There are no paintings or statues that can be definitively credited to this queen, and yet she was described by historians as being physically alluring. Coins with her image that were struck in her time show a masculine face with a protruding nose – not (by our standards anyway) a woman who would stand out...Read More
Ancient Egypt was the first regional state to be brought under one political ruler, and new dating evidence suggests that this period of unification happened more quickly than previously thought. The first kings and queens of Egypt in order of succession were Aha, Djer, Djet, Queen Merneith, Den, Anedjib, Semerkhet and Qa’a. They would have...Read More
A gigantic stucco frieze was recently discovered during excavations of a building at Holmul, a ceremonial center in the northeastern Peten of Guatemala. Measuring 26 feet by 7 feet, and still containing traces of red, blue, green, and yellow pigment, deified rulers are prominently displayed in that is one of the best preserved Maya façades...Read More
Within the great Olmec city of La Venta, which existed from around 1000 to 400 B.C., have been found many extraordinary offerings including one composed of 16 different figurines carved out of various stones, found in 1951 and now displayed in Mexico City’s National Museum. Recent investigation has proven that it is possible to identify...Read More
The British archeologist Sir Arthur Evans in the early 1900′s named the Minoans after a legendary Greek king, Minos. Based on similarities between Minoan artifacts and those from Egypt and Libya, Evans proposed that the Minoan civilization founders migrated into the area from North Africa. Since then, other archaeologists have suggested that the Minoans may...Read More
Mongol leader Genghis Khan began launching raids into present-day China almost immediately after uniting the nomadic tribes of the Mongolian plateau in 1206. His grandson Kublai Khan completed the conquest in 1279, and founded the Yuan Dynasty. Although he deemed the Chinese legally inferior and recruited outsiders such as Venetian merchant Marco Polo to administer...Read More
Kerma, in present-day northern Sudan, was the first Bronze Age kingdom in Africa outside Egypt. A catastrophic 30 year drought 4,200 years ago, which produced low Nile floods, created chaos downstream in Egypt’s old kingdom for at least a century, and archaeological evidence argues that other civilizations in the Near East and Mesopotamia were also...Read More
Spanish researchers have detected the pigment dehydroindigo in Maya Blue, the extremely durable blue paint used by the Maya to decorate their walls, codices, and pottery. The pigment is formed when indigo oxidizes during heating. “Indigo is blue and dehydroindigo is yellow, therefore the presence of both pigments in variable proportions would justify the more...Read More
It could be the year for discovering notorious monarchs. Just weeks after remains found under a car park were confirmed as Richard III, archaeologists now believe they may just have stumbled on Alfred the Great. During excavations in a churchyard in Winchester, named in ancient documents as his burial place, archaeologists have found an unmarked...Read More
During excavations at massive Gobekli Tepe in eastern Turkey, carved megaliths and pillars arranged in circles have been found. Each ring contains two large T-shaped pillars, some soaring to 16 feet, surrounded by somewhat smaller stones. Several are intricately carved with a variety of animals, crafted and arranged by prehistoric people who had not yet...Read More
