More recently than you might think. Istanbul is a rare place. It’s the only city to straddle Europe and the Middle East; the Turkish metropolis is simultaneously an Asian and a European city. This geography helps explain why it was once the capital of the Eastern Roman Empire, also knownContinue Reading
Fires from incendiary bombs burned the cake to a crisp.. Archaeologists in Germany are salivating over a hazelnut-and-almond cake that was baked 79 years ago and was recently dug up in a cellar in the German town of Lübeck — as a blackened, mummy-like relic. Though the charred delicacy hasn’tContinue Reading
“Do not look behind you.” A museum curator has discovered the oldest-known ghost drawing on a 3,500-year-old ancient Babylonian tablet that also includes instructions for how to exorcise the unwanted spirit. The drawing on a clay tablet depicts a seemingly grumpy, bearded male ghost being led to the underworld onContinue Reading
Hint: It was an ancient Greek. The British Isles, tucked away in the northwest of Europe, has been inhabited by humans since Paleolithic times, but the people who lived there didn’t develop a writing system until much later, and the first local account of the isles did not appear untilContinue Reading
The bowl was discovered in a 3,000-year-old settlement in Austria. Archaeologists excavating a 3,000-year-old settlement in Austria have unearthed a golden bowl with the image of a sun adorning its underside. “At the bottom of the bowl, a sun disc with 11 rays is depicted,” Michał Sip, an archaeologist withContinue Reading
The largest-ever study of Arab genomes has revealed the most ancient of all modern Middle Eastern populations and is shedding light on how modern humans may have first expanded across the globe. The Arabian Peninsula — which today includes Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab EmiratesContinue Reading
Charred seeds found in the Utah desert represent the earliest-known human use of tobacco, evidence that some of the first people to arrive in the Americas used the plant, according to new research. The discovery reveals that humans used tobacco nearly 10,000 years earlier than previously thought, the researchers said.Continue Reading
It is a rare find, as thousands of years ago pooping in toilets was a luxury only for the elite. Archaeologists recently discovered a 2,700-year-old private toilet inside the remains of an ancient royal estate in Jerusalem. It is a rare find, as thousands of years ago pooping in toiletsContinue Reading
The discovery could have just settled a 2,400-year-old debate A new genetic analysis may have finally revealed the origin of the Etruscans — a mysterious people whose civilization thrived in Italy centuries before the founding of Rome. It turns out the enigmatic Etruscans were local to the area, with nearlyContinue Reading
The artifacts were used to worship Hathor, the goddess of the sky, and other deities. Archaeologists excavating the “Temple of the Pharaohs” (as it is now called) at the ancient city of Buto, about 59 miles (95 kilometers) east of Alexandria, in Egypt, have found 2,700-year-old tools and sculptures thatContinue Reading