Ancient civilization

A view inside what was the dome of the historic Habib-i Najjar Mosque in Antakya.

Turkey's Antakya is in ruins after the quake, erasing cultural and religious heritage

9:48am February 25, 2023

The city of Antakya, known in antiquity as Antioch, was at the crossroads of civilizations for centuries. After the Feb. 6 earthquake, many of its centuries-old monuments and sites lie in ruins.

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This hole was made in a Bronze Age man's skull shortly before he died, archaeologists say, based on several clues. It's the result of a surgical procedure called a trephination.

Clues to Bronze Age cranial surgery revealed in ancient bones

4:47pm February 22, 2023

by Ari Daniel

Archaeologists have discovered evidence of a rare type of skull surgery dating back to the Bronze Age that's similar to a procedure still being used today.

Fortified dwelling and open air banquet, detail from a mosaic portraying a Nilotic landscape from El Alia, Tunisia. Roman Civilisation, 2nd century. Musée National Du Bardo (Archaeological Museum)

What Did Ancient Romans Eat? New Novel Serves Up Meals And Intrigue

10:10am April 28, 2017

by Kristen Hartke

In ancient Rome, food was a bargaining chip for position for slaves and nobles alike. At the center of Feast Of Sorrow is real-life nobleman Apicius, who inspired the oldest surviving cookbook.

Ancient jar handles like this one, stamped with a royal seal, provide a detailed timeline of the Earth's magnetic field thousands of years ago.

Iron Age Potters Carefully Recorded Earth's Magnetic Field — By Accident

10:59am February 14, 2017

by Rae Ellen Bichell

The planet's magnetic field is weakening. Scientists aren't sure why, but studying ancient jars could help them find out. The ceramics provide a remarkable window onto Earth's magnetic past.

Khoshaba Jaber, an Assyrian living in West London, plays a tambura, a traditional instrument known as the "mother of strings," after singing an epic poem he learned in his boyhood village in northern Iraq.

In England, An Effort To Preserve Ancient, Epic Assyrian Poetry

4:41pm January 13, 2017

by Alice Fordham

Driven to save his culture, an ethnic Assyrian living in Britain is recording ancient tales of adventure sung by modern-day bards. The songs echo stories from ancient Greece to the Bible.

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People walk past a replica of an ancient statue of a human-headed winged bull from Nimrud, Iraq, destroyed by the Islamic State. It's part of an exhibition called "Rising from Destruction" at Rome's Colosseum.

Replicas Of Artifacts Destroyed By ISIS 'Rising From Destruction' In Rome

1:09pm October 10, 2016

by Sylvia Poggioli

An exhibit at the Colosseum features life-size reconstructions of ancient works that ISIS damaged or destroyed in Iraq and Syria. "It is a universal heritage," says curator Francesco Rutelli.

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Antikythera team members Nikolas Giannoulakis, Theotokis Theodoulou, and Brendan Foley inspect small finds from the shipwreck, while decompressing after a dive of 165 feet beneath the surface of the Mediterranean Sea in Greece.

Ancient Shipwreck Off Greek Island Yields A Different Sort Of Treasure

9:54am June 28, 2016

by Christopher Joyce

Divers exploring the famous Antikythera shipwreck, 200 feet beneath the water's surface in Greece, have turned up a heavy object they think might have been a powerful weapon in the first century B.C.

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Tourists at Persepolis marvel at the grandeur of a bygone age amid worries about the future.

World News

At Persepolis, Iran's Grand Past Overshadows Its Frustrating Present

10:52am February 19, 2016

by Steve Inskeep

For Iranian tourists at this ancient Persian capital, awe for the past is tempered by disappointment about the present. "We have nothing new that makes us special in the world," says one visitor.

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A man looks at ancient Assyrian human-headed winged bull statues at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad on Saturday.

Iraq's National Museum To Open For First Time Since 2003 Invasion

2:14pm February 28, 2015

by Scott Neuman

The planned reopening was moved up following the release of a video showing self-declared Islamic State extremists destroying priceless ancient artifacts in the Mosul museum.

Ava Gene's, a Roman-inspired restaurant in Portland, Ore., incorporates colatura, a modern descendant of ancient Roman fish sauce, into several of its dishes.

Fish Sauce: An Ancient Roman Condiment Rises Again

11:19am October 26, 2013

by Deena Prichep

We usually associate fish sauce with Southeast Asian cooking. But it turns out the briny condiment also has deep roots in Europe, dating back to the Roman Empire. What caused its decline? Historians say it boils down to taxes, and pirates.

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