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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.

Pharaoh Hatshepsut
14 October, 2020 - 21:29 ancient-origins

Hatshepsut: The Queen Who became Pharaoh

Hatshepsut was the longest reigning female pharaoh. Under her reign, Egypt prospered. Known as “The Woman Who Was King,” the Egyptian economy flourished during her time as pharaoh. She directed the...
Modern Welsh love spoon on flower petals
13 October, 2020 - 20:17 Riley Winters

The Sweet Symbolism of a Welsh Love Spoon

Roses are red Violets are blue, Presenting a spoon Means I love you While one often thinks of presenting his/her loved ones with flowers or candy as a gesture of romance, it was once more common to...
The Comet Hunters Of Göbekli Tepe
12 October, 2020 - 19:11 Andrew Collins

The Comet Hunters Of Göbekli Tepe

The ancient peoples of Anatolia and the Near East did not go unaffected by the terrible consequences of the Younger Dryas comet impact event, now known to have devastated the North American continent...
Rivodutri’s Alchemical Door To Enlightenment In 17th Century AD Italy
12 October, 2020 - 17:59 dhwty

Rivodutri’s Alchemical Door To Enlightenment In 17th Century Italy

Add magic to natural philosophy and early chemistry knowledge and you have the ancient art of alchemy . Alchemists tried to change various substances into gold and looked hard for the elixir of...
Representation of a seer or prophetess.
10 October, 2020 - 02:01 dhwty

The 17th Century Seer, Janet Douglas: Being A Gifted Child Isn’t Always A Good Thing

Janet Douglas was a 17th century Scottish teenager reputed to have a paranormal gift known as ‘Second Sight.’ She should not be confused was another well-known Janet Douglas, a Scottish noblewoman...
Cormorant fishing on the Li River during the blue hour of dawn, Guangxi, China. (stveak /Adobe Stock)
9 October, 2020 - 21:55 Aleksa Vučković

Man and Bird Join Forces: The Unique Tradition of Cormorant Fishing

Give a man a fish, and you feed him for a day. Teach a man how to fish, and you will feed him for a lifetime. This ancient proverb is a well-known saying around the world, and is directly tied to one...
Penglai, depiction of one of the mythical islands ( Public Domain ), and Qin Shi Huang in a 19th century portrait ( Public Domain );Deriv.
9 October, 2020 - 16:22 Shibumi

Management Practices Of The School Of Sun Tzu

Sun Tzu's Art of War was, one is told, written by an ancient Chinese soldier - except there is no evidence that there ever was a General Sun Tzu. In general, the commentary on Art of War just guesses...
10 Fierce But Often Forgotten Enemies of Rome
8 October, 2020 - 17:58 Saurav Ranjan Datta

10 Fierce But Often Forgotten Enemies of Rome

Rome, this very name conjures up images of an ancient empire so vast that experts from different ages have been spellbound by the unprecedented magnanimity of its reaches. Ancient Rome defined the...
Joshua passing the River Jordan with the Ark of the Covenant by Benjamin West (1800) Art Gallery of New South Wales (Public Domain)
7 October, 2020 - 12:27 davidchildress

The Ark Of The Covenant: A Fearsome Weapon Of Destruction

The Ark of the Covenant must be thought of as two or even three separate things. First of all it is a box with a cavity in the middle of it that can contain a medium-sized object, such as an...
The Arrows and Ardor of Apollo, The Sun God
5 October, 2020 - 21:02 MartiniF

The Arrows and Ardor of Apollo, The Sun God

The sun god Apollo has been identified as the embodiment of the Hellenic spirit, by Scottish classical scholar W.K. C. Guthrie in his 1950 book, The Greeks and their Gods. An eternally youthful deity...
Left: St Januarius’ blood being examined in Naples. Credit: The Catholic Herald. Right: An early portrait of Saint Januarius. Note the two blood ampoules in the lower left corner. (Louis Finson / Public domain)
4 October, 2020 - 21:55 dhwty

The Blood of Saint Januarius and The Miracle of Liquefaction

Saint Januarius is a saint venerated in the Roman Catholic Church . He is the patron saint of Naples but is best-known for a miracle that happens several times each year – the liquefaction of what is...
‘Anne Boleyn in the Tower’ by Édouard Cibot. (Public Domain)
4 October, 2020 - 13:58 dhwty

What Happened to Anne Boleyn’s Heart?

