A new study of the world famous Antikythera mechanism has revealed fascinating new information about the puzzling artifact, including that the maths used for its eclipse prediction appears to be...
Excavations at the ruins of Daming, the “Palace of Great Brilliance”, have unearthed ancient offices which are thought to have been responsible for issuing imperial edicts, official communications of...
It is often said that ‘behind every great man is an even greater woman’. Justinian I was one of the most powerful emperors of the Byzantine Empire. During his reign, he sought to revive the empire’s...
Complex hydraulic systems and the methods of ancient Roman gold mining have been discovered using sophisticated laser detection and aerial mapping over Las Médulas in northwestern Spain...
Stories of epic cosmic battles can be found in many world cultures. In these battles, the lines are often drawn clearly, with the forces of good on one side and the forces of evil on the other. For...
Archaeologists from the Museum Lolland-Falster in Denmark made an extremely rare discovery when they unearthed a complete hand axe with handle still attached in what was once a seabed in prehistoric...
Archaeologists in China have just reported on the discovery of a 1,700-year-old cemetery along the old Silk Road consisting of magnificent tombs that contain carvings of the four mythological symbols...
An object pulled up by a plow in a field and used to prop open an office door was identified by archaeologists as an extremely rare and valuable Bronze Age ceremonial dagger, known as a dirk, one of...
Stanford archaeologists have undertaken the first ever detailed analyses of human remains found at Deir el-Medina, an ancient Egyptian village which was home to the artisans who worked on the tombs...
A new theory has been put forward by a Russian archaeologist to explain the mystery of a 12 th century blade made in Germany, adorned in Sweden, and found in Siberia – the sword may have belonged to...
On the Canopic branch of the Nile laid a city known as Sais, or Sa el-Hagar. The ancient city dates back to 3,000 B.C, however habitation at the site extends back to the pre-dynastic and Neolithic...
Researchers have identified new evidence supporting the growing belief that Neanderthals were a distinct species separate from modern humans (Homo sapiens), and not a subspecies of modern humans. The...
Burma, officially the Republic of the Union of Myanmar, is a sovereign state in Southeast Asia bordered by Bangladesh, India, China, Laos and Thailand. For a large part of its modern history, it was...
The ruins of an ancient town, including a pottery workshop and kiln, have been discovered by archaeologists off the coast of the island of Delos, Greece. Until now experts believed the colonnades and...
A renovation of Banteay Chhmar temple in Cambodia left workers astounded after three enormous Angkorian-era statue heads were found under half a metre of soil – two intact and one broken. The heads...
An ancient Egyptian codex written in Coptic and dating back 1,300 years had been deciphered for the first time, revealing that the 20-page book made of parchment contains a series of spells and...
In a surprise find in the village of Exning in Suffolk, England, 20 graves have been unexpectedly uncovered on land slated for development. The skeletons and other artifacts are considered to be of...
When Chinese farmers uncovered an ancient site while digging a well in 1974, they had no idea they were to encounter a giant army of warriors. The Terracotta Army of Emperor Qin Shi Huang had lain in...
The Picatrix is an ancient Arabian book of astrology and occult magic dating back to the 10 th or 11 th century, which has gained notoriety for the obscene natural of its magical recipes. The...
Interpreted by many historians as proof of a vision for the unison of man, much of Alexander’s dealings in Persia have come to be attributed with a policy of racial fusion. Accordingly, echoed in...
A wealth of artifacts found in a cave on the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Utah, including hundreds of animal-skin moccasins that would have mostly belonged to children, raise new questions...
Last month, Dr Gareth Owens, a researcher at the Technological Educational Institute of Crete, claimed to have cracked the code of the enigmatic Phaistos Disc , a 4,000-year-old artifact containing...
Stunning ancient sculptures and orthostats (large upright stones) are just some of the incredible findings that have been revealed by archaeologists within the factious and ancient city of Karkemish...
Excavations at Persepolis, a magnificent palace complex in Iran founded by Darius the Great around 518 BC, have uncovered a great ancient gate in Tale-Ajori, within the Firouzi Complex. Even older...
![Ibn al-Haytham ("Alhasen") on the left pedestal of reason [while Galileo is on the right pedestal of the senses] as shown on the frontispiece of the Selenographia (Science of the Moon; 1647) of Johannes Hevelius. Source: Public domain provided by the author](https://www.ancient-origins.net/sites/default/files/styles/slideshow/public/field/image/Ibn-al-Haytham-optics.jpg?itok=IeK5wUZc)
