A team of archaeologists has come across an ancient Egyptian mummy with symbolic tattoos that, they believe, are the first of their kind. According to the researchers, the 3,000-year-old mummified female had her body tattooed with a number of different symbols, including cows, lotus and divine eyes, which could represent her religious status or ritual…
Thinking about getting a tattoo? You may want to take inspiration from Oetzi the Iceman. Entombed underneath an alpine glacier nearly 5,300 years ago, Europe’s oldest natural mummy is also the oldest known tattooed human in history, a new study reveals. Discovered back in 1991 in the Oetztal Alps, the mummy has been found to…
The “opening of the mouth” was an important ritual, conducted by the ancient Egyptians during the mummification process, that aimed at reinstating the deceased’s senses for survival in the afterlife. Described in great details in the funerary texts, like the Pyramid Texts, it usually took place after excerebration (or the removal of the brain) and…
In terms of history, the Second Intermediate Period pertains to around hundred years (from 1650 BC to 1550 BC) when Ancient Egypt fell into a state of disarray after the so-called invasion of the Hyksos people. As a result, numerous local kingdoms cropped up in different areas of the fertile land - with one of…
A few days ago, we talked about a mummy still found in a state of Lotus position. Well, this time around, researchers have found yet another mummy in the same serene position - but interred within an ancient Chinese statue! The discovery was made by historians at the the Drents Museum (Netherlands), with the find…
The project that started back in 2001, and incurred several hiccups along the way, has finally reached its conclusion in the form of the new Musée des Confluences. Located in Lyon, France, this unusually-designed museum actually looks like a spacecraft meandering through the Star Wars universe. Having survived several construction hurdles and setbacks, the $301…
Songino Khairkhan is one of the nine districts that surrounds the Mongolian capital region of Ulaanbaatar. And this remotely populated area has unveiled a mysterious historical find of its own - in the form of a human relic. According to a report purveyed by Mongolia’s Morning News, this is no ordinary mummy in a conventional…
According to historical estimation, the Gospel of Mark was written during the 1st century (at least before 90 AD). To put things into perspective, this period is more than a decade earlier than the oldest extant gospel (dating from 2nd century AD). But now researchers have been able to salvage a fragment of the so-called…
A few days ago, we talked about how contrary to popular opinion, the Great Pyramid doesn't house any single mummy specimen. Well, on the other end of the spectrum, archaeologists from the Brigham Young University, Utah, have discovered an ancient cemetery in Egypt that probably boasts of over a million mummies! The site is known…