Monthly Archives: May 2016

5,000-Year-Old Chinese Beer Recipe Had Secret Ingredient

Barley might have been the "secret ingredient" in a 5,000-year-old beer recipe that has been reconstructed from residues on prehistoric pots from China, according to new archaeological research. Continue reading →

Decapitating Demons May Be the Oldest Fearsome Entities of Ancient Egypt

The demon Ikenty represented as a large bird with a black feline head on a Middle Kingdom coffin. The same demon appears as a large bird on a much older leather roll

A Belgium-based Egyptologist has discovered the oldest depictions of ancient Egyptian demons, showing that demonic entities populated the ancient Egyptians’ imaginations as far back as 4,000 years ago. Continue reading →

Egyptian artifact, exposed after heavy rains last winter, believed to have belonged to very senior figure in Thirteenth Pharaonic dynasty in 18th century BCE

A 3,700-year-old scarab seal found by a birdwatcher at Tel Dor, in northern Israel, dated to the 13th Dynasty. (Tel Dor Excavations, courtesy)

Haifa University announced on Sunday the discovery of a rare 3,700-year-old scarab seal found at Tel Dor, an important ancient port on the coast south of Haifa.
The amulet was found by a birdwatcher, who gave it to university archaeologists on site. The object was exposed after heavy rains last winter. Continue reading →

Intricate animal and flower tattoos adorn the mummy’s neck, shoulders and back.

The mummy's tattoos include two seated baboons depicted between a wadjet eye (top row), a symbol of protection.

A mummy from ancient Egypt was heavily tattooed with sacred symbols, which may have served to advertise and enhance the religious powers of the woman who received them more than 3,000 years ago. Continue reading →

Findings published in Nature reveal Hobbits may have lived along side modern humans.

Eight years of further excavations and study at the Indonesian cave site of Liang Bua have pushed back the time of disappearance of the ‘hobbits’ of Flores (Homo floresiensis) from as recently as 12,000 years ago to about 50,000 years ago, according to new findings published today (31 March, AEDT) in Nature. Continue reading →