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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.

Yamamoto Kansuke, named as author in the Sword Scroll text
28 June, 2017 - 02:04 Mark Miller

Samurai Secrets Revealed: English Translation of the 500-year-old ‘Sword Scroll’ Provides Fighting Tactics Including ‘Egg Them’

A medieval samurai text recently translated into English gives many practical tips on fighting an enemy and advises all warriors to be ‘pure of heart and in balance in their spirit’. Although...
An artistic representation of Al-Muqanna, the Veiled Prophet.
27 June, 2017 - 18:35 Ryszard Antolak

Second Moon Uprising: How Science and Skullduggery Helped an 8th Century Prophet Raise a Revolt

“The 'Moon of Nakhshab' was an artificial moon which Hakim Ibn-e 'Ata, known as Muqanna' (the Veiled One), caused to arise from the Pit of Nakhshab. This moon had been prepared by means of [magical]...
Old Chinese coins.
27 June, 2017 - 01:57 ancient-origins

When – and Why – Did People First Start Using Money?

Chapurukha Kusimba / The Conversation Sometimes you run across a grimy, tattered dollar bill that seems like it’s been around since the beginning of time. Assuredly it hasn’t, but the history of...
Rafael's School of Athens, depicting Plato's Academy.
26 June, 2017 - 18:56 Sam Bostrom

The Lost Knowledge of the Ancients: Were Humans the First? Part 2

Until documents of bygone ages are unearthed, located and recovered we are stuck with sacred texts, classical writings and myths of the past. Can these documents we know of now be considered as...
Was the Heretic Pharaoh Akhenaton in Fact the Father of Modern Monotheism?
24 June, 2017 - 18:49 ML Childs

Was the Heretic Pharaoh Akhenaton in Fact the Father of Modern Monotheism?

How plentiful it is, what you have made, Although they are hidden from view, Sole god, without another beside you; You created the earth as you wished, When you were by yourself, Mankind, all cattle...
Subutai: The Forgotten Force Behind the Fearsome Mongol Military
24 June, 2017 - 14:07 dhwty

Subutai: The Forgotten Force Behind the Fearsome Mongol Military

"They are the Four Dogs of Temujin. They have foreheads of brass, their jaws are like scissors, their tongues like piercing awls, their heads are iron, their whipping tails swords . . . In the day of...
The theory that Tsar Alexander I craved a holy life as a monk is based on him seeking forgiveness for coming to power after the murder of his father, Paul I. Source: Vesti Tomsk
24 June, 2017 - 02:03 ancient-origins

Science ‘To Answer Russian Royal Mystery’: Did Tsar Stage Death to Become Siberian Monk?

By The Siberian Times reporter Officially, Alexander I died of typhus aged 47 on December 1, 1825, but evidence suggests he faked his demise and lived as a holy man. Genetic analysis is soon to be...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji (Photo credits: Richard Dick Sellicks, Dave Rudin, G. Elliot Smith/Wikimedia Commons); Deriv.
23 June, 2017 - 15:33 anand balaji

Puzzle of the Unidentified KV35 Mummy: Boy Kings and the Specter of Smenkhkare—Part II

The staggering number of royal mummies that Victor Loret found in the final resting place of the Eighteenth Dynasty pharaoh, Amenhotep II, consisted of some individuals who have not yet been...
Frederick Barbarossa awards the city of Haarlem with a sword for its shield or coat-of-arms. By Pieter de Greber, 1630.
22 June, 2017 - 14:00 dhwty

Frederick I Barbarossa: A Megalomaniac Roman Emperor On a Crusade for Power

Some people believe they were born for greatness but fall short and some go on to exceed all expectations. Frederick I Barbarossa falls into the second category. His ambition for power was limitless...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji
21 June, 2017 - 23:50 anand balaji

Lasting Puzzle of the Unidentified KV35 Mummy: Is it Really Prince Webensenu Or Another?—Part I

A host of pharaohs who were removed to safety from their burial places in ancient times rested peacefully for millennia within the bowels of the magnificent tomb of Amenhotep II. Among the great...
Roman fresco with banquet scene from the Casa dei Casti Amanti (IX 12, 6-8) in Pompeii.
19 June, 2017 - 15:32 MartiniF

Shave Your Armpits and Don’t Smell Like a Billy-Goat: Ovid’s Art of Love, Relationships and Adultery

Born a year after the assassination of Julius Caesar, Ovid’s first works appeared in the early days of the Augustan principate. Ovid wrote various works throughout his long career, but none so...
The fall of the Athenian army in Sicily during the Peloponnesian War in 413 BC as depicted in an 1893 illustration by J.G.Vogt.
19 June, 2017 - 13:50 ancient-origins

Thucydides Gave Amazing Insight into War That Shook The Aegean World for Decades

Thucydides’s History of the Peloponnesian War breaks off before the story is over. After detailing the armed conflict between the Athenians and the Spartans (and their respective allies) between 431...
A miniature from the Rashid al-Din’s Jami‘ al-Tawarikh showing Mahmud of Ghazni receiving a richly decorated robe of honour form the Abbasid caliph in 1000 AD.
18 June, 2017 - 01:58 dhwty

