Tibet

23 March, 2019 - 17:55 isav

The Beauty of Death, Dying and Rebirth in Tibetan Buddhist Rituals

In Tibet they have a lot of interesting beliefs and rituals regarding death and the world beyond. There is even a ritual exclamation which a lama who officiates makes near the body of the deceased in...

27 February, 2019 - 23:45 dhwty

Closer to Enlightenment? Potala Palace, the Highest in the World

Potala Palace, the iconic heart of Tibetan Buddhism, is the highest palace in the world. It once served as the winter palace of the Dalai Lama and was the Tibetan seat of government. The palace is...

14 August, 2018 - 02:04 Ed Whelan

The Dalai Lama Wants More Ancient Texts Taught in India to Help Fill a Growing Spiritual and Emotional Void

It is reported in India that the Dalai Lama has criticized the Indian education system. He claimed that the Indian curriculum is too focused on secular subjects and neglecting India’s spiritual and...

Images from the manuscript ‘Seventy-Two Specimens of Castes in India.’

17 April, 2018 - 18:59 aprilholloway

Dalai Lama Publicly Denounces Ancient Indian Caste System

The Dalai Lama has spoken out about the discriminating caste system in India, which can be traced back around 2,000 years and is still practiced in some regions today. The New Indian Express reports...

25 February, 2018 - 18:56 Mary A Joyce

Did Jesus of Nazareth Travel to the Far East?

It is a mistake to think there wasn’t international travel during Jesus’ time. As this map of ancient merchant routes shows, the known world was linked by land and sea. Perhaps with some helpful...

20 February, 2018 - 13:57 ancient-origins

Five Surprising Things DNA has Revealed About our Ancestors

Researchers recently used DNA from the 10,000-year-old “Cheddar Man”, one of Britain’s oldest skeletons, to unveil what the first inhabitants of what now is Britain actually looked like. But this isn...

22 October, 2017 - 14:04 Alicia McDermott

Intricacy and Reflection: Transforming Mandalas from Sacred Designs to Art Therapy

Although the word ‘Mandala’ simply means “circle” or “discoid object” in Sanskrit, the significance is far more complex. Traditionally, mandalas represented the intricacy of the universe and served...

Prayer Flags on Tomb of Songtsen. View of Chongye Valley to the South from the Tomb.

23 April, 2017 - 19:09 dhwty

Tibet's Valley of the Kings: What Hidden Treasures Lie Within This Imperial Tibetan Graveyard?

Chongye Valley is known also as Tibet’s Valley of the Kings. This site adjoins the Yarlung Valley (about 180 km (111.85 miles)) to the Tibetan capital, Lhasa. The Chongye Valley is famed for its...

10 April, 2017 - 23:00 aprilholloway

Chinese Government Wants to Decide the Dalai Lama’s Next Reincarnation

The Chinese Government has said the Dalai Lama must reincarnate into someone that has their endorsement. The remarks were made during the Dalai Lama’s controversial visit to Tawang, an Indian border...

15 March, 2017 - 17:53 Kerry Sullivan

Can You Solve the Mystery Behind This Intricately Carved Skull?

Experts from a wide array of organizations are examining an intricately carved skull discovered in an antique shop in Vienna in 2011. The skull, believed to be 300 years old, is completely covered...

From the same 1429 Persian manuscript. Sañjīvaka/Schanzabeh.

26 February, 2017 - 14:10 dhwty

What Pearls of Wisdom are Held in the Animal Tales of the Panchatantra?

The Panchatantra (which means the ‘Five Principles’ in Sanskrit) is a collection of interwoven short stories from India. The tales in the Panchatantra are told in both prose and poetry, and consist...

6 January, 2017 - 21:51 ancient-origins

Humans Occupied Tibetan Plateau Thousands of Years Earlier than Previously Thought

That conclusion challenges the previously held view that permanent human occupation of the Tibetan Plateau began no earlier than 5,200 years ago, after the advent of agriculture. The new finding is,...

15 November, 2016 - 14:48 marinasohma

Sky Burial: Tibet’s Ancient Tradition for Honoring the Dead

The tradition of Sky burials, which is also known by the name of ‘Celestial burial’, is particularly associated with the Tibetan culture, although it has existed in other civilizations throughout...

2 October, 2016 - 21:53 ancient-origins

How Breeding with an Ancient Human Species gave Tibetans their Head for Heights

A recent study of the DNA of Tibetans has looked at the gene underlying their ability to live in the low-oxygen conditions at high altitudes. It found that this gene has come from an unexpected...

