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Luminous red nova star - V838 Monocerotis, courtesy NASA, STScI, ESA  (Public Domain); Eye of Providence (Public Domain); Deriv.

Secret Societies and Hidden Knowledge: The Explosive Star that Inspired the Modern World

A few weeks ago, astronomers announced that in 2022 something truly spectacular is to occur: a new star will appear in the heavens. It will be the first such event visible with the naked eye for over...
A modern illustration of Medb

When Irish Legends and History Combine: The Tomb of the Fairy Queen Maeve

Legends suggest that the green hills of Ireland have always been a place for fairy games. According to local beliefs, the forests were full of hidden settlements inhabited by supernatural creatures...
Golden Celestial Nymph of Majapahit (CC BY-SA 3.0), and carved relief of a bulging-eyed figure on a temple in Trowulan, suggested site of the capital city of the Majapahit Empire (CC BY-SA 3.0), Deriv.

The Hidden Mastermind and Warrior Queen Behind an Empire’s Golden Age

The Majapahit Empire was a vast empire on the island of Java from 1293 to 1527 CE, which later became part of modern Indonesia. It was an empire of 98 tributaries, stretching from the island of...
Mavia: A Powerful Warrior Queen Who Struck Fear in the Hearts of Ancient Male Rulers

Mavia: A Powerful Warrior Queen Who Struck Fear in the Hearts of Ancient Male Rulers

A woman whose life isn't confirmed by any archaeological evidence is recognized as one of the most famous ancient Arab queens. Next to Zenobia of Palmyra, Queen Mavia is one of the heroines from the...
Revealing the Identify of the First Female Ruler of Egypt. Hint: It Was NOT Hatshepsut

Revealing the Identify of the First Female Ruler of Egypt. Hint: It Was NOT Hatshepsut

Today it is known that women appeared on the throne in ancient Egypt more often than many people believed just decades ago. The first known influential queens appeared with the first kings. This was...
Imagination vs Reality: What if Nefertiti Was Not as Lovely as We are Expected to Believe?

Imagination vs Reality: What if Nefertiti Was Not as Lovely as We are Expected to Believe?

Nefertiti is one of the most iconic persons of ancient Egypt. She is still extremely famous and faith in her great personality is visible in pretty much any book that mentions the queen. But who was...
Queen of Sweden Says Her Old Palatial Home is Haunted by Friendly Ghosts

Queen of Sweden Says Her Old Palatial Home is Haunted by Friendly Ghosts

Queen Silvia of Sweden has recently told the press that her home is haunted. The elaborate residence in question is Drottningholm Palace - a well preserved palace dating back to the 1600s. The royal...
Astounding Ancient Assyria: The Grand Palace of Assurnasirpal

Astounding Ancient Assyria: The Grand Palace of Assurnasirpal

The grand palace of Assurnasirpal (Ashurnasirpal) II was one of the most incredible sites of ancient Assyria. Located in Nimrud, Iraq, the immense palace was richly decorated with sophisticated...
Standing in the Shadow of Alexander the Great: Cleopatra of Macedon and Her Life of Danger

Standing in the Shadow of Alexander the Great: Cleopatra of Macedon and Her Life of Danger

Cleopatra of Macedon stood in the shadow of her more famous brother, Alexander the Great. In fact, she was one of his three known sisters, apart from Cynane and Thessalonica. However, Cleopatra was...
Queen, Warrior, and a Symbol of a Forgotten Dynasty – The Powerful Matriarch Ahhotep

Queen, Warrior, and a Symbol of a Forgotten Dynasty – The Powerful Matriarch Ahhotep

A few surviving records show that Ahhotep was a woman who was stronger, braver, and a more powerful ruler than the average man. Her thrilling story starts in the Egyptian Middle Kingdom and ends in...
Miracles and a Thief: Lifting the Lid on the Legendary Chest of Saint Simeon

Miracles and a Thief: Lifting the Lid on the Legendary Chest of Saint Simeon

There is an elaborate silver sarcophagus overlaid with silver plaques in a church in Croatia. Legends say that the remains of Saint Simeon are inside it. The chest is protected by UNESCO and it is...
Owner of Mummified Legs Likely to Be Nefertari, Favorite Queen of Ramses II

