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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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A network of ancient tunnels was unearthed at Houchengzui Stone City gate, China.	 Source: Chinese Academy of Social Sciences / China Archaeology Network

Experts Blown Away by Ancient Tactical Defense Tunnels Unearthed in China

Entering the ancient stone city of Houchengzui over 4,000 years ago was a tryst, with an elaborate fortification system, layers and layers of defensive walls and the overpowering of the armed...
10 subterranean structures of the ancient world continue to baffle archaeologists. Source: Dpnuevo/CC BY-SA 3.0, Yasir999/CC BY-SA 4.0, Gernot Keller www.gernot-keller.com/CC BY-SA 2.5, Pafnutius/CC BY-SA 3.0, flickr

Ten Amazing Subterranean Structures From the Ancient World

From ancient cisterns and water systems to mysterious caves, underground crypts, subterranean temples and even entire cities built beneath the earth, what our ancient ancestors have achieved is both...
A corridor at the Lyobaa underground network at Mitla. Source: ©Marco M. Vigato / Arx Project

Have Archaeologists Found Lyobaa, the Zapotec Land of the Dead?

Beneath monumental stone structures discovered at the archaeological site of Mitla in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca, it has long been believed that the ancient Zapotec people built a huge and...
The Titus Tunnel, ancient Roman waterway carved into rocks. Source: isayurtsever/Adobe Stock

From Floods to Fame: The Remarkable Story of the Titus Tunnel in Turkey

The Vespasianus Titus Tunnel is a 2,000-year-old engineering marvel – a massive tunnel dug through a mountain that was built to divert the floodwaters threatening the harbor near the ancient city of...
Man standing in underground city of Derinkuyu, Turkey. Source: Parilov / Adobe Stock.

Discoveries of Ancient Underground Cities Around the World

Beneath the surface of our world, hidden under layers of soil, stone, and history, lie remnants of ancient civilizations - vast networks of tunnels, expansive underground cities , and complex...
Amber Fort seen from the bank of Maotha Lake, Jaigarh Fort on the hills in the background, and a tunnel runs between the two. Source: Jakub Hałun/CC BY-SA 4.0

Warrior Caste to Tourist Attraction: The Controversy of Rajasthan's Underground Tunnels

There are a surprising number of underground tunnels in the world, but one of the most mysterious examples is the underground tunnels of Rajasthan, India. According to historians, these tunnels are a...
The mythology of cultures around the world is filled with tales of underground cities and caves. Image of the underground city of Cappadocia in Turkey. Source: Wirestock Creators / Adobe Stock

Underground Cities Around the World – Myths and Reality

Underground structures, and sometimes even entire cities, have always been part of myths and religions around the world. While a few of these have been discovered, most of them have not. Alongside...
Three different images of the recently discovered souterrain underground tunnel system north-northeast of Dublin, Ireland. The middle image was the discovery of the roof in a cauliflower field. Source: Joe Thompson / Dublin Gazette

Bold Explorer Enters Underground Souterrain Tunnels Exposed By Farmer

An amateur explorer has released a video of himself exploring a hitherto lost underground “souterrain” chamber. But the journey he filmed inside this strange place is not for the claustrophobic among...
The amazing ruins of Mitla and the San Pablo Church Domes, where high technology is being used to discover the truth behind the legends of subterranean Mitla.	Source: Rafal Cichawa / Adobe Stock

Searching for the Lost Subterranean Worlds of Mitla, Mexico

Ancient and colonial sources speak of an extensive underground labyrinth of caves and tunnels, considered by the ancient Zapotec to be a physical entrance into the Underworld of Lyobaa , located...
Tierradentro Hypogea

Tierradentro Hypogea, Colombia’s Mysterious Underground Necropolis

Tierradentro is a national archaeological park in Colombia. Within the Tierradentro Park are structures known as hypogea as well as stone statues. This unique South American site gives visitors a...
Colosseum underground. Source: David Carillet / Adobe Stock

Rome Offers Visitors An Underground Gladiatorial Experience

Rome's famous 2,000-year-old Colosseum has a vast underground world called the “hypogeum” and it’s now open to the public for the first time. The Colosseum, or Flavian Amphitheater, was a gigantic...
Mapping The Lost Subterranean Christian Origins Of Hagia Sophia

Mapping The Lost Subterranean Christian Origins Of Hagia Sophia

At one time a cathedral, later a mosque, and now the chief museum of the Turkish Republic, Hagia Sophia, in the ancient Byzantine imperial capital of Constantinople (now Istanbul), was a world-famous...
Suspected Roman mine pits were uncovered, which would have intersected with a lost Roman road. Source: University of Exeter / Fair Use.

