Ming Dynasty

25 September, 2020 - 18:05 B. B. Wagner

The Little Ice Age and Its Giant Impact on Human History

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...

28 February, 2019 - 18:04 Ed Whelan

Massive Stash of Illegal Artifacts and 1000s of Human Bones Recovered From Indiana Man’s Basement Collection

The FBI’s art crime unit has announced that during a multi-year investigation it has uncovered a staggering hoard of stolen antiquities . The haul of antiquities was huge, and it included a large...

11 December, 2018 - 23:00 dhwty

The Great Wall of China Construction Project that Spanned Generations, Centuries and Dynasties

The Great Wall of China (known also as the ‘Wanli Changcheng’ or ‘10000 Li Wall’) is one of China’s most iconic structures . This is the longest wall in the world, and one of the largest construction...

Detail of a portrait of the Kangxi Emperor in Court Dress.

30 May, 2018 - 02:01 dhwty

The Qing Dynasty Part II: The Final Dynasty

Read Part I Here The Kangxi Emperor ascended the throne in 1661, at the age of seven, after his father, the Shunzhi Emperor, died suddenly from smallpox at just 23 years old. Kangxi would go on to...

29 May, 2018 - 01:59 dhwty

The Qing Dynasty: Last of the Imperial Dynasties of China– Part 1

The last imperial dynasty of China, the Qing Dynasty, was established by the Manchus in 1636 to designate their regime in Manchuria. The Qing Dynasty came to rule over China in 1644, when the capital...

A gold seal was one of the many treasures recovered from the Minjiang River in Sichuan, China.

21 March, 2017 - 21:57 Theodoros Karasavvas

Underwater Treasure Found in Southwestern China Makes Reality out of 300-Year-Old Mythical Battle

Chinese archaeologists announced yesterday the discovery of an immense underwater treasure. They stated that they recovered more than 10,000 gold and silver items which had been sitting at the bottom...

A watercolor painting overview of the Ming Tombs. (1875-1908)

10 October, 2015 - 14:53 dhwty

A Final Resting Place Fit for an Emperor: The Thirteen Tombs of the Ming Dynasty

The Ming Dynasty was established in 1368 AD by Zhu Yuanzhang (who became the Hongwu Emperor) following the overthrow of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty. Until the collapse of the Ming Dynasty in 1644 AD,...

The ring or watch said to have been found by Chinese archaeologists in 2008 at a centuries-old, sealed tomb.

27 June, 2015 - 14:31 lizleafloor

Timeless Mystery: How did a Swiss Ring Watch End up in a Sealed Ming Dynasty Tomb?

A mystery continues to surround the curious excavation of a strange artifact and those who recovered it from the depths of an ancient tomb in China. When archaeologists reportedly recovered a modern-...

Lady Mei’s brick tomb found in Nanjing, China.

14 May, 2015 - 18:00 aprilholloway

Stone Tablets found in Gold-Filled Chinese Tomb tell Remarkable Rags to Riches Tale

Two stone epitaphs found within a 500-year-old gold-filled tomb discovered in Nanjing, China, tell a remarkable story about the tomb owner, a woman named Lady Mei. According to the tablets, Lady Mei...

Paintings in a Yuan Dynasty tomb had beautifully painted scenes from stories of Filial Piety.

24 January, 2015 - 00:59 Mark Miller

Spectacular paintings found in 700-year-old Chinese tomb

An elaborate, beautifully painted tomb was found when rains washed away soil and revealed a capstone on a hillside in China. The tomb dates to the Yuan dynasty, about 700 years ago. Scholars believe...

The man’s gown found in the Ming Dynasty tomb

10 December, 2014 - 22:30 Mark Miller

Archaeologists unearth spectacular textiles in Ming Dynasty Tomb

Exactly how did Chinese people dress 500 years ago? What were their aspirations for the afterlife? Apart from artistic depictions and written descriptions, it is usually hard to tell exactly how...

30 June, 2014 - 14:19 dhwty

The Great Forbidden City of China

The Forbidden City is the imperial palace that was once home to the emperors of China during the final two imperial dynasties, the Ming Dynasty and the Qing Dynasty. The complex covers an incredible...

