Ahmose I and Amun Re of Thebes in Egypt New Kingdom (ca. 1550–1070 B.C.)

Updated 04/05/2020

Late in the Second Intermediate Period (ca. 1640–1550 B.C.), the Theban rulers (Dynasty 17) began to drive the Hyksos kings (Dynasty 15) from the Delta. This was finally accomplished by Ahmose I, who reunited Egypt, ushering in the New Kingdom—the third great era of Egyptian culture. Ahmose’s successors in Dynasty 18 conducted military campaigns that extended Egypt’s influence in the Near East and established Egyptian control of Nubia to the fourth cataract. 

The Reign of Ahmose, the First King of the XVIIIth Dynasty The Great Courses Daily

As a result, the New Kingdom pharaohs commanded unimaginable wealth, much of which they lavished on their gods, especially Amun-Re of Thebes, whose cult temple at Karnak was augmented by succeeding generations of rulers and filled with votive statues commissioned by kings and courtiers alike.

Temple of Amun-Re and the Hypostyle Hall, Karnak (article) Khan Academy

New Kingdom of Egypt - Wikipedia

Although the rulers of Dynasty 19 established an administrative capital near their home in the Delta, Thebes remained a cultural and religious center. The pharaohs built their mortuary temples here and were buried in huge rock-cut tombs decorated with finely executed paintings or painted reliefs illustrating religious texts concerned with the afterlife. A town was established in western Thebes for the artists who created these tombs. At this site (Deir el-Medina), they left a wealth of information about life in an ancient Egyptian community of artisans and craftsmen.

Seti I attacking the Syrian town of Kadesh.

Known especially for monumental architecture and statuary honoring the gods and pharaohs, the New Kingdom, a period of nearly 500 years of political stability and economic prosperity, also produced an abundance of artistic masterpieces created for use by nonroyal individuals.



Other articles on the same theme:

• August 12 is the day the last monarch of Egypt died Cleopatra VII. Her story would be known millennia later

• Secrets of the oldest and most expensive portraits in the world

• Pharaoh Tutankhamun was not really a strong man (virtual reconstruction PHOTO)

• Frightful mysteries of mummies were untied

source: metmuseum

Five of the most fascinating Celtic Myths and Gods with the best books to read

Updated 04/05/2020

Tales of monsters, Gods, spells and love affairs: Celtic myths reflected the social thinking and traditions of pre-Roman Celts of Britain, Ireland and Europe. Spread by travelling poets and storytellers who plied their trade from village to village, the myths came into being partly to explain natural phenomena, and to try to address basic human concerns about life and death.

Irish Myths – A Guide to Celtic Mythology, Irish Mythology, and Irish Folklore irishmyths.com

In her new book, Miranda Aldhouse-Green, an expert in archaeology and shamanism, uses myths to paint a complete picture of the Celtic world, and reveals how traditional Celtic characters and symbols can even be found in contemporary popular culture series such as Star Wars and Harry Potter.

Celtic gods poster Pinterest

Here, writing for History Extra, Aldhouse-Green recalls five of the most fascinating Celtic myths…

In the Middle Ages, Christian monasteries in Ireland and Wales were the engines of literacy and education. Many monks took it upon themselves to record pagan myths and legends dating to pre-Christian times, leaving us a rich legacy of gods, goddesses, supernatural heroes, enchanted animals and magical objects. 

The Book of Celtic Myths: From the Mystic Might of the Celtic Warriors to the Magic of the Fey Folk, the Storied History and Folklore of Ireland, Scotland, Brittany, and Wales: Adams

But their Christian chroniclers seasoned these stories with a heavy sprinkling of early Christian ethics, so mythic warfare tended to end in disaster; amoral and over-powerful women inevitably came to grief, and good usually triumphed over evil in the end.

Celtic Art: Celtic Mythology; The Realistic Celtic Art work and illustrations of Celtic myth & legend by Howard David Johnson

It is generally accepted that these myths were first written down between the 8th and 12th centuries AD. The two most important groups of Celtic myths are found in the Welsh Mabinogion and the Irish Táin Bó Cuailnge (more popularly known as the Cattle Raid of Cooley).

