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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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Swahili

Kilwa Kisiwani. Source: renatehenkel / Adobe Stock.

Kilwa Kisiwani: The Ruins of a Medieval East African Empire (Video)

Nestled on an island off the Tanzanian coast lies the captivating ruins of Kilwa Kisiwani, a once-prosperous city that thrived as a vital global trade hub during the Kilwa Sultanate , until European...
A 1572 depiction of the city of Kilwa on Kilwa Island from Georg Braun and Frans Hogenberg's atlas Civitates orbis terrarum. Source: Public domain

The Kilwa Sultanate: The Island State That Dominated Medieval East Africa

The Kilwa Sultanate was a powerful and prosperous city-state that once dominated the Swahili coast of East Africa. For centuries, this kingdom thrived as a hub of international trade, connecting the...
Ruins of the 9th‐Century City of Kilwa Kisiwani, where some Swahili have their origins. Source: Gereza/CC BY-NC-ND 2.0

Ancient DNA is Restoring the Origin Story of the Swahili People of the East African Coast

Chapurukha Kusimba /The Conversation The legacy of the medieval Swahili civilization is a source of extraordinary pride in East Africa, as reflected in its language being the official tongue of Kenya...
Life reconstruction of Australopithecus sediba commissioned by the University of Michigan Museum of Natural History.  Sculpture by Elisabeth Daynes.	Source: S. Entressangle / Wits University

Spinal Missing Link Is Discovered Unifying Apes, Neanderthals and Us

A team of scientists has analyzed a set of two-million-year-old so-called ‘missing link’ fossils. Unlike anything presented before, their new study shows how the ancient human relative,...
Archaeology shows the damaging impact of pandemic outbreaks and how the ancient Africans dealt with them. From social distancing to more extreme measures of burning settlements, what lessons can be applied today?    Source: Fxquadro / Adobe stock

Archaeology Shows How Ancient African Societies Managed Pandemics

Every so often, a pandemic emerges that dramatically alters human society. The Black Death (1347 - 1351) was one; the Spanish flu of 1918 was another. Now there’s COVID-19 . Archaeologists have long...
Old mosque of Kaole.

Are the Old Tombs of Kaole, Tanzania, Really Able To Heal?

Situated on the beautiful east coast of Africa, Tanzania is a fascinating country with a rich culture and no shortage of historic sites on its Indian Ocean coast. Kaole, an abandoned town and...
Meet the 800-Year-Old Golden Rhinoceros that Challenged Apartheid South Africa

Meet the 800-Year-Old Golden Rhinoceros that Challenged Apartheid South Africa

It may be small enough to sit in the palm of your hand, but even now – nearly 800 years after it was lost to sight in what is now South Africa – the Golden Rhinoceros of Mapungubwe has powerful...
Ruins of Gedi Palace

Could The Gedi Ruins Be Haunted By Jins?

Historic cities throughout the world have always intrigued experts and travelers and one of the most fascinating is the abandoned city known as Gedi on the coast of Kenya. The ruins of Gedi are...