saudi arabia

Early hominids processing game with stone tools. Diorama at the Nairobi National Museum.

1 December, 2018 - 02:00 ancient-origins

Resourceful and Intelligent, Unidentified Hominins Flourished in Arabia Using “Old School” Stone Tools

Beginning more than 1.5 million years ago, early humans made stone handaxes in a style known as the Acheulean - the longest lasting tool-making tradition in prehistory. New research led by the Max...

This restoration is based on evidence from the Daka Member, Ethiopia. The photo in the background is from a gallery forest on the Kebena River, a tributary of the modern Awash River. The squatting posture is based on femoral anteversion frequent in Homo erectus. The hand ax is African latest early or early middle Acheulean. The cranial shape is based on BOU-VP-2-66, the Daka Calvaria.

16 August, 2018 - 01:57 ancient-origins

Idle Not Innovative? New Study Says Laziness Led to the Extinction of Homo erectus

The path of least resistence may not be the best to take. New archaeological research from The Australian National University (ANU) has found that Homo erectus , a species of primitive humans, went...

Fossil finger bone of Homo sapiens from the Al Wusta site, Saudi Arabia.

11 April, 2018 - 01:27 ancient-origins

Ancient Human Fossil Finger Discovery Points to Earlier Eurasian Migration

Huw Groucutt / The Conversation The Arabian Peninsula is a vast landmass at the crossroads of Africa and Eurasia. Yet until the last decade almost nothing was known about early humans in the area. In...

High relief of standing dromedary on sandstone spur at center of image.

14 February, 2018 - 01:41 ancient-origins

Rock art: Life-sized Sculptures of Dromedaries Found in Saudi Arabia

At a remarkable site in northwest Saudi Arabia, a CNRS archaeologist and colleagues from the Saudi Commission for Tourism and National Heritage (SCTH) have discovered camelid sculptures unlike any...

A large hand axe found in the Wadi Dadsa.

30 December, 2017 - 02:00 Theodoros Karasavvas

Ancient Stone Artifacts Could Tell the Story of When Early Humans Spread Out of Africa

A team of archaeologists has announced the discovery of over a thousand stone artifacts, with some of them being up to 1.76 million years old. The discovery took place at Wadi Dabsa, in southwest...

Image showing part of the engraving found in the Arabian Desert with dogs on leashes

20 November, 2017 - 13:50 aprilholloway

8,000-Year-Old Engravings in Arabian Desert Are Oldest Known Depictions of Dogs on Leashes

Archaeologists have discovered a set of engravings in Saudi Arabia dating back at least 8,000 years, which depict a hunter accompanied by 13 dogs, 2 of which appear to be on leashes attached to the...

Google Earth image of manmade stone structures in Saudi Arabia

20 October, 2017 - 02:02 Theodoros Karasavvas

Mysterious Manmade Stone Structures Detected in the Remote Landscape of Saudi Arabia

Deep in the heart of Saudi Arabia, 400 peculiar stone structures have been found, dating back thousands of years ago. These stone features were discovered by archaeologists with the use of satellite...

31 July, 2017 - 18:50 Caleb Strom

It Looks Like a Laser Cut But What Really Split the Ancient Al Naslaa Rock?

The Tayma oasis in Saudi Arabia is famous for its rock art and its historic legacy. It was a major trade route in antiquity and was once the dwelling place of a Babylonian king, Nabonidus. It is...

A photo showing some stelae found with Arabic inscriptions.

21 March, 2016 - 23:51 Sam Bostrom

Archaeologists Discover that Earliest Known Arabic Writing Was Penned by a Christian

The oldest known Arabic writing found in Saudi Arabia, from ca. 470 AD belong to a Christian context and predates the advent of Islam with 150 years. In December 2015, researchers from a French-Saudi...

Google Image of some of the “wheel” geoglyphs found in the Azraq Oasis of Jordan.

3 December, 2015 - 03:52 Alicia McDermott

Some Giant Geoglyphs in Jordan are Older than the World Famous Nazca Lines

Despite the difficulty in discerning the finished product of the giant designs from earth, archaeologists have recently announced that at least some of the great “works of old men” (as the Bedouin...

Deriv; The sands of Rub’ al Khali in Saudi Arabia (CC BY-SA 3.0), and dwellings near the Liwa Oasis, UAE

22 November, 2015 - 00:41 David Millar

Qidan, The Lost City of King Ad: Hoax or Reality?

In the middle of World War II a Royal Air Force (RAF) transport plane flying off course over the Arabian desert found a ‘lost city’ deep in the Empty Quarter. It was never seen again. Or was it? In...

28 April, 2015 - 01:03 dhwty

The Qasr al-Farid, the Lonely Castle of the Nabataeans

The Nabataean Kingdom ruled over an area that spanned from the southern Levant to northern Arabia, a position that allowed them to control the Incense Route that passed through the Arabian Peninsula...