Celtic Myths Origins - Jake Jackson - Medium

Pagan Celtic myths were originally transmitted orally, by storytellers who acted both as travelling entertainers and as peddlers of news. But the origins of the myths were probably very ancient indeed.

Like most mythic traditions, they came into being partly to explain natural phenomena, including disasters such as floods, famines and plagues, and to try to address basic human concerns such as ‘who are we? Why are we here? Who came before us? What happens to us when we die?’ But Celtic myths tap into another hugely rich vein of tradition: the pantheon of gods and goddesses worshipped by the pre-Roman Celts of Britain, Ireland and Europe, between about 500 BC and the Roman period.

Thus, for instance, we find the Celtic horse-goddess, Epona, who was venerated over huge areas of Roman Europe, transformed into the iconic figure of Rhiannon, the horse-heroine of Welsh mythology. Celtic myths are full of monsters, heroes, gods, shape-changers, spells, wars and love affairs. Apart from their interest as ancient pagan myths, they are richly entertaining stories. Here are five of the most fascinating…

The Goddess Rhiannon

Cú Chulainn: the Hound of Culann

Cú Chulainn was an Irish hero, son of a mortal and a god. He was a mighty warrior, champion of the Ulstermen in their war with the people of Connaught, who were led by their formidable queen Medbh (Maeve).

While he was still an infant, the Druid Cathbad prophesied that he would lead a short but glorious life. When he was five years old, Cú Chulainn routed the Ulster king Conchobar’s 50-strong youth brigade. While still a young boy, he demanded arms from the king, and shattered 15 sets of weapons before accepting those belonging to Conchobar himself. The young hero got his name, the ‘Hound of Culann’, when he accidentally killed the guard-dog of Culann the blacksmith. Ashamed of his deed, he pledged to redeem himself by acting in the dog’s place.

He grew up very fast, and quickly became Ulster’s war-leader. Like many ancient mythical heroes, he regularly communed with spirits, and he had a particular affinity with the Morrigan, a war-goddess who frequently appeared to him in the guise of a crow. A particular feature of Cú Chulainn was his habit of going into ‘warp-spasm’, or a berserk state, when roused. When like this, he was literally out of his mind, and his body did strange and monstrous things: one eye bulged out while the other sank into his cheek and his body rotated in his skin, while the ‘hero-light’ shone fiercely around his head.

Betrayed by his enemies, he met his death on the battlefield but when mortally wounded, he had himself bound to a stake so that he would die standing upright, facing his foes. In the end, the Morrigan betrayed him, perching on his shoulder to show his enemies that he was dead.

Celtic Myths and Legends by Peter Berresford Ellis Goodreads

Blodeuwedd: the false flower-woman of Welsh myth

Blodeuwedd appears in the ‘Fourth Branch’ of the Welsh Mabinogion. She was not mortal, but was conjured from wild flowers (the oak, meadowsweet and broom) by two magicians, Math and Gwydion, for their kinsman Lleu Llaw Gyffes (the ‘Bright one of the Skilful Hand’).

Because he was illegitimate, Lleu’s mother Arianrhod cursed him at birth, denying him a name, weapons or a wife unless she herself gave them to him. The boy’s uncle Gwydion [although it is elswehere suggested that Gwydion is actually also Lleu Llaw Gyffes’ father] tricked his sister into endowing the child with both a name and weapons, but getting him a wife proved trickier, so he and Math got round the problem by creating Blodeuwedd.

But because she was not a mortal woman and was thus without morals (the Christian influence is perhaps showing here!), Lleu’s flower-wife betrayed him with another man, Gronw, and the lovers plotted his death. Lleu himself was clearly a hero or even a god, for he could only be killed in a peculiar, ‘impossible’ way; he had to be neither inside nor outside a house, naked or clothed or on water or land, and only a spear made during the hours that smithing was not permitted could kill him.

Celtic Mythology | Small Online Class for Ages 6-11 Outschool

By huge cunning (together with a certain dimness on Lleu’s part), Blodeuwedd persuaded her husband to act out the only circumstances in which he was vulnerable: by making a bath for Lleu on a riverbank and erecting an arched roof above it, then thatching it so that it let in no water. She brought a billy goat and stood next to the bath, and then Lleu placed one foot on the back of the goat and the other on the edge of the bath. Whoever struck Lleu while he was in that position would be able to kill him.

