If archaeologists and scientists understood every ancient discovery they ever came across, channels like ours would be out of business. Fortunately for us, we never have to worry about that, because there are ancient mysteries to be found almost everywhere we look! Whether they were discovered recently or long ago, these discoveries have left even the best-informed experts scratching their heads in confusion.
Ancient Roman Philosophers quotes | Life Lessons men Learn Too Late in Life
In the following video we will analyze ancient Roman philosophers quotes. Watch the video for more!
Super Kinky Sex Lives Of Roman Gladiators
Gladiators were the rock stars of their day, but there was also a social stigma attached to their existence. They were slaves who embodied some of the greatest virtues held by Roman society, but their status didn't stop women in Rome from desiring gladiator sex or from gladiator sweat as an aphrodisiac as they tried to satisfy their lust for the fierce, manly fighters.
Explorer came dangerously close to the army of China's first emperor, whose tomb archaeologists are afraid to open
When it comes to the tomb of China's first emperor, archaeologists must exercise caution, yet one explorer reportedly had the 'amazing' honor of coming up close to the renowned Terracotta Army.
One of the most significant archaeological finds ever was the Qin Xi Huang tomb complex, which is well known on a global scale.
A complex city-sized fortress that he had constructed had all he would require for his afterlife, including his very own Terracotta Army, a group of clay soldiers created to guard him after he passed away at the age of 49 in 210 BC.
One chamber of the complex of tombs that houses the emperor's tomb and sarcophagus has remained closed, suggesting that the army is also doing its job.
Although there is no reason for the delay in uncovering the tomb—just plain, old-fashioned science—it is not because of any curses.
The famous Terracotta Army. Credit: National Geographic
The terracotta soldiers weren't the simple ones we are accustomed to seeing now; instead, they were painted in vibrant hues when the complex was first uncovered. The figures' paint, however, started to peel off due to the abrupt shift in the environment, and now the majority of them are entirely bare.
It is therefore feared that opening the imperial chamber would have a similar impact on everything inside.
Another reason is that before opening the chamber, the authorities are awaiting new developments in archaeological research and technology, which they hope will enable us to gather as much knowledge as possible or even preserve the chamber.
National Geographic's Albert Lin meeting the Terracotta Army. Credit: National Geographic
According to curator Kristin Romey of the Terracotta Warrior exhibit at Discovery Times Square in New York City, "Nobody has ever been in there where the emperor is buried.
"They realize that nobody in the world right now has the technology to properly go in and excavate it," says the author, "partly out of respect for the elders."
While specialists must exercise caution when navigating certain regions, one explorer once had the opportunity to interact with the emperor's Army, which he described as a "incredible" experience.
National Geographic's Albert Lin described the Terracotta Army, one of the world's great wonders, in a video posted six years ago. "This is the Terracotta Army, 8,000 warriors buried over 2,000 years ago.
"This is the army of the first emperor. In order to wage his wars in the hereafter, he gave the order to have his actual army replicated in clay and buried with him.
"Each face is distinct and individual. Take a look at this place's size; it reveals a lot about the man, his ego, and his afterlife aspirations."
He continued, taking it all in, "What an experience."
With light infantry in the front, heavy infantry in the middle, and even cavalry at the rear, together with 520 life-size horses, Lin claimed that the warriors he could see were obviously "set for battle - exactly like the emperor's real army."
It's an absolutely fantastic feeling to be here, he continued. standing at a place to which few people actually have access.
We are located in the center of this incredible World Heritage Site, which in many ways represents my own cultural heritage and ancestry.
Ancient DNA sheds new light on Machu Picchu, the 'lost metropolis' of the Incas.
From all throughout the empire, including the Amazonas region, workers and retainers were employed at the renowned mountain estate.
According to the results of a recent study that examined ancient DNA recovered at the site, a wide variety of people from all across the Inca empire lived and worked at Machu Picchu, which served as the Inca emperor's royal palace.
The study's findings, which were published on July 26, 2023 in the journal Science Advances, revealed that the laborers and retainers at the estate originated from all around the empire, with some of them even arriving from the Amazonas region.
Expeditions to This 750,000-Year-Old Workshop Were Made by Ancient Humans
Tools have been made by our prehistoric ancestors for hundreds of thousands of years. According to recent study, Homo erectus foragers relied on possessing a specialized forge to forge tools and weapons as part of their hunting strategy.
