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Ancient Greece

A marble bust of Alexander the Great depicted as the sun god Helios

Alexander the Great’s (Marble) Head Turned Up in New York. U.S. Officials Say It Was Stolen—and Just Sent It Back to Italy

As part of a longstanding effort to help Italy track down its missing treasures, the U.S. returned hundreds of ancient archaeological finds this week

The astrolabe weighs more than 18 pounds.

This Giant 400-Year-Old Astrolabe—Made by Mughal Master Craftsmen and Owned by Royalty—Fetched Millions at Auction

Ancient Greek astronomers and early Islamic scientists used astrolabes as mechanical computers to calculate time, determine height and navigate by the stars

This ancient Greek coin is now on view in Berlin.

Cool Finds

A 13-Year-Old Boy Found This Bronze Coin in a Field. It Turned Out to Be the First Ancient Greek Artifact Discovered in Berlin

Minted in Troy in the third century B.C.E., the object might have been buried as a gift to the dead. Archaeologists don’t know exactly how it ended up in modern-day Germany

The temple is composed of a circular basin 115 feet wide.

Cool Finds

This Ancient God’s Name Was ‘Mud.’ Archaeologists Discovered a Water-Filled Temple Possibly Tied to Him in Egypt

A structure blending Egyptian, Greek and Roman styles was discovered in the ancient city of Pelusium at the edge of the Nile Delta

The Old Babylonian Mask of Humbaba

This Spellbinding Exhibition Explores How Ancient Cultures Used Magic to Navigate Life’s Challenges

The Toledo Museum of Art is showcasing a treasure trove of masks, amulets, spellbooks and gems dating to between 2000 B.C.E. and 300 C.E.

Prayers partially cover diagrams from On the Sphere and the Cylinder, a treatise written by Archimedes.

Cool Finds

Historians Say They’ve Discovered a Long-Lost Page From the Archimedes Palimpsest, a Treasure Trove of Rare Ancient Mathematical Treatises

Three leaves had been missing for more than a century. Researchers found one of them when they decided on a whim to check the archives of a French museum

The medal features a portrait of Zeus on one side. The other side depicts the Acropolis in Athens.

This Rare Silver Medal From the First Modern Olympic Games in 1896 Just Sold at Auction

At the time, athletes received silver medals for winning first place. The Olympics didn’t introduce gold medals until 1904

A third-century B.C.E. plaque unearthed at Ai-Khanoum in Afghanistan depicts the mother goddess Cybele in a chariot driven by Nike, the Greek goddess of victory.

Afghanistan Was a Crossroad of the Ancient World, Where Hellenistic Culture Blended With Buddhist Influences

Alexander the Great conquered the region around 329 B.C.E., leaving behind Greek and Macedonian settlers who intermarried with locals. Their descendants eventually formed new kingdoms whose legacies continue to be debated today

Researchers are using an instrument at the SLAC National Accelerator Laboratory to uncover the original text of reused parchments.

Medieval Monks Wrote Over a Copy of an Ancient Star Catalog. Now, a Particle Accelerator Is Revealing the Long-Lost Original Text

The parchments initially contained references to a star catalog and maps created during the second century B.C.E.

A third-century B.C.E. Greek gold chain necklace similar to some of the missing objects

The British Museum Plans to Hire a Treasure Hunter. Duties Include Recovering Missing Artifacts Before They’re Lost to History

The museum announced in 2023 that 1,500 items were missing. More than 600 have since been found, and officials are now hoping to expand the recovery effort

Panel one of the Ketton mosaic, which was discovered in 2020 by a farmer's son

New Research

Historians Say This Rare Mosaic Found on a British Farm Depicts Scenes From a Long-Lost Account of the Trojan War

New research suggests that the illustrations may have been based on “Phrygians,” a tragedy by the Athenian playwright Aeschylus, rather than the “Iliad”

The marble fragment is decorated with part of a lotus flower pattern.

A Man Brought His Father’s ‘Piece of the Parthenon’ to Greek Officials. They Said It Was From an Even Older Temple in the Acropolis of Athens

The engraved marble fragment likely came from an archaic temple called the Hekatompedon, making it around 2,600 years old

The Parthenon, photographed here on October 17, is free from scaffolding for the first time in decades.

You Can See the Parthenon Without Scaffolding for the First Time in Decades

The temporary structures will return next month—but in the meantime, visitors will enjoy rare unobstructed views of the ancient hilltop temple in Athens

The researchers connected an inscription on a marble pedestal to the well-preserved marble sculpture.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Say They’ve Solved the Mystery of This Marble Statue. Its Subject Was a Woman Who Might Have Helped an Ancient City Achieve Political Freedom

The marble sculpture, discovered at Chersonesos Taurica in Crimea in 2003, has been identified as a woman named Laodice

Excavations have uncovered 40 tombs made of Hellenistic-era ceramics, along with various artifacts and ceramic vessels.

Cool Finds

Severe Drought in Iraq Reveals Dozens of Ancient Tombs Created 2,300 Years Ago

The tombs, which likely date to Iraq’s Hellenistic period, were discovered along the Mosul Dam reservoir

In the 1950s, archaeologists found bronze jars in an underground shrine (left). They contained a mysterious sticky residue (right).

Scientists Found Sticky Goo Inside a 2,500-Year-Old Jar. Seventy Years Later, They Finally Know What It Is

By studying the mysterious substance’s chemical makeup, scientists determined the pot was once full of honey

The central reservoir of Hadrian's Aqueduct

Athens Is Reviving a 2,000-Year-Old Roman Aqueduct to Deliver Water to the City Amid Prolonged Droughts

With the capital’s reservoirs approaching historic lows, officials are turning to ancient engineering to conserve potable water

Brightly colored homes line the caldera in Santorini, a contrast to much of the blue-and-white motif.

Coastal Cities of Europe

See Greece in All Its Gorgeous Glory

These 15 images from the Smithsonian Magazine Photo Contest remind us of the grandeur of Greece

The reconstructions show that the Parthenon’s internal appearance was constructed to provoke maximum awe—and even fear.

New Research

Step Into a Painstakingly Recreated 3D Model of the Parthenon, Now Restored to Its Ancient Glory

A researcher simulated the Athenian temple’s lighting conditions at different times of the day, discovering that its interior was actually “quite dark and dim”

An ancient vase depicting the death of Talos, the bronze automaton created by the god Hephaestus to guard the island of Crete

History of Now

Was Talos, the Bronze Automaton Who Guarded the Island of Crete in Greek Myth, an Early Example of Artificial Intelligence?

The mythical sentry was depicted as thinking like a human and showing some human-like tendencies

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