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Detail of a painting of a mother and child, in this case Andromache and Astyanax by Pierre Paul Prud’hon. Source: Public domain

Mothers’ Lives in Ancient Greece Were Not Easy – But Celebrations of Their Love Have Survived Across the Centuries

By Joel Christensen / The Conversation As a father of three and the husband of an amazing woman, I know that one day a year is far too little to recognize everything mothers do. But my work as a...
Deriv; Sculpture depicting the King Tutankhamun as a child, gold plate with Tutankhamun and Ankhesenamun.

The Twin Tragedy of Tutankhamun: Death of a Dynasty

Tossed away callously in a dark corner of the lavish Treasury in the subterranean tomb of Tutankhamun was possibly the most poignant remnant of the boy king’s short life. Positioned next to the...
Representative image for Queen Mother of the West. Source: wichansumalee / Adobe Stock

Queen Mother of the West and Her Peaches of Immortality

Xiwangmu (西王母), whose name means ‘Queen Mother of the West’ is a goddess in the Taoist pantheon, and worshipped in Chinese folk religion. Xiwangmu is considered to be one of the most prominent female...
Fertility goddesses can be found in all cultures and times. Source: zolotareva_elina /Adobe Stock

Praying For Life – Top 10 Ancient Fertility Goddesses

Throughout the ancient history of the world, polytheism - commonly known as paganism or heathenism - was the defining aspect of all societies and civilizations. Our ancestors had complex and...
An illustration depicting Frigg.

Frigg: Queen of Asgard, Beloved Norse Goddess, Mother

Frigg or Frigga (which means ‘Beloved’ in Old Norse) is a goddess found in Norse mythology. As the wife of Odin and the mother of Baldur, she is the ‘Queen of the Æsir’. This deity was worshipped as...
Detail of Tiamat.

Tiamat, Mesopotamian Mother Goddess: From Chaos to Creation

Tiamat is an ambiguous deity who played an important role in the creation myth of ancient Mesopotamia . She was their personification of the primordial sea, from which the first generation of gods...
The remains of the Egyptian woman with her unborn child

A Mother, With Her Unborn Child Inside Her Womb, Surface in Egypt After 3,500 Years

Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities have announced that archaeologists have uncovered in Aswan, Egypt, the skeletal remains of a woman who died towards the end of her pregnancy, still holding the...
Gaia

Gaia: The Greek Earth Goddess Had No Tolerance for Cruel Family Members

According to the ancient Greeks, Gaia was a primordial deity and the personification of the Earth. In fact, her name can actually be translated to mean ‘land’ or ‘earth’. In Greek mythology, Gaia was...
Researchers said the bones of this woman's twin fetuses are visible near her pelvis and thighs

A 7,700-Year-Old Case of Death During Childbirth in Siberia

If childbirth is still today one of the most dangerous things a woman can do, imagine how dangerous it was 7,700 years ago, before modern medicine. The remains of a Stone Age Siberian mother and her...
pper part of a gypsum statue of a Sumerian woman. The hands are folds in worship.

Nammu: A Forgotten Tale of the Sumerian Mother of Gods

Nammu was the primeval Sumerian mother goddess who gave birth to the gods and created humanity. Despite her extremely important role, much of her story is wrapped in mystery. Some information can be...
 A Ming silk tapestry depicting Dongfang Suo stealing a Peach of Immortality.

Reserved for the Gods: Only Two Humans Have Tasted the Chinese Peaches of Immortality

You may have heard of the golden apples of Greek myth, but do you know of the Chinese Peaches of Immortality? These sacred fruits have become symbols that continue to hold significance at yearly...
The Pleiades

From the Ancient Greek Pleiades to the Hindu Matrikas: Mother Goddesses, Music and the Sacred Number 7

In Brihat-Samhita , Indian astronomer Varahamihira (505–587 CE) says that "Mothers are to be made with cognizance of gods corresponding to their names” leading to the birth of Matrikas (“Divine...
Manananggal, mythical creature of the Philippines

The Shocking Demon that Brings Plague and Devours Babies: Ancient Goddess & Evil Widow Rangda in Balinese Mythology

All eyes focused on the figure of Rangda as she emerged from the inner part of the temple, about a third of the way through the Barong dance (an ancient dance which predates even the Hindu influences...
The Stone Age remains of a mother cradling her baby.

