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Ancient Greece

Two stonecutters at work.

Cool Finds

Ancient Comics Line This Roman-Era Tomb in Jordan

Some of the nearly 260 figures depicted in the paintings are given speech captions reminiscent of modern comics

The master female ceramicist likely created large vases, known as pithoi, similar to these

Her 3,000-Year-Old Bones Showed Unusual Signs of Wear. It Turns Out, She Was a Master Ceramicist

After analyzing the woman’s skeleton, researchers unlocked her past as an ancient Greek artisan

Aizanoi photographed in 2017

What Was “Eye Cream” Doing in a 2,200-Year-Old Tomb in West Turkey?

The find was discovered in a cemetery located in the ancient city of Aizanoi

The eight-foot-deep pit contained two ancient coffins and an array of funerary vases.

Cool Finds

Greek Farmer Stumbles Onto 3,400-Year-Old Tomb Hidden Below His Olive Grove

The Crete local was trying to park his vehicle when he accidentally unearthed the ancient Minoan grave

Cool Finds

Scientists Begin Unveiling the Secrets of the Mummies in the Alexandria ‘Dark Sarcophagus’

The massives stone coffin found in July contains a woman and two men, including one who survived brain surgery

View the Uffizi’s Ancient Treasures From Afar, in 3D

A new website has digitized 300 objects from the Florence gallery’s Greek and Roman collection

Cool Finds

Egyptian Authorities Open Sealed Ptolemaic-Era Sarcophagus

Rampant speculation about what was inside the black granite tomb has swirled since the relic was first discovered at a building site in Alexandria

The document actually consisted of multiple sheets of papyrus that had been glued together, perhaps to be used as book binding in a common form of medieval “recycling”

Researchers Unlock Secrets of Basel Papyrus

Now identified as a late antiquity medical document, the 2,000-year-old papyrus describes the phenomenon of female “hysterical apnea”

Cool Finds

Oldest Greek Fragment of Homer Discovered on Clay Tablet

The verses come from the ancient city of Olympia and date to the Roman era

A reporter photographs "Statue of a Victorious Youth" on display at the J. Paul Getty Museum.

The Getty Is Fighting to Keep a Rare Greek Bronze

An Italian magistrate has ordered that the statue, which was discovered in the Adriatic Sea by Italian fishermen, be returned to Italy

Scientists are using high-powered X-rays to reveal a hidden text beneath a 10th century religious text.

High-Powered X-Rays Reveal What’s Beneath 11th-Century Religious Text

The hidden text is a translation of ancient Greek medical philosopher Galen’s writing

The Olympic Flame was lit from the sun's rays using a parabolic mirror, during the final dress rehearsal for the lighting ceremony at Ancient Olympia, in southwestern Greece, on Monday, Oct. 23, 2017.

Ask Smithsonian 2017

Your Burning Questions About the Olympic Torch, Answered

Curious minds will want to know that the blaze is lit not with matches or a lighter, but using a method that dates to Ancient Greece

An Italian marble sculpture of William Pitt the Younger as the Infant Hercules Strangling the Serpents Fox and North by Pieratoni (called ’Sposino’), c.1790

The Ugliest Sculpture Ever, Says the Portrait Gallery’s Director

A bizarre sculpture of a baby Hercules strangling two snakes set this art historian on a course of discovery

The "pyramid" of Keros

Cool Finds

Researchers Uncover Ancient Greek Island’s Complex Plumbing System

Excavations show the settlement of Dhaskalio at the pilgrimage site Keros was a sophisticated urban center

Cool Finds

Researchers Are Trying to Figure Out How to Play This Ancient Roman Board Game

Found in a grave in Slovakia in 2006, it is one of Europe’s best-preserved ancient gaming boards

Frederick II was the first "modern" ornithologist, studying birds in detail in the 13th century to fuel his passion for falconry.

The Modern History of Ornithology Starts With This Inquisitive Medieval Emperor

Frederick II got up to a lot in his lifetime

Cool Finds

Masterpiece of Greek Art Found in the Griffin Warrior Tomb

The engraving on the Pylos Combat Agate is so tiny and intricate that it changes our understanding of what the ancient Greeks could produce

Members of the chorus sing their parts in a performance of Antigone in Ferguson at Normandy High School in St. Louis.

The Healing Power of Greek Tragedy

Do plays written centuries ago have the power to heal modern day traumas? A new project raises the curtain on a daring new experiment

The Acoustics of Ancient Greek Theaters Aren’t What They Used to Be

The sound quality in ancient times was likely much better than it is today

The star of this dive was the discovery of a bronze arm, mottled from centuries underwater.

Antikythera Shipwreck Yields New Cache of Treasures, Hints More May Be Buried at Site

The discovery of an ancient bronze arm is a rare archaeological find

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