Hi it's Katrina!
9.
Muslim Cemetery In Spain
The early Middle Ages was a troubling time, marked by a series of religious wars known
as the Crusades.
During that period, Spain was a major frontier between warring Muslims and Christians.
Recently archaeologists have uncovered hundreds of graves in a Spanish town revealing secret
Muslim history in the region that had been wiped away from all historical records.
Muslim rulers conquered the region in the early 8th century.
Their victory can be partially attributed to their generous surrender terms, which were
much more appealing to the populace than the harsh conditions that they had endured throughout
the wars and under previous rule.
In 756 AD a Muslim ruler was able to unify the various Islamic groups that had conquered
Spain, greatly expanding and strengthening their power.
Over the next several hundred years, the region became home to one of history’s greatest
Islamic civilizations.
Much of the Iberian Peninsula’s rich Muslim history was forgotten after the Catholic King
and Queen Ferdinand and Isabella took over and made it their mission to re-conquer Spain
and expel or destroy anyone who was not part of the Catholic faith.
In late 2020, archaeologists discovered an Islamic cemetery in the Spanish town of Tauste.
The site consisted of 433 graves dating between the 8th and 12th centuries, with the deceased
having been laid to rest according to traditional Muslim burial customs.
The cemetery was in continuous use for over 400 years!
The archaeologists said they thought it was a cemetery but what they found was quite unexpected!!
The latest discoveries show the extent of Muslim influence even though much of it has
been erased.
8.
Mysterious Odyssey Notes
Written by the Greek author and poet Homer during the 8th or 7th century B.C., the Odyssey
is one of the most famous epic poems of the ancient world.
It’s also one of the oldest literary works that’s been enjoyed throughout history and
is still printed and read today.
In 2007, a book collector named M.C. Lang donated some of his copies of Homer’s works
to the University of Chicago Library.
He pointed out some bizarre notes written in the page margins inside an edition of the
Odyssey from 1504!!
He said he was willing to pay a $1,000 reward to anyone who could decipher them.
The library’s Special Collections Research Center published the offer in hopes that someone
would be able to help.
Lang believed that the notes, which only appear in one section of the book, were written during
the mid-19th century and suspected that the script was a form of shorthand, but had no
other leads on their origin.
And, as it turned out, he was right.
Submissions poured in from around the world.
The winning prize went to experts Daniele Metilli and Giulia Accetta, who determined
that the writing was, in fact, a form of French shorthand that was invented by someone named
Jean Coulon de Thévénot during the late 18th century.
They also found that the actual content of the notes wasn’t as exciting as you might
think – most of them were simply French translations of the Greek text that the book
was printed in.
Metilli and Accetta said that they planned to continue translating the notes in hopes
of figuring out who wrote them and why they’re only present in one part of the book.
7.
FLORIDA’S EARLIEST SETTLERS
Until somewhat recently, most experts believed that the first people to step foot in the
Americas were a group called the Clovis People, who arrived around 13,000 years ago.
But a growing body of evidence is proving that there were earlier civilizations who
made their way here thousands of years before the Clovis People.
One discovery that’s helping to rewrite the history of human movement was made in
northern Florida in 2016 at a sinkhole called the Page-Ladson site.
Archaeologists had long known about the sinkhole, which sits at the bottom of the Aucilla River
south of Tallahassee.
But it is really difficult to explore because sinkholes are usually dark and murky.
There are layers of black water that is like trying to dive in iced tea!
Florida State University professor Jessi Halligan decided not to shy away from the task.
She led a study that meticulously analyzed the river's sediment layers, which turned
up an ancient knife and several other handcrafted stone objects, as well as prehistoric camelid,
bison, and mastodon bones.
The team dated the artifacts to around 14,550 years ago, showing that a group of humans
reached Florida before the Clovis People arrived in North America.
This mysterious population lived at the tail end of the last Ice Age, when sea levels were
300 feet (91.4 meters) lower than they are today.
At the time, the Aucilla River didn’t yet exist.
The sinkhole was instead located at the bottom of a pond that served as a freshwater source
for animals and people.
In addition to helping scholars sort out the timeline of prehistoric human migration throughout
the Americas, discoveries like this offer insight into how these enigmatic populations
survived and their relationship with their surroundings.
6.
LOST ARMY OF CAMBYSES
The Ancient Greek historian, Herodotus, wrote about the Tale of the Lost Army of Cambyses
in The Histories, a lengthy record of his observations and things he learned during
his travels.
