However, some experts question whether the mummy was even pregnant at all. Researchers studying the remains of what they believe to be a fetus found inside a pregnant mummy from ancient Egypt say the developing infant was slowly “pickled like an egg” over centuries as the mom’s uterus became increasinglyContinue Reading
The sphinxes were originally 26 feet (8 meters) long. Archaeologists in Egypt have discovered two colossal limestone statues of King Amenhotep III that are fashioned to look like sphinxes, according to the Egyptian Ministry of Tourism and Antiquities. An Egyptian-German archaeological mission discovered the sphinx-like statues, which were originally aboutContinue Reading
They were likely used to sip beer communally. Slender gold and silver tubes crafted during the Bronze Age are the world’s oldest drinking straws, a new study finds. Archaeologists found the 3-foot-long (1 meter) metal tubes in 1897 while excavating a burial mound known as a kurgan from the ancientContinue Reading
Thousands of pendant-shaped tombs discovered along the pathways. Archaeologists in northwest Saudi Arabia have discovered 4,500-year-old “funerary avenues” — the longest running for 105 miles (170 km) — alongside thousands of pendant-shaped stone tombs. They are called funerary avenues because tombs are located beside them. While funeral processions couldContinue Reading
Skeletons of “kungas” discovered in a princely burial. Mesopotamians were using hybrids of domesticated donkeys and wild asses to pull their war wagons 4,500 years ago — at least 500 years before horses were bred for the purpose, a new study reveals. The analysis of ancient DNA from animal bonesContinue Reading
The Renaissance was a period of “rebirth” in arts, science and culture, and is typically thought to have originated in Italy. The Renaissance, which means “rebirth” in French, typically refers to a period in European history from A.D. 1400 to A.D. 1600. Many historians, however, assert that it started earlierContinue Reading
The skeleton has been unearthed at Herculaneum. The skeleton of a man killed by the deadly eruption of Mount Vesuvius almost 2,000 years ago has been unearthed from an ancient beach at Herculaneum — possibly as he ran in an attempt to escape the disaster. The man was killed justContinue Reading
“Such inoculation should be common everywhere.” A letter written by Russian empress Catherine the Great on April 20, 1787, stressing the importance of the smallpox vaccine to the count of Malorossiya (modern-day Ukraine), will go up for auction on Dec. 1 at MacDougall’s in London, according to news reports. ThatContinue Reading
Rebel Maccabees stormed and defeated a stronghold of the Seleucid Empire. Archaeologists have discovered the burned remains of an ancient Hellenistic fortress in Israel that fell to Jewish rebels more than 2,000 years ago. A guerrilla army called the Hasmoneans, also known as the Maccabees, defeated and set fire toContinue Reading
A recent deathbed confession has the FBI investigating a former toxic waste dump in New Jersey… again. The FBI is surveying a former New Jersey landfill — once condemned as an environmental disaster site — as part of the agency’s long-running investigation into the disappearance of Jimmy Hoffa, the infamousContinue Reading