Owner of Mummified Legs Likely to Be Nefertari, Favorite Queen of Ramses II

They are not very pretty to look at now, but a pair of mummified legs are now believed to have belonged to a much sought after queen of ancient Egypt who had been buried in an elaborate and...
Prince Akinidad of Kush and the One Eyed Kandake in the Meroite-Roman War

Prince Akinidad of Kush and the One Eyed Kandake in the Meroite-Roman War

Strabo in his Geography (17 1.54) talks about the “one eyed Kandake” who fought the Romans. Between 30 BC and 22 BC the Romans and Meroites were at war. Meroitic-Kush never became part of the Roman...
Members of the Habsburg family

Weird Ideas, Weird Behaviors: Bringing the Habsburg Family Skeletons Out of the Closet

The Habsburg family is one of the most important royal families in the history of Europe. This may be somewhat surprising, as many of the rulers from this family behaved strangely, had some weird...
The Women Who Created a Legendary Pharaoh: The Hidden Advisers of Ramesses II

The Women Who Created a Legendary Pharaoh: The Hidden Advisers of Ramesses II

Ramesses II is considered one of the greatest pharaohs of Egypt. Regardless if this is an exaggerated statement or not, his reign had very distinct stages. With the disappearance of two of the most...
Discover the Rich History of the Magnificent Portuguese Castle of Obidos

Discover the Rich History of the Magnificent Portuguese Castle of Obidos

The history of medieval Portugal is well documented by a number of artifacts, but also in its incredibly beautiful buildings. One of such structures is Castelo de Óbidos – a castle with roots deep in...
'Esther and Mordechai writing letters to the Jews’ (1675) by Aert de Gelder.

The Remarkable Story of Esther: A Brave Queen and Champion for the Jews

The story of Esther is one of the most important for the Jewish faith, and it is also one of the most inspirational in the entire Bible. She was an independent woman in the court of a Persian king...
A stone statue of Hatshepsut and Egyptian soldiers from Hatshepsut's expedition to the Land of Punt as depicted from her temple at Deir el-Bahri.

Out for War or A Shopping Trip? Why Hatshepsut Traveled to the Kingdom of Punt

The walls of the great temple in Karnak depicted the story of an expedition of impressive ships to the mysterious land known as Punt. The fleet of Queen Hatshepsut traveled there for unknown reasons...
Two Ancient Palaces Unearthed in Montenegro Were Home to Famous Illyrian Rulers

Two Ancient Palaces Unearthed in Montenegro Were Home to Famous Illyrian Rulers

A team of archeologists from the University of Warsaw in Poland has unearthed the first known palace of the Illyrian kings in Montenegro. The discovery is impressive and expands the knowledge about...
The "Disk of Enheduanna" at the Penn Museum in Philadelphia.

The Poetry of Gods by Enheduanna - The First Known Female Writer

It is not always easy to read the stories of real people from the artifacts they left behind. This is especially true if they lived 5,000 years ago. However, the story of a remarkable woman from that...
Cleopatra and Caesar (1866). Painting by Jean-Léon Gérôme.

The Wisdom of Cleopatra, the Intellectual Queen Who Could Outsmart Them All

Cleopatra VII is not only a famous person in history, she is also the icon of a rich and powerful culture. She was usually depicted as a lover of great men, but the truth was different. More...
Margaret of Valois, by Nicholas Hilliard, c. 1577.

Breaking the Rules and Sharing Scandals: The Shocking Story of Queen Marguerite

Margaret de Valois was a Queen of Navarre and France. She was also the main character of the famous novel Queen Margot by Alexander Dumas. This is a story of a woman who loved life and who broke many...
Marie Antoinette, Queen of France, en grand habit de cour, by Jean-Baptiste Gautier Dagoty, 1775.

Not All Fun and Cake: An Alternative Interpretation of the Life of Queen Marie Antoinette

History depicts her as an irresponsible woman whose life was a vanity fair. In fact, she was another historical example of a woman who couldn't live her life as she really wanted to. Marie Antoinette...
A 19th century painting of a magic carpet by Viktor Vasnetsov.

The History of the Magical Flying Carpets

Magic carpets are a form of transportation most notably found in oriental tales. These carpets are known also as flying carpets, as they transport their owners from one place to another through the...

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