According to the story, a ruler named Cambyses II rose to power as the ruler of the Persian
Achaemenid Empire during the 6th century B.C.
In 524 B.C., he sent 50,000 soldiers from Thebes to Egypt to deal with a group of rebellious
priests who refused to acknowledge his leadership.
They all mysteriously vanished during the arduous march through the Sahara.
Herodotus wrote that a brutal sandstorm swept through the region a week into the journey
and buried the men.
Their remains were nowhere to be found.
Some modern-day experts concluded that the story is probably mythical.
Others remained open to the idea that it could be true.
Over the years, archaeologists have undertaken numerous expeditions to try finding the lost
army of Cambyses.
But, time and time again, these searches failed to pan out.
In 2009, Italian researchers announced that they had finally found the remains of the
soldiers who went missing 2,500 years ago.
After searching for 13 years, the team had unearthed bronze weapons, a silver bracelet,
an earring, and hundreds of human bones in the remote wilderness of the Sahara.
The artifacts appeared to be from the Achaemenid Dynasty, lending weight to the possibility
that the human remains belong to members of Cambyses’ missing army.
But not everyone is convinced.
For one, the Egyptian Supreme Council of Antiquities hadn’t approved of the search.
Secondly, the findings were never presented in an academic journal, which would have opened
information up to peer review.
Instead, the discoveries appeared in a documentary.
At the same time, nobody has managed to rule out the possibility that Cambyses’ soldiers
perished at the site.
5.
CHRISTIANITY IN DENMARK
A 10th-century carving known as the Jelling Stone puts Christianity’s arrival in Denmark
at around 965 A.D.
It was commissioned by Harald Bluetooth, a notorious king who is credited with converting
the Danes to Christianity after conquering Norway and Denmark.
The modern symbol of Bluetooth today is in his honor!!
But a discovery that was made in 2016 is challenging this narrative.
While exploring the Danish island of Funen with his metal detector, amateur archaeologist
Dennis Fabricius Holm found a necklace resembling a crucifix.
He posted photos of the artifact on social media and soon realized that it was a bigger
deal than he originally thought.
Experts caught wind of Holm’s discovery and decided to take a look at the necklace.
Archaeologist Malene Refshauge Beck told national broadcasting station DR that the artifact,
known as the Aunslev Crucifix, could prove to be a game-changer in our understanding
of Christianity’s history in the region.
Describing it as a “sensational find,” she explained that the necklace dates back
to the first half of the 10th century.
A similar piece from the same time period had also recently been found in Denmark, further
pointing toward the likelihood that Christianity was introduced decades before the Jelling
Stone was created.
In Beck’s words, the person who wore the crucifix “would undoubtedly have adhered
to the Christian faith.”
Artifacts like this remind us that historical narratives are not set in stone, and that
just one new discovery can dramatically change our understanding of the past.
4.
THE BOSHAM HEAD
In the early 19th century, someone discovered a large stone head in the English coastal
town of Bosham in West Sussex.
Made from Italian marble, it’s roughly twice the size of an average person’s head and
weighs 375 pounds (170 kg).
The sculpture was in bad condition, making it impossible to identify who it might represent
before modern technology came along.
Researchers finally put the mystery to rest in 2013, after 200 years of wondering and
guessing.
Using 3D laser scanners, a team of experts were finally able to distinguish the head’s
facial features and hairstyle.
They concluded with reasonable certainty that the head depicts Roman Emperor Trajan.
Archaeologist Dr. Miles Russell, who participated in the study, believes that Trajan’s successor,
Hadrian, commissioned the statue’s placement during a visit to Britain in 121 or 122 A.D.
Russell described the discovery as “one of the most important finds from Roman Britain.”
He also said that it’s a shame that the statue was “ignored and overlooked for so
long” before experts were finally able to put a name to the face.
3.
SEALED 17TH-CENTURY LETTERS
During the late 17th century, Simon de Brienne and his wife, Marie, were appointed as postmaster
and postmistress of The Hague, a Dutch city along the North Sea coast.
Their job was to make sure mail got delivered, but they also sometimes did the exact opposite
and stopped this from happening.
When a recipient died or couldn’t pay postage, the couple discarded the person’s mail into
a chest, which amassed around 5,000 letters between 1680 and 1706.
The chest was rediscovered in 1926.
Since then, only a little over half of them have been opened.
But why?
Well, back when snail mail was the only way to communicate over long distances and envelopes
didn’t exist yet, people often protected their privacy by folding their letters in
complicated ways to discourage tampering.
