The first mention of the famous ‘Sword in the Stone’ of the Arthurian tradition is found in Robert de Boron’s Merlin , a medieval French poem, part of the 13th-century Lancelot-Grail cycle of French...
After five years of research two German scientists have published translations of a collection of Egyptian magical texts. Cutting through the love spells, curses and protection rituals, this work...
In November 1519, the formidable Aztec king, Montezuma , ruled over a flourishing empire at its pinnacle. His empire, comprising 500 city-states and nearly 6 million people, centered on the...
During excavations at a 2,500-year-old archaeological site in Puyang, China, a set of 10 polished and painted bone slips or sticks were unearthed, all of which were inscribed with an ancient Chinese...
Hawaii, known today as a popular tourist destination, conceals a deeper historical allure that predates Western influence. The archipelago, primarily volcanic, originated between forty and seventy...
The Red Turban Rebellion, which took place from 1351 to 1368, was a pivotal event in Chinese history, marking the decline of the Mongol Yuan Dynasty and the rise of the native Ming Dynasty. This...
Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology A mortuary practice known as ‘Log Coffin culture’ characterizes the Iron Age of highland Pang Mapha in northwestern Thailand. Between 2,300 and 1,...
While digging at the site of a rural, first-century AD Roman settlement in Houten-Castellum in the Netherlands, archaeologists uncovered a most unusual artifact. Inside a hollowed-out animal bone,...
Typical of cats, the leonine goddesses of ancient Egypt, including Sekhmet are very elusive, despite countless research papers. A review of the attestations of the cult of feline deities in Egypt...
In a fascinating addition to our understanding of ancient Britain, recent archaeological work at Vindolanda, a key Roman garrison south of Hadrian's Wall in Northumberland, has unearthed evidence...
In medieval Europe , justice was often sought through grim ordeals, and the judicial duel was a stark example. The murder of Charles the Good, Count of Flanders, triggered a brutal confrontation...
A dazzling Bronze Age hoard, discovered 60 years ago in Spain, referred to as the Treasure of Villena, and dating back to the period between 2200 and 750 BC, has now been found to possess ‘extra-...
The Dazu Rock Carvings are a series of Chinese religious sculptures and carvings located in the Dazu District of Chongqing, China. These carvings date back to the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD) and the...
The Pax Romana, a remarkable era of relative peace in the Roman Empire from 27 BC to 180 AD, marked a pivotal period that shaped the empire's trajectory. Emerging from the political turmoil of the...
A team of student researchers have combined 3D-mapping and AI to decipher a Greek scroll that was encased in ash during the 79 AD eruption of Mount Vesuvius. The philosophical musing reveals Greek...
The Tudor era , spanning 118 years, emerged from the aftermath of the Wars of the Roses . Henry VII's victory at Bosworth in 1485 secured his tenuous claim to the throne, symbolized by the Tudor Rose...
Archaeologists from the Déri Museum have unveiled an exciting find: the burial of an Avar warrior accompanied by a fully intact ‘lamellar’ armor set within a solitary early Avar tomb. This discovery...
In June 2009, archaeologists made a shocking discovery in the seaside town of Weymouth in Dorset, England. While excavating in preparation for the anticipated Weymouth Relief Road, archaeologists...
The historical narrative of Pocahontas , popularized through the writings of English explorer John Smith, presents a complex and contested tale. Smith, a key figure in Jamestown's early days,...
In 2019 I wrote a news article on Ancient Origins about the UK’s first “flat-pack” medieval home. Now, archaeologists in London have announced their discovery of an incredibly well-made, and...
The Parthian Empire, successor to the Persian legacy, emerged in 238 BC, springing from the Parni tribe's conquest of Parthia in modern-day northeastern Iran. Although initially subdued by the...
The Anglo-French war of 1294-1303 has not been the subject of a major study since the early 1900s. Recent histories tend to treat it as a sideshow compared to King Edward I’s wars in Wales and...
Shortly before her death, the Bulgarian prophetess Baba Vanga is said to have whispered an enigmatic prophecy: “ The time of miracles will come, and science will make great discoveries in the field...
The Abbasid Caliphate was an Arabic dynasty that ruled over much of the Muslim world for over 500 years. It rose from bloody beginnings to become the center of the Muslim world during the Islamic...