When you go back far enough in time, our understanding of our forefathers becomes quite hazy. Nevertheless, over the years, various tools connected to Homo erectus have been found. Homo erectus is thought to be the direct ancestor of modern humans. For instance, tools that may be as old as 3 million years ago were recently found in Kenya and are possibly related with Paranthropus or another ancestor of the Homo genus.
But having a real workshop you can use and leave to your offspring differs from simply constructing a few tools when the occasion presents itself.And as researchers have discovered, our predecessors were able to do both, demonstrating that they were thinking forward rather than simply responding to their current surroundings.
Indeed, scientists have recently verified one of the earliest known human workshops at a flint rock exposure in northern Israel, a location that people probably frequented for tens of thousands of years. The research was published in the journal Geoarchaeology in June 2023.
According to Meir Finkel, a geoarchaeologist at Tel Aviv University in Israel and coauthor of the latest study, "they probably passed this knowledge down through many generations."
Acheulean Tools Discovered in Ancient Workshop
The Hula Valley in northern Israel is home to the well-known archaeological site Gesher Benot Ya'aqov (GBY). Both the elephants' remains and the stone implements used to butcher them can be found at the location. The now-dry area was formerly a lake where huge animals would congregate for water before it was drained in the 1950s.
According to Finkel, it's still unclear if the hominids who inhabited the area hunted elephants and other animals or used the mud as a kind of trap where they could slay animals when they got stranded. In any case, the Hula Valley's GBY and Ma'ayan Barukh adjacent provided the hominids with a consistent food source that they frequented throughout the course of hundreds of thousands of years.
Both sites contain thousands of hand axes and other tools that date to the Acheulian style, a period of typically oval stone tool production that is frequently connected to Homo erectus and lasted from around 1.7 million years ago to about 200,000 years ago. The Ma'ayan Barukh site was created about 500,000 years after the GBY site, which dates to approximately 750,000 years ago.
Where Did The Hula Valley Axes Come From?
There had to be a source for the enormous number of hand axes discovered in these Hula Valley sites. According to Finkel, "the amount attests to continuous exploitation of the same source."
In the most recent research, Finkel and his coworkers broke down samples from 10 hand axes from GBY and 10 from Ma'ayan Barukh before evaluating them with a mass spectrometer, which gauges the concentration of various elements in material.
They needed to locate a match from the source once they got the flint's signature in the tools. About 12 miles to the west of these locations, on the Dishon Plateau, Finkel had previously researched a flint workshop as part of his doctoral dissertation. Thousands of abandoned stone tools, flakes, chips, and other artifacts from the Acheulian tool-making tradition dating back hundreds of thousands of years were discovered at this location by prior studies.
These tools could always be obtained from the Dishon Plateau. But the researchers also wanted to rule out anything else close to validate that fact. They carried out field surveys close to the sites, collecting rock samples from streams that flowed into the valley, the Ramim Ridge, the Safed Mountains, and flint exposures in the Golan Heights.
Comprehensive Review of Flint Tools
The majority of the flint exposures at these locations did not provide as many stone tools as those discovered at the Hula Valley sites. Additionally, Finkel claims that the manufacturing of each Acheulian hand axe resulted in an average amount of waste of 75–80%. Nothing would have provided enough stone for more than a few tools, with the exception of the flint outcropping at Dishon.
However, the researchers used the mass spectrometer to examine samples from each of these locations just to be certain. The 20 flint tools from GBY and Ma'ayan Barukh's signatures matched the stone at Dishon Plateau, indicating virtually conclusively that they all originated from the same location.
Finkel asserts that there is essentially no alternative for that many hand axes anyplace else.
It is likely that the individuals utilizing tools had to plot their route to the Dishon Plateau, which is about 20 kilometers to the west of the Hula Valley and would have involved climbing around 800 meters in height. It's not en route; they must go directly to this location, according to Finkel.
How Does This Finding Affect Us?
In more recent decades, anthropologists have documented hunter-gatherers going on these kinds of journeys, Finkel notes, traveling very far to particular locations to harvest materials for their tools.
The findings in the Hula Valley and Gishon Plateau "may be the first proof of what is seen in ethnographic research," he claims. Whether Acheulian foragers used these axes and other weapons to hunt elephants or simply waited by the prehistoric Hula Lake for trapped animals, they had to be prepared to act quickly.
