The ancient Greeks had a mostly Mediterranean genetic makeup, with black hair and eyes being common. Credit: Aberdeen Painter, Public Domain The hair color of the ancient Greeks is a topic that has long intrigued historians and researchers. While we lack direct evidence, indirect clues about their
How Politics Became Man’s False Savior Long before our modern capitals rose up in steel and glass, there was Athens… the glittering crown of the ancient world. It was powerful, proud, and home to 20,000 or so “citizens” (not counting women, foreigners, and slaves). The Greek word polis… where we
Tomb of Ancient Greek Boxer Diagoras in Turkey. Credit: Akreofili/ Vici.org CC0 A 2,300-year-old tomb in southwest Turkey—once revered as a holy Islamic site—turns out to have been the tomb of ancient Greek boxer Diagoras. Local people in the Marmaris district of Turgut thought the unusual hilltop
Satellite image of Greece. Credit: NASA The Ancient Greek mapmakers were among the earliest thinkers to conceive of the world as a coherent whole, turning centuries of myth, seafaring knowledge, and emerging science into actual pictures—maps that transformed how people understood space and distance
Olive Harvesting in Ancient Greece. Credit: Wikipedia / CC BY-SA 4.0 Ancient Greeks, Romans and Early Christians used olive oil not only as a staple of daily life but as a sacred and medicinal substance, shaping rituals, healing practices, and spiritual traditions that still influence the modern
Stone remains of the Ptolemaion monument in Limyra. Credit: Dosseman / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 Archaeologists in modern day Turkey have uncovered the remains of a 2,400-year-old Ancient Greek temple dedicated to Zeus, solving a mystery that has challenged researchers for nearly four
This summer, the Italian archaeologist Tiziana D’Angelo had a lot on her plate. As the director of the Parchi archeologici di Paestum e Velia, the dual archaeological sites that lie south of Italy’s Amalfi Coast, D’Angelo had begun overseeing the long-planned excavation of a recently discovered
Apollonia ad Rhyndacum, present-day Gölyazı, Turkey. Credit: Christian1311 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 Archaeologists in Gölyazı, Turkey, have uncovered a Greek inscription carved into a seat in a Roman-era theater, revealing the name of a female priestess who lived nearly two thousand years
The glorious ancient Greek battle of Himera. While modern historians often focus on mainland Greece and the Persian Wars, ancient historians viewed the Sicilian conflict against the Carthaginians as equally significant. Credit: Giuseppe Sciuti / Public Domain For ancient Greek history, the battle
Apollonia ad Rhyndacum, present-day Gölyazı, Turkey. Credit: Christian1311 / Wikimedia Commons / CC BY-SA 4.0 Archaeologists in Gölyazı, Turkey, have uncovered a Greek inscription carved into a seat in a Roman-era theater, revealing the name of a female priestess who lived nearly two thousand years
