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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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The Great Wall of China. Source:  Li Ding / Adobe Stock

Ancient Reeds Whisper Secrets about China’s Great Wall

Scientists analyzing microscopic plant materials trapped within building materials on The Great Wall of China have derived volumes of information about ancient environmental and climatological...
The interior of a mudhif in southern Iraq. Source: TasfotoNL / Adobe Stock

Saving Iraqi Mudhif Reed Architecture from Oblivion

Take a look around someone’s house and you can learn a great deal about their way of life and their culture. This is true for historic dwellings as well, and the Iraqi mudhif reed house is no...
Traditional totora reed raft usage is fading away.  Source: ecuadorquerido / Adobe Stock

Riding Peruvian Waves for 2000 Years on the Totora Reed Raft

Traveling on the dry windswept northern coast of Peru, beside a spectacular landscape, one finds interesting ways whereby people make a living. That’s how we stumbled on a strange little raft made of...
The Abora IV, based on the ancient Egyptian reed boat

Golden Varna Plate Linked To Daring Sea Voyage Between Black Sea and Egypt 7,000 Years Ago

There’s an odd-looking design on an ancient ceramic vessel that was found in Varna, Bulgaria that one expert believes is linked to another kind of vessel – a woven, seafaring kind. Many years ago,...
The Abora IV, based on the ancient Egyptian reed boat. Source: Mission ABORA

Oceanic Indiana Jones Attempts to Sail the Black Sea in an Ancient Egyptian Reed Boat

Described by the New York Times as “part P. T. Barnum and part Indiana Jones” an eccentric former German school teacher, Dominique Goerlitz, has told reporters at AFP that he has assembled a team of...
Picture of a reed boat at the Floating Islands, on Lake Titicaca.

The Sacred Meaning of the Reed: From Houses and Boats to Rituals, Ceremonies and Portals

Many cultures around the world either place a special importance on the hollow-stemmed reed plant or recognize a certain “place of the reeds” within their territory. Legends of the Hopi tribe in...