Ancient Egypt

Explore the true history and myths behind six “terrible” women, from the all-knowing Sphinx to the fire-breathing Chimera and the lesser-known shapeshifter Lamia.

Men Have Feared Women for Millennia. Just Look at the Monsters of Greek Mythology

A new collection of essays considers how the villainous women of classical antiquity, from Medusa to the Sphinx, resonate in contemporary Western society

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

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

The site is comprised of six sectors, the last of which was recently excavated.

Archaeologists Discover Traces of Early Christian Community in Egypt

Active between the fourth and eighth centuries A.D., the vast site housed multiple churches, monastic cells and other structures

Some of the animals—including this dog—were buried in pieces of pottery.

Is This 2,000-Year-Old Egyptian Burial Site the World's Oldest Pet Cemetery?

Excavations show how humans treated cats, dogs and monkeys in first- and second-century Egypt

Ancient embalmers dipped a piece of red linen in a plant-based concoction before applying the cloth to the deceased's face.

Oldest Known Mummification Manual Reveals How Egyptians Embalmed the Face

Prior to the find, researchers had only identified two ancient texts detailing the enigmatic preservation process

The newly restored artworks highlight predator-prey conflicts in the natural world.

Newly Restored Pompeiian Frescoes Capture Hunting Scenes in Vivid Detail

Researchers used a laser to clean the ancient artworks before retouching their faded sections

These brightly colored geese have no modern, real-world counterpart.

Tomb Painting Known as Egypt's 'Mona Lisa' May Depict Extinct Goose Species

Only two of the three kinds of birds found in the 4,600-year-old artwork correspond to existing kinds of animals

Enemy combatants likely captured and bound the ruler before delivering a series of fatal blows.

CT Scans Suggest Egyptian Pharaoh Was Brutally Executed on the Battlefield

During the 16th century B.C., multiple Hyksos soldiers assaulted the captive Seqenenre-Taa-II, inflicting serious facial and head injuries

The brewery “may have been built specifically to supply the royal rituals that were taking place inside the funeral facilities of the kings of Egypt,” says lead archaeologist Matthew Adams.

World's Oldest 'Industrial-Scale' Brewery Found in Egypt

Located in an ancient necropolis, the 5,000-year-old facility was capable of producing up to 5,900 gallons of beer at a time

Villa Adriana, or Hadrian's Villa, is a Unesco World Heritage Site in Tivoli, Italy, that spans 200 acres and was built around 210 A.D. by Roman leader Hadrian.

Archaeologists Discover Ruins of Emperor Hadrian's Ornate Breakfast Chamber

In the second century A.D., the Roman ruler entertained his guests on a raised marble platform surrounded by elaborate fountains

The mud shell was added after the woman's original mummification, perhaps to repair damage inflicted by grave robbers.

Why Was This Egyptian Mummy Encased in Mud?

Researchers have never previously observed the unusual, low-cost embalming method

Researchers found the mummy at a temple in the ancient Egyptian city of Taposiris Magna.

Archaeologists in Egypt Discover Mummy With Gold Tongue

Ancient embalmers likely placed the tongue-shaped, gold foil amulet in the deceased's mouth to ensure they could speak in the afterlife

Researchers have identified a pyramid in the vast Saqqara necropolis as the tomb of King Teti’s wife, Queen Naert.

Archaeologists Unearth Egyptian Queen's Tomb, 13-Foot 'Book of the Dead' Scroll

The team also discovered dozens of sarcophagi, wooden masks and ancient board games

Authorities recovered thousands of ancient artifacts, including these stone Roman statues.

Authorities in Israel Seize Thousands of Artifacts Looted From Ancient Graves

Thieves stole most of the objects—including coins and pottery—from tombs across the Mediterranean, Africa and South America

Hieroglyphs line the walls in a shrine to the goddess Hathor at Serabit el-Khadim.

Who Invented the Alphabet?

New scholarship points to a paradox of historic scope: Our writing system was devised by people who couldn’t read

People may have eventually accepted the mixed alloys as legitimate currency.

Ancient Canaanites Added Arsenic to Copper to Create Counterfeit Currency

The toxic chemical gave the metal a luminous sheen, enabling forgers to pass off cheap alloys as silver

A new, noninvasive technique allows researchers to study mummies without damaging them.

Researchers Reveal Mummy's Surprising Contents Without Unwrapping It

Technique described in a new study combines X-ray and CT scans to examine remains without damaging them

A curatorial assistant found the wood fragments in a misfiled cigar box bearing the image of Egypt's old flag.

Missing Great Pyramid Artifact Found in Cigar Box in Scotland

The wood fragments—among just three items ever taken from the Giza tomb—date to the fourth millennium B.C.

Newton held unconventional religious beliefs and dabbled in alchemy and the occult.

Isaac Newton Thought the Great Pyramid Held the Key to the Apocalypse

Papers sold by Sotheby's document the British scientist's research into the ancient Egyptians and the Bible

A new book Incredible Archaeology: Inspiring Places From Our Human Past, out this month from Smithsonian Books, explores some of the world's most spectacular ancient wonders.

Twelve Ancient and Enduring Places Around the World

From Smithsonian Books, towering temples, dramatic works of art and early settlements that have stood the test of time

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