Yale University researchers have found trace amounts of opium jars in an ancient Egyptian vessel, proving that opium use was widespread in the land of the pharaoh — including during the time of King ...

Traces of opium found inside an ancient alabaster vase suggest drug use was common in ancient Egypt, not rare or accidental.

The world’s first known lock-and-key system, dating back to 4000 BCE in Mesopotamia, shows how ancient people protected their valuables. Built from wood and pins, this mechanism inspired later Greek ...

Archaeologists know a great deal about the Roman Empire. They know its dates: Octavian assumed the title of emperor and the name Augustus in 27 b.c. The last Western Roman emperor was forced to ...

The British Museum is well placed to refer to the discovery of the Library of Ashurbanipal as “one of the most important” archaeological finds of all time. Almost everything we know about the Assyrian ...

The cultural and scientific revolutions that define the Renaissance were kickstarted in large part by Europe’s rediscovery of lost Roman sculpture. Inspiring the likes of Raphael, Donatello, ...

Chogha Zanbil was first spotted from a surveillance airplane in 1935. The excavated complex was discovered to be one of the few ziggurats built outside Mesopotamia. The ruins of the ancient Elamite ...

The Achaemenid Empire rose from a small Persian kingdom to the largest empire the ancient world had ever seen. Through military brilliance, diplomacy, and administrative innovation, this video traces ...

They wrestled steel beams, hung off giant hooks and tossed red hot rivets – all while ‘strolling on the thin edge of nothingness’. Now the 3,000 unsung heroes who raised the famous skyscraper are ...

Around 2112 B.C., the Sumerian king Ur-Namma (r. 2112–2095 B.C.) united the city-states of southern Mesopotamia into a short-lived kingdom known today as the Third Dynasty of Ur, or Ur III. More than ...

The Corinthian helmet, circa 650-600 B.C., has a rounded top with small openings for the eyes and a distinctive nose-piece. Historian Herodotus mentions the helmet as a defining equipment of the ...