Mother Found Still Cradling Baby After 4800 Years

Oftentimes, few people are interested in the findings of archeological digs – broken pots, scattered bones, it usually takes a sign of cannibalism or extraordinarily old carbon dating to draw the...
Pasargadae Tomb in Shiraz, Iran.

Was the Magnificent Monumental Tomb of Pasargadae Really Built for Cyrus the Great?

The tomb of Cyrus the Great is the name given to a monument located in the ancient Persian city of Pasargadae. This city was founded by Cyrus, and served as the capital of the Achaemenid Empire until...
The remains of a mother and fetus were buried alongside those of two other children in the early days of the Black Death in Italy, however researchers cannot say for certain that they died of the plague.

New Details Emerge on the Black Death by Examining a Plague Victim and her Tragic Coffin Birth

We can only guess about the life and times of a young mother and two children buried with her, possibly felled by the first wave of the bubonic plague in the 1340s in Italy. They were all buried in a...
Statue of The Roman Emperor Nero by Claudio Valenti, Anzio (anc. Antium) Italy.

Lost History of a Mad Man? Revealing the Surprisingly Compassionate Side of Nero, One of the “Worst” Ancient Roman Emperors

For centuries, the Roman emperor Nero has been well chronicled for his cruelty. Stories about his madness include divorcing his first wife before having her beheaded and then bringing her head to...
The Mother of all Gods: The Phrygian Cybele

The Mother of all Gods: The Phrygian Cybele

A goddess of ecstatic and chthonic reproductive mysteries, Cybele was the primary mother goddess of ancient Anatolia, and Phrygia's only known goddess thus far. She was a "Mistress of Animals", "...
The Mythology of Nut, Mother of Gods

The Mythology of Nut, Mother of Gods

One of the oldest goddesses in Egyptian mythology is Nut, the goddess of the sky ( nut means ‘sky’ in the ancient Egyptian language). It was believed that that the sky is, in fact, a star-covered...
Are Stone Circles Ancient Pregnancy Calendars?

Are Stone Circles Ancient Pregnancy Calendars?

Even today, giving birth can be one of the most dangerous moments in a woman's life. In ancient times it would have been even more so. Matriarchal societies would have tried to ensure the safest...
Translation of 3,000-Year-Old Egyptian Will Reveals Family Disputes Similar to Today

Translation of 3,000-Year-Old Egyptian Will Reveals Family Disputes Similar to Today

Unlike ancient Latin and Greek texts, Egyptian hieroglyphs have been mostly inaccessible for the average ancient history enthusiast. But this is beginning to change with a collection of texts that...
Bradshaw rock paintings found in the north-west Kimberley region of Western Australia.

Australian Aborigine Creation Stories: Rainbow Serpent and Emus in the Stars

Down under all is still and dark, the spirits of the Earth are sleeping. It is the Dreamtime. There are many different Dreamtime stories that vary from region to region and from people to people...
A Mother’s Love Never Dies: 4,800-Year-Old Remains of a Mother Cradling Her Baby Found in Taiwan

The Love of a Mother Never Dies: 4,800-Year-Old Remains of a Mother Cradling Her Baby

The 4,800-year-old skeleton of a woman holding a baby was found in Taiwan. The find was one of 48 sets of remains discovered in the Taichung area of central Taiwan. Altogether these individuals...
The Nurturing Goddess Ninsun: Worshipped by Ancient Mesopotamians and the Mother of Gilgamesh

The Nurturing Goddess Ninsun: Worshipped by Ancient Mesopotamians and the Mother of Gilgamesh

Ninsun is a female figure found in Sumerian mythology. She is a goddess whose parents are the deities Anu (the sky god) and Uras (a goddess of the earth). As a goddess, Ninsun was worshipped by the...

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