Nestled at the very core of ancient Central Asian history lies the enigmatic Kushan Empire, a once-powerful civilization that flourished during the critical centuries of the Common Era. Stretching...
The Byzantine town of Subeita (Shivta) in the Negev Desert , was an integral part of the Byzantine province of Third Palestine. The Romans had first incorporated it into their Empire in 106 AD, and...
Since the 1960s, archaeologists in Central Asia have found rocks carved with a mysterious unknown language. Now, a team from the University of Cologne has deciphered the unknown script, revealing it...
In the depths of the South China Sea, a ground-breaking discovery has captured the attention of archaeologists and historians alike. Two ancient shipwrecks, dating back to the illustrious Ming...
Archaeologists have uncovered rare, printed fabrics dating back around 1,300 years. While the fabrics had originated in the East, they were found in an Israeli dump! It is the first evidence of a...
Sericulture, or the rearing of silkworms to produce raw silk, was perfected by ancient China as early as the Yangshao period (5000-3000 BC), a thriving Neolithic culture. The marvels of silk and the...
A low-cost, high-risk drug hiding in plain sight – in your kitchen cabinet! This is a highly aromatic spice that can change the trajectory of your food, and is sometimes used as a healing agent in...
Although located on opposite ends of the globe, ancient Rome and China were remarkably similar in their stature, as both commanded respect from the weaker kingdoms enveloped in their spheres of...
More than 2,100 years ago, Australia’s Aboriginal Mithaka people were likely domesticating plants and quarrying stones on an industrial scale to make seed-grinding implements. The Mithaka stone...
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 Astana Cemetery is an ancient cemetery located near Turpan, in the autonomous region of Xinjiang, northwestern China. The cemetery was used during the 1st millennium AD by the inhabitants of...
Nestled between the Caspian Sea and the Caucasus Mountains, the Russian city of Derbent and its famed citadel tells the story of ancient power struggles to control the Silk Road trade route which...
The “suwar al-kawakib" or the Book of Fixed Stars is a 10th century astronomical Arabic text, authored by the famed scholar Abd-al Rahman al-Sufi in the year 964 AD. It was produced by the powerful...
During excavations along the shore of the Ob River near Novosibirsk in southwestern Siberia, a tiny, sculpted object was unearthed that has archaeologists and historians puzzled. The object was a...
The legendary Terracotta Army is a collection of 3rd century BC clay sculptured warriors that were designed to protect Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China, on his journey to the afterlife. This...
During excavations at Anyang, a city in central China’s Henan province , archaeologists from the Anyang Institute of Cultural Relics and Archaeology discovered a centuries-old tomb that dates back to...
Researchers have successfully dated a set of mysterious phrases discovered on the ceiling of a Tibetan tantric Buddhist cave temple in China. The Mogao Caves are located on the ancient Silk Road in...
In a stunning find, hundreds of artifacts dating back to the golden age of China have been discovered in ancient Han period tombs located at the origin of the Silk Road . Xi ’ an (Sian) city is the...
Archaeologists have found the well-preserved remains of a Silk Road cat buried in Kazakhstan that likely dates from the 8th century AD, and the evidence suggests this was a “well-loved pet cat.” In a...
Researchers have unearthed a massive ancient cross in a remote mountain area of northern Pakistan . The evidence suggests it is a Christian object from the Middle Ages , but there is also the...
Archaeologists working in the north-west of China have made a very important discovery in relation to the Silk Road’s origins and development. They have found the remains of a Bronze Age settlement...
It is no secret that throughout the classical and early medieval period, trade played an immense role in the economy of the world. Trade routes were spread all over Eurasia, and effectively connected...
Ayaz Kala in is most famous for its mudbrick fortresses; desert ruins echoing tales of the Silk Road. Today, three sets of ruins still stand in remembrance of the days when they served as a defense...
The nation of Kyrgyzstan is little known outside Central Asia. However, this former Soviet republic has many historic remains, because it was located on the Silk Road . This was the trade route that...