"Going to get hand axes was great planning," says Finkel.
Archaeologists Are Afraid To Enter China's First Emperor's Tomb
In an ordinary field in the Shaanxi province of China, farmers made one of the most significant archaeological discoveries of all time in 1974. They unearthed pieces of a clay human figure while digging. Simply put, this was the tip of the iceberg. The field was located over a number of trenches that were crammed with thousands of life-size terracotta replicas of soldiers and war horses, as well as acrobats, esteemed officials, and other animals. This information was discovered through archaeological digs.
The Terracotta Army was buried near the tomb of Qin Shi Huang to protect him in his afterlife.
The task of this Terracotta Army, which ruled from 221 to 210 BCE, appears to have been to protect the nearby mausoleum of Qin Shi Huang. Qin Shi Huang was the imposing first emperor of the Qin dynasty.
Despite the enormous amount of mystery surrounding it, the emperor's tomb has never been uncovered, even though significant portions of the necropolis surrounding the mausoleum have been investigated. Perhaps it has been more than 2,000 years since anyone has peeked into this tomb to see the dreaded ruler imprisoned inside.
This hesitation is mostly due to archaeologists' worries that the excavation may harm the tomb and result in the loss of important historical data. Only invasive archaeological methods may now be utilized to access the tomb, running a great risk of doing permanent harm.
Heinrich Schliemann's excavations of the city of Troy in the 1870s provide one of the best examples of this. His work managed to virtually wipe out all evidence of the very city he had set out to unearth due to his haste and naivete. Archaeologists are confident that they don't want to rush things and repeat similar errors.
The possibility of employing some non-intrusive procedures to examine the tomb has been raised by scientists. Utilizing muons, a subatomic particle created when cosmic rays collide with atoms in the Earth's atmosphere, which can see through objects like an improved X-ray, is one possibility. However, it appears that few of these plans have really taken off.
There may be significantly more urgent and lethal risks associated with breaking open the tomb. Sima Qian, an ancient Chinese historian who lived around 100 years after Qin Shi Huang's passing, describes how the tomb is outfitted with booby traps that are intended to murder any intruders.
Tomb of the First Emperor Qin Shi Huang Di, Xi'an, China.
"For a hundred officials, palaces and beautiful towers were built, and the tomb was stocked with priceless treasure and valuable relics. Crossbows and arrows that are ready to fire at anyone who enters the tomb were ordered to be made by craftsmen. Mercury was utilized to mechanically recreate the movement of the Great Sea, the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers, and the Hundred Rivers.
This report claims that a flood of poisonous liquid mercury might wash across the gravediggers even if the 2,000-year-old bow weapons malfunction. That might sound like a hollow threat, but investigations of mercury concentrations near the tomb have revealed levels that are substantially higher than what would be predicted for a regular plot of ground.
According to the authors of a 2020 publication, "Highly volatile mercury may be escaping through cracks that developed in the structure over time. Our investigation supports ancient chronicle records on the tomb, which is believed never to have been opened or looted."
The Qin Shi Huang tomb is currently closed and hidden, but it is not forgotten. However, it's possible that when the time is right, scientific developments will eventually delve into the mysteries that have been buried here undisturbed for over 2,200 years.
Photos reveal the discovery of an ancient treasure hoard next to a 2,200-year-old Celtic "sanctuary"
Archaeologists have discovered new proof of ancient human life more than 20 years after the discovery of an Iron Age town in the Czech Republic.
Excavations at the Němčice site have been underway for several years, archaeologists said. I. Čižmář
According to a study released on June 29 2023, experts have now discovered an ancient glass workshop at the site of Němčice that dates to the La Tène age, specifically between approximately 250 B.C. and 150 B.C., sunken huts, and a potential ritualistic sanctuary.
Here is what was found.
Transalpine Europe's 'First and Oldest' Glass Workshop
Archaeologists reported constantly finding "semi-finished products and rejects of glass beads and production waste" in the same circular area during earlier investigations.
Although experts believed that this meant that the glass was being made on-site, a workshop has never before been shown to exist, according to the study.
Archaeologists said they will continue analyzing the glass pieces to learn more about production methods. I. Čižmář
According to the investigation, archaeologists discovered remnants of the machinery and manufacturing characteristics required for producing glass. These discoveries provided evidence of production at the settlement and provided information on the processes used.