Then, Gronw smote him with his spear. As he was struck, Lleu uttered a ghastly shriek, turned into an eagle and flew into an oak-tree. There Gwydion found him and restored him, but Blodeuwedd he cursed, turning her into an owl, and condemning her to hunt alone at night, shunned by all other birds, for eternity.

Capricious Cauldrons

There is a Welsh mythic story called The Spoils of Annwn, which narrates a raid on Annwn (the Otherworld) by Arthur, whose target was a magical cauldron, described as made of shimmering bronze and studded with gems. This cauldron knew its own mind: it needed the breath of nine virgins to heat the broth within it, and it would never provide food for a coward.

Arthur’s cauldron-rustling expedition ended in a Pyrrhic victory: he gained the vessel but lost most of his men to the forces of darkness in so doing. Arthur’s cauldron is only one of many that had magical properties. For the Celts, cauldrons were vessels of rebirth. The myth of Brân the Blessed, lord of Harlech, a Welsh hero (so large that he could wade across the Irish Sea and whose severed head remained alive and talking after his death), contains an account of Brân’s most treasured possession, a cauldron that could bring the dead to life.

But, again, this was a vessel that had its own agenda. When Matholwch, king of Ireland, was insulted by one of Brân’s relatives when he came to woo his sister Branwen, he could be appeased only by the gift of the cauldron. Later on, when war broke out between Ireland and Wales, Matholwch used Brân’s gift as a weapon: every night, the Irish war-dead were cooked in the cauldron and emerged good as new to fight another day.

But these resurrected soldiers were, in fact, ‘undead’ zombies, for they had lost the power of speech. Ireland had its own cauldron-myths. Gods, such as the Daghdha (a father-god) had Otherworld ‘hostels’ in which they served food in ever-replenishing cauldrons, and where pigs that had been cooked and eaten – rather chillingly – returned charred and squealing to be re-cooked every day.

Shape-shifting Lovers: Oenghus and Caer

Oenghus mac Oc was an Irish god of youth. He was the son of two deities: the Daghdha and Boann, goddess of the river Boyne. But Boann was married already when she became pregnant with Oenghus, and so they enchanted the sun so that it neither rose nor set for nine months, until the baby was born. Thus Oenghus was conceived and born on the same day, and the illicit lovers managed to conceal their union from Boann’s husband Nechtan.

Given the circumstances surrounding his birth, it is not surprising that Oenghus became the patron god of star-crossed lovers. Indeed, he had his own love story: one night, he had a dream in which he saw a wonderfully beautiful girl and fell in love with her. When he woke, his passion was undimmed and he set out to discover who she was and how to find her.

Eventually Oenghus tracked her down to a lake where the girl lived with a bevy of other young women. Her name was Caer Ibormeith (‘Yew-Berry’). But Caer and her companions were under an enchantment. Every alternate year, at the Festival of Samhain on 1 November (the Celtic New Year), the girls were transformed into swans. Oenghus asked Caer’s father for her hand in marriage, but he refused.

Realising that the only way to win her was to wait until she was in swan-form, he went to the lake at Samhain and called her. When she came, he turned himself into a swan and both birds flew away, circling the lake three times and singing a spell as they flew, so that everyone below fell asleep and they could not be pursued. The lovers took up residence at Oenghus’ palace at Brugh na Bóinne and, it is to be hoped, lived happily ever after.


Rhiannon the Horse-Maiden

The ‘First Branch’ of the Mabinogion tells the story of Pwyll, lord of Dyfed in south-west Wales. Near his court at Llys Arberth (modern Narberth), there was a gorsedd, a magical mound. Anyone who sat on the mound was assured either of a catastrophic shock or a wondrous event.

One day, Pwyll was sitting on the gorsedd when he saw a beautiful woman riding, clad in shimmering white upon a dazzling white horse. He commanded his swiftest horsemen to ride after her and stop her but, however fast they galloped, she outpaced them, even though her own mount appeared to be ambling. So Pwyll leapt on his own steed and pursued her, to no avail.

In desperation he called out to her and immediately she reined in her horse and sat waiting for him. When he caught up with her, she told him she had only been waiting for him to address her before she stopped. The horsewoman’s name was Rhiannon (‘Great Queen’). The pair fell in love and married, but at first their union appeared cursed, for no child was born to them.

