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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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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.

Hidden in the Hieroglyphs: Is Ancient Egyptian a Lost Language?
15 September, 2016 - 14:49 Natalia Klimczak

Hidden in the Hieroglyphs: Is Ancient Egyptian a Lost Language?

The ancient Egyptian language is not just one set of symbols which people find on papyri bookmarks at museums. It's a complicated system of symbols which changed over time. Moreover, the words found...
Deriv; 5th century BC Achaemenid-era carving of Persian and Median soldiers in traditional costume and eclipse
15 September, 2016 - 02:11 Cam Rea

Kings of the Umman Manda (Media): Warnings and Omens – Part II

Once Cyaxares had finalized the conquest of Urartu, he handed it over to a certain tribe of Scythians who had inhabited the region of Armenia beforehand and thus extended their domain. It is said...
The Hidden Story of Poland: What Happened to the Forgotten Kingdom of Lechia?
14 September, 2016 - 14:49 ancient-origins

The Hidden Story of Poland: What Happened to the Forgotten Kingdom of Lechia?

The history of Poland has been misunderstood for decades. Even now, many official texts say that Poland comes from the tribe called Polanie. And according to the stories written by Christian writers...
A Drink Fit for Goddesses: Beer and Mankind in Ancient Mythology
10 September, 2016 - 01:58 MartiniF

A Drink Fit for Goddesses: Beer and Mankind in Ancient Mythology

It is widely known these days that beer is one of the oldest beverages human beings have ever produced. Beer-related items and activities familiar to us today can be traced back to the ancient world...
Unveiling the Hittite Hasawa – A Forgotten Priestess, Healer, and Oracle
10 September, 2016 - 00:37 Natalia Klimczak

Unveiling the Hittite Hasawa – A Forgotten Priestess, Healer, and Oracle

The term hasawa means ‘ she of birth' , and might have originally been used to refer to midwives. But hasawa is also a name applied to old, wise women. According to the few resources which described...
Hanuman and Ravana in Tholu Bommalata, the shadow puppet tradition of Andhra Pradesh, India.
8 September, 2016 - 02:25 MartiniF

The Ancient Beginnings of the Art of Shadow Puppetry

In his Republic, Plato mentions a cave in India with an inscription from the second century BCE. The inscription refers to a shadow play performance where puppets of humans and animals were...
Ludwig II of Bavaria: Suicide or Murder? How Did the Swan King Meet His End?
6 September, 2016 - 14:50 Natalia Klimczak

Ludwig II of Bavaria: Suicide or Murder? How Did the Swan King Meet His End?

Ludwig II of Bavaria was the favorite cousin of the famous Empress Elizabeth ''Sisi'', the wife of Emperor Franz Joseph II. His name became immortal due to the impressive castles he built during his...
Attila and his Hordes
6 September, 2016 - 01:43 Cam Rea

The Hunnic War Machine: Horsemen of the Steppe – Part II

The steppe has produced many notable horse archers who brought terror and devastation to the known world during ancient times. But of the many steppe peoples who penetrated the civilized world, none...
Page from the Codex Wallerstein "Mademoiselle Maupin de l'Opéra". Anonymous print, ca. 1700.
3 September, 2016 - 03:50 Riley Winters

Mademoiselle Maupin: A Damsel Who Was Never in Distress

Swords, brawls, and clandestine love affairs are often the stuff of fairy tales and adventure stories. But in the case of Julie d'Aubigny of Paris, this was all part of her everyday life. Also known...
Reenactors of Hunnic Warriors of the Steppe
3 September, 2016 - 02:02 Cam Rea

The Hunnic War Machine: The Push Westward – Part I

The steppe has produced many notable horse archers who brought terror and devastation to the known world during ancient times. But of the many steppe peoples who penetrated the civilized world, none...
The Long Ago Person: Tracking the Canadian Ice Man
2 September, 2016 - 21:52 dhwty

The Long Ago Person: Tracking the Canadian Ice Man

Kwaday Dan Ts ìnchi is the name given to the frozen remains of a man found in a melting glacier in British Columbia, Canada. In the southern Tutchone language of the Champagne and Aishihik First...
Detail of the Wenhaston Doom
1 September, 2016 - 02:07 Charles Christian

The Wenhaston Doom: A Surprising Medieval Relic, Doomsday Message—and a Reminder of Pre-Christian Traditions

A ‘Doom’ is a remarkable survival of a type of church decoration once common in the Middle Ages but largely destroyed during the iconoclastic excesses of the English Protestant Reformation during the...
Passing Through the Gates of Time: The Mind, Time Travel, and St Augustine
31 August, 2016 - 21:55 Natalia Klimczak

Passing Through the Gates of Time: The Mind, Time Travel, and St Augustine

The topic of time has always fascinated people. It also seems that since the beginning, people wanted to travel in time. Sometimes, analyses related to questions like what is time and if it is...
Left, Sisters Charlotte and Susan Cushman in Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet in 1846. Right, Male Kabuki actor in Japan
31 August, 2016 - 01:50 MartiniF

