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June No. 1
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Ragnar Lothbrok: The Ferocious Viking Hero that Became a Myth
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Ragnar Lothbrok was a fearless hero of Norse lore who became widely known thanks to the History Channel’s hit series ‘Vikings.’ His historicity is subject to debate—as with King Arthur, for example—Ragnar is an amalgamation of a number of historical personages and minor characters of legend. So, the question is: Where does Ragnar the man end and the myth begin? There is a theory that the folk heroes and demigods we know today were common men who did quite extraordinary things, for which they were rewarded with stories about them being told to later generations....
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To Open or Not to Open The 1,650-Year-Old Speyer Wine Bottle?
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Contemporary historians have been debating for a few years now if they should open the Speyer wine bottle, which is believed to be the world’s oldest bottle of wine. The Pfalz Historical Museum in Germany has been home to the legendary 1,650-year-old bottle that is sealed with wax and contains a white liquid. Even though the oldest evidence of wine production was found in Armenia around 4100 BC, it would be safe to say that Western tradition of producing and drinking wine most likely started in the territory of Classical Greece, when people drank it during breakfast...
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The First Genome Data from Ancient Egyptian Mummies: Ancient Egyptians Were Most Closely Related to Ancient Populations from the Near East
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An international team of scientists, led by researchers from the University of Tuebingen and the Max Planck Institute for the Science of Human History in Jena, successfully recovered and analyzed ancient DNA from Egyptian mummies dating from approximately 1400 BCE to 400 CE, including the first genome-wide nuclear data from three individuals, establishing ancient Egyptian mummies as a reliable source for genetic material to study the ancient past....
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A War Ending Phenomenon: Total Solar Eclipse Occurring on August 21 in the US
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When a total solar eclipse occurred just over 2,600 years ago, on May 28, 585 BC, the sight of it is believed to have been the main reason for the end of the battle between the Medes and the Lydians. This year’s anniversary of the strange phenomenon, comes in a year that Americans are getting ready to experience a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to witness the same extraordinary astronomical event that will conquer the skies of their country on August 21. As space.com reports, on August 21, people across the United States will see...
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Did Mankind First Exit Africa 100,000 Years Ago?
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Recent archaeological evidence indicates that between 130,000 to 100,000 years ago there was an exit of anatomically modern humans out of Africa into the Americas and Eastern Eurasia. This view is supported by the discovery of African artifacts in the Middle East, Brazil, and Crete, and 80,000-100,000-year-old human teeth in China. The findings suggest that humans left Africa much earlier than originally believed. Archaeologists have now speculated that there was an Out of Africa (OoA) event around 100,000 years (or more) ago...
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A Fiery Maiden Guards Her Secrets
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“At the beginning of the 1st millennium BC, there was raised an 8-storied towered temple (Maiden’s Tower) devoted to seven gods, grandiose for those day… [possessing] seven sacred levels, [and] wall-recessed altars with seven-colored fires burning in honor of the pantheon of gods of Ahura Mazda or Mithra”. - Professor Davud Akhundov. The former Soviet republic of Azerbaijan possesses no shortage of ancient Persian monuments. None, however, is as enigmatic as the Kyz Galasy (or “Maiden’s Tower”), the oldest and most famous building in the country’s capital, Baku...
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Be Careful What You Wish For: Ouija Boards Unraveled
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Ouija boards—also called spirit boards or talking boards—have been part of various cultures long before the introduction of the "game" in the 19 th century. "Ouija", in fact, is the name of the game invented by Elijah Bond. Authentic Ouija boards are known to practitioners as the aforementioned spirit or talking boards. Regardless, these panels all share characteristics: the board itself has each letter of the alphabet dictated, as well as the numbers 0-9, and then whether or not it is inscribed with "hello", "goodbye", or other full words depends on the creator of the board...
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The Nampa Figurine: 2-million-year-old Relic or Just a Hoax?
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In 1889, a group of workers was searching for water near the town of Nampa in southwestern Idaho. To create a well, they drilled a borehole down about 295 feet (90 meters), at which point their steam pump began to spit out bits of clay. Amongst the projectiles, the workers discovered a tiny clay form (the size of a dime) that appeared to have been formed into the shape of a skinny clothed woman. Was this a real figurine or just a coincidence? Who crafted it and why? Or, as some suspect, is the whole story a hoax?...
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The Lost Knowledge of the Ancients: Were Humans the First? Part 1
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Much of modern science was known in ancient times. Robots and computers were a reality long before the 1940´s. The early Bronze Age inhabitants of the Levant used computers in stone, the Greeks in the 2nd century BC invented an analogue computer known as the Antikythera mechanism. An ancient Hindu book gives detailed instructions for the construction of an aircraft –ages before the Wright brothers. Where did such knowledge come from?...
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