Ancient history

British Museum delays Jewish Culture Month event after learning of planned protest

The British Museum postponed its Jewish Culture Month talk on Ancient Israel and Judah after learning some registered attendees intended to deliberately disrupt the event.

London, England, General view of the British Museum with visitors, Bloomsbury, March 2025.
Chinese President Xi Jinping speaks at a state banquet with US President Donald Trump (not pictured) at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, May 14, 2026.

What is the Thucydides Trap, raised by Trump’s China visit? - analysis

Stele depicting Roman Emperor Tiberius standing before the Theban triad of the ancient Egyptian gods found near the Karnak Temple Complex, March 30, 2026.

Stone stele depicting Roman emperor, Egyptian gods found near Karnak temple site in Luxor

The Boclair Road Roman Fortlet as it may once have been, March 25, 2026.

Roman fort found north of Hadrian’s Wall may have been used to defend against unconquered Scotland


Sunken Ptolemaic harbor near Alexandria revives hunt for Cleopatra's lost tomb

“After 2,000 years, no one has ever been there. We are the first,” said archaeologist Kathleen Martinez, citing the harbor’s link to Taposiris Magna as a decisive clue.

Near Alexandria, archaeologists have discovered the remains of a sunken harbor.

Turkish dig shows how people used daily objects in mysterious 5,000-year-old ceremonies

Head archeologist says face-carved pottery from Konya Plain served ritual purposes rather than daily cooking or storage functions.

Illustration: the neolithic Site of Çatalhöyük in Konya.

Bacchus or theater mask? Rare 1,900-year-old Roman find in the Netherlands

Alongside an oil lamp were four ceramic plates, two jugs, a cup, a glass bowl and a bronze bowl, and archaeologists debate its meaning.

The lamp, after cleaning.

Scientists found a 3.5-meter dolphin fossil in a desert that was once an ancient ocean

The fossil, discovered in July, measures three and a half meters and will undergo exhaustive analysis before public display.

Whale fossils in the Ocucaje desert, Peru.

Why this small dinosaur from Mongolia is rewriting the story of dome-headed evolution

Dated to about 108 million years ago, the fossil preserves roughly 90 percent of the skeleton, including the first pachycephalosaur hand and stomach stones.

Artist illustration of Z. rinpoche.

A 3,000-year-old divination archive found in Turkey

Cuneiform tablets mentioning crown princes and kings provide new insights into how ancient empire used bird omens for state decisions.

Some of the tablets found.

Sparta and Athens: History's wartime lessons for a modern-day Israel - analysis

As Netanyahu evokes "super-Sparta," Israel may be repeating the mistakes that left both city-states devastated after decades of war.

Repulse of Pyrrhus from Sparta', 1890. Pyrrhus, in retreat at the Siege of Sparta, 272 BC from Spartans defending their city under command of Areus I. From "Cassell's Illustrated Universal History, Vol. I - Early and Greek History", by Edmund Ollier.

Study: Oldest mummies predate ancient Egypt by 6,000 years

Researchers analyzed 54 skeletons from 11 sites, detecting prolonged low-temperature heating and tightly bound 'fetal' postures consistent with deliberate processing before burial.

Smoked mummies kept in private households in Papua, Indonesia, photographed in January 2019.

Ancient lentils in the canary islands survived 2,000 years, DNA shows

Genetic analysis reveals indigenous cultivation practices and crop continuity dating back to the 3rd century CE.

Lentil plant grown at Fuerteventura.

Older than Neanderthal rites? New papers double down on the Homo naledi burial hypothesis

Researchers say remains of at least 15 individuals in the Rising Star cave were deliberately placed and quickly covered by sediments, countering claims of accidental deposition.

A facial reconstruction of Homo naledi.