More than 2,000 Celtic coins from the first and second century B.C. were discovered in earlier investigations using metal detectors. Along with a range of bronze objects, archaeologists also discovered glass beads and bracelets.
In Transalpine Europe, which includes portions of what is now France and Belgium, as well as Germany, the Netherlands, and Switzerland, experts claimed that the glass workshop is the oldest one ever discovered.
The square structure is similar to ritualistic sanctuaries found at comparable sites, experts said. I. Čižmář
A Possible ‘Sanctuary’
A square construction was also discovered by archaeologists there.
The investigation determined that similar discoveries at related sites were ritualistic locations. The putative "sanctuary" at Němčice, according to experts, presumably played a similar socio-cultic role, showing that the location acted as both a center for trade and industry and a place for religious ceremonies.
Experts claimed that the discovery of the workshop and the sanctuary attests to Němčice’s location in a vast network of Central European villages along the Amber Road, an old trade route connecting the Baltic coast to the Adriatic region.
The Czech Republic's eastern region, Moravia, contains Němčice.
A lifelike reconstruction of a woman who perished in the fatal Vasa warship crash 400 years ago
An early shipwreck skeleton from the 17th century was initially mistaken for being male. However, a fresh reconstruction, based on findings from a DNA investigation conducted earlier this year, identifies her as female.
The new reconstruction shows Gertrude wearing a gray jacket and red hat, as pieces of these items were found by her skeleton on the Vasa shipwreck in Sweden. (Image credit: Oscar Nilsson)
Nearly 20 skeletons were found when the Vasa, a 17th-century Swedish warship that sank in Stockholm harbor on her maiden voyage, was raised by experts in the 1960s. One of the remains, designated G, was identified by scientists as belonging to a man they called Gustav.
Genetic testing earlier this year revealed that G was a woman instead of a man. Now, a fresh reconstruction of G, now known as Gertrude, shows what she looked like before the fatal 1628 disaster.
She was between 25 and 30 years old when she passed away, Oscar Nilsson, a forensic artist based in Sweden who made the reconstruction, told Live Science in an email. Her eyes were blue, her hair was blonde, and her complexion was pale. According to the new genetic data.
The size of Gertrude's mastoid process indicated that she had larger than usual ears. (Image credit: Oscar Nilsson)
When Nilsson discovered that G was female after creating a reconstruction of Gustav in 2006, he was taken aback. Nevertheless, he was happy to right the record by creating a fresh reconstruction for the Stockholm Vasa Museum.
He pointed out that G's sex shows she was wed. Only married women who were also living with a male on board the ship were permitted to travel on this inaugural journey, according to documented sources.
Nilsson expanded on the 2006 reconstruction's CT scan and 3D plastic print of G's skull by calculating the thickness of Gertrude's tissue using data from contemporary Scandinavian and North European women who were roughly the same age and weight as Gertrude.
These tissue measurements helped him determine the placement of the pegs on the replica skull, which he utilized as a reference as he overlaid plasticine clay muscles on her head. The size and shape of the nose, eyes, and mouth were determined using scientific methods. The size and surface of the mastoid process, which is positioned behind the ears, are quite important, according to Nilsson: "The ears are more speculative." "A huge ear equals a big mastoid process. Additionally, Gertrude unquestionably has noticeable mastoid structures.
This 2006 reconstruction of G's skeleton shows Gustav, a 45-year-old man. (Image credit: Oscar Nilsson)
Although he was "careful of trying to give her an expression as close to Gustav's as possible," there are some changes between the two reconstructions. Prior to the latest cranial examination, Nilsson had tipped Gustav's nose downward, giving Gertrude a more conventional-looking nose. Gustav was also believed to be 45 years old. Gertrude is younger, so "I provided her with more volume in her lips," he remarked.
Gertrude likely had a difficult life despite her youth; a skeletal examination of her back shows that she frequently moved large objects. So, he remarked, "just by being 25 to 30, her face must give the impression of hard work."
As a result, Nilsson sculpted her face to depict a woman who had endured arduous work but was also conscious of the awful event that had led to her demise.
