Solar

Bologna, San Petronio: Meridian of Giandomenico Cassini

15 July, 2020 - 02:55 dhwty

Synchronizing Science and Religion? Why We Find Solar Observatories and Astronomical Features in Churches

It is often assumed that science and faith are always at loggerheads with each other. This, however, is a common misconception, as there are numerous instances demonstrating the co-existence and co-...

Stonehenge will be empty for the summer solstice in 2020. Source: Stephen /Adobe Stock

19 June, 2020 - 20:52 ashley cowie

The Summer Solstice at Stonehenge - A History-Making Livestream

In the northern hemisphere, when the summer solstice occurs around June 21, the North Pole is tilted about 23°27´ toward the Sun, which itself is traveling its longest path through the sky, and that...

Left: A team of scientists have found an alignment that occurs between the rising Sun and a major street in Turin that was constructed around 28 BC. (Guido Cossard) Right: Statue of Emperor Octavian in Rome. (fabiomax / Adobe stock)

29 April, 2020 - 05:32 ashley cowie

Does This Ancient Solar Phenomenon Really Honor Emperor Octavian?

A team of scientists in Turin, Italy , have claimed the alignment of one of the city streets marks the day Roman Emperor Octavian (“Augustus”) was titled “father of the country” - but not everyone...

Representative image of the comet Atlas in the night sky. Source: Tryfonov / Adobe stock

2 April, 2020 - 14:00 ashley cowie

Ancient Comet ‘Atlas’ Measures Half the Size of the Sun and it’s Back!

A huge icy space rock, comet ‘Atlas’, is currently in the constellation Ursa Major in the northern sky passing through the orbit of Mars , but it’s on a trajectory with our Sun and it will get...

Deriv; Stone statue of Gilgamesh (CC BY 2.0), used here as a representation of an ancient Mesopotamian man. Background: Solar event. (CC0) Information provided by ancient Assyrian astrologers can help modern scientists predict future solar storms.

17 October, 2019 - 22:58 Alicia McDermott

Ancient Assyrian Astrologers Teach Us About Solar Storms

What exactly goes on high above our heads? Why do the stars and celestial spheres seem to dance around the sky? What is the sun up to when it seems to “randomly” disappear in the day, or when it...

22 June, 2019 - 18:32 Nathan Falde

Ongoing Dispatches from the First Man-Made Object to Leave Our Solar System

On September 5, 1977, NASA launched Voyager 1, a small 700 kg space probe with a special mission: to boldly go where no one or no thing has gone before. The Voyager 1 was designed to explore the...

Summer solstice Utah sunrise. Source: Heath /Adobe Stock

21 June, 2019 - 22:23 Alicia McDermott

6 Spectacular Summer Solstice Celebrations Around the World

With the sun shining high, the summer solstice, aka the longest day of the year, is a day for celebration for many people around the world. For people living north of the equator, Friday, June 21 is...

Example of an ancient calendar. The ancient Egyptians created a calendar with 365 days in a year.

16 May, 2019 - 16:52 dhwty

Why Are There 365 Days in a Year? Organizing Dates with an Ancient Egyptian Calendar

The calendar is one of mankind’s most important inventions. Calendars allowed societies to organize time for religious, social, economic, and administrative purposes. The calendar, or rather, two...

26 March, 2019 - 12:53 dhwty

Utu - Shamash: Mesopotamian God of the Sun, Justice and the Underworld

Utu was a solar deity and god of justice in the ancient Mesopotamian pantheon, and also served as a judge in the Underworld. Whilst Utu was the god’s name in Sumerian, he was known in Akkadian as...

Medieval stargazers. People have been fascinated by the stars and their possible influence over our lives, long before and after the time of Babylonian astrology.

24 February, 2019 - 23:15 ashley cowie

Complex Astronomical and Astrological Systems Detailed on Ancient Assyrian Tablets

Archaeologists studying a group of five unique stone tablets dating to the first millennium in Babylonia and Assyria have announced that they reveal a hitherto unknown level of astronomical...

The solar gods of the indigenous cultures of the Americas have many names but share one radiant face.

3 July, 2018 - 22:43 lizleafloor

American Gods: Rituals & Sacrifices to the All-Powerful Solar Gods

The ancients knew him well. He was as powerful as a god, as dangerous as a demon. He generously gave life – and he ruthlessly took it away. He appeared to all, from the darkest and most bone-chilling...

21 June, 2018 - 22:57 ashley cowie

Stonehenge Builders Had Ancient Knowledge of Pythagorean Geometry

A new book, Megalith , claims ancient Britons built Stonehenge “and other stone circles with a knowledge of Pythagoras' theorem, 2,000 years before the Greek philosopher formalized geometry.”...

