of the Indian ocean...
Two Sides to Every Story: The North American Martyrs Shrines and Indigenous/ Roman Catholic Relations – Part II
24 April, 2018 - 01:51 Joachim Brouwer

Two Sides to Every Story: The North American Martyrs Shrines and Indigenous/ Roman Catholic Relations – Part II

Read Part 1 Jerome Lalemant, the second Superior of the Huron mission, said there were so few converts because no Jesuit had been martyred yet. It is stated more than once that if the “glorious crown...
Head from a red granite statue of Amenhotep III wearing the double crown of Upper and Lower Egypt found at Karnak; side panel of one of the Colossi of Memnon shows a relief of Hapy, the Nile god, and a sculpture of Queen Tiye; design by Anand Balaji
23 April, 2018 - 15:42 anand balaji

Amenhotep III, The Man and his Monuments: Age of Empire and Architecture –Part II

With the empire witnessing an unprecedented era of peace and prosperity, Amenhotep III embarked on a grand building project that spanned the length and breadth of Egypt. The monuments he commissioned...
Scene from the movie, Troy, loosely based on Homer’s Iliad. (Troy)
21 April, 2018 - 13:56 ancient-origins

Toxic Masculinity Fostered by Misreadings of the Classics

Homer’s Iliad has been used by some men to hail the virtues of traditional masculinity in the 21st century. Typically, the famous work of literature serves as a sort of manual of manliness . Scholars...
Detail from the outermost shrine of Tutankhamun showing a seated deity; design by Anand Balaji
20 April, 2018 - 22:49 anand balaji

KV62, Designed to Confound: Wealth of Mysteries in the Curious Tomb of Tutankhamun—Part II

Egyptological scholars are divided over whether a right-hand turn to the burial chamber in an Eighteenth Dynasty tomb signifies that it belonged to a female pharaoh. With this feature present in the...
Golden Hill of Mapungubwe (Copyright University of Pretoria)
20 April, 2018 - 15:28 Annie Antonites

Archaeozoology at Mapungubwe: Let the Bones Speak

Ever since Creation, mankind has had an interdependent relationship with the animal kingdom. Mapungubwe (circa 1220 to 1290 AD) on the northern border of South Africa, is an Iron Age settlement and...
The entrance to KV62, the tomb of Tutankhamun, in the Valley of the Kings; design by Anand Balaji
20 April, 2018 - 13:59 anand balaji

KV62, Designed to Confound: Was Tutankhamun’s Tomb built for a Female Pharaoh?—Part I

One of the greatest enigmas in all of Egyptology is the location of the final resting place of Queen Nefertiti, a powerful royal personage of the late Eighteenth Dynasty. Barring pieces of a votive...
Matabele land and the Victoria Falls: a naturalist's wanderings in the interior of South Africa, from the letters and journals of the late Frank Oates / edited by C.G. Oates. 1881
18 April, 2018 - 15:42 Chris Boonzaaier

The Masebe Mountains in Africa Speak Their Ancient Names

Africa is a continent where its people are in spiritual communication with the soul of the land, as typically illustrated in the Masebe Nature Reserve in the Limpopo province of South Africa...
Alexander the Great Refuses to Take Water by Giuseppe Cades (1792)
16 April, 2018 - 21:35 David Grant

Alexander the Great: Veterans and Settlers – Part III

Watching the fast-evolving state of affairs following Alexander’s death, the Athenian demagogue Demades compared the Macedonian army to the: “Cyclops after his one eye had been burned out, seeing its...
Illustration of a Minoan ship
15 April, 2018 - 19:03 Nik Aed

3,500-Year-Old Advanced Minoan Technology Was ‘Lost Art’ Not Seen Again Until 1950s

The Minoans employed advanced construction methods using natural materials to create seaworthy composite ship hulls which would not be out-of-place in a modern-day marina. The construction method...
Alexander the Great trust to physician Phillip by Henryk Siemiradzky (1870)
13 April, 2018 - 15:17 David Grant

Alexander the Great: Bleeding Asia Dry – Part II

A famous Roman aphorism was used well by Tacitus: “They plunder, they slaughter, and they steal; this they falsely name Empire, and when they create a desert, then they call it peace”. It is a...
The Great Sun Court of Amenhotep III at Luxor Temple; and detail of a calcite statue shows Amenhotep III with a solar form of the crocodile god Sobek, likely Sobek-Horus; design by Anand Balaji
11 April, 2018 - 15:33 anand balaji

Amenhotep III, the Man and his Monuments: Sparkling Glories of the Magnificent One – Part I

Few pharaohs in ancient Egyptian history could hold a candle to the stupendous achievements of Amenhotep III in various spheres. Everything that this daring king touched turned to gold. Be it...
Statue of lovers
10 April, 2018 - 18:53 Riley Winters

How to Win Love and Ruin A Marriage in 5 Easy Steps: ‘Ars Amatoria’ by Ancient Love Guru, Ovid

Before Tinder and Plenty of Fish took over the dating world , men and women used to resort to meeting each other the old-fashioned way—in person, or not at all. Before the internet, dating advice...
Left: Hopi snake dancer ( adobegallery) Right: A Hopi male during the annual snake dance and ritual prayers for rain, 1946 (public domain)
10 April, 2018 - 01:49 Gary A. David

Dances with Snakes: The Real Reason for the Hopi Snake Dance – Part II

The day prior to the final Snake Dance performance in the plaza, before sunrise with Orion and Sirius rising, two warriors of the Snake society make several circuits around the Snake and Antelope...

Pages