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Ancient Civilizations

Can you see it? Some of the Etruscan letters found on a sandstone slab in the Mugello Valley

Cool Finds

2,500-Year-Old Monument Could Help Crack the Mysterious Etruscan Language

Researchers found the inscribed slab near Florence and believe it might hold secrets behind the language of Italy’s pre-Roman culture

Ruins of the temple of Baalshamin destroyed by ISIS militants in Palmyra, taken after government forces retook the city.

Trending Today

Syrian Troops Find Palmyra’s Ancient Ruins In Better Shape Than Expected

The “Jewel of the Desert” is out of the hands of people who would see its wonders demolished

Ramesses III and his son in the afterlife

New Research

CT Scan Shows Pharoah Ramesses III Was Murdered by Multiple Assassins

A missing toe reveals that the god-king was killed by more than one plotter

On a remote plateau, researchers reveal a royal capital whose splendors prefigure the glories of the Angkor complex.

The Lost City of Cambodia

Deep in the jungles of southeast Asia, archaeologists have rediscovered the remains of an invisible kingdom that may have been the template for Angkor Wat

Did the prehistoric civilization of Easter Island really "collapse"?

New Research

New Evidence Finds That Easter Island Wasn’t Destroyed by War After All

Did islanders really experience a catastrophic “collapse” of their own making?

Round pyramids ruins of Guachimontones, just outside Tequila in Jalisco.

Explore the “Magic Towns” of Mexico

History and legend collide in Mexico’s Pueblos Mágicos

More than 25 specialists worked on the replica cave over the course of three years.

Cool Finds

See the World Like a Paleolithic Cave Dweller With This Replica of the Lascaux Cave Paintings

Go back in time with the help of some talented French artists

Turns out the discovery of the Palace of Knossos is just the beginning—the ancient city is three times the size archaeologists suspected.

Cool Finds

This Ancient City Was Three Times Bigger Than Archaeologists Suspected

Will Crete’s tourist boom threaten the archaeological treasures of Knossos?

This mysterious object was discovered buried in a Jerusalem cemetery.

Cool Finds

It Took Israeli Authorities Months to Identify This Strange, Gold Object

Ancient artifact or back massager?

Cool Finds

Explore Laos’ Plain of Jars with Drone Footage

Many parts of the 2,000-year-old-site are off-limits because of Vetnam-era cluster bombs

Cool Finds

Is Stonehenge a Hand-Me-Down Monument?

New research suggests the monument was first built in Wales then dragged 180 miles to its current location

Smithsonian Journeys Travel Quarterly: Inca Road

Visit Machu Picchu With Google Street View

Armed with a backpack and 15 high-res cameras, Google just tackled one of the world’s wonders

Cool Finds

How to Visit the British Museum Without Going to London

A new partnership with Google allows art aficionados to take virtual strolls through the museum’s treasures

A victorious commander rides in a chariot during a triumphal procession in ancient Rome.

What You Don’t Know About Ancient Rome Could Fill a Book. Mary Beard Wrote That Book

The British historian reveals some surprises about the ancient Roman people and their customs

Cool Finds

A 2,000-Year-Old Greek Fortress Has Been Unearthed in Jerusalem

The fort played a role in the Jewish revolts that inspired Hanukkah

Gilgamesh statue at Sydney University

Cool Finds

Iraqi Museum Discovers Missing Lines From the Epic of Gilgamesh

One of the world’s first great stories just got a new chapter

A Bronze Age mummified skeleton lies tightly curled in Bradley Fen in Cambridgeshire, England.

New Research

Mummies May Have Been Scattered Across Bronze Age Britain

Skeletal analysis hints that, intentional or not, mummification may have been more common than previously thought

An ancient Hittite carving

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Recreate 4,000-Year-Old Hittite Feast to Better Understand Their History

The chef crushed buckwheat on stones and used no kitchenware other than a knife

A diver holds a granite head, meant to be the head of a priest, from the Ptolemaic period. The now-hollow eyes were probably inlaid when it was first made in ancient Egypt.

Sunken Treasures From Ancient Egypt Are Now on Display in France

The Arab World Institute in Paris shows off 250 artifacts once lost underwater

New Research

New Proof That Ancient Egyptians Bred Birds of Prey

A recent 3-D scan of a mummified falcon shows it was force fed sparrows and mice

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