After three years Rhiannon produced a son, but even then the couple’s troubles were not over: on the night of May-eve, just before the spring festival of Beltane, the baby was stolen. Rhiannon’s watch-women had fallen asleep at their post. When they woke, fearing blame, they framed the slumbering Rhiannon, killing a puppy and smearing her hands and face with its blood, so that the mother appeared to have killed – and eaten – her own son.

Pwyll neither banished not executed Rhiannon, but imposed a strange punishment: she had to crouch by the gate of the palace and carry every visitor up to the door on her back, like a beast of burden.

But there was a happy ending: the baby was found and returned to his parents. Rhiannon named him Pryderi, which means ‘care’. Rhiannon’s recurrent association with horses probably betrays her origins as a pagan horse-goddess.

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• Babylonian Mythology Gods

• Ten ancient myths and the events that inspired

• Three false myths about antiquity. What is the truth behind the Greek democracy and Roman orgies

• 5 Myths About Christianity

The Celtic Myths: A Guide to the Ancient Gods and Legends by Miranda Aldhouse-Green

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by History Extra . Note: Materials may be edited for content and length

Frightful mysteries of ancient mummies were untied with X-ray scans

Updated 04/05/2020

Scientists have conducted a new study to see if some of the most popular myths about mummies or not a grain of truth.

"Mummification was practiced in Egypt for more than 3,000 years, and the practice was changed in different times and places. In the past, we have looked at one, two mummies and we get a conclusion, but now we have much more technology nondestructive and a wealth of medical information that we rely on, "said anthropologist Andrew Wade, from the University of Western Ontario.

In the next issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, Wade and his teammate Andrew Nelson examined radiographs of a total of 84 mummies in museums around the world. Their goal was to approve or disapprove some of the oldest and strangest information on ancient mummies. This information was and that during mummification, rulers and their successors brains were removed through the nose. Another information is so that internal organs were removed from the rich mummies.

Journal of Archaeological Science: Reports - Elsevier

Mexico News Daily Guanajuato's beautiful and terrifying mummies

Following our analysis based on X-ray scans, it was found that the mummification process was more complicated than we imagine.

Part of the blame for this confusion Greek historian Herodotus gate which noted in 440 BCE a description of the mummification process, following a visit to Thebes. Then he wrote that during the mummification of the rich is made interventions to remove the internal organs and the brain. Instead, for the poor, who were buried without being wrapped in cloth, resorting to a cheap technique of dissolving parts.

Ancient Egypt How were mummies made?. Herodotus

"In fact, it seems that Tut's time, almost everyone could afford to be mummified," says Wade after analyzing mummies. Then Pharaoh Tutankhamen died around 1323 î.e.n, long before Herodotus, and after the death of Pharaoh, mummification became increasingly popular.

But sometimes things were happening and as described by Herodotus. For example, if the priest Nesperennub, looked at the British Museum with the help of a CT performance, it was found that during the mummification process and has been removed brain through the nostrils, and his organs, such as lungs were stored in containers.

Nesperennub Mummipedia Wiki

However, other times, not performed in accordance with mummification Herodotus. Sometimes the lungs and other organs were left inside mummies, and the brains were removed only in certain cases. Moreover, there were cases where, for removing the brain was a hole in the place where the spine meets the head.

On the other hand they were discovered instances where the mummy's head was filled with resin, and scientists explain this by suggesting that it is possible that golden hue liquid resin to be associated with the sun and divinity. However, the brain was not receiving significant attention at the time. Instead, it was observed that the length of cloth used to wrap the deceased's head vary significantly from case to case, depending on who achieve process. Following investigations it was found that in some cases, are used for head and 55 meters of cloth.

Moreover, the study does not find evidence concerning what Herodotus describes as inexpensive technique which would have involved the use of cedar oil to dissolve the entrails of the mummy. Scientists believe that the substance would be too expensive for such use. Instead, they say for embalming animals would be used turpentine (liquid obtained by distilling pine resin). Therefore, it is possible that Herodotus to be confused with the animal conservation method used for humans.

