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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...
The canoti (or canotila) are small creatures found in Sioux culture , canoti meaning “tree-dweller” and canotila signifying “small tree-dweller.” Considered tiny messengers of beings who exist in the...
Since the beginning of humankind, there has been the pressing need to understand the reasons why humans were created. What purpose do humans serve? Each ancient and modern culture hold their own...
One of ancient Egypt’s most-enduring embalming enigmas has to be its cryptic head cones. These unusual objects can be seen in tomb paintings perched atop the heads of both mummies and living people...
Situated in southern Turkey near the upper Euphrates, Gōbekli Tepe has become famous for its surprisingly advanced megalithic architecture and symbolism, seemingly too early for the hunter-gather...
Coming in an infinite number of shapes and colors, seashells have been used as a medium of exchange for centuries in a variety of locations, such as many Indian Ocean and Pacific Ocean islands, as...
The rich fertile lands of Egypt’s Nile Delta must have been looked on with avaricious eyes from their next-door neighbors to the east. All that lush greenery lay in stark contrast to the deserts of...
“ Know ye not that ye are Gods ” reads Psalm 82 verse 6 and John 10 verse 34. It is quite a radical thought, but some scientists are beginning to entertain a rather shocking speculation that might...
Nothing about magical and mysterious Sintra is straightforward, including its name. Sintra can refer to a small town in western Portugal, a short distance north and west of Lisbon, or the large and...
About 2.6 million years ago, predating Homo Sapiens , early human ancestors founded mining when they dug for stones that were best suited for making survival tools and weapons. They knew that stones...
Immuring themselves in an underground stone chamber, sealed tight, waiting to die: that is what more than 24 known individuals did in northern Japan from the 1200s until the 19th century, though it...
It is often assumed that the biblical ‘Nephilim’ were all Giants. The Nephilim, however, entail much more and can be traced back to a much richer tradition found in ancient Mesopotamia about the...
During the 16th century a Christian slave, captured when only 15-years-old, shattered the traditional rules of the Ottoman Empire and through her intelligence and charm became its first Empress,...
In 2016, Ancient Origins published an article entitled Is Marco Polo a Fictional Characte r? and it led to hate-mail and overall outrage among some readers. It was blown so out-of-proportion that the...
The conquest to free the Holy Land was a vital component of the late Middle Ages. Sacred to all three major religions, Christians, Jews and Muslims, control of Jerusalem was significant to each. The...
The popularity of trashy romance fiction with pirates abducting beautiful virgins and selling heroes as slaves, mistaken identities, shipwrecks, lust, lost lovers reunited and happy-ever-after-...
In the Valley of Hinnom near Jerusalem stood a giant statue of the god Moloch. The valley and the deity are infamous for their historical association with child sacrifice. According to some...
Modern Hinduism is likely the most difficult modern religious schemata in the world to define, due to its countless number of sects and influences, and its philosophical additions and interpretations...
It is generally accepted that Fairies were mythological creatures from old European folklore, and that according to fairy folklorists the so-called wee-folk prefer natural sweetened foods like honey...
A series of changes that contributed to the redundancy of London’s port took place during the period of wider disruptions known as the ‘Third-Century Crisis’ - a time of political instability, plague...
Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II (1194-1250) was known as the Wonder of the World, Stupor Mundi , because there had never been anyone like him; nor will there ever be another to match him. Like many...
From the ruins and rubble rises the narrative of the history of Kerameikos, restoring life to the Athenian necropolis. The obituaries on the gravestones and stelae and the sculptures on the marble...
