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Structure at Xiol, a Maya city located near Mérida, in the Yucatán peninsula of Mexico. Source: El Heraldo de México/Especial

Archaeologists Unlock the Secrets of the Maya “Spirit of Man” City

The ruins of an ancient Maya city, discovered by INAH archaeologists in 2018 in the central Yucatan Peninsula in Mexico, have now been mostly restored. The site, called Xiol (“Spirit of Man” in Mayan...
Study Unveils Just How Scribes Compiled the Famous Domesday Book

Study Unveils Just How Scribes Compiled the Famous Domesday Book

New research has cast light on how and why the iconic Domesday Book was created. The study shows that the work of the medieval scribes was so efficient and sophisticated that they accomplished what a...
Part of the Egyptian Book of Breathing, a hieratic papyrus probably from Thebes, Egypt written during the Ptolemaic dynasty.

Resuscitation of the Ancient Egyptian Book of Breathing

Recently, an American professor has for the first time analyzed the First Book of Breathing , a famous ancient Egyptian book that reveals incredible insights into the afterlife. What happens to us...
Representation of Nicolas Flamel. Source: Maya Kruchancova / Adobe Stock.

Nicolas Flamel – Learned Scribe or Mysterious Alchemist?

Nicolas Flamel was a Frenchman who lived between the 14th and 15th centuries. According to contemporary sources, he was a scribe and manuscript seller. Later sources, i.e. those from the 17th century...
The Tremulous Hand of Worcester was a medieval scribe in the 13th Century.

The Tremulous Hand of Worcester: Unfurling the Medical Mystery of a Medieval Scribe

Handwriting is one of those things most people don’t really give a second thought to today – we live in a world where we are surrounded by text and the vast majority of the time it is printed rather...
Self portrait of Guda, a 12th century nun and female scribe.

Blue Pigment Found on Medieval Teeth Reveals Secret Existence of Female Scribes

The analysis of human teeth has become increasingly important in modern archaeology. A recent discovery of a set of teeth in a German monastery is revolutionizing our understanding of women in...
 Book of Kells, Folio 32v, Christ Enthroned. Scanned from Treasures of Irish Art, 1500 BC to 1500 AD, From the Collections of the National Museum of Ireland.

Priceless Medieval Sacred Text Reveals Its True Origins

Arguably the world’s most famous medieval manuscript, the wonderfully illustrated Book of Kells , was “created in 2 parts over 50 years,” Dr Bernard Meehan of Trinity College, Dublin, told reporters...
Maiestas Domini page from Codex Amiatinus (fol. 796v), Firenze, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana and folio 5r from the Codex Amiatinus (Florence, Biblioteca Medicea Laurenziana, MS Amiatinus 1), Ezra the scribe. "When the sacred books had been consumed in the fires of war, Ezra repaired the damage."

The Codex Amiatinus: The Skins of 500 Calves Were Used to Create this Monumental Manuscript

The Codex Amiatinus dates to the end of the 7th century AD; making it the oldest known surviving complete Catholic Bible written in the Latin Vulgate. It has been estimated that over 1500 calves were...
The imposing mortuary temple of Ramesses III at Medinet Habu. Design by Anand Balaji.

Butehamun, Opener of the Gates to the Underworld: Dismantling Sacred Places of the Dead

At the very end of the Twentieth Dynasty and through to the beginning of the early Twenty-First Dynasty, one after another, the many royal dead in the Valley of the Kings were divested of their...
The solar boat of the god Ra-Atum worshipped by baboons.

Why Were Baboons Inscribed on the Walls of This Newly-Discovered Egyptian Tomb?

Japanese and Egyptian archaeologists have unearthed a 3,000-year-old tomb of a Royal scribe in Thebes in Egypt. The tomb belongs to a man named Khonsu, described as “true renowned scribe” and its...
Hidden in the Glyphs: Deciphering Bilingual Mayan-Olmec Text

Hidden in the Glyphs: Deciphering Bilingual Mayan-Olmec Text

In my book, Olmec Language and Literature , I explain how I deciphered the Olmec language. One of the most important documents used in my research was a Bi-lingual Mayan-Olmec text inscribed on a...
Statue of Sekhemka

Disaster as ancient statue of Sekhemka sells for £16m, setting dangerous precedent

Yesterday, we reported on the plans of Egyptian officials to stop the sale of a 4,400-year-old Egyptian statue by Northampton Museum in England at a Christie’s auction in London. Sadly, all attempts...
Statue of Sekhemka

Can the statue of Sekhemka be saved in the eleventh hour?

Egyptian officials are trying to stop the sale of a 4,400-year-old Egyptian statue by Northampton Museum in England , which is due to take place today. The Council decided to auction off the historic...
Two 26th dynasty Egyptian mummies

Two 26th dynasty tombs unearthed in Egypt containing mummies and fascinating grave goods

Two ancient Egyptian tombs have been discovered by a Spanish – Egyptian team at the Al-Bahnasa archaeological site located in Minya, Egypt, according to a new report in Ahram Online . The ancient...
The ancient system of government in the land of the Pharaohs

The ancient system of government in the land of the Pharaohs

A discussion of ancient Egyptian government and administrative structures cannot be conducted in the same fashion as discussion about modern governments. This is simply due to the fact that the...