All  

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ Mobile

leader

The epic force that was Genghis Khan.

Genghis Khan: What Transformed Temujin Borjigin into an Unstoppable Force Bent on World Domination?

Genghis Khan was one of the most famous conquerors in the world history. He was the founder and first Great Khan of the Mongol Empire. Although his beginnings were obscure and seemingly insignificant...
Prehistoric burial mound.     Source: Historic England

Chieftain and Seated Companion Illustrate Complex Prehistoric Burial Rituals

An elite prehistoric chieftain and possibly his older shaman have been discovered beside a sacred mound in southwest England’s most important prehistoric ritual center. During a new archaeological...
Agathocles of Syracuse; warrior, ruler, tyrant. Source: Fotokvadrat / Adobe Stock.

Agathocles of Syracuse: The Original Machiavellian Tyrant

Agathocles of Syracuse came from fairly humble beginnings but his focus and ambition brought him to the tyrannical rule of the city where he grew up. But his tyranny was not merciless and...
Images from the manuscript ‘Seventy-Two Specimens of Castes in India.’

Dalai Lama Publicly Denounces Ancient Indian Caste System

The Dalai Lama has spoken out about the discriminating caste system in India, which can be traced back around 2,000 years and is still practiced in some regions today. The New Indian Express reports...
Example of Roman coins from a hoard at Llanvaches, Monmouthshire, Wales in 2006. Roman coins have been found in a few locations across Scandinavia as well.

Making Money Divine: Roman Imperial Coins had a Unique Value in Scandinavian Cultures

"My fleet sailed from the mouth of the Rhine eastward as far as the lands of the Cimbri to which, up to that time, no Roman had ever penetrated either by land or by sea, and the Cimbri and Charydes...
Moses’ Horns.

4 Completely Different Versions of the Story of Moses

The story of Moses doesn’t just show up in the Bible. In the ancient world, nearly every culture had their own version of what happened. The Egyptians, the Greeks, and the Romans all had their own...
Hannibal Barca (by Sébastien Slodtz) and Battle of Zama, 202 BC

Inside the Mind of Hannibal: What Caused Him to Become Rome’s Most Hated Man?

Watching your father’s brave, heroic and selfless act in order to preserve your own life must leave a permanent mark. They were fearsome and powerful Vetton warriors, and when they saw his father’s...
Revealing the Identify of the First Female Ruler of Egypt. Hint: It Was NOT Hatshepsut

Revealing the Identify of the First Female Ruler of Egypt. Hint: It Was NOT Hatshepsut

Today it is known that women appeared on the throne in ancient Egypt more often than many people believed just decades ago. The first known influential queens appeared with the first kings. This was...
Little Emperors and Their Regents: Child Rulers & the Supportive and Destructive People Behind Them

Little Emperors and Their Regents: Child Rulers & the Supportive and Destructive People Behind Them

Some babies shake rattles and others shake up kingdoms. We hear many stories of the unhappy lives and ends of child rulers. Most recently, in 1908, Puyi became the last emperor of China at only two...
Illustration of Godfrey of Bouillon (central figure) from William of Tyre's Histoire d'Outremer, in the care of the British Museum.

Godfrey of Bouillon: Leader in the First Crusades and Ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

Godfrey of Bouillon was a medieval Frankish nobleman best known for his role as one of the main leaders during the First Crusade. As a consequence of this successful military expedition to the Holy...
Detail of a mural depicting a Moche priestess. Reconstruction of a Moche priestess.

Performance and Power: Moche Priestesses Uncovered

Despite being an agricultural society of ceremonial performance, bold works of art, and innovative irrigation processes, the Moche (100-800AD) are best remembered as one of many Pre-Columbian...
Illustration of Godfrey of Bouillon (central figure) from William of Tyre's Histoire d'Outremer, in the care of the British Museum.

Godfrey of Bouillon: Leader in the First Crusades and Ruler of the Kingdom of Jerusalem

Godfrey of Bouillon was a medieval Frankish nobleman best known for his role as one of the main leaders during the First Crusade. As a consequence of this successful military expedition to the Holy...
Statue of emperor Qin, China (reconstitution).

The Ruthless Chinese Emperor Qin Shi Huang: How He Unified and Tyrannized His Subjects

Qin Shi Huang Di (秦始皇帝, translated as ‘the First Emperor of the Qin’) (often shortened as Qin Shi Huang) is arguably one of China’s best known emperors. It is undeniable that Qin Shi Huang was an...
Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa.

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa: Statesman, General, and Friend of Augustus

Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa was one of the most powerful and influential men who lived during the early days of the Roman Empire. Agrippa was a statesman, general, and most important of all, a close...
Figure of an Ife King

The Rulers of Ife: The Traditional and Adaptive Roles of the Ooni

Ife is an ancient city of the Yoruba located in the south-western part of modern day Nigeria. Based on the archaeological evidence, the urbanization of the site may be dated back to around 500 AD...
Moulay Ismaïl of Morocco

How the Sultan Moulay Ismail of Morocco Sired 1,000 Children

Sultan Moulay Ismaïl of Morocco, "The Bloodthirsty," was the second ruler of the Moroccan Alaouite dynasty and reigned from 1672 to 1727. Like others of the dynasty, he claimed to be a descendant of...
Kenesary Khan Tomb

Archaeologists Unearth Tomb of Kenesary Khan's Warriors

Archaeologists have discovered a tomb of Kenesary Khan’s warriors in an old Muslim cemetery located near Astana city in Kazakhstan. The tomb is marked by an old tombstone with lettering in Arabic...