Roman Fort Excavation in England Reveals Lost Road and Ancient Mine

Setting this discovery in context, an article on the National Trust website declares that in 2006, the Cornwall and West Devon mining landscape achieved World Heritage Status recognized by UNESCO and...
Carving in Chislehurst Caves.

Were the Chislehurst Caves Originally Created By Druids?

The Chislehurst Caves are a series of subterranean tunnels , man-made rooms, and caverns located in the southeastern part of Greater London . Although the history of the caves stretches back much...
Previously Hidden Ancient Termite Mounds Found in Brazil are Visible From Space

Previously Hidden Ancient Termite Mounds Found in Brazil are Visible From Space

Researchers reporting in Current Biology on November 19 have found that a vast array of regularly spaced, still-inhabited ancient termite mounds in northeastern Brazil are up to about 4,000 years old...
Tunnels in the underground city of Naours, France

The Underground City of Naours: A Subterranean Settlement Complete with Bakeries and Chapels

Many stories have been told about hidden underground cities or realms. Examples from fiction include the underground compound inhabited by the Morlocks in H.G. Well’s, The Time Machine and the...
Theater-like structure found at the Western Wall Tunnels, Jerusalem (Image: Israel Antiquities)

1800-Year-Old Roman Era Theater Found at Jerusalem’s Western Wall

What seems to be a long-lost ancient Roman Theater has been unearthed next to Jerusalem's Western Wall. The archaeological dig under Wilson’s Arch also revealed eight previously unknown layers of...
Erdstall entrance, Erdstall Ratgöbluckn, Austria

The Enigmatic Erdstall Tunnels of Europe: Purpose - Unknown

An erdstall is a type of tunnel that is found throughout Europe, mainly in the south-eastern German state of Bavaria and Austria. Erdstalls are thought to have been created during the Middle Ages,...
The Secret Tunnels and Missing Manuscripts of Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey

The Secret Tunnels and Missing Manuscripts of Mont Sainte-Odile Abbey

The ancient monastery of Mont Sainte-Odile in the French region of Alsace is steeped in mystery. From secret tunnels to the strange disappearance of more than 1,000 ancient books, it has many a story...
A reconstruction of Pakal's tomb in the Museo Nacional de Antropología

Underground Tunnels Found Beneath Pakal Tomb in Maya Site of Palenque

Archaeologists at the world-renowned Maya site of Palenque in Mexico have made a surprising discovery beneath the Temple of Inscriptions, the impressive funerary monument built for Maya ruler Pakal...
Karaftu Cave

The Ancient Caves of Karaftu and its Historical Treasures

The Caves of Karaftu are a series of chambers that were carved into the cliff face of a mountain in the Kurdistan Province of Iran. The caves were formed naturally, but were modified by inhabitants...
Hirbat Midras, in Adullam Grove Nature Reserve in Israel, part of what geologist Dr. Alexander Koltypin hypothesizes to be a massive complex of prehistoric underground structures stretching across the Mediterranean.

Is This a Huge Million-Year-Old, Man-Made Underground Complex?

By Tara MacIsaac , Epoch Times Most archaeologists and historians agree that human civilization only emerged some 10,000 to 12,000 years ago. Yet many researchers have drawn attention to artifacts...
Newly-discovered tunnels in Puebla.

Investigations Reveal Secrets of Hidden Tunnels Beneath Colonial City in Mexico

Talk of a maze of underground tunnels beneath the Colonial city of Puebla in Mexico were long disregarded as mere urban legend. However, last year, city authorities confirmed that their existence was...
: Inside the eerie chambers of the Nekromanteion (Evilemperorzorg/CC BY-SA)

How Ancient Greeks Took Trippy Journeys to the Land of the Dead

By Tara MacIsaac , Epoch Times The Nekromanteion, or the “Oracle of Death,” was an ancient Greek temple in Epirus, Greece, in which supplicants sought to consult shades of the dead. Sensory...

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