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Kings

Archaeologists are working to decipher the slab's 15 lines of hieroglyphs.

Cool Finds

Farmer Stumbles Onto Egyptian Pharaoh’s 2,600-Year-Old Stone Slab

The large sandstone marker may be connected to a military campaign led by the 26th dynasty ruler Apries

Ravenmaster Chris Skaife holds Branwen, the newest bird to join the Tower of London's roost.

Tower of London Reveals Newest Raven’s Mythical Name

The public voted to call the bird Branwen in honor of a Celtic goddess

Kate McCaffrey, a former steward at Anne's childhood home, used ultraviolet light and photo editing software to reveal hidden writing in the Tudor queen's Book of Hours.

Cool Finds

Hidden Inscriptions Discovered in Anne Boleyn’s Execution Prayer Book

New research suggests a circle of Tudor women saved the “Book of Hours” for the queen’s daughter, Elizabeth I

A silver shilling recently found at the former site of St. Mary's Fort, one of the first colonial settlements in British North America

Cool Finds

Rare 17th-Century Coin Featuring Charles I’s Likeness Found in Maryland

Archaeologists found a telltale silver shilling at the likely site of St. Mary’s Fort, a 1634 structure built by early English colonists

This 1561 portrait depicts Catherine de' Medici standing alongside four of her children, including the newly crowned Charles IX.

Rarely Seen Portrait of Renaissance Queen Catherine de’ Medici to Go on View

The 16th-century regent, pictured with four of her children, wielded significant political power during the French Wars of Religion

This 1540 miniature by Hans Holbein may depict the Tudor king's fourth wife, Anne of Cleves, not his fifth wife, Catherine Howard.

Presumed Portrait of Catherine Howard May Actually Depict Anne of Cleves

A Hans Holbein miniature long thought to depict Henry VIII’s fifth queen may instead portray the Tudor king’s fourth wife

“We used five isotope methods in all to provide information on geology, coastal proximity, climate and diet,” says study co-author Richard Madgwick, an osteoarchaeologist at Cardiff University.

New Research

Ethnically Diverse Crew of Henry VIII’s Flagship Hailed From Iberia, North Africa

New multi-isotope analysis illuminates early lives of sailors stationed on the Tudor “Mary Rose,” including three born outside of Britain

James Stanley supported the Stuart monarchy during the English Civil Wars, which pitted Royalists against Oliver Cromwell's Parliamentarians.

Cool Finds

17th-Century Gold Mourning Ring May Be Linked to Executed English Aristocrat

A piece of jewelry found on the Isle of Man may honor James Stanley, 7th Earl of Derby, who was beheaded in 1651

A team uncovered the lost city while searching for a mortuary temple last September.

Cool Finds

Archaeologists in Egypt Discover 3,000-Year-Old ‘Lost Golden City’

Hailed as one of the country’s most significant finds in a century, the site dates to a time of political, religious and artistic change

The markings on the slab may represent river systems, settlements, fields and barrows.

Cool Finds

Is This 4,000-Year-Old Bronze Age Slab the Oldest Known Map in Europe?

New research suggests the stone, first discovered in 1900, may have represented the territory of an ancient king

Egyptian officials moved 22 mummies—including 18 kings and 4 queens—to the newly opened National Museum of Egyptian Civilization.

Why Egypt Paraded 22 Ancient Pharaohs Through the Streets of Cairo

Officials organized the lavish, made-for-TV event in hopes of revitalizing the country’s tourism industry

The team used LiDAR scanning and computer modeling to recreate the acoustics of Linlithgow Palace's chapel.

Art Meets Science

Hear a 16th-Century Concert Recreated by a ‘Musical Time Machine’

Researchers modeled the acoustics of Linlithgow Palace in Scotland to transport listeners back to a 1512 performance

Akhenaten, father of Tutankhamun and husband of Nefertiti, ruled Egypt between roughly 1353 and 1336 B.C.

Art Meets Science

Is This the Face of King Tut’s Father, Pharaoh Akhenaten?

New 3-D reconstruction visualizes what KV55, a mummy long thought to be the ancient Egyptian ruler, may have looked like

François Pascal Simon Gérard, Joseph Bonaparte as King of Spain, circa 1808

New Jersey Estate Owned by Napoleon’s Older Brother Set to Become State Park

In 1815, exiled Spanish king Joseph Bonaparte fled to the U.S., where he lived in luxury on a sprawling, 60-acre estate

Paul Delaroche's 1831 depiction of the princes in the Tower, Edward V and Richard, Duke of York

New Research

Did Richard III Order the Deaths of His Nephews as They Slept in the Tower of London?

New research outlines evidence pointing to the English king’s guilt

The gold figurine stands just 2.5 inches tall.

Cool Finds

Amateur Treasure Hunter Unearths Missing Centerpiece of Henry VIII’s Crown

The gold figurine, valued at roughly £2 million, depicts 15th-century English king Henry VI

The color purple has long been associated with royalty. This wool fabric found in Israel dates to around 1,000 B.C.

Cool Finds

‘Royal Purple’ Fabric Dated to Time of Biblical King David Found in Israel

Derived from the bodies of snails, the dye used on the wool fibers was extremely valuable in the ancient world

“The scale of preservation at this site is really exceptional and is adding considerably to our knowledge of English gardens around 1600,” says historian Paul Stamper.

Cool Finds

Stunningly Well-Preserved Elizabethan Garden Discovered in England

The Tudor manor’s grounds were organized in a geometric pattern of gravel paths, planting beds and pavilions

Art historian Philip Mould identified this miniature, previously thought to be a likeness of Sir Walter Raleigh, as a portrait of Henry III of France.

Cool Finds

Petite Portrait of Henry III, King Who Challenged Sexual Norms in 16th-Century France, Discovered

Art dealer Philip Mould purchased the miniature “sight unseen” during lockdown. Now, he’s offering it to the Louvre Museum in Paris

The gardens, which will go on view this spring in a subterranean museum, featured intricate marble designs.

Cool Finds

Caligula’s Gardens, Long Hidden Beneath Italian Apartment Building, to Go on View

The infamous Roman emperor’s extravagant tastes included opulent marble and exotic animals

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