Mahmud of Ghazni: Merciless Tyrant Obliterated Hindu Temples and Conquered Territories Through Plunder and Slaughter

God be merciful to both father and son! Mahmud utterly ruined the prosperity of the country [India], and performed wonderful exploits, by which the Hindus became like atoms of dust scattered in all...
A portrait of Toyotomi Hideyoshi.
16 June, 2017 - 13:59 dhwty

Toyotomi Hideyoshi: How an Adventuresome Peasant Boy Became Japan’s Second Great Unifier

Toyotomi Hideyoshi was a powerful Japanese daimyo (feudal lord) who lived during the 16th century. He is regarded as Japan’s second ‘great unifier’, the first being Oda Nobunaga, and the third being...
Artist’s representation of Wei Zhongxian.
15 June, 2017 - 22:53 dhwty

Wei Zhongxian: When China Yielded to the Terrifying Power of a Notorious Eunuch

Wei Zhongxian is often considered to be the most powerful and notorious eunuch in Chinese history. He had powers almost equivalent to that of the emperor’s and those who opposed him were ruthlessly...
From Slave to Sultan: Baibars I - The Slave Warrior Who Fought His Way to the Top
15 June, 2017 - 02:01 dhwty

From Slave to Sultan: Baibars I - The Slave Warrior Who Fought His Way to the Top

Baibars I was a powerful Sultan who is remembered most for his military leadership, especially against Crusaders and Mongols, but also for his diplomatic skills. He is often regarded as the most...
What Role Did Skepticism Play in the Conquests of Alexander the Great?
13 June, 2017 - 18:59 Riley Winters

What Role Did Skepticism Play in the Conquests of Alexander the Great?

Anaxarchus and Pyrrho. These are two names which are not as well known to the general public as those of Socrates, Plato and Aristotle. Yet these men are no less important. While the latter three...
Medieval miniature of Æthelflæd in genealogical roll of the kings of England 13th century.(Public Domain)/ Æthelflæd as depicted in the cartulary of Abingdon Abbey
13 June, 2017 - 14:03 Riley Winters

Æthelflæd, The Medieval Queen Who Took on the Vikings to Save Her Kingdom

While her name is a mouthful, and quite a convoluted one at that, Æthelflæd of Mercia's role in early medieval England is rather straightforward. More importantly, the part she played in the conquest...
Raft in the Stone Age.
12 June, 2017 - 14:00 Clyde Winters

Did Ancient Humans Acquire Nautical Knowledge by Sailing the Prehistoric Megalakes of Africa?

There is increasing evidence that anatomically modern humans (AMH) left Africa 100,000 years ago. Archaeological evidence indicates that AMH were in Arabia, China, Crete, and Brazil over 100,000...
Detail of two ancient Egyptian 'gate spells'. On the top register, Ani and his wife face the ‘gates of the House of Osiris'. Below, they encounter the 'mysterious portals of the House of Osiris in the Field of Reeds'. All are guarded by unpleasant underworld protectors.
12 June, 2017 - 01:52 Mark Oliver

Through the Twelve Chambers of Hell: The Afterlife in Ancient Egypt

Death, the ancient Egyptians believed, was not the end of our struggles. They believed in an afterlife and that the worthy would go on to paradise, but their dead didn’t simply pass over to the other...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji (Photo credits: Rijksmuseum van Oudheden/CC BY-SA 4.0, Leiden; Dr Chris Naunton, Heidi Kontkanen and A. K. Moyls); Deriv.
9 June, 2017 - 15:37 anand balaji

The Many Mysteries of Maya: Faith, Labor and Love for the Motherland–Part II

The sudden and unfortunate death of Tutankhamun created an unprecedented power vacuum that had to be filled swiftly, if order was to be maintained in the Egyptian state. It is probable that a tussle...
Collection of Egyptian Art, design by Anand Balaji
7 June, 2017 - 15:27 anand balaji

The Many Mysteries of Maya: On the Trail of Tutankhamun’s Valued Courtier–Part I

The Amarna Period brought to fore many interesting personages, especially from the ruling disposition. While éminence grise Aye and the generalissimo Horemheb became pharaohs after the death of...
“The Painted Ones” hand-colored version of Theodor de Bry’s engraving of a Pict woman who is either painted or tattooed.
7 June, 2017 - 02:00 ancient-origins

Power, Perils and Rites of Passage – The History of the Female Tattoo

Emily Poelina-Hunter / The Conversation Almost a quarter of Australian women now have tattoos - a trend some attribute to the influence of feminism. What I find interesting is that the mainstreaming...
Helen of Troy
5 June, 2017 - 22:25 MartiniF

Achieve Your “15 Minutes of Fame” & Ancient Lessons on How to be Famous: Celebrity Culture in the Ancient World

An early third century CE Greek inscription recovered from the ancient town of Oinoanda in southwest Turkey reveals that the Roman army relied on the services of Lucius Septimius Flavianus...

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