A practice that seems to have been reserved for the elite is linked to heart organ which was the center of conscience and morality in Egyptian mythology. "The whole idea was you could enjoy the afterlife, and certainly for this you needed heart," said Wade.

However, the analysis indicated a significant lack of heart among mummies, which suggests that keeping the body in the afterlife was reserved for the elite. As the "Book of the Dead" is prohibited sharing secrets related to the procedure of mummification, Wade speculate that it could have that common people do not even have been aware of the fact that they remove the heart to allow them to of a privileged elite. Moreover, all heart, the confection shaped stone jewelry beetles that lived over organ.

The Ancient Egyptian Book of the Dead - E. A. Wallis Budge

Other articles on the same theme:

• Mysterious inscriptions reveals a Dark Egypt during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses I

• Creepy assassination of Ramesses III. After thousands of years, Egyptologists reveals how great king was killed

• 3,000 years old mummy discovered in a tomb in Egypt

• New discovery inside the Great Pyramid of Giza

Source : USA Today

Noah's Ark and Ten ancient myths and true events

The legends have inspired the imagination of people for thousands of years. Although many of them are simple stories passed down from generation to generation, some might be real story of geological events, believed Patrick Nunn of the University of the Sunshine Coast of Australia.

Patrick Nunn has studied the link between ancient myths and natural phenomena of the past, considering that legends can give scientists important information about events witnessed storytellers, but which scientists do not have much information.

Here are the 10 most famous ancient myths and events that you might present.

Noah's Ark and the flood

One of the most popular myths and disturbing is the flood, which survives only Noah and his family. Following the directions given by God Himself, Noah built an ark huge that take one pair of each species on Earth, thus ensuring biodiversity by receding water.

Stories of floods are found in legends of other cultures, not just in the Bible, but scientists do not think there was ever a flood covering the entire planet with water.

Certainly were but isolated cases, dramatic events that produced a strong impression on people. A familiar example is the catastrophic flooding of around 5,000 î.e.n, which took place in the Black Sea.

People tend to exaggerate when reporting different memories, so it is not difficult to understand that a phenomenon that has led to the flooding a region to be expanded on a global scale, as if the entire planet were only water, not to be any patch of land.

Nunn believes that the myth of Noah is actually a story about giant waves that covered a certain region for a few weeks, during which the area has never been dry.

The discovery of fossils of shells on top of mountains not necessarily suggest that the area was once flooded. Now researchers know that the tectonic plates lifted from the seabed rocks therefore talk about another phenomenon, not flood, says Adrienne Mayor, a historian at Stanford University.

Oracle of Delphi and the priestess who foretells the future

In antiquity, Oracle of Delphi, located on Mount Parnassus in Greece, was well known. Here, in a temple dedicated to the god Apollo, a priestess called Pitha enter into a state of ecstasy and thus can "see" events that will occur in the future. She breathe vapors emanated from a crack in the floor, get into a trance and then uttered seemingly meaningless things. But these words could be interpreted only by a priest, he understands and translate them into prophecies.

Temple actually exist, being an important tourist attraction in Greece. There, geologists found two faults which lies just below the ruins of the temple. Perhaps they went through the gas producing euphoric, but now researchers do not know exactly what this gas contained. It could be ethylene, benzene, or a mixture of carbon dioxide and methane.

Sinking Atlantis

Perhaps the best known is the myth of Atlantis, thriving island which sank into the sea after a cataclysm. According to Plato, who spoke first about this legend, people who lived on Atlantis were half gods and foundations that had a very advanced civilization, while their island was built in the form of concentric circles.

Even if Atlantis really existed as described in the story of the Greek philosopher, real sad fate of a civilization inspired the legend.

It is possible that part of the island sinking Satorini to be behind the myth. Santorini is now an archipelago, but thousands of years ago there was only one volcanic island called Thera.

About 3,500 years ago, the volcano erupted here, being one of the most powerful volcanic eruptions in history. The island was destroyed, there were tsunamis, and crops have been affected for years because of sulfur dioxide in the atmosphere.

It is possible that this situation has led to the decline of the Minoan civilization that dominated the Mediterranean from the neighboring island of Crete, some historians believe.

