Pytheas is not a familiar name, even to those familiar with the ancient world. But in this man we see a resolve, a determination to explore and to discover, which merits him a place among the greats. The world used to be a smaller one than it is now. For the civilizations of ancient Europe
Archaeologists in Arizona have uncovered a bronze cannon which dates back to the Coronado Expedition of the early 16th century. Francisco Vázquez de Coronado (1510 -1554), a Spanish nobleman and conquistador, led a sizeable expedition from what is now Mexico across the southwestern United States between 1540 and 1542. The cannon, according to the study
A new study has analyzed a large whole genome dataset of the Armenian population. The study, published in the American Journal of Human Genetics, has caught out at least one ancient historian. The Armenians, an ancient peoples of West Asia, can be dated back thousands of years. Darius the Great of Persia spoke of them
In the west of Turkey, in the highlands of ancient Phrygia stands a enigmatic tower of volcanic rock. Known as Arslan Kaya, it has intrigued scientists for generations. More than two and a half millennia old, the 15-meter-tall monument is nothing short of a work of art. Carved into the surface of “Lion Rock” as
Italian Police have announced the recovery of looted artifacts stolen from a necropolis in Italy, according to a statement from the Italian Ministry of Culture. The artifacts, from Umbria in central Italy, date to the 3rd century BC and are Etruscan, a civilization which controlled central Italy before Rome was the dominant power in the
Researchers from Zayed National Museum have found something hidden in the Blue Qur’an, a world famous manuscript and stunning example of Islamic calligraphy dating from 800-900 AD. Hidden behind a layer of gold leaf were hidden lines of verse, words from the Surah An-Nisa, the fourth chapter of the Qur’an. According to the press release,