Inequality became rooted in ancient societies with the rise of ox-drawn plows. Ancient societies across Eurasia as far back as 7000 years ago experienced the rise of an upper class. And according to...
The words of the 16th-century Bishop of Geneva, Saint Francis de Sales, are truer today than ever before: “ Half an hour's meditation each day is essential, except when you are busy. Then a full hour...
Scans of a 2,000-year-old crocodile suggest the reptile was hunted for mummification rites. Mummified animals have been recovered from many, if not most, ancient Egyptian tombs and while today we...
The Romans conquered vast regions, ranging from the west of Europe, across to what is now Armenia . They ruled the thousands of miles of north Africa, the lands all along the Mediterranean Sea , and...
The shadow of Hathor is still present in many places related to the monumental history of ancient Egypt. She was one of the most important goddesses near the Nile and remains one of the best-known...
The ancient Inca sanctuary of Machu Picchu is considered one of humanity's greatest architectural achievements. Built in a remote Andean setting atop a narrow ridge high above a precipitous river...
The ancient Greeks were a polytheistic people and worshiped a multitude of gods. The most important gods of the Greek pantheon were the Twelve Olympians, so-called due to the belief that they resided...
Archaeologists at a Macedonian graveyard in Greece have been ecstatic to find that graverobbers had far from cleaned out the ancient resting place. The burial ground was looted in ancient times and...
Ptolemaic Egypt is distinctive in being both the last independent Egyptian dynasty and the last Hellenistic kingdom to fall to Rome . The Ptolemies were not native Egyptians, but Greek and Macedonian...
One of the first things many kids – or even adults – may do when they are on a beach or dune is to make patterns in the sand or sculptures in the form of sandcastles. Many generations of humans have...
Two ancient Egyptian sarcophagi containing mummies, that are to be restored and displayed at the National Museum of Egyptian Civilization (NMEC) in Cairo, were recently unpacked and witnessed by...
Mehrgarh is an archaeological site situated in the Balochistan, in the southwestern part of Pakistan. In the native Balochi language, ‘mehr’ is said to mean ‘love’, and ‘garh’ means heaven. Thus, the...
Groucho Marx once joked , “Anything that can’t be done in bed isn’t worth doing at all.” You might think he was referring to sleeping and sex. But humans, at one time or another, have done just about...
It’s no surprise that the history of medicine had a rocky and somewhat gruesome journey before reaching its current, modern state. From the earliest meddling in surgery in Classical Antiquity to the...
A group of extreme Christian missionaries is causing irreversible trouble in outback Wangkatjungka, in Australia, by burning sacred Aboriginal objects because they are “all from the devil”, while...
The Achaemenid Empire was an ancient empire whose heartland was the region of Persis , in the southwestern part of modern-day Iran. At its greatest extent, the Achaemenids ruled over an empire that...
Virginity has been the obsession of men for thousands of years. It has driven the best people, like the virgin warrior Joan of Arc, to fight for just cause. Virginity has also lured the worst people...
In the ancient battle of Thurii in 282 BC, between Rome and the Greek colony of Tarentum, the Romans noticed a youth of extraordinary height marching in front of them and performing miracles of...
The Scottish public is being consulted on a proposed national memorial in Fife for people condemned as witches. Scottish records inform that between the 16th and 18th centuries there were at least 1,...
17 miniature coffins were discovered in a small cave on the mystical Arthur’s Seat outside of Edinburgh, Scotland in 1836. Today, only eight remain and are now on display at the National Museum of...
The famous Lakota were one of the three Sioux tribes of the plains. Throughout their history, which is both glorious and tragic, there have been many prominent heroes, braves, and chiefs. The one...
At Tiwanaku, Bolivia , archaeologists have excavated a number of vessels that are believed to be 1,400 years old making them amongst the very oldest artifacts to be found at the site. Tiwanaku is one...
At a staggering 88 meters tall, a 400-year-old tree found in the Brazilian Amazon has been declared the region’s largest tree. Researchers are now trying to figure out how it grew to such heights...
Sitting in plain sight but unnoticed for centuries, Rujm el-Hiri - an unusual megalith near the Sea of Galilee - has stumped experts. An ancient monument comprised of enormous stone circles dating to...