Researcher and filmmaker Jake Norton photographs a 1,200-year-old skeleton from Samdzong, Nepal.

9 September, 2016 - 03:41 Mark Miller

Ancient Nepalese People Buried in Caves were Defleshed but Not Consumed

The 1,200-year-old skeleton of a young man found in a cave in Nepal had been defleshed, but researchers are unsure how he died. The lead researcher of this body and other remains said in 2011 that...

The inside of the princess’s large tomb, which contained 166 funerary items

19 December, 2015 - 03:54 Mark Miller

Tomb of a nomadic tribal princess will help unravel China’s complicated ethnic history

Chinese archaeologists have excavated the sixth century tomb of a nomadic tribal princess of the ancient Tuyuhun Kingdom in northwest China’s Shaanxi Province. In the tomb they found two skeletons...

Pages

Myths & Legends

The Epic of Gilgamesh. Source: Luca Oleastri / Adobe.

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Searching For a Way to the Home Planet

In contrast to many theorists, this unconventional retelling of key parts of the Epic explores the idea that Gilgamesh was not searching for life eternal on Earth, as has been suggested as the theme of the Epic, but was instead searching for the means of transport to return to his goddess mother Ninsun’s home planet in the heavens.

The notorious and much feared ancient order of Hashshashins

English Nursery Rhymes with Unexpected and Sometimes Disturbing Historical Origins

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Enlightenment and Source of Religions

Say the Magic Word: The Origins of Abracadabra

The Powerful Symbol of the Swastika and its 12,000 Year History

Human Origins

Work using the Statue of Gilgamesh and Lamassu. Source: CC BY 4.0

The Epic of Gilgamesh Unveiled: Enlightenment and Source of Religions

This retelling of key parts of the Epic explores the unconventional idea that Gilgamesh was not searching for life eternal on Earth, as has been suggested as the theme of the Epic, but was instead searching for the means of transport to return to his goddess mother Ninsun’s home planet in the heavens. Taking poetic licence, the author merges some ideas from modern science and technology with the story from the ancient text.

The Pagan Wheel of the Year: What Elaborate Rituals and Events Mark this Sacred Cycle?

The origins of human beings according to ancient Sumerian texts

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

Rh-Negative Blood: An Exotic Bloodline or Random Mutation?

Do you dare enter a fairy ring? The mythical mushroom portals of the supernatural

Ancient Technology

The passage of carts over decades could cause ruts (like the one shown), particularly in high-traffic areas of Pompeii.

Romans in Pompeii Repaired the Roads with Molten Iron

The buried city of Pompeii continues to provide many insights into Roman society , economy, and culture. The ash and pumice , that fell on Pompeii from Mount Vesuvius , froze the city in time. A...

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

Egyptian Blue – The Oldest Known Artificial Pigment

Norimitsu Odachi: Who Could Have Possibly Wielded This Enormous 15th Century Japanese Sword?

The revolutionary invention of the wheel

The incredible earthquake detector invented nearly 2,000 years ago

Ancient Places

Sumer: Where Written Language, Arithmetic and Civilization Were Born

The Sumerian civilization (known also as Sumer) was one of the earliest civilizations in the world. This ancient civilization emerged in the region of southern Mesopotamia (modern day southern Iraq), between the Tigris and Euphrates River.

Homer’s Iliad Casts Doubt on the Aegean Location of Troy

Is Makhunik an Ancient City of Little People?

Fuerte De Samaipata - A Site of Ceremonial Carvings and Sacrifice

Mystery Hill Megaliths May Be 4,000 Years Old—Did Celts Build It?

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

Opinion

Mysterious Worlds: Travels to the Faerie and Shamanic Realms

There are many accounts of a land of immortality and eternal youth in world myths and legends, as well as shamanic and indigenous spiritual traditions. Mysterious Worlds Writing in his recent work,...

Pharaoh Akhenaten: An Alternative View of the Heretic King

Changing Colors and Scampering Across the Night Sky: What Did the Ancients Say about Sirius?

Cracking the Code to Discover Ancient Tarot Symbolism and Forgotten Universal Knowledge

The Secret Strategic Plans of Darius the Great

The Secrets of the Kabbalists Garden

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.

We’re the only Pop Archaeology site combining scientific research with out-of-the-box perspectives.

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.