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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Representation of a forbidden medieval romance, like the affair of Pierre I de Lusignan and Joanna l’Aleman. Source: grape_vein / Adobe Stock

Love and Intrigue: Ruins of King Pierre I and Joanna l’Aleman's Forbidden Romance

In the twilight of the medieval period, amidst the clash of crusades and kingdoms, unfolds the poignant saga of King Pierre I de Lusignan and his courtier, Joanna l’Aleman—a forbidden love story that...
Representational image of the complex nature of Renaissance magic combining science and the divine. Source: lleandralacuerva / Adobe Stock

Renaissance Magic: Linking the Earthly and the Divine

In the Renaissance, magic was a convergence of science, philosophy, and the mystical, reflecting the era's quest for knowledge and understanding of the world. Unlike today's clear demarcation between...
Detail of a recreation of Athena Parthenos at Nashville Parthenon, Tennessee, USA. Source: Lucas Livingston / CC BY 2.0

Athena Parthenos: Tales of Artistry, Myth and Athenian Glory

The city of Acte had not formally been bestowed with divine protection. However, its king, Cecrops, ushered a golden period so remarkable that the city was then renamed Cecropia and the gods...
Dutch East India Company factory in Hugli-Chuchura, Mughal Bengal. Hendrik van Schuylenburgh, 1665. Source: Public domain

Spice, Spice, Baby: The Dutch East-India Company

Today’s world is run by massive corporations which are ever-present in the lives of everyone on the planet. Everything from computers, software, soft drinks, fast food, coffee and cell phones are...
Performing an offering ceremony to Pachamama in the Andes region of Peru. Source: Yuri - Supay / Adobe Stock

The Traditional Offering Ceremony of the Andes: How to Maintain Balance Between the Material and Spiritual Worlds

In traditional Andean cosmovision, the natural world and the divine are united, and offering ceremonies are seen as a part of the reciprocity system between the material and spiritual worlds...
Epic events shook the ancient Egyptian world during the Era of Menophres. Source: FantasyLand86 / Adobe Stock

Ancient Markers of Traumatic Events: The Era of Menophres, Sothis, Osiris, and Noah

In his work De Die Natali (The Birthday Book), written in 238 AD, Censorinus, a Roman grammarian and author, discusses the concept of the Great Year in Chapter XVIII. He writes “The 1461st year by...
A mysterious and magical island. Source: Marina Varnava / Adobe Stock

Avalon: Island of Apples

The Celtic Otherworld has always been a mystery; a strange, mysterious, and elusive place. What is not always appreciated is the extent to which the Celtic Otherworld, especially the magic Island of...
Representation of an Inca sun god. AI-generated. Source: NorLife / Adobe Stock

Revisiting the Solar Path of the Inca Creator God

The high priests of the Inca Empire of ancient Peru used their sacred texts, known as the Codes of Sacred Geography, to build sacred community centers ( wakas ) along 42 long-distance ceque lines...
Ariadne and Bacchus. Source: Ruslan Gilmanshin / Adobe Stock

The Many Stories of Ariadne’s Life and Love

One of the largest Bronze Age archaeological sites in Crete is the palace ruins at Knossos. The passageways have an elaborate layout and one can still see murals that show a sport in which men would...
Representation of Anglo-Saxon warriors in battle. Source: Sarah / Adobe Stock

The Battle of Cymenshore, AD 477

In the aftermath of the Romans’ departure from Britain in the fifth century AD, the coast of the former Roman province was left vulnerable to various invaders who sought to establish kingdoms of...
A painting of Cahokia Mounds State Historic site by William R. Iseminger. Source: William R. Iseminger

Cahokia: The Rise and Fall of an Indigenous Empire

A young Indigenous man, a Pilgrim, has been walking all day carrying a large bundle basket on his back. His long black hair is tied up in a bun at the back of his head, and he has new, round,...
A hippeis rider seizes a mounted Amazonian warrior armed with a labrys by her Phrygian cap. Roman mosaic Daphne, Antioch-on-the-Orontes (now Antakya in Turkey), (fourth century AD)/ Louvre, Paris. (Jacques MOSSOT/ CC BY-SA 4.0)

Amazon Myrina, Destroyer of Cerne, Conqueror of Atlantians – Myth Or Proto History?