The skeleton of G, who was previously called Gustav until a genetic analysis revealed the absence of a Y chromosome, which almost all men carry. G's new nickname is Gertrude. (Image credit: Oscar Nilsson)
As bits of this clothing were discovered with her bones, Nilsson collaborated with Anna Silwerulv, a textile expert at the Vasa Museum, to clothe the reconstruction in a dark gray jacket and hat. According to a microscopic examination, the hat was vivid crimson. "And the original design was striking: a very high hat, reminding [us] of the traditional festive dressing of the Swedish peasantry, and the Samic ones as well," remarked Nilsson. (Indigenous people known as the Sami live in Sweden.)
Gertrude's gravity was "further enhanced when Anna and I put the bright red tall hat on Gertrude's head." Nilsson remarked, "I leave that to all visitors to the museum," when asked what Gertrude is contemplating in this restoration.
When the new "Face to Face" exhibition at the Vasa Museum debuts in roughly a year, Gertrude, who went on display there on June 28, will be the center of attention.
Chinese civilization's wonders are shown by ancient ruins
Golden masks, a bronze altar used for religious ceremonies, a bronze statuette with bird-like feet... These remarkable finds from the Sanxingdui Ruins excavation site were formerly concealed and buried within the dirt.
They are now proudly on exhibit in the Sanxingdui Museum's brand-new facility in Guanghan City, Sichuan Province, southwest China, giving viewers a taste of their true magnificence. Intricate patterns and forward-thinking ideas come together to create an incredible work of art.
Over 1,500 items or sets of artifacts discovered in the renowned Sanxingdui Ruins are on display at the new facility, which recently began its trial operation. Nearly 600 of these items are being displayed for the first time.
It is thought that the Sanxingdui Ruins are the remains of the long-gone Shu Kingdom, which peaked roughly 3,000 years ago. Bronze masks with bulging eyes and a sacred bronze tree reaching over 4 meters tall are two of the site's famous items. These artifacts are praised for being the ideal synthesis of the bright imagination and expert craftsmanship of the ancient people.
Beyond its beautiful artifacts, the Sanxingdui Ruins have played a significant part in the advancement of Chinese culture, making them prominent in the history of Chinese archaeology.
Questions about the beginnings of Chinese civilization have been significantly impacted by the Sanxingdui finds. The Yellow River Basin in northern China was thought to be the birthplace of Chinese civilization up until the 1980s, according to the prevailing opinion in scholarly circles.
However, a fresh viewpoint has evolved as a result of the discovery of significant sites in the Yangtze River Basin, including Liangzhu, Shijiahe, and Sanxingdui. Sanxingdui, a symbol of the ancient Shu civilization, has come to be acknowledged as a crucial component of the varied antecedents of Chinese civilization.
At Sanxingdui, archaeologists have also discovered artifacts that incorporate a variety of cultural influences from other parts of China. A sculpture with a human head and a snake's body, for instance, combines aspects from three different cultures: the ancient Shu culture, the Zhou Dynasty culture, and the culture from Zhongyuan, often known as the central plain region.
According to scholars, the Sanxingdui Ruins show how exchanges and cultural fusions helped to carry on the genes of Chinese civilization.
The 12 square km Sanxingdui Ruins were stumbled upon by a farmer as he was excavating a ditch in the 1920s. The discovery of a group of jade and ceramic shards from a village in Guanghan aroused the curiosity and interest of archaeologists all over the world.
Significant fresh discoveries have continued to be produced there ever since. At Sanxingdui, eight sacrificial pits and more over 50,000 artifacts have been discovered so far.
Although Sanxingdui's archaeological discoveries have gained it international recognition, the site's continuing excavation continues.
Only a tiny portion of the entire site has been investigated thus far; it only makes up roughly two thousandths of its overall area.
Visitors can receive a first look at recently discovered items and the restoration process in the Sanxingdui Museum's cultural relic conservation and restoration hall.
"I can make out unrepaired items with weathered patina, and workbenches are piled high with tools and equipment. It gives us a chance to confront history, inspiring pride and a deep appreciation for China's exceptional traditional culture", a tourist once said.
Found: a 5,000-year-old funerary monument
On the summit of Monte do Oural, in the municipality of Vila Verde, a group of archaeologists and students from the University of Minho (UMinho) are now excavating a recently found megalithic funerary monument.
According to the municipality, the goal is to preserve the preservation of "a valuable heritage find" whose construction is thought to have occurred more than 5,000 years ago, between 4,000 and 3,000 BC.
