Top 10 Weekly Articles 🗿

The best Ancient Origins articles for this week. Enjoy! [logo4fixed] View this email [in your browser]( [Top10Banner] [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [image?cs_ema...]( The Ma’rib Dam: An Engineering Wonder of the Ancient World… Torn Apart by Rats? [img3]( The Ma’rib Dam is an engineering marvel of the ancient world that is located in central Yemen. This dam is easily one of the finest examples of masonry architecture in the Arabian Peninsula. Local stories say the dam was in use for centuries, however, the great dam apparently stopped serving as a barrier when it was breached by rats. The Ma’rib Dam, also known as the Great Dam of Ma’rib, was in use for many centuries for the storage of water, as well as for irrigation purposes. During the 6th century... [Read more...]( Sacred Plant of Eternal Love and Healing: The Mythology and Magic of Basil [img3]( In Mediterranean cuisine it is the symbol of summer and its origins are lost in the mists of time. Fragrant and delicate with its green leaves it manages to tantalize the most demanding palates, it is basil. Basil (Ocimum basilicus) is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the Lamiaceae family, and is easily recognized by the shape of its lanceolate leaves that vary from pale green to intense green to violet or purple of some varieties... [Read more...]( In Search of the Mythical King Minos, Did the Legendary Ruler Really Exist? [secret-text]( When we think of Minos, two images immediately come to mind: (1) the legendary and cruel tyrant of Crete who demanded the tribute of Athenian youths to feed to the Minotaur in the Labyrinth and (2) a judge of the Underworld as depicted in both Virgil’s Aeneid and also in Dante Alighieri’s Divine Comedy story, the Inferno. For the purpose of this article, we will focus on the former rather than the latter. According to both Greek myth and legend, Minos was an ancient king of the Greek island of Crete, situated in the Mediterranean Sea just South of the Greek mainland... [Read more...]( Does ‘New Evidence’ Prove Noah’s Ark Is Buried on a Turkish Mountain? [img3]( Conclusive evidence of the existence of Noah’s Ark has eluded ark hunters since time immemorial. The Bible says the vessel made landfall on the “mountains of Ararat” in Turkey after 150 days in the water. A group of explorers affiliated with NAMI, a Hong Kong-based evangelical Christian group, said in 2010 that on Mount Ararat, Turkey, they had found traces of the ancient ship. Their claims, however, met with a stiff challenge from the broader scientific community... [Read more...]( [banner_0]( Ancient DNA Sheds Light on the Mysterious Origins of the First Scandinavians [img3]( Tracking the migration of humans isn’t easy , but genetics is helping us uncover new information at breathtaking speed. We know that our species originated in Africa and likely reached Europe from the southeast no later than 42,000 years ago. During the last ice age some 33,000-20,000 years ago, when a permanent ice sheet covered northern and parts of central Europe, modern humans in southwest Europe were isolated from groups further to the east... [Read more...]( The REAL Bigfoot: Gigantopithecus Would Have Been Terrifying to our Ancient Ancestors [alchemical]( From legends of Bigfoot to films like Mighty Joe Young, humans seem to have a fascination with giant ape-like creatures. This leads to the question of whether stories about giant apes have a basis in reality. Although the evidence for Bigfoot is ambiguous, there is fossil evidence for very large apes living in the past, particularly Gigantopithecus, a genus that once lived in China and Southeast Asia. Gigantopithecus was first discovered when a paleontologist found a molar belonging to a giant ape while examining bones said to be dragon bones in a Chinese apothecary. After the discovery of the molar, hundreds of other teeth were revealed that apparently belonged to a mysterious giant ape with yellowish-stained teeth. Because of the color, it was dubbed “yellow earth fauna.”... [Read more...]( 80 Percent of This Town in Australia Lives Underground! [img3]( In the remote South Australian desert, where temperatures are known to reach 125 °F / 51 °C in the shade, lies a town named Coober Pedy (literally ‘white man’s hole’), where residents have dug themselves underground to escape the blistering heat. Once the largest opal mining operation in the world, Coober Pedy is now a peculiar site where chimneys rise from the sand and signs warn people of unmarked holes in the ground. Coober Pedy was founded during the early part of the 20th century, as a result... [Read more...]( [banner]( The Origin of ‘Us’: What We Know So Far About Where We Humans Come From [img3]( The question of where we humans come from is one many people ask, and the answer is getting more complicated as new evidence is emerging all the time. For most of recorded history humankind has been placed on a metaphorical, and sometimes literal, pedestal. Sure, modern humans were flesh and blood like other animals. But they were regarded as being so special that in the Linnaean taxonomy that prevailed well into the second half of the 20th century they were given their own... [Read more...]( What Comforting Items Did Vikings Have That Are Still the Height of Luxury Today? [infant-dna]( In the largest and most richly equipped Viking burial mounds discovered in Norway there are usually found beds and several types of bird feathers and down from pillows and duvets, including eagle-owls’ feathers. This demonstrates that wealthy Viking aristocrats slept as they lived: quite comfortably. Modern technology and knowledge makes it possible to separate feathers and down from different bird species, and according to the Norwegian research portal Gemini.no, there have been discovered remains from a variety of birds – including the Eurasian eagle-owl, Northern Europe’s largest owl. [Read more...]( [FindUs_small...]( [FindUs_small...]( [FindUs_small...]( [FindUs_small...]( [FindUs_small...]( [FindUs_small...]( [FindUs_small...]( [FindUs_small...]( You Might Like [image?cs_ema...]( [image?cs_ema...]( [image?cs_ema...]( [image?cs_ema...]( [image?cs_ema...]( [image?cs_ema...]( [Learn more about RevenueStripe...]( [Unsubscribe]( | [Report spam]( You have received this email because you have subscribed to [Ancient-Origins.net](. Copyright © 2017 [Stella Novus Limited]( - [Ancient Origins]( Stella Novus Limited - Ancient Origins. 61 Saint Assam's Park, Raheny, Dublin 5, D05 W3C8, Ireland. Stella Novus Limited | 61 Saint Assam's Park | Raheny | Dublin 5 | D05 W3C8 | Ireland | +353 876 087 916 [Unsubscribe]( | [Report spam]( Sent with [ActiveTrail](?utm_medium=Email&utm_source=List&utm_campaign=NormalEnglish) software