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Ancient Greece

Odysseus and Polyphemus, Arnold Böcklin, 1896

Was There Ever an Original Version of ‘The Odyssey,’ and Do We Need to Worry About What Homer Would Think?

The earliest surviving fragments of the epic poem—the subject of Christopher Nolan’s latest Hollywood blockbuster—date back more than 2,000 years. But oral storytelling about a hero named Odysseus is much older

The Draken Harald Hårfagre is not modeled after a single historic ship, but an amalgamation of many Viking vessels described in stories.

This Viking Longship Crossed the Atlantic Before Starring in Christopher Nolan’s ‘Odyssey’ as Odysseus’ Greek Galley

Hollywood stars including Matt Damon went to rowing camp to learn how to operate the vessel for the new film

Mastarna (Servius Tullius, the sixth king of Rome) frees Celio Vibenna from chains in this fresco from the Francois Tomb.

See These Ancient Etruscan Frescoes That Italy Bought for Millions and Put on Public Display in Rome

Found in a burial chamber, the artworks depict battles between ancient heroes in the Mediterranean world

A 1488 edition of the Odyssey, photographed by Naomi Wenger

The ‘Odyssey,’ One of the World’s Oldest Stories, Gets a Modern Spin With A.I.-Generated Audiobook Narration by the Voice Clone of an Oscar Winner

Meanwhile, other actors are pushing back against the use of artificial intelligence in creative projects, including through a new “human consent” registry tool

Gaps in the western pediment have been filled in with marble blocks.

Greece Restored Part of the Parthenon’s Western Facade, Revealing Its Original Shape Not Seen in Centuries

The project in Athens started in 2017 and involved quarrying, transporting, hand-carving and placing new marble blocks in one of the landmark’s triangular pediments

The Heerlen curse tablet has an ancient Greek inscription.

Cool Finds

This Magical Curse Written in Greek on a Small Lead Tablet Was Meant to Punish Enemies Nearly 2,000 Years Ago

The lead curse tablet was discovered in a city square in the Netherlands and recently deciphered by researchers in Germany

The two protomes, approximately 1,700 years old, were found laying face-down inside an empty wine vat in a villa near the Mediterranean Sea. 

Cool Finds

Two Well-Preserved Roman Busts Were Discovered Inside a Wine Vat in Israel Near the Capital City of a Roman Province

One is inscribed with the name “Lycurgus,” suggesting the bust may depict the legendary founder of ancient Sparta

Columns found in Ehnasiya

Cool Finds

Archaeologists Unearth a Marble Aphrodite, a Pharaoh’s Cartouche and a Roman Basilica, All in One Ancient Egyptian City

The collection of artifacts represents the layered history of Ehnasiya, an ancient Egyptian capital that became the Roman city of Heracleópolis Magna

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

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