On the municipality's website, archaeologist Luciano Vilas Boas, who oversees the excavation work of the Oural mound on the ground, noted that the area is extremely rich in terms of archaeological heritage, identifying the existence of three additional megalithic monuments of a funerary nature and a collection of rock art there.
It is now feasible to confirm that there were "various populations" present in this region, which was close to the lookout point on the Ribeira do Neiva's boundaries.
We now know what the Egyptian queen smelt like because to Cleopatra's perfume
Scents in Color, an exhibition, will debut in The Hague's Mauritshuis in the fall of 2021. A scent dispenser was installed next to a picture from the 17th century so that visitors may smell the subject of the painting. The outcome was unexpected, if not unpleasant. Myrrh and fresh linen hints were drowned out by the stink of Amsterdam's canals, something we don't typically associate with upper class life in the Dutch Republic but which would have been inevitable for even its wealthiest people.
Cleopatra by Margaret Foley, 1876 / Smithsonian Museum
Smell is a significant but frequently ignored part of history that is difficult to represent in writing or art. Science has made it possible for historians to replicate both unpleasant and enticing smells, from the manure-covered streets of Europe's biggest cities to the ashes of Roman funeral pyres. The perfume worn by the Egyptian queen Cleopatra VII, who was as infamous for her power as she was for her beauty, is one of the few scents from antiquity that has surprisingly shown to be as seductive.
Essence of Cleopatra
Egypt has a long history of creating incense and perfumes, which it sold throughout the ancient world during the reign of Cleopatra. The first recorded recipe for a scent called kyphi in Greece dates to the time when the first pyramids were being built. Kyphi was created using animal fat and vegetable oil, as opposed to current fragrances, which are based on alcohol. Together with resins, roots, and berries, these were burned to produce a smoke that the Egyptians used to fragrance both their dwellings and their clothing.
The distinctive scent that Cleopatra is said to have worn originated in Mendes, a thriving community in the Nile Delta that was crucial to the commerce of spices from India, Africa, and Arabia. According to archaeologists who tried to piece together its long-lost recipe from various historical writings, Mendesian perfume was regarded as the best of its kind by both the Roman philosopher Pliny the Elder and the Greek physician Dioscorides. It was a classical version of "Chanel No. 5."
Archaeologists have to rely on Greco-Roman tales to fill in the blanks since there are no extant Egyptian texts that provide a complete formula for Mendesian perfume. Four key ingredients are shared by all of these accounts. In addition to resin and myrrh, the scent also included cassia, a less potent variety of cinnamon plant, and balanos oil, a semi-drying oil made from the seeds of a tree native to northern Africa and the Middle East called Balanites aegyptiaca (Egyptian basalm).
The town of Mendes today. (Credit: Roland Unger / Wikipedia)
The overlap, however, stops here. While some sources don't even mention cinnamon, others advise adding pure cinnamon to the mixture. One of the most thorough and extensive lists of substances comes from the Byzantine physician Paul of Aegina and contains terebinth, a tree from the cashew family that was once employed as a source of turpentine. While other authors claim the recipe asks for a total of 10 pounds of terebinth, Paul simply recommends one pound. Balano's are comparable.
The sources dispute not just about the ingredients, but also about how they should be prepared. Before the other ingredients may be added, the oil basis for the perfume must be boiled for 10 days and nights, according to the Greek philosopher and Aristotelian pupil Theophrastus. Paul, on the other hand, advises keeping the perfume on low heat for at least 60 days rather than boiling it. Additionally, he claims that the resin must be added last and that the mixture needs to be stirred for an additional week before being stored.
By experimenting with different combinations of components, Egyptologists Dora Goldsmith and Sean Coughlin were able to recreate a potential Mendesian perfume in 2018, which they characterized as smelling "elegant" and "luxurious." The spicy and mildly musky perfume, which Caro Verbeek, curator of olfactory art, described as "voluminous, red-colored, strong, warm, rich, sweet, and slightly bitter," not only recalled Pliny and Paul's writing, but also lingered longer than many of its modern-day counterparts.
Although intriguing, Goldsmith and Coughlin's experiment is by no means definitive. There is no way of knowing which, if any, of the Greco-Roman recipes matched the original Egyptian, as author Elaine Velie explains in an article she wrote for Hyperallergic. The scientists' soon-to-be-published second attempt, which will be based on actual residue sampled from a third-century BC perfume factory south of Mendes, promises to be more accurate while also revealing how close they came the first time.