Diodorus Siculus’ Library of History is a mine of information about the ancient world, its peoples, histories, legends, and myths. Most interesting in Book 3. 52. is the narration of the myth of...
Aristocratic Athenian Hero Pericles Versus Demagogue Villain Cleon

Aristocratic Athenian Hero Pericles Versus Demagogue Villain Cleon

The founding of the Delian League in 478 BC moved the Athenians closer to the idea of democracy. However, although the Athenians believed that all men were created equal in political power and the...
Encounter between Maximilian I, Holy Roman Emperor and Henry VIII. In the background is depicted the Battle of the Spurs against Louis XII of France. (Public Domain)

Tudor Intrigues and Intricacies - A Royal Guard’s Journal

The journal of a certain Edward Underhill offers a rare insight into the intrigues and intricacies of the Tudor court, for as a member of the monarch’s personal guard, he interacted with all the...
"The Meeting of Cortés and Montezuma,"from the Conquest of Mexico series Mexico (1650+) Jay I. Kislak Collection (Public Domain)

Still Searching For Aztec Montezuma’s Lost Treasure

The missing gold of Montezuma, ninth Emperor of the Aztec Empire was buried by the Aztecs, the Utes protected it, the Spanish killed for it, and the Mormons looted it, but is the bulk of it still out...
Panorama of Sacsayhuamán (Diego Delso/ CC BY-SA 4.0)

Hidden Monoliths Beneath Sacsayhuaman Point To Lost Civilization

Sacsayhuaman Archaeological Park, located above the ancient city of Cusco in Peru, hides a secret. Hidden beneath the archaeological sites are some very strange and beautiful stone vestiges, many...
The Meeting of Antony and Cleopatra by Sir Lawrence Alma Tadema (1885) (Public Domain)

Cleopatra Selene, Serene Queen of Mauritania

The only child of Cleopatra and Marc Antony ’s to reach adulthood, Queen Cleopatra Selene (40 BC- 5 BC) of Mauretania was one of the most important women of the Augustan age— exceptional in and of...
Coriolanus and the Roman matrons by Pieter Lastman (1622) Trinity College, Dublin. (Public Domain)

Tragic Coriolanus, Roman Warrior Or Traitor

William Shakespeare’s Roman play Antony and Cleopatra impresses upon the audience a vast universe which includes Rome, Alexandria, and Athens. In contrast, his other Roman play, Coriolanus, is...
Emperor Theodosius II welcomes the relics of St. John Chrysostom. Holy Apostles Church (Early 11th century) (Public Domain)

The Byzantine Emperors 395 – 491 AD

The Byzantine Emperors witnessed the disintegration of the western Roman Empire which did not survive past the fifth century. Contrary to the latter, the Byzantine Empire would subsist the successive...
Death of Semele, caused by the Theophany of Zeus without a mortal disguise, by Peter Paul Rubens (1640) (Public Domain)

Ancient Greek Theophanies, Ghosts And Hallucinations

Gods and goddesses revealed themselves rather remarkably often to the privileged and chosen ancient Greeks, even if it was in disguise to hide their blinding brilliance. Like English, Greek did not...
Medieval Mass battle ( AIGen/ Adobe Stock)

Grand Alliances: The Anglo-French War 1294 – 1303

In 1294, after almost 30 years of peace, England and France went to war. This sowed the seeds of the conflict known as the Hundred Years War, the era of the longbow and the famous Battles of Crécy...
Henry VIII's first interview with Anne Boleyn. (Public Domain)

Unlawful Love - Queen Anne Boleyn – Witch or Not?

Queen Anne Boleyn, King Henry VIII’s second wife, was executed on 19 May 1536 on charges of adultery with five men, including her own brother, and plotting the King’s death. She was believed to have...
Kriemhild accuses Hagen of murdering Sigfrid after Sigfrid's wounds begin to bleed in Hagen's presence, by Emil Lauffer (1879) (Public Domain)

Nibelungs – Germanic Race Of Elves Or Giants?

The Nibelungs are one of the most mysterious peoples of the ancient world. Some scholars regard them as a race of dwarfs or elves. On the other hand, their close identification with giants suggests...
The Forge of Vulcan by Diego Velázquez (1630) (Public Domain)

Excalibur: Extracting Swords From Stone, Ancient Metallurgical Metaphors

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...

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