24 Items Tagged

Ancient Cults

Floral games and nudity were a big part of a spring festival in Ancient Rome.

Welcome to the Ancient Roman Festival for Sex Work

Floralia was a celebration of spring, flowers, and so-called prostitution.

Sara Mellas April 29, 2024

A damaged sarcophagus sits in a stone-walled burial chamber

Puig des Molins Necropolis

The largest and best preserved necropolis in the Western Mediterranean.

Archaeologists believe this head belonged to a figurine representing a high priestess of Ur.

History’s First Named Author Was a Mesopotamian Priestess

Her name was Enheduanna.

Sarah Durn December 22, 2022

Courtesy of the Penn Museum, image no. 251051

The Most Lavish Mesopotamian Tomb Ever Found Belongs to a Woman

And her clothing tells an important story, says archeologist Rita Wright.

Sarah Durn February 10, 2022

Glasgow, Scotland

Lady Well

This ancient holy well is older than much of the city that surrounds it.

Temple 4

Markopoulo Mesogeas, Greece

Temple of Artemis Brauronia

This seaside sanctuary was once one of the most important religious sites for women in ancient Greece.

Stone altar.

Nea Tiryntha, Greece

Tholos Tomb of Tiryns

Step inside an ancient beehive tomb built for a mysterious cult hero.

Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia at night.

Palestrina, Italy

Sanctuary of Fortuna Primigenia

The city of Palestrina was built around this magnificent terraced sanctuary dedicated to the pagan goddess Fortuna.

Nile Mosaic of Palestrina

Palestrina, Italy

Nile Mosaic of Palestrina

This splendid mosaic embodies ancient Rome's fascination with the exotic allure of Egypt.

The tauroctony in the Mithraeum at Santa Maria Capua Vetere.

The Ancient Roman Cult That Continues to Vex Scholars

The Mithraic Mysteries worshipped a pagan god from subterranean temples buried throughout the empire.

Kerry Wolfe November 13, 2017

The fresco in the mithraeum at Santa Maria Capua Vetere.

Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy

Mithraeum at Santa Maria Capua Vetere

The underground sanctuary of a mysterious ancient Roman religious cult contains an exquisite traditional fresco.

The forearm, found in Somerset, England.

Why Some Ancient Cannibalism May Have Been Ritualistic Rather Than Culinary

A mystery to sink your teeth into.

Natasha Frost August 10, 2017

The stones at Avebury, hanging with some sheep.

Found: A Hidden Stone Square Inside the World’s Largest Megalithic Stone Circles

The monument at Avebury still has secrets to be uncovered.

Sarah Laskow June 29, 2017

Paulilatino, Italy

Well of Santa Cristina

This elaborate hole in the ground was built as a sacred site for an ancient civilization.

A life size replica structure is build in the museum of Copán

Copán Ruinas, Honduras

Rosalila Temple

A full-size replica of this well-preserved temple lets you take a walk through the Mayan age.

Classical Depravity: A Guide to the Perverted Past

Edmund Richardson March 24, 2014

Dikteon Cave

Psichro, Greece

Dikteon Cave

According to myth, Zeus himself was hidden in this cave to escape being eaten by his dad.

The Temple of Apollo, Delphi.

Nine Places To See the Ruins of Ancient Religious Cults

Ancient religion was strange and fierce.

Edmund Richardson September 6, 2013