Pele, the goddess jealous of Kilauea

According to legend, the goddess Pele came to Hawaii with her sisters, and here was in love with a man named Lohi'au. After goddess has established residence in a crater of Kilauea volcano, she asked her sister, Hi'iaka, to bring it on Lohi'au. Because of the late sister, Pele thought that perhaps the two ran together and, as revenge, forest fire, which was very dear to Hi'iaka.

When he saw what happened, sister of Pele made love to Lohi'au and goddess, angry man killed him and threw her body into the crater. Hi'iaka jumped into the crater after him and saved him, and then they left together.

This strange love story metaphorically describes the Kilauea volcanic activity, scientists believe. Forest burned probably due to a flood of lava. A phenomenon of this kind took place in the XVth century, when lava flowed continuously for 60 years, covering over 430 square kilometers of the island of Hawaii.

Such destruction would be seriously affected people's lives since then, so who invented legend.
Similarly, the gesture of Hi'iaka who jumps and dig into the crater to recover the man's body may represent new crater formation, after the outpouring of lava.

Rama's Bridge

In the Hindu epic "Ramayana", god Rama's wife, Sita, is kidnapped and taken to the island of Lanka, the United Demons. Monkeys and bears help Rama and his brother, building a floating bridge between India and Lanka, because the hero can save your wife.

Recent satellite images show that there was a 29 km long bridge between India and Sri Lanka. It probably sank when water levels rose, with around 4,500 years ago.

Recently, another disaster has exposed the submerged ruins of temples, proving the truth behind the legend Mahabalipuram city. It was a port city on the coast of northeast India and legend has it that seven pagodas have. Currently, there was one preserved temple, but the tsunami that hit India in December 2004 to remove sediment from the ocean floor and revealed the ruins of more temples.

Killing Lake 

A Cameroonian legend tells the story of Kom tribe, who lived in the land of the tribe Bamessi time. Kom leader learned that Bamessi tribal chief wants to kill him and then decided to take revenge. He was hanged and his body fluids was born a lake.

Before he died, he told his sister that his tribesmen must not ever touch that lake or fish that would swim there. Someday, when the tribe Bamessi wanted to fish in the lake, it exploded and all fishermen died.

The story could have a real substrate. In 1986, Lake Nyos in Cameron issued a large amount of carbon dioxide, killing 1,700 people sleeping in the nearby village.

This gas gathers in the waters toxic volcanic and seismic activity can cause a sudden release of gas that reach the surface and kill whoever is in the area

Giant catfish Namazu (Earthshaker)

According to Japanese legend, Namazu, a sleeping giant, is buried just below the archipelago. Kashima God keeps him motionless on Namazu with a stone, but sometimes god fish slides and then move their fins or tails and produce earthquakes.

Of course, no need for a gigantic fish to cause a big earthquake in Japan. This country is located on several tectonic plates and volcanic activity takes place here and that is why most earthquakes.

However, somnii are present in popular mythology for another reason. These fish can predict earthquakes, the Japanese believe.
However, the research could not prove a link between sleep behavior and earthquakes.

Authorities use the latest technology to find clap when large earthquakes will occur, so they can alert the population of the time. Sophisticated apparatus detects seismic waves and then send messages to the officials, who decide slowing trains to reducing the damage and risk the loss of lives.

Chimera monster that spits fire

Epic "Iliad" by Homer, there is a creature of nightmare called Chimera. It is a monster that has the characteristics of a lion and a serpent's mouth and remove flames. The creature was killed by the hero Bellerofonte, but her tongue stuck lair Chimaera, still burning.

Today in Turkey, tourists can visit Yanartaş, where the burning flames of the Chimera eternal. Here, through cracks in the earth out methane, which burns perhaps thousands of years. Long, this permanent fire was used by sailors on the far post for orientation at sea.

But Chimera legend is older than the "Iliad", probably dating from the Hittite period. In folklore Hittite Chimera was a monster with three heads - one human, a lion's head and a snake found in line.

Crater Lake birth

The strange story of the formation of Crater Lake was spoken by Europeans Klamath tribe of Indians, hundreds of years ago. They refuse even now to look to the lake for fear that this will invite him to death.

According to legend, Crater Lake was formed after a fight between Llao, lord of the underworld and Skell master Upper World. The two stoned incandescent sky during the battle and was always black, dark.