Cleopatra’s beauty routine
Perfume was only a tiny component of Cleopatra's extensive beauty regimen. Crushed carmine beetles, still used today to color everything from shampoo to lollipops, are claimed to have been utilized in the lipstick worn by the Egyptian queen, who is credited with popularizing numerous long-lasting cosmetic techniques. In order to revitalize her complexion, Cleopatra also took milk baths—specifically, fermented donkey's milk—and may have scrubbed her face with mixtures of honey, chalk, and apple cider vinegar.
A relief showing the Egyptian perfume-making process. (Credit: Jastrow / Wikipedia)
Although the lack of stink was a luxury few could afford during Cleopatra's day, her beauty regimen obviously had a political component. The queen used her attractiveness as a tool to advance in society and keep control of her country, as both modern and ancient historians have highlighted. She did this when she began dating Julius Caesar and again when she joined a rebellion against the Eternal City alongside Marc Anthony, Caesar's general and rival for Caesar's throne.
When describing her seduction of Anthony, the Roman historian Plutarch mentions perfume. She is supposed to have slept on a canopy covered in gold while sailing down the river Cydnus to see her tragic lover, with servants costumed as cupids fanning her incense across the riverbanks. Modern historians have rejected this derogatory picture of Cleopatra as Augustan propaganda, portraying her instead as an everyday Egyptian lady who merely shared her culture's love of perfume rather than as a cunning siren.
Golden Sandals of Tutankhamun
A pair of golden sandals of Tutankhamun found on his feet. These stunning gold sandals were just one of 42 pairs King Tutankhamun had in his tomb. Too many ointments poured on Tutankhamun’s mummy caused severe damage to the tissues, except for those protected by gold: the face, fingers, and toes. In fact, gold sheaths covered the toes and finally the golden sandals were put on the feet while the lector priest recited incantations, which would permit the king to trample his enemies underfoot.
The last stage of the embalming was the bandaging. Each finger and toe was individually wrapped, then each limb, and finally the whole body.
The golden sandals that were found on the feet of Tutankhamun’s mummy imitate these palm leaf, grass and papyrus sewn sandals, indicating that they were a favored design. They compare well with the sandals that are depicted on the statue, which depicts the king wearing the White Hedjet Crown of Upper Egypt.
These particular golden sandals have engraved decoration that replicates woven reeds. Created specifically for the afterlife, they still covered the feet of Tutankhamun when Howard Carter unwrapped the mummy.
Couple find rare coins worth over $800,000 while renovating their kitchen floors
A couple in England had the surprise of a lifetime when they discovered a stash of rare coins underneath the kitchen floorboards during a renovation project.
Gregory Edmund, an auctioneer and British coin specialist at Spink and Son, said that the coins were discovered by the North Yorkshire couple, who initially thought they had stumbled on a piece of electrical cable while working on their 18th century home in 2019.
“Why they decided to touch it who knows, but when they did, they realized it was a gold disc and there were hundreds more beneath!” Edmunds said in an email.
The haul of rare coins were recently sold at auction for $852,380 against a provisional sale estimate of $231,390. According to The Yorkshire Post, the coins have been linked to a Hull merchant family, the Maisters.
The coins date from 1610 until 1727, from the reigns of King James I to King George I. The period covers the time of the marriage of Sarah Maister to Joseph Fernley. According to The Sun, Fernley died in 1725 and Maister remained in the area until her death in 1745.
Over 200 years later, the Yorkshire couple discovered the hidden treasure.
Edmund said it was a unique opportunity to be involved in the auction, which included 372 global registrants and dozens of successful bidders.
“It is a rare privilege for an auctioneer to be graced with a white glove sale (100% sold), but when the story of Joseph and Sarah Fernley and their misers millions came to my attention back in 2019, I just knew the story had to be told,” he said. “The anonymous finders were absolutely staggered by the result. It dwarfed any pre-conceived expectations and set dozens of world records along the way.”
Edmund said buyers flocked from around the world, bidding up the coins for the privilege of owning a part of their 292-year old treasure.
“The sale was unique in so many ways,” he said. “The story of the coins, the method of discovery and the rare opportunity to buy them at auction.”
“I have never seen a response to an auction like that before,” he said, adding that sales went three times over his provisional estimate.
“This last coin is a new world record for any ‘brockage’ mint error coin of any country ever sold at auction, besting a US gold dollar sold in Texas for $54,625 in October 2011,” Edmund said.
