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Utagawa Hiroshige's Sailing Boats at Arai (Public Domain)

Did Ancient Japanese Fishermen Reach South America 5,000-Years-Ago?

The notion that pre-Columbian cultures from Europe, Africa, or Asia sailed across the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to discover America, is a popular theory backed by numerous books and television...
Examination of a Witch by Tompkins Harrison Matteson, inspired by the Salem witch trials (1853) (Public Domain)

Strixology: Recording Diabolical Practices Of Renaissance European Witch Hunts

Foemina Instrumentum Diaboli can be translated as ‘Women are instruments of the devil’, which sums up the essence of Renaissance witch hunts in Europe. The word ‘witch’ evokes the figure of an...
Newport Castle with ships by J. M. W. Turner (1796) (Public Domain)

The Newport Medieval Trading Ship Revival

One of the most remarkable maritime archaeological discoveries of the 21st century was the discovery of the ghostly timbers of a medieval ship, embedded in the mud, when renovations of an arts centre...
The Great Heathen Army. The scene depicts brothers Hinguar and Hubba slaying Christians in the north of England. Manuscript from British Library (Public Domain)

Repton, The British Valhalla To The Great Viking Heathen Army And Ivar The Boneless?

Was Ivar the Boneless, son of Ragnar Lothbrock, buried at Repton in Derbyshire county, England? At first glance the small village of Repton, with its gentle village green does not seem at all...
Umbrian-sienese anonim - Hercules at the crossroads (Public Domain)

Encountering Liminal Deities At Crossroads, Where Veils Are Thinnest

In antiquity every village, town or city had a central crossroads, probably marked by the largest statue, fountain, temple or cathedral in the area. This is not by chance. Since prehistory crossroads...
Bloody gladiator sports at the Colosseum ( Gasi/ Adobe Stock)

Are You Not Entertained? A Take On Professional Sports, Philosophy and Wargames In Ancient Rome

The poet Juvenal berated the Roman people for allowing themselves to be seduced by slimy politicians who bought their votes with free wheat and expensive circus games: “Already long ago, from when we...
Pericles's Funeral Oration, by Philipp Foltz (1852)(Public Domain)

Searching For True Monarchy In Greek Literature

Since the beginning of time monarchs and monarchy have attracted a great deal of attention in the media. Countless works of history have focused on the deeds and misdeeds of political leaders, and...
Irish Liberators In South American Independence Wars

Irish Liberators In South American Independence Wars

For much of its history Ireland was just one of a legion of realms conquered by the British Empire in a morally reprehensible quest of world domination. The road to independence was long and arduous...
Egyptian Obelisks Unplugged: The Lost Chord Divine

Egyptian Obelisks Unplugged: The Lost Chord Divine

The magic of ancient Egypt, with its megalithic monuments and the mysteries they symbolize, still mesmerizes millions of people 2,500 years after its decline as an ancient cradle of civilization...
Temple of Winds in the ancient Agora, in Plaka district in Athens (vaios karalaios/ Adobe Stock)

The Greek And Roman Agoras In Athens

The word ‘Agora’ in ancient Greek means ‘market’ but the agora in a city-state or polis was much more than just a commercial hub , it was also the socio-political center, the verus locus social media...
Statue of Hera and Zeus at Panathenaic stadium, Athens. (Sean Wallace-Jones / Adobe Stock)

Ancient Olympia: Site Of The Sacred Hieros Gamos

Long before the Greek Olympic Games became the dominion of a male god, ancient symbolism was embedded in the Hieros Gamos (Sacred Marriage ceremony) practiced at Olympia, a sanctuary in a serene...
Double-leaf frontispiece from the "Encyclopedia of the Brethren of Purity". Baghdad, 1287. Süleymaniye Library (Public Domain)

A Word On Polyglots Of The Ancient World

The most well-known tale of how different languages came to be, at least in areas where Judaism and Christianity are prevalent, is recorded in the Bible, in Genesis 11:1–9 . According to the...
Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Meteora, Greece (Voyagerix / Adobe Stock)

