In 1971, on Mount Scopus in Israel, an extraordinary discovery was made: an 1,800-year-old lead coffin containing a young Roman girl adorned with precious jewelry to ward off the ‘evil eye’ and...
A metal detectorist had the good fortune to hit upon an incredible garnet and gold pendant dating to the Middle Ages at Great Tey near Colchester, Essex, in August 2021. The pendant was inscribed...
One of the most fascinating discoveries from ancient China are coin swords. Coin swords, also known as cash swords, are an ancient type of feng shui talisman that has been around since the Qing...
The ancient Mediterranean belief of the evil eye still has its adherents today. Those who have the “eye” are thought to give bad luck unintentionally to anything or anyone that they are envious of...
Four buildings, part of a Scottish medieval settlement, discovered beneath a motorway hard shoulder in Scotland in 2016 stood “no chance” of being destroyed over the last 700 years. They were “...
In the Middle Ages, pregnant women allegedly wore a type of specially prepared wrap known as a birthing girdle. Birthing girdles were long, thin, rolls made from animal skin parchment. They were...
The culture of Phoenician civilization was one of the most inspiring and influential in the ancient world. Through maritime trade and over many centuries, the Phoenician writing script, their...
It’s probably safe for me to assume that because you’re reading this article, you are most probably something of a book worm and possibly even a history buff. If so, you need to get to the British...
A mysterious ancient stone is to be returned to its home in London in the next few weeks. This enigmatic object, popularly known as the ‘London Stone’ has been one of the landmarks of the great...
The population that inhabited Akhenaten’s brand new city, Akhetaten, in Middle Egypt was ill at ease with the massive religious uncertainty their monarch had unleashed. A question mark hung over not...
For over 5000 years people have worried that a look of envy or dislike would inflict injury, bad luck, or even death on the recipient. People would wear specific items of jewelry or other talismans...
The English word tattoo is commonly said to be derived from the Polynesian word tatau or tatu . This Polynesian word means ‘to mark something’. Additionally, this word is an onomatopoeia, and is...
Last year, archaeologists in Croatia found a remarkable 1,800-year-old ring with an ‘eye’ that was used to protect the wearer from spells or a bad curse, often referred to as the ‘evil eye’. The...