Anne Boleyn is arguably one of the most famous women of the Tudor period. She was the second, and most notorious, wife of Henry VIII (whether she deserves her reputation, though, is a matter of...
A Woman’s Best Friend: The Herstory of Dog Domestication
3 October, 2020 - 17:46 B. B. Wagner

A Woman’s Best Friend: The Herstory of Dog Domestication

The Grimaldi Goddess clay figurine, unearthed at the Neolithic settlement of Çatal Hüyük in Turkey, dates back to about 6000 BC. It depicts an obese woman giving birth while seated upon a throne...
Ariadne in Naxos’ (1877) by Evelyn De Morgan. (Public Domain)
2 October, 2020 - 16:52 Mary Naples

Loves Of The Lady Of The Labyrinth: Ariadne Powerful Minoan Goddess

In the Myth of the Minotaur , if not for the ministrations of the humble Princess Ariadne, Theseus —the Greek hero—would not have had a prayer. Although often portrayed as a mere maiden, truth be...
An Edo period painting showing a woman with teeth stained black by the practice of Ohaguro.
30 September, 2020 - 22:20 dhwty

The Allure of Blackened Teeth: A Traditional Japanese Sign of Beauty

Ohaguro (which may be translated as ‘blackened teeth’) is a practice in which people (usually women) dye their teeth black. While this custom is known to be practiced in different parts of the world...
From The Ashes Of Angels – The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race
30 September, 2020 - 20:31 Andrew Collins

From The Ashes Of Angels – The Forbidden Legacy of a Fallen Race

“And after some days my son, Methuselah, took a wife for his son Lamech, and she became pregnant by him and bore him a son. And his body was white as snow and red as a rose; the hair of his head as...
Reading the Rich Symbolism in Aboriginal Art
30 September, 2020 - 17:58 Liza Brooke

How to Read the Symbolism in Aboriginal Art

For thousands of years, an art form has existed that includes works in a wide range of media, including bark painting, ceremonial clothing, painting on leaves, rock carving, watercolor painting, and...
The Historic Tale of a Huge Crystal Ball and a Qing Dynasty Empress
30 September, 2020 - 14:01 dhwty

The Historic Tale of a Huge Crystal Ball and a Qing Dynasty Empress

The Dowager Empress Chinese crystal ball (or crystal sphere) is an unusual and valuable artifact believed to have belonged to Empress Dowager Cixi, the de facto ruler of China in the last decades of...
Tilapia Stew: Egyptian Recipe Found in 6000-year-old Stomach
29 September, 2020 - 14:05 Alicia McDermott

Tilapia Stew: Egyptian Recipe Found in 6000-year-old Stomach

This recipe is based on an archaeological discovery made in an upper Egypt tomb dating to around 3500 to 4000 BC. Differing from a typical mummy, which would have had its organs in canopic jars, the...
Ice Age Diorama. From left to right: Equus hemionus, Mammuthus primigenius, Coelodonta antiquitatis, Bison exiguous skeletal mounts at the Tianjin Natural History Museum. (Jonathan Chen/ CC BY-SA 4.0)
28 September, 2020 - 18:30 Martin Sweatman

The Younger Dryas Impact Research Debate – Are We There Yet?

The Younger Dryas impact hypothesis has received considerable attention since its publication in 2007 in the prestigious peer-reviewed journal PNAS (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences)...
Neolithic Revolution Challenged! Are These The Real Roots of Civilization?
28 September, 2020 - 18:00 Andy Turnbull

Neolithic Revolution Challenged! Are These The Real Roots of Civilization?

Conventional wisdom tells us that civilization began with the so-called agricultural revolution - AKA the invention of farming , but I suggest a different story. From my perspective, the roots of...
Ancient history podcasts bring the past to the present
27 September, 2020 - 17:59 Alicia McDermott

The Top Ten Ancient History Podcasts You May Not Have Heard

There are podcasts on every subject these days. Even the ancient world has been brought into the modern one through this medium. If you are looking for another way to learn about the past, check out...
Voyage Compass
27 September, 2020 - 10:09 Alicia McDermott

Who Reached America First? Hint: NOT Columbus!

Even today, many people still believe that Christopher Columbus was the person who “discovered” America when he landed there in 1492. That belief overlooks the fact that indigenous people had already...
Roman gladiators lived fascinating, brutal, lives
25 September, 2020 - 21:23 Fiona McCoss

The Real Lives of Roman Gladiators

Roman gladiators are some of the most iconic characters in history and have defined how we think of entertainment in ancient Rome. Their portrayal in films and stories has turned them into archetypal...

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