The magnificent Boat of Khufu, Solar Boat Museum, Giza

3 May, 2018 - 19:01 Istvan Soros

The Great Boat of Khufu: The ‘Black Box’ to the Construction of the Pyramids

Perhaps this is not the first time that the reader will have heard of how in 1954 the Great Boat of Khufu was discovered, practically intact, at the southern face of the Kheops Pyramid, and how it is...

Solar gods were worshiped in prehistoric Ireland.

20 April, 2018 - 19:02 lizleafloor

Was Prayer to the Ancient Solar Gods enough to Change the Renowned Irish Weather?

Ireland’s history is rich in dramatic myth and mysterious legends. The significance of the natural world, and most importantly the sun, was obvious in the daily lives of the pre-Christian Irish...

Ancient Egyptian relief. Design by Anand Balaji.

24 November, 2017 - 15:30 anand balaji

Understanding the Monotheism of Akhenaten: Solar Disc Thrust into Eternal Darkness–Part II

At first glance it appears as though Pharaoh Akhenaten is someone whom one would describe as a textbook monotheist, but are we missing the plot? Apart from Amun (and later, Osiris) the king doesn’t...

30 October, 2017 - 18:01 ancient-origins

Oldest Recorded Solar Eclipse Helps Date the Egyptian Pharaohs

Researchers have pinpointed the date of what could be the oldest solar eclipse yet recorded. The event, which occurred on 30 October 1207 BC, is mentioned in the Bible, and could have consequences...

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Myths & Legends

The Last of the Siberian Unicorns: What Happened to the Mammoth-Sized One-Horned Beasts of Legend?

Elasmotherium, also known as the Giant Rhinoceros or the Giant Siberian Unicorn, is an extinct species of rhino that lived in the Eurasian area in the Late Pliocene and Pleistocene eras. They have been documented from 2.6 million years ago, but the most recent fossils come from around 29,000 years ago.

The notorious and much feared ancient order of Hashshashins

Magic into Myth: Avalon, Mystical Isle of Medieval Arthurian Literature

The Real Story of Medusa: Protective Powers from a Snake-Haired Gorgon

Were the Merovingians Descended from a Monster? Meet the Quinotaur

The Norse Legend of the World Tree - Yggdrasil

Human Origins

The Controversial Lapedo Child – A Neanderthal / Human Hybrid?

Buried for millennia in the rear of a rock-shelter in the Lapedo Valley 85 miles north of Lisbon, Portugal, archaeologists uncovered the bones of a four-year-old child, comprising the first complete Palaeolithic skeleton ever dug in Iberia.

The Mythological Maori Origin Stories of New Zealand

Ahura Mazda and Angra Mainyu In Zoroastrianism’s Creation Mythology

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

The Egyptian Goddess Isis, Found in India

The Surprising Truth About Fasting for Lent

Ancient Technology

Stone of the Pregnant Woman, an example of ancient high-tech stonework in Hajar al Hibla at Baalbek in Lebanon.

The High-Tech Stonework of the Ancients: Unsolved Mysteries of Master Engineers

There are many stone artifacts from the ancient world made from the hardest stone on the planet such as granite and diorite, which have been cut and shaped with such quality, precision and accuracy that the standard explanations of their manufacture are simply inadequate.

The Evidence is Cut in Stone: A Compelling Argument for Lost High Technology in Ancient Egypt

Han Purple: A 2,800-year-old artificial pigment that quantum physicists are trying to understand

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

The Man Who Stopped a Desert Using Ancient Farming

Secrets Behind the Creepy Plague Doctor Mask and Costume

Ancient Places

Part of the extensive East Bay Wall network

Unravelling the Mystery Behind the East Bay Walls: Who Really Made Them and Why?

In the hills around East Bay and elsewhere near San Francisco, there is a series of stone walls that extend discontinuously for miles. The walls are about 3-4 feet high in most places and are not...

Tomb of the Lord of Sipan, Mochican Warrior Priest

The Great Serpent Mound of Ohio, the Largest Earthen Effigy in the World

The 9,000-year-old underground megalithic settlement of Atlit Yam

The Nile: How One River Helped Build a Civilization – 10 Amazing Facts

The Cerveteri Necropolis, Etruscan City of the Dead

Opinion

Unearthing Ancient Magic in The Runes –Messages with Hidden Symbols and Powerful Numbers

The etymology of the word “rune” means: “to carve, or to cut.” In Low German the word is “raunen.” As the runes were cut and carved into wood, metal or stone, the word “rune” was analogous to the rune letters themselves.

Petroglyphic Features of Portable Rock Art

The Northern Mysteries Current: Futhark and Mystery Schools of the Viking Age

Was There Ever a Trojan War?

Floki and the Viking Discovery of Iceland

Messiah on Temple Mount: Are We Nearing the End of Time?

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.

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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.