Rituals and Traditions

Yeondeunghoe is the Korean celebration of the Buddha’s birthday.

Ten Cultural Experiences to Put on Your Post-Pandemic Bucket List

From a lantern festival in Korea to camel racing in Oman, these traditions have us dreaming of future travel

The amulet probably dates to the fifth or sixth century B.C.

Eleven-Year-Old Boy Discovers Ancient Fertility Amulet in Israeli Desert

The 2,500-year-old ceramic figurine was likely created to provide protection and promote conception

Medieval women viewed birthing girdles, or long pieces of parchment inscribed with religious invocations and drawings, as protective talismans.

A Medieval Woman Wore This 'Birthing Girdle' to Protect Herself During Labor

Researchers found traces of bodily fluids, as well as milk and other materials associated with pregnancy, on the ten-foot long parchment

Tattoo by early Japanese tattoo artist K. Akamatsu, ca. 1910s

Explore 200 Years of Tattoo History With This New Book

Celebrated tattoo artist Henk Schiffmacher shows off designs from around the world in images from his private collection

West African culinary traditions

New Online Portal Chronicles the Culinary Legacy of the African Diaspora

"Feast Afrique," a digital tool created by food historian Ozoz Sokoh, features nearly 200 texts spanning 1828 to the present

In full, the Greek text reads, “Christ born of Mary. This work of the most God-fearing and pious bishop [Theodo]sius and the miserable Th[omas] was built from the foundation.”

Inscription Offers Earliest Evidence of Christianity in Israel's Jezreel Valley

The fifth-century engraving, found repurposed in a Byzantine building's wall, references "Christ born of Mary"

The Aranui 5 is a passenger-freighter vessel that makes 14-day voyages between Tahiti and the Marquesas Islands.

This Polynesian Cruise Ship Has a Resident Tattoo Artist

Sailing between Tahiti and the Marquesas, Eddy Tata provides passengers with Polynesian-style tattoos based on their life stories

Workers building a visitors' tunnel at the modern Church of All Nations discovered the ancient mikveh, or ritual bath.

Researchers Unearth Ritual Bath Dated to Jesus's Time Near Garden of Gethsemane

The 2,000-year-old "mikveh" represents the first Second Temple–era archaeological evidence found at the site

Children cluster around Santa in this 1903 illustration.

Christmas Wasn't Always the Kid-Friendly Gift Extravaganza We Know Today

How a once-raucous holiday became a time of childlike wonder and beribboned consumerism

Steam hides a vendor stirring mulled wine with sea buckthorns at a Christmas market in Svobody Square, Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine.

This Holiday Season, Travel With Your Nose

The scents that you find most comforting can help you feel like you're on the road, even when you're not

A young girl lightly pats the backs of others with a survachka on Christmas Day in Bulgaria.

A Globe-Trotter's Guide to Holiday Games

Staying home for Christmas and New Year's? Try one of these festive traditions from around the world

Denali's dogsled teams mush for weeks at a time to the far-flung corners of a park that stretches over 6 million acres.

How Denali National Park's Sled Dogs Prepare for Winter

For nearly a century, park rangers have relied on dogsledding to patrol the public land and collect data for scientists

The bones likely belong to people sacrificed during the reign of Ahuízotl, eighth king of the Aztecs.

The Aztecs Constructed This Tower Out of Hundreds of Human Skulls

Researchers in Mexico City recently discovered a new section of a macabre late 15th-century structure

Jack Yoast, Ambler, Pennsylvania

Eight Elaborate Christmas Displays Across America—and the People Behind Them

In her new book, photographer Danelle Manthey captures a distinct type of American folk art: Christmas light decoration

The Temperance Society objected to the card's inclusion of a child sipping wine.

The First Commercially Printed Christmas Card Scandalized Victorian England

Two rare copies of the 1843 greeting card, which depicts a child sipping from a glass of wine, are now up for auction

Can you see the plant in this picture? This small brown Fritillaria delavayi has evolved camouflage in response to heavy harvesting by humans. The more closely the plant mimics its environment, the harder it is for humans to find and harvest the plant.

Medicinal Plant May Have Evolved Camouflage to Evade Humans

In places where people harvest the plant most aggressively, its color has changed to blend in with the rocky environment

Telling a joke has its roots in the Irish tradition of Samhain

This Halloween Is Scary Enough. Tell a Joke Instead

The tradition in St. Louis is for trick-or-treaters to focus on humor more than horror

In different time periods and contexts, Elin Lisslass (left) and author Jennie Tiderman-Österberg perform kulning.

Why Sweden’s Ancient Tradition of Calling Home the Herds Is Women’s Work

The spellbinding refrains of the kulning call reflect a tradition that offered women freedom and independence

The exterior of Maeshowe, a chambered tomb in Scotland's Orkney Islands, pictured in September 2019

Why Were This Ancient Scottish Tomb's Chambers Built Upside Down?

New research suggests the inverted designs seen at Maeshowe were designed to ensure passage into the underworld

A box of offerings included a gold band reminiscent of a miniature bracelet and a llama or alpaca figurine made of the shell of a rare mollusk.

Inca Llama Carving Recovered From Depths of Lake Titicaca

The well-preserved artifact was likely used in a sacred ritual

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