10 May, 2014 - 03:10 aprilholloway

Over 1,000 ancient Buddha statues uncovered in China

Archaeologists have discovered more than 1,000 ancient Buddha statues in three stone caves on a cliff-face in Yangqu County, in north China's Shanxi Province, according to a report in China.org.cn ...

19 March, 2014 - 00:50 aprilholloway

Ancient Artefacts Found in Taiping Lake in China

An underwater archaeology team from the Provincial Institute of Archaeology and the National Museum's Underwater Archaeology Research Center in China have discovered ancient artefacts in Taiping Lake...

9 October, 2013 - 02:03 aprilholloway

Did China discover America 70 years before Columbus?

Recently we reported on a new book by Italian physicist and philologist Lucio Russo who presented the controversial claim that the ancient Greeks discovered America long before Christopher Columbus...

Myths & Legends

The Epic of Gilgamesh. Source: Luca Oleastri / Adobe.

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Searching For a Way to the Home Planet

In contrast to many theorists, this unconventional retelling of key parts of the Epic explores the idea that Gilgamesh was not searching for life eternal on Earth, as has been suggested as the theme of the Epic, but was instead searching for the means of transport to return to his goddess mother Ninsun’s home planet in the heavens.

The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon

A Pilgrimage of Thought: The Divine Comedy by Dante Alighieri

The Last of the Siberian Unicorns: What Happened to the Mammoth-Sized One-Horned Beasts of Legend?

Batman Existed in Mesoamerican Mythology and His Name Was Camazotz

The Powerful Symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000 Year History

Human Origins

Return of the Ancient Gods: The Resurgence of Paganism

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.

Are the Distinctive Kalash People of Pakistan Really Descendants of Alexander the Great’s Army?

The Truth Behind 5 Disney Movies That Are Based On Real Histories

Ancient Anomalous Human Skeletons: Humanity Could be Much Older Than We Think

One Hundred Thousand Adams and Eves?

Messiah on Temple Mount: Are We Nearing the End of Time?

Ancient Technology

Two years ago, German scientists dated the Idol as being 11,000 years old.

Beaver's teeth 'used to carve the oldest wooden statue in the world’

Dating back 11,000 years - with a coded message left by ancient man from the Mesolithic Age - the Shigir Idol is almost three times as old as the Egyptian pyramids. New scientific findings suggest that images and hieroglyphics on the wooden statue were carved with the jaw of a beaver, its teeth intact.

The Evidence is Cut in Stone: A Compelling Argument for Lost High Technology in Ancient Egypt

150,000-Year-Old Pipes Baffle Scientists in China: Out of Place in Time?

The revolutionary invention of the wheel

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

Ancient Places

The Beauty of Loulan and the Tattooed Mummies of the Tarim Basin

Loulan was discovered in 1980, but it was 3800 years ago that she died on the trade route known as the Silk Road. The natural dryness and salty soil preserved her and over two hundred other mummies,...

Tristan da Cunha: Only 269 People Remain on World's Most Remote Inhabited Island

Competing for the Title of the Oldest House in England - Luddesdown Court and Saltford Manor

Adapting to Survive: How Byzantium Survived the Arab Invasions

Homer’s Iliad Casts Doubt on the Aegean Location of Troy

More than a Dozen Mysterious Prehistoric Tunnels in Cornwall, England, Mystify Researchers

Opinion

Floki and the Viking Discovery of Iceland

The Vikings’ next step out into the Atlantic – the discovery and settlement of Iceland – is one of the best documented events of the Viking Age. Medieval Icelanders were fascinated by genealogy, not only because, as emigrants

Messiah on Temple Mount: Are We Nearing the End of Time?

3 Problems to Remember When Trying to Find Atlantis

Naupa Iglesia: An Egyptian Portal in the Andes?

The Nephilim: Giant Offspring of the Sons of God and the Daughters of Man?

Mount Shasta: Spirits and Danger on a Sacred California Mountain

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At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

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By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.