11 November, 2014 - 12:03 mrreese

The Works of Old Men: Geoglyphs of the Middle East

Stretching from Syria to Saudi Arabia, thousands of ancient geoglyphs built from stone stretch across the desert plains. Known as the “works of old men”, some display a kite-like structure while...

20 August, 2014 - 12:28 aprilholloway

The Lost Years of Nabonidus, Last King of the Neo-Babylonian Empire

Nabonidus was the last king of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, reigning from 556-539 BC. He took the throne after the assassination of the boy-king Labashi-Marduk, who was murdered in a conspiracy only...

8 August, 2014 - 03:33 aprilholloway

Oldest Arabic inscription provides missing link between Nabatean and Arabic writing

A Saudi-French archaeological team has discovered the oldest known inscription in the Arabic alphabet at a site located near Najran in Saudi Arabia, according to a report in Arab News . The finding...

9 February, 2014 - 10:19 johnblack

The architectural marvel of Madain Saleh and the enigmatic Nabataean people

The archaeological site of Mada’in Saleh, previously known as Hegra, is the most famous ancient site in Saudi Arabia. It is also the first archaeological site of Saudi Arabia to be included in the...

Myths & Legends

Camazotz Maya style Batman suit created by Mexican designer Kimbal

Batman Existed in Mesoamerican Mythology and His Name Was Camazotz

As social media is abuzz with who might be cast in the next Batman movie, with concerns that some of the candidates might not be menacing enough to fill those big black boots, it might be time to...

Cursing of Coprnice: The Good and Evil of Croatian Folklore

Exposing the Secret History of Giants and the Underground Hyperborean Gallery in Romania

The Disturbing True Story of the Pied Piper of Hamelin

Cerberus: Legendary Hell Hound of the Underworld

Rauðskinna: The Famous Icelandic Book of Black Magic

Human Origins

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Sumer, or the ‘land of civilized kings’, flourished in Mesopotamia, now modern-day Iraq, around 4500 BC. Sumerians created an advanced civilization with its own system of elaborate language and writing, architecture and arts, astronomy and mathematics.

The human skull that challenges the Out of Africa theory

Rh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation?

The Incredible Powers of the Ancient Siddhars

Khoisan people of South Africa were once the most populous humans on Earth

The Takenouchi Manuscripts and the Story of Humanity Never Told

Ancient Technology

The Helmet That Shows Celtic Warriors Helped the Roman Army Conquer Briton

The Hallaton hoard included the Hallaton helmet, coins and other items from the Iron Age and the Roman era, and throws an interesting new light on the nature of relations between Britons and Rome.

Ten amazing inventions from ancient times

The Indian Sage who developed Atomic Theory 2,600 years ago

The Discovery that Revealed Ancient Humans Navigated the Seas 130,000 Years Ago

The Lost Knowledge of the Ancients: Were Humans the First? Part 1

Is this a 300 million-year-old screw or just a fossilized sea creature?

Ancient Places

Why Isn’t This Map in the History Books?

By the age of 10, most children in the United States have been taught all 50 states that make up the country. But centuries ago, the land that is now the United States was a very different place...

Speculum Alchemiae: Secret Underground Alchemy Lab Discovered in Prague During Flood

The White Slaves of Barbary

El Tajín, The Lost City of a Mysterious People

The Secret Tomb of the First Chinese Emperor Remains an Unopened Treasure

36,400 BC: The Historical time of the Zep Tepi Theory

Opinion

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

There are many accounts of a land of immortality and eternal youth in world myths and legends, as well as shamanic and indigenous spiritual traditions. Mysterious Worlds Writing in his recent work,...

Pharaoh Akhenaten: An Alternative View of the Heretic King

Changing Colors and Scampering Across the Night Sky: What Did the Ancients Say about Sirius?

Cracking the Code to Discover Ancient Tarot Symbolism and Forgotten Universal Knowledge

The Secret Strategic Plans of Darius the Great

The Secrets of the Kabbalists Garden

Our Mission

At Ancient Origins, we believe that one of the most important fields of knowledge we can pursue as human beings is our beginnings. And while some people may seem content with the story as it stands, our view is that there exists countless mysteries, scientific anomalies and surprising artifacts that have yet to be discovered and explained.

The goal of Ancient Origins is to highlight recent archaeological discoveries, peer-reviewed academic research and evidence, as well as offering alternative viewpoints and explanations of science, archaeology, mythology, religion and history around the globe.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

By bringing together top experts and authors, this archaeology website explores lost civilizations, examines sacred writings, tours ancient places, investigates ancient discoveries and questions mysterious happenings. Our open community is dedicated to digging into the origins of our species on planet earth, and question wherever the discoveries might take us. We seek to retell the story of our beginnings.