The method, known as “letterlocking,” was so effective that experts were reluctant
to open many of the delicate 300–year-old letters found in Brienne's chest, out of a
fear that they would damage or destroy them.
But researchers were curious enough to know what the unopened mail said to figure out
a way to read it without physically unfolding it.
Technology has helped scholars read damaged historical documents that contain just a few
folds.
The “letterlocked” pieces from the Brienne Collection were much more complicated, however,
so the team had to advance the existing methods.
They came up with an algorithm that distinguishes between paper and ink, enabling them to virtually
open a piece of the cleverly folded centuries-old correspondence.
The message was sent by a French lawyer named Jacques Sennacques to his cousin, Pierre Le
Pers, in the Netherlands.
Dated July 1697, it confirms that a relative died nearly two years earlier.
The study’s authors believe that the letter was written to settle an inheritance dispute.
Their newly developed methods aren’t just useful for reading old mail – these tools
have the potential to help experts access other fragile historical materials that, until
now, they haven't been able to look at.
2: England’s Ancient Tunnels There have been at least a dozen ancient tunnels
found in Cornwall, England that have so far mystified researchers.
These tunnels are unique to Britain and nobody can pinpoint why exactly the people from the
Iron Age built them in the first place.
These ancient tunnels date back about 2400 years.
And they aren't the only things that can be found across the Cornwall countryside.
Cornwall is also littered with hundreds of ancient stones and man-made features, from
ramparts to cliff castles, forts to cattle enclosures.
Cornwall has at least 74 structures from the Bronze Age, 80 from the Iron Age, and 55 from
the Neolithic age.
There are even a few sites from the Mesolithic age, dating back up to 8000 years ago.
And those are just the ones we have found so far!
This place has always been popular!
Throughout the years, about 150 generations of people have worked the land of Cornwall.
But they left no written record to explain why they dug dozens of mysterious tunnels
deep underground, often located beneath prehistoric settlements.
One of the best- preserved tunnels in Cornwall is a place called Halliggye Fogou (holly-guy
Fogu).
The tunnel itself is about 6 feet in height, nearly 20 feet long, and branches off into
other tunnels and other chambers.
But what's really mysterious is that the tunnel never appeared to be used for anything.
It's simply a tunnel going from one place to another without any obvious significance.
Some have speculated that the tunnels could have been used by ancient people for hiding.
Others claim the tunnels are secret burial chambers.
The truth is that nobody has any idea why these tunnels were made – nor why they were
made to last for thousands of years.
1.
An Ancient Cold Case Is Solved
Pharaoh Seqenenre-Taa-II the Brave rose to power around 1560 B.C., during Egypt’s Seventeenth
Dynasty.
According to legend, he exchanged harsh insults with the Hyksos ruler to the north, who had
complained about the pharaoh’s loud pet hippopotamuses.
Apparently too angry to limit his attacks to words, Seqenenre also led numerous military
skirmishes against the neighboring Hyksos Dynasty.
The pharaoh’s mummy was discovered in 1881 in a Theban necropolis situated across the
Nile from the ancient city of Luxor.
Egyptologist Eugène Grébaut unwrapped the mummy and discovered evidence of horrific
injuries.
Part of Seqenenre’s left cheek had been hacked off, his jaw was fractured, his forehead
had been cut open with a sharp object, and he had received a crushing blow to the head.
Interestingly, his arms were left unscathed.
Researchers initially surmised that the pharaoh was likely ambushed and murdered in his sleep
or while he rode in his chariot.
But new evidence that recently came to light suggests that Seqenenre died in battle while
fighting among his military’s front lines.
Using highly advanced 360-degree x-ray technology, a team of scientists took a detailed look
at the pharaoh’s mummy.
They discovered additional injuries that had been cosmetically concealed and went unnoticed
by past experts.
The nature of the wounds challenges the idea that Seqenenre was attacked in his sleep.
It looks more like he went up against multiple attackers and actively fought for his life.
The team theorized that the ruler was abducted by the Hyksos or some other enemy force.
He was then bound and brutally bludgeoned and sliced.
Seqenenre was around 40 years old when he died.
This may sound young, but at the time, people in Egypt rarely lived past age 45.
So, while the pharaoh met a gruesome and undoubtedly terrifying end, he did not die young.
There are still some unanswered questions surrounding the tragedy, but the recent findings
mark a tremendous step forward in learning about Seqenenre’s unfortunate fate.
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