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Statue of Hermanubis, a hybrid of Anubis and the Greek god Hermes.

Mummifying Millions: The Canine Catacombs and the Animal Cult Industry of Ancient Egypt

Many associate two popular themes with ancient Egypt: animal worship and mummies. The two have been combined on unprecedented levels deep in the Catacombs of Anubis in North Saqqara. The necropolis...
Yamacutah Statue Head showing blue pigment.

Rediscovering Yamacutah, a Sacred Monumental Site Once Lost to the Pages of History

On the afternoon of April 22, 1784, Jordan Clark and Jacob Bankston two men traveling from Virginia, ventured onto what was considered by many as sacred grounds. The site was located along the North...
Easter Island Statues

The Statues and Symbolic Gestures that Link Ancient Göbekli Tepe, Easter Island, and Other Sites Around the World

Ancient monuments left by mankind present an unsolved enigma: why do humanoid statues from many prehistoric sites— from those found at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey to those at Easter Island—all share...
Wild carnivorous animals emerge from a trap door into the Colosseum. ‘The Christian Martyrs' Last Prayer, by Jean-Léon Gérôme, 1883.

Complex Elevator and Trap Door System for Raising Wild Animals into the Colosseum Reconstructed

Many thousands of people suffered violent deaths in the gladiatorial contests of the Colosseum and other arenas of the ancient Roman empire. Innumerable animals killed and were killed in the blood-...
Ethiopian grave

Amazing jewels and artifacts found in 2,000-year-old Ethiopian grave reveal link to Rome

A major excavation carried out in the ancient city of Aksum in northern Ethiopia has yielded stunning treasures from both the Roman empire and Aksumite kingdom, revealing a connection with the Romans...
Cerridwen: Mother, Magician, and Crone from Old Welsh Mythology

Cerridwen: Mother, Magician, and Crone from Old Welsh Mythology

An enchantress from Welsh mythology, Cerridwen is regarded as a woman of incredible power and magic. She pervades Welsh and Irish culture as an emblem of wisdom and rebirth, remaining today as a...
A gold lunula from County Wicklow. The piece, dating from 2400 BC to 2000 BC, is in the  British Museum. Note the decorations etched into the ends or horns of the lunula.

Ancient Trade Route reveals Prehistoric Inhabitants of Ireland preferred Exotic Gold

A new study using scientific methods to examine where Irish gold came from has found that there may have been trade between Ireland and southwest England about 4,500 years ago. Scientists speculate...
Colosseum

Ancient Roman Tunnel from Gladiator Training School to Colosseum set to be Revived

Authorities hope to preserve some ancient Roman history with the restoration of a tunnel that runs from a gladiator training school to the Colosseum, where brutal gladiatorial bouts took place. Parts...
Denmark during the Bronze Age. Image by: State Danish Archives. 2013.

Five Huge Bronze Age axes discovered in a field in Jutland, Denmark

Five Bronze Age axes, twice the size of those normally discovered, have been discovered in a field near Boest, near Nørre Snede in Jutland, Denmark. The axes have been dated to 1600 BC, which means...
Rediscovery of the Relics of St Mark, a 14th century painting by Paolo Veneziano

Religious Artifacts found alongside Bones in Attic may be Relics of a Saint

A resident of St. John, New Brunswick, Canada, has found what may be religious relics hundreds of years old in his attic. The man's daughter contacted a museum, an archaeologist, some nuns, a jeweler...
Image from an illuminated manuscript depicting a Byzantine siege of a citadel. A tactic of ancient biological warfare was to hurl infected dead bodies over city walls.

The Devastating and Diabolical Ancient Origins of Biological Warfare

History paints a bleak picture of the devastating effects that disease, contamination, or poison can have on humans. But with those hard lessons came experience and knowledge, and mankind has...
Seven-Branched Sword

The Seven-Branched Sword: The Mystical Ceremonial Sword of Japan

The Isonokami Shrine is a Shinto shrine believed to have been built in 4 AD. Located in in the foothills of Tenri in Nara prefecture, Japan, this shrine is culturally significant for it houses...
Screenshot from the movie 300 on the Spartan War which used Helots in combat on many occasions.

The Helots: Slave Warriors of Ancient Sparta

The ancient Greek city state of Sparta had a social hierarchy that was different from many of its neighbors. The top of the social pyramid was occupied by the two kings, whose powers were checked by...
Noblewoman buried with her husband’s heart - France

Fully clothed body of 17th Century noblewoman buried with the heart of her husband unearthed in France

The well-preserved and fully clothed body of a French noblewoman, thought to be Louise de Quengo, has been discovered among 800 other graves in the city of Rennes in Brittany, North West France. The...
Immense Full Moon Palace Excavated by Rare Collaborative Team from both North and South Korea

Immense Full Moon Palace Excavated by Rare Collaborative Team from both North and South Korea

The ancient Manwoldae, a 10 th century royal palace, was built in what is now Kaesong, North Korea during the Koryo Dynasty. Historians and archaeologists from both North and South Korea are now...
‘The Elevation of the Great Elector into Olympus’. Ceiling painting (detail: Mercury), City Palace, Potsdam

Two thousand year old Mercury figurine found in Yorkshire

A metal detector enthusiast has discovered a 2000-year old figurine depicting the Roman god Mercury in a field near Selby, Yorkshire, UK. It is the 1,000 th officially recorded archaeological find of...
An arm from a body in the cemetery of Ipswich friary

Mutilated remains may be 14th century mob-attack victim, Richard de Holebrok

In February 1327, 84 angry people assaulted Richard de Holebrok of Tattingstone, tied him to a tree and cut off his right hand. Holebrok complained to the English authorities, but what he did to...
An unconscious naked man lying on a table being attacked by little demons armed with surgical instruments

Devils, Demons, and Dangerous Creatures of the Pseudomonarchia Daemonum

Pseudomonarchia Daemonum , also known as the False Hierarchy of Demons , is a great compendium from the 16 th century dictating the names of sixty-nine demons. The title itself indicates that the...
The scene depicts Hinguar and Hubba setting out to avenge their father, Lothbrok

Viking beaters: Scots and Irish may have settled Iceland a century before Norsemen

Remarkably similar carvings and simple cross sculptures mark special sites or places once sacred, spanning a zone stretching from the Irish and Scottish coasts to Iceland. We can look to Skellig...
marijuana

Medical marijuana: Modern hunter-gatherers may use cannabis to treat intestinal infections

It has been found that the more cannabis that modern foraging tribes smoke, the less they are infected with parasitic intestinal worms. Scientists are trying to determine if ancient-hunter gatherers...
Bahrain Fort

Ancient Persian Cuneiform Contract and Artifacts Discovered in Bahrain Fort

A private contract written in Akkadian script on a clay tablet has been discovered among other artifacts in a fort in Bahrain. The discovery, reported in Trade Arabia , was found among a number of...
The Defense of the Sampo, by Akseli Gallen-Kallela, shows Louhi in the form of a flying, winged creature. Created in 1895 by unknown artist.

Loviatar: Finnish Goddess of Desolation, Death, and Decay

Known as the blind daughter in Finnish mythology, Loviatar is the goddess of death and disease. Born from the union of Tuoni, the god of death, and his underworld queen Tuonetar, Loviatar is...
1,400-year-old medicinal treatise of Galen found hidden under hymns in ancient manuscript

1,400-year-old medicinal treatise of Galen found hidden under hymns in ancient manuscript

A 6th century translation of a work of one of the most important ancient Greek doctors has been discovered in an animal-hide manuscript, hidden underneath text of 1,000-year-old hymns. A researcher...

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