Ancient Origins presents how human origins are explained through three different perspectives: a) science and scientific evidence, b) religions and creation stories and c) folklore and mythology.
Ashkenazi Jews are a Jewish ethnic group who have their earliest ancestors from the indigenous tribes of Israel…at least on one side of the family tree. A study published in 2013 in Nature...
“All the great rabbis of this generation are saying that the Messiah is about to reveal himself. All the signs the prophets gave, all the signs predicted in the Gemara, the Mishnah, the Midrash,...
The Little Ice Age is a period tentatively defined as running from the 13 th /14 th to the 19 th century in which the northern hemisphere of Earth endured a limited but substantial cooling period...
The fascinating legacy of the controversial American physician who weighed the human soul and determined dogs don’t have one is an incredible story. And, like in many areas of life, what one believes...
For anyone familiar with the Bible, the story of the Israelite god Yahweh is a simple one. Yahweh appears to Abraham in the book of Genesis and enters into a covenantal alliance with him. Abraham's...
The origin of Jewish New Year celebrations has long been shrouded in mystery. Families around the world celebrate it during autumn with sweet delicacies, joyous prayers, and the blasting of the...
The stories of Romulus and Remus, Osiris, and Moses all share a common element. Why is it that the overarching theme surrounding ancient people and the start of their legacy is a male floating down...
Over the past two centuries, Europe has become increasingly secular. Scholars in fact no longer talk of the Christian West when they speak of Modern Europe and North America, but of the Secular West...
Oceania was the last region to be settled by humans and the last part of Oceania to be settled by humans was Polynesia. Polynesians are famous for their voyages to remote islands in distant parts of...
The name of the Torah has a complicated history. It has been thought to mean a multitude of things including “instruction”, “law”, and “teaching”. The Torah is often misunderstood to represent the...
Every culture has an explanation about how we got here. The ancient Greeks were no different. The dramatic story of the origins of humanity in Greek mythology involves love, pain, and a hefty dose of...
Buried for millennia in the rear of a rock-shelter in the Lapedo Valley 85 miles north of Lisbon, Portugal, archaeologists uncovered the bones of a four-year-old child, comprising the first complete...
Neanderthals are generally classified by palaeontologists as the species Homo neanderthalensis , but some consider them to be a subspecies of Homo sapiens ( Homo sapiens neanderthalensis ). The first...
Peering into the development stages of the Neolithic cultures of Old Europe has always been a challenging task for archaeologists and scholars. Reaching so far back into time in the hope of piecing...
When the human genome was first discovered, it revealed some amazing genetic secrets – modern humans are way more complicated than we originally thought. During a long evolution , humankind picked up...
Most people who have the Rh blood type are Rh-positive. There are also instances, however, where people are Rh-Negative. Health problems may occur for the unborn child of a mother with Rh-Negative...
Who was Khnum? The oldest and most important deities in the Egyptian pantheon are often the most mysterious and lacking in scholarly information. They are old – so old - that they’re veiled in a mist...
Luxor Temple is one of the most famous temple complexes in Egypt. This temple complex is situated on the east bank of the Nile River, in Luxor, the main city of Upper Egypt’s fourth nome. Luxor...
The concept known as “genetic memory” is much less studied and far more controversial than what we know as “regular” memory. Whilst there are a multitude of other examples in animals (see: Gallagher...
The Untersberg is a great mountain straddling the Austro-German border opposite Salzburg. It was reputed in local legend to be the seat of the god Wotan and to be haunted. The Knights Templar of the...
Mithra was the god of light, purity, goodness, and truth and occupied an important place in the faith of the ancient Aryans. The Spread of Mithra There are various opinions on the spread of the...
The world of the ancient Egyptians was diverse and enigmatic, filled with untold wonders and beliefs that were closely interwoven with the nature around them. Of particular interest is the vast...
A deity with as many attributes as arms, Saraswati (or Sarasvati) is the Hindu goddess of aesthetics. These include music, the arts, wisdom and learning. She can be compared, in many ways, to the...
The Korean peninsula is known for many things. One thing that may be less well known about Korean culture is its contribution to world astronomy. One particularly visible contribution is the oldest...