Magnificent Greek Orthodox Monasteries of Meteora, Suspended Between Heaven and Earth

Towering over the Thessalian Plain in Central Greece, is a majestic rock formation, called Meteora, meaning ‘elevated’ or ‘hanging from heaven’, where Eastern Orthodox monasteries literally cling to...
The reconstruction of Skuldelev 5 (1991) (CC BY-SA 3.0)

The Skuldelev Ships At Viking Roskilde, Legendary City Of King Hrothgar Of Denmark

The Danish island of Zealand is home to the city of Roskilde, the capital of Denmark from the 11th century until 1443. Roskilde was at the heart of numerous Viking land and trading routes, exerting...
Polish Legionnaires Fighting Along The Affranchi For The Black Independent Nation Of Haiti

Polish Legionnaires Fighting Along The Affranchi For The Black Independent Nation Of Haiti

The Haitian Revolution of 1791 to 1804 is commonly remembered as the most successful slave revolution of all time, resulting in the establishment of the first black nation of independence in the West...
Norandino and Lucina Discovered by the Ogre by Giovanni Lanfranco (1624) (Public Domain)

Sons of God: Sumerian Elite Ruling Sumerian Class Abducting Khabiru Women

Translators, theologians, and biblical commentators provide many different theories to explain who the Bible is referring to as “the sons of God,” “the Nephilim,” “the men of renown,” and “the...
Singular Roman soldier gazing over the glens ( serpeblu / Adobe Stock)

Remnants Of Roman Roads And Fortresses In Scotland

The Romans occupied what is today Britain between the late first to mid-fifth centuries. To move their legions from one place to another, they built over pre-existing trackways to form the...
Isis with Osiris in the background ( OLGA RA/ Adobe Stock)

The Origin And Purpose Of Egyptian Civilization According To Ancient Hermetic Texts

The Korê Kosmou or Pupil of the Eye of the World is a Hermetic text dating to the third century AD. The Greek text was preserved from antiquity by Johannes Stobaeus of Macedonia as part of his...
Ancient Edessa: Kizilkoyun Necropolis And The Villa Of The Amazons

Ancient Edessa: Kizilkoyun Necropolis And The Villa Of The Amazons

The Balıklıgöl basin, located today in the centre of modern Sanliurfa in Turkiye, was once the centre of Edessa, capitol of the Kingdom of Osroene, which declared its independence in 132 BC from the...
The body of Leo V is dragged to the Hippodrome through the Skyla Gate. Varangian Guardsmen, an illumination from the Skylitzes Chronicle; many if not most members of the Varangian guard were English after the 11th century (Public Domain)

Nova Anglia, The Forgotten Anglo-Saxon Enclave In Ukraine

Tucked away in the outer regions of the Byzantine empire was a pocket of towns with a series of unusual names that have puzzled academic and armchair historians alike, for among the most unexpected...
Saint Michael’s Mount in Cornwall (Public Domain)

Channel Island Hopping In Search of Illusive Ictis

Saint Brendan’s Isle, Hy-Brasil and the Isle of Avalon are three of the many fabled islands that were once believed to have existed off the coastline of Britain. These were traditionally difficult...
Reproduction of Lascaux artwork in Lascaux II (Jack Versloot/ CC BY-SA 2.0)

What Were The Ice Age People Counting?

Thousands of sequential marks were painted and engraved on European portable objects and cave walls between 50,000 to 12,000 years ago. These Upper Paleolithic marks under question are depicted with...
Statue of Boudicca commissioned by Queen Victoria (Rixie / Adobe Stock)

Venta Icenorum: Excavating Romans In Boudicca’s Lands

Today the sleepy village of Caistor St Edmund in the country of Norfolk with its typical church spire and green, seems unremarkable but 2,000 years ago the terrain helped shaped the future of the...
Spanish guerrilla resistance to the Napoleonic French invasion of Spain at the Battle of Valdepeñas (Public Domain)

Guerrilla Warriors Who Overthrew History

Guerrilla warfare is a particular type of combat that is generally fought by trained civilians fighting for freedom from oppression and independence, rather than an official military unit. History is...

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