Ancient History of Cross-Dressing: From Ancient Religions to the Theaters

Ephippus, in a surviving fragment of his lost pamphlet depicting the court of Alexander the Great in 324-323 BC, alleges that Alexander liked to cross-dress as the Greek archer-goddess Artemis...
'Esther and Mordechai writing letters to the Jews’ (1675) by Aert de Gelder.
29 August, 2016 - 03:53 Natalia Klimczak

The Remarkable Story of Esther: A Brave Queen and Champion for the Jews

The story of Esther is one of the most important for the Jewish faith, and it is also one of the most inspirational in the entire Bible. She was an independent woman in the court of a Persian king...
Numbers and Nobles: The Magical Tradition of Numerology in Spain
29 August, 2016 - 00:49 Natalia Klimczak

Numbers and Nobles: The Magical Tradition of Numerology in Spain

Spain has always been a country full of contrasts. It is often regarded as heavily Catholic and the place where the Inquisition began. At the same time, there have also been witches and individuals...
Gold, Amber, Artwork and Military Paraphernalia: The Continuous Crusade for Lost Nazi Treasures
27 August, 2016 - 21:48 Natalia Klimczak

Gold, Amber, Artwork and Military Paraphernalia: The Continuous Crusade for Lost Nazi Treasures

During World War II Poland and other parts of Central Europe were damaged, and many museums and precious collections were destroyed. Now, explorers are trying to find the places where gold , pieces...
A painting depicting a scene from the Chinese classic, Journey to the West. The painting shows the four heros of the story, left to right: Sun Wukong, Xuanzang, Zhu Wuneng, and Sha Wujing.
27 August, 2016 - 02:17 MartiniF

The Monk and the Poet: Meet the Rebels behind the Legendary “Journey to the West”

Hsi-yu chi , or Journey to the West, is a Chinese novel published in the 16th century, during the Ming Dynasty. The novel adds elements from a bewildering array of Asian cultural lore, as well as...
Monks, Hermits and Ascetics: The Little-Known History of Women in Desert Asceticism
23 August, 2016 - 16:29 MartiniF

Monks, Hermits and Ascetics: The Little-Known History of Women in Desert Asceticism

Theodoret of Cyrrhus (423–457) tells us that when little girls played games in forth-century Syria, they played monks and demons. One of the girls, dressed in rags, would reduce her little friends...
Pointing to Witchcraft: The Possible Origin of the Conical Witch's Hat
22 August, 2016 - 00:51 Riley Winters

Pointing to Witchcraft: The Possible Origin of the Conical Witch's Hat

If one were to walk down a crowded street wearing a black conical hat, passersby would not question the wearer's intention. Obviously, the wearer would be playing the role of a witch. Yet as obvious...
Clockwise from top left - Koh Ker, Cambodia (thomaswanhoff/CC BY SA 2.0), Pyramid of Khafre, Egypt (MusikAnimal/CC BY SA 3.0), El Castillo, Chichén Itzá, Mexico (Grand Velas Riviera Maya/CC BY SA 2.0), Pyramid of Cestius, Italy (Nicholas Laughlin/CC BY NC SA 2.0) Center: Replica of a wind rose from the chart of Jorge de Aguiar, 1492. (Alvesgaspar/CC BY SA 3.0)
21 August, 2016 - 21:29 Kirk Kirchev

The Pyramids Route: Was Knowledge of the Pyramids Spread by Ancient Castaways?

Jose Salvador Alvarenga was fishing off the coast of Mexico in late 2012 when a powerful storm sent his boat adrift. Marshall Islanders found the battered vessel nearly 16 months later, stuck on a...
‘La femme Préhistorique’ (The prehistoric woman) (1895) by James Tissot Reproductions of some Lascaux artworks in Lascaux II.
21 August, 2016 - 03:50 Natalia Klimczak

Creating Prehistoric Culture: Were the First Artists Women?

The first researchers of Paleolithic caves and sites related to the earliest humans called the people who left paintings and other pieces of early art “men.” Due to this decision, people created an...
A stone statue of Hatshepsut and Egyptian soldiers from Hatshepsut's expedition to the Land of Punt as depicted from her temple at Deir el-Bahri.
18 August, 2016 - 21:42 Natalia Klimczak

Out for War or A Shopping Trip? Why Hatshepsut Traveled to the Kingdom of Punt

The walls of the great temple in Karnak depicted the story of an expedition of impressive ships to the mysterious land known as Punt. The fleet of Queen Hatshepsut traveled there for unknown reasons...
: Relief on the Apadana Staircase on the eastern wall [of the Apadana Palace] from the ruins at Persepolis, “the Persian City”, ceremonial capital of the Achaemenid Empire. Deriv
16 August, 2016 - 15:30 Cam Rea

Did Darius Hijack the Persian Throne? Destroying Rebellion and Securing the Future – Part II

With the death of King Cambyses II, the Persian Empire was in a state of war and confusion over who was the rightful heir. Even though the populace agreed that Gaumata was the rightful heir to the...

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