Finally, Llao, fighting on Mount Mazama, was thrown back into the underground world after Mount crashed. The rain then the former site filled mountain, forming Crater Lake.

The story is not very far from reality, although obviously lake formation does not imply the presence of the gods. 7,700 years ago, Mount Mazama, which was actually a volcano erupted. Incandescent rocks flew through the air and crashed mountain crater is then filled with water from rain. Here is the event that inspired the legend probably Klamath tribe, believed Adrienne Mayor.

Patrick Nunn notes, however, an interesting detail. A myth usually lasts several hundred years, more than 7,000 years, as in this case. Legends transmitted orally so long a time are very rare.

Missing Island

Residents of Solomon Islands say happy story Teonimanu island, which disappeared underwater. It began when a man named Rapuanate kidnapped a woman on this island, but her brother were unable to take back. Angry that he could not be with the woman he loves, Rapuanate resorted to witchcraft to get back.

He used three plants - two were left on the island, and was holding a plant on it. When he saw them grow new leaves of this plant, was a sign that the island began to sink. After residents fled the island, Teonimanu was covered by water and disappeared.

Recent research done in arhipelangul submerged islands Solomon pointed to several hundreds of meters underwater. It is possible that they have been submerged after an earthquake caused a landslide thousands of years ago.

Patrick Nunn stated that this myth is transmitted orally, unlike the Bible or from Greek mythology. He fears that because of that many stories, which are based on a real event, will be forgotten forever. Do not lose only a part of world culture, but also serious warnings about the troubled past of this planet, scientists information that could benefit.

Source ; smithsonianmag

Three false myths about antiquity. What is the truth behind the Greek democracy and Roman orgies

Whether we are talking about Christianity, ancient Rome or Greece about each emerged myths that we know today.

1.The Romans were doing crazy orgies

Most people associate the Romans orgies, but in reality he was just about rumors. In fact, the Romans did not speak very often about this, couples having sex only at night in complete darkness, mostly clothed. Of course, wealthy Romans were having sex in front of the servants, but then servants were considered furniture who only had to bring needed. As noted, the Romans encountered problems and when trying to plan an orgy One of the most powerful myths of Hercules is where the 50 girls deflowered of Greek king in one night. The early Christians invented blowout to promote their new faith

Édouard Henri Avril Roman Orgies source wikipedia

Thus, anyone who had love affairs in positions other than those which were considered normal for that time, the practice blowout. Of course, they stated that such practices were taking place in the homes of the rich. To implement stronger than Christianity, practices were blamed because then no longer be practiced.

2. Christians were martyred in the Colosseum, eaten by lions

The myth that the Romans threw Christians to the lions just for fun is false. Since there is no evidence showing that practitioners of Christianity have been martyred in the Colosseum. During the Emperor Nero was thought that persecuting Christians in the Colosseum, the building had not been build. But there are countless stories of martyrs, saints, apostles who died eaten by lions killed or burned at the stake. The truth is that all the stories come from the writings of Christians.

Acts of martyrs' stories were about the beginnings of Christianity, when women and men have preached the word of God, enduring torture and suffering. The writings of the martyrs,, acts '' can be compared to Harry Potter stories today, they satisfy the desire of citizens of fiction. In the eighteenth century, the book has been used by many popes to declare Colossseum a stained blood of martyrs, which should not be destroyed.

3. Ancient Greece was a place of freedom

Before the Roman Empire to conquer the world, logic and civilization in ancient Greece it was always present, the country was the cradle of humanity. But the reality is that the area was one during the war. The ancient Greeks put the best minds of the era, like Socrates. Hellenic peninsula in that period there were more than 1,000 cities, each band,, ''

Each band had armed its own government and religion. During that practiced slavery. Greece had the largest number of slaves and democracy lasted only two centuries, The asemnea nor Plato, Socrates and Aristotle were not excited about this form of government. Works intellectuals came very difficult period in other countries, primarily because of rivalries between towns, people were generally enlightened farmers and ordinary people who have left their native village.

Other articles on the same theme:

• Babylonian Mythology Gods

• Five of the most fascinating Celtic Myths

• Ten ancient myths and the events that inspired

• 5 Myths About Christianity

The above post is reprinted from materials provided by  Cracked. Note: Materials may be edited for content and length