During my first visit to Angkor, in March 1954, I was immediately struck by the similarity of this ancient city in the Cambodian plain to the great Maya sites that I already knew first hand. The sight of venerable stone structures in the grip of strangler figs, ceibas, and other jungle trees certainly rang a...Read More

After spending most of the day walking the narrow, rock-cut passageways below ground level that characterize the northern group of churches in Lalibela, it seems odd to have wide-open space and mountain air surrounding us as I stroll toward the Church of St. George, or Bete Giyorgis as it is called in Amharic.  But it...Read More

Are you an Egyptophile at heart?  Well, Bob Brier – Far Horizons study leader for our trips to Egypt and Sudan – just published a new book that will validate your passion for all things Egyptian.  Egyptomania tells the long and vast story of how the world has always been fascinated with mummies, tombs filled...Read More

“Hault, who comes there?” “The keys!” “Whose keys?” “Queen Elizabeth’s keys!”  Thus was the exchange between the sentry and the Chief Warder, in the dark of night, as our small group of privileged onlookers stood engrossed.  With that final statement to identify the keys, all was well… The sentry stood down with his firearm at...Read More

These bodies of water surrounding fortresses reduced the risk of tunneling. One of the most serious forms of attack was to undermine part of a castle. The ‘miners’ were called Sappers. They would dig a tunnel underneath one of the corners using timber props (‘ sapping’), and then fill the tunnel with wood and set...Read More

Did you know that the Moors, who ruled Spain for 700 years, introduced new scientific techniques to Europe, such as an astrolabe, a device for measuring the position of the stars and planets? Did you know that the Great Mosque of Córdoba (La Mezquita) is still one of the architectural wonders of the world? Its...Read More

Archaeoastronomy is the study and interpretation of solar, lunar and stellar alignments found at ancient monuments such as pyramids, towers, ground lines such as the Nazca Lines in Peru, and megalithic sites Stonehenge, Carnac, Newgrange, etc. These monuments are on major planetary grid points. Travel to Georgia, Armenia and NW Iran – with Dr. Edwin Krupp,...Read More

Sited along Hadrian’s Wall, the massive defensive fortifications that delineated the northern border of the Roman Britain, Vindolanda was one of the garrisons built to house soldiers. Excavations here have uncovered many exciting finds – officer’s residences and barrack buildings, letters handwriten in ink, the finest collection of Roman footwear from the Roman Empire, textiles,...Read More

The national capital with the shortest history is Naypyidaw, Myanmar. In 2005 the Burmese military leader Than Shwe ordered the capital moved from the 11th-century city of Yangon (Rangoon) to an uninhabited area of scrubland 200 miles to the north. By the end of the decade, Naypyidaw (whose name means “abode of kings”) had grown...Read More

Using computerized tomography (CT) scans of his mummified body, scientists have conducted a “virtual autopsy” of Tutankhamen, the boy king who ruled Egypt some 3,300 years ago. The scan suggests that he suffered from numerous deformities and ailments, caused in part by inbreeding within his family. And a DNA analysis found traces of malaria and...Read More