He explained that while it’s ordinary for rare coins to be sold at auction, the unique history of these coins and their amazing discovery made the sale extraordinary. Still, he hopes that it won’t cause people to start renovating their homes in hopes of making a similar discovery.
“I do hope people think before ripping up their floors,” he said.
Where Did All the Water Go After the Biblical Flood?
In the following video we will reveal where all the water went after the biblical flood, as well as whether or not the flood could have been a local (rather than worldwide) event, as some people have proposed. Watch the video to find out more!
Strange carvings at Göbekli Tepe reveal a devastating comet impact around 13,000 years ago
Analysis of symbols carved onto stone pillars at Göbekli Tepe, Turkey revealed that a swarm of comet fragments hit Earth around 10,950 BC. The event perhaps wiped out animal species including mammoths and triggered a mini ice age lasting around 1,000 years.
When archaeologists were able to translate famous ancient symbols at Göbekli Tepe in Turkey, they found that those strange carvings tell the story of a devastating comet impact more than 13,000 years ago.
Cross-checking the event with computer simulations of the Solar System around that time, researchers discovered that the carvings could actually describe a comet impact that occurred around 10,950 BCE ― about the same time a mini ice age started that changed civilization forever.
This mini ice age, known as the Younger Dryas, lasted around 1,000 years, and it’s considered a crucial period for humanity because it was around that time agriculture and the first Neolithic civilizations arose ― potentially in response to the new colder climates. The period has also been linked to the extinction of the woolly mammoth.
But although the Younger Dryas has been thoroughly studied, it’s not clear exactly what triggered the period. A comet strike is one of the leading hypotheses, but scientists haven’t been able to find physical proof of comets from around that time.
The research team from the University of Edinburgh in the UK said these carvings, found in what’s believed to be the world’s oldest known temple, Göbekli Tepe in southern Turkey, show further evidence that a comet triggered the Younger Dryas.
The translation of the symbols also suggests that Gobekli Tepe wasn’t just another temple, as long assumed ― it might have also been an ancient observatory for monitoring the night sky. One of its pillars seems to have served as a memorial to this devastating event ― probably the worst day in history since the end of the Ice Age.
The Gobekli Tepe is thought to have been built around 9,000 BCE ― roughly 6,000 years before Stonehenge ― but the symbols on the pillar date the event to around 2,000 years before that. And the pillar on which the carvings were found is known as the Vulture Stone (pictured below) and show different animals in specific positions around the stone.
The symbols had long puzzled scientists, but now researchers have discovered that they actually corresponded to astronomical constellations, and showed a swarm of comet fragments hitting the Earth. An image of a headless man on the stone is also thought to symbolize human disaster and extensive loss of life following the impact.
The carvings show signs of being cared for by the people of Göbekli Tepe for millennia, which indicates that the event they describe might have had long-lasting impacts on civilization.
To try to figure out whether that comet strike actually happened or not, the researchers used computer models to match the patterns of the stars detailed on the Vulture Stone to a specific date ― and they found evidence that the event in question would have occurred about 10,950 BCE, give or take 250 years.
Not only that, the dating of these carvings also matches an ice core taken from Greenland, which pinpoints the Younger Dryas period as beginning around 10,890 BCE.
This isn’t the first time ancient archaeology has provided into civilization’s past. Many paleolithic cave paintings and artifacts with similar animal symbols and other repeated symbols suggest astronomy could be very ancient indeed.
15 Emerging Technologies That Will Change Our World
Technology is developing at a crazy pace. It is no wonder that many of us like to imagine what the world will look like in the future. Those who lived in the 1900s also loved to picture what the year 2000 would look like. Unfortunately, most of their guesses were pretty far off the mark.
Flying cars, robots with brooms and polishers, automated haircut and makeup machines, instant clothes, information from books transferred via electrical signals—most of these speculations sound silly, especially to us. Still, what the people in the 1900s envisioned about the future was not entirely wrong.
We might not have flying cars or what the people back then named ‘aero cabs’, but we are definitely getting there.
In this video, we’ll take a look at amazing things that might change how the world looks in the future. From astounding robot butlers to flying cars, here are 15 emerging technologies that will change our world!
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In the following video we will be exploring some of the creepiest archaeological discoveries ever made. Watch the video and enjoy!
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