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Controlling outcomes, steering destiny and reversing fate in ancient times was all about spells and old-school hands-on magic. Practitioners in ancient Greek and Rome commonly used ‘binding spells’...
The Hermetica are a collection of ancient texts composed in Egypt between roughly 200 BC and 400 AD, attributed to the legendary sage Hermes Trismegistus and his followers. As is well known to...
Today, glass is a mundane material mostly used in construction but in history it was among the treasures of kings and their royal dynasties. The history of glass-making dates back to at least 3,600...
Although located on opposite ends of the globe, ancient Rome and China were remarkably similar in their stature, as both commanded respect from the weaker kingdoms enveloped in their spheres of...
Describing the fortress of Azekah 2,700 years ago the mighty Assyrian King Sennacherib wrote that “its walls were strong and rivalled the highest mountains…by means of beaten earth ramos, battering...
Every country in the world has its own rich folklore , every city and village has its own legends about fantastic creatures and supernatural beings told by grandparents to parents to children,...
It is hard to imagine that the gruesome topic of bodysnatching and the ghastly, gory and gorgeous world of relics would be a main focus of religious veneration throughout the Middle Ages. Through...
During the Hellenistic Period from 312 BC to 63 BC, the Seleucid Empire was a major superpower and at its apex encompassed Anatolia, Persia, the Levant, (now modern Turkey, Iraq, Kuwait, Afghanistan...
The Tower of Babel is one of the most well-known stories in the Bible. Many proposals as to the historical or literary origins of this narrative have been made over the years. A remarkably good case...
For thousands of years, the institution of marriage has been in a constant state of evolution. The established form of marriage recognized in each country, religious or social group at any given time...
Tainted by regicide, usurped, regained, inspired by gods and goddesses and even cursed, the royal bloodline of the Bronze Age Hittites flowed through the plains of Anatolia , as the kings expanded...
For at least 200,000 years Homo sapiens were hunter-gatherer-fishers and at the end of the last Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago, they flipped from being the number one prey food on the planet to...
For probably over 2,000 years in antiquity, mystery rites were celebrated in many different cities stretching from parts of Europe and Africa all the way to India. There were many variations to the...
In a garden, art, science, nature and the mind collide. It is no surprise then, that many stories in ancient religions and philosophies are set in gardens. Christians believe that the Garden of Eden...
An article in the magazine The Horse entitled Carnivorous Horses by Dr Sue McDonnell in which she described horses killing and devouring other animals, spurred some letters to the editors from...
“The female sex has been left defenseless for a long time now, like an orchard without a wall and bereft of a champion to take up arms in order to protect it…” The Book of the City of Ladies by...
The use of Mesopotamian material in the motifs and stories found in Genesis 1–11 (also called the Primeval History) has been of great interest to biblical scholars for many years. Although the...
The hooded gaze of an inscrutable Theodora (c.497- 548 AD) greets hundreds of thousands of visitors each year as they pay their respects to her mosaic at the Basilica of Saint Vitale in Ravenna ,...
Nuclear power has caused some serious disasters throughout the world. Is it a modern phenomenon, or is there evidence of its existence in the ancient world? The worst nuclear disaster in the United...
The Therigatha ( Verses of the Elder Nuns ) is a collection of short poems by and about the early enlightened women in Buddhism. These women were the theris (senior ones) among ordained Buddhist...
In 1637 AD, John Greaves, the English mathematician, astronomer, antiquarian and professor of geometry at Gresham College in London, England, measured and studied famous ancient monuments in Italy...
History fails to record the names of any of the mediciners who accompanied the chivalric orders on their Crusade , but when each of the noblemen of western Europe pledged their oath to take up the...
There is perhaps no greater symbol of Judaism than the white prayer shawl, the tallit . Likewise, there is probably no greater symbol of ancient Egypt’s majesty than the golden funerary mask of the...
How old are the constellations? How were they transmitted through human history? Quite early during humanity’s long journey on earth, many of the brighter stars were named and then arranged into...