Ancient Origins IRAQ Tour

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Iraq: Mysterious Ancient Mesopotamia: Tour Preview
Monday October 30, 2023 11:00am EST
by Dr Micki Pistorius
Iraq: Mysterious Ancient Mesopotamia: Tour Preview

Ancient Origins’ Dr Micki Pistorius takes you on a virtual preview of the sites of Iraq. Starting at the ancient Marshland settlements in the south where the Euphrates and the Tigris fused , bordering the Persian gulf, we travel up along the two rivers, crisscrossing the Fertile Crescent, until we reach the citadel of Erbil in the north, incorporating several epochs dating from 8,000 years ago, up to modern Baghdad.

 

Between the Tigris and the Euphrates, memories of mysterious Mesopotamia, envelop the sun-baked ruins of ziggurats, temples, palaces, cities, and irrigation canals, where gods took the hands of kings, to rule, to make war, to worship, to love and eventually to ruin.  Called the Cradle of Civilization, this is the land of the Sumerians, the Akkadians and the Babylonians, which today is called Iraq. The Ubaid period, starting around 5000 BC, marked the earliest known settlements in the region, characterized by villages and the development of agriculture and draining of marshes in the fertile crescent.

 

The Sumerian civilization emerged around 3500 BC and brought significant advancements in agriculture, governance, urbanization, and the creation of the world's first writing system, cuneiform. They built ziggurats as dwellings for their tutelary gods and elaborate palaces. This era is renowned for city-states such as Eridu, Larsa, Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Nippur, Nimrud and Kish.

 

The Old Akkadian Empire, led by Sargon the Great during the 24th century BC, united Mesopotamia under one rule, subjugating the entire Fertile Crescent, marking a critical shift in the region's history. It laid the foundation for the Akkadian language's dominance and the spread of cuneiform script. He is regarded as the first Emperor and was succeeded by his grandson Naram Sin. We visit Ashur and Nineveh, two of the Old Akkadian cities.

 

Then there was a Sumerian revival period of the Third Dynasty of Ur and the Isin-Larsa Period, whilst Babylon was on the rise.

 

The Old Babylonian Empire, existing from the 18th to 16th centuries BC, was a significant Mesopotamian civilization centered in Babylon. It was known for its code of laws, the famous Code of Hammurabi, and advancements in mathematics, astronomy, and literature.

 

The Neo-Assyrian Empire was founded around 911 BC and the most significant expansion and consolidation of the empire occurred under Tiglath-Pileser III (745-727 BC) and later rulers such as Tiglath-Pileser III, Sargon II, Sennacherib, Esarhaddon, and Ashurbanipal who were some of the prominent Neo-Assyrian monarchs.

 

The Neo-Babylonian Empire was founded in 626 BC by Nabopolassar, who led a successful rebellion against the crumbling Neo-Assyrian Empire and he eventually established an independent Babylonian state. The most famous ruler of the Neo-Babylonian Empire was Nebuchadnezzar II, who reigned from 605 to 562 BC. The Neo-Babylonian Empire is known for its cultural achievements, including the construction of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

 

The Persian era, initiated by Cyrus the Great's conquest in the 6th century BC, saw the integration of Mesopotamia into the Achaemenid Empire. It brought a new level of administrative sophistication to the region.

 

Then the region was conquered by Alexander the Great, divided by the Diadochi, introducing the Seleucid period, and Seleucia on the bank of the Tigris. This period was followed by the conversion to Islam and the first century Caliphates. The Al Ukaider Fortress is a massive monument to the Abbasid dynasty. Ctesiphon was the capital of the Parthian empire and Wasit dates to the Umayyad period.

 

These historical epochs collectively shaped Mesopotamia into a dynamic and influential region in the ancient world, with contributions that resonate through the annals of human history.

 

In Baghdad we visit the National Museum of Iraq, and marvel at the collection of priceless artifacts, many being recovered after looting during the Iraqi war. We stroll through Baghdad’s famous copper markets for old fashioned bartering. We also visit an Abassid palace, and the Abu Dulaf Mosque in Samarra,

 

We end in the north, strolling through the old markets of the ancient citadel of Erbil.

 

Dr. Micki Pistorius editor of the Premium Ancient-Origins has doctorate’s degree in Psychology and an honors degree in Biblical Archaeology. She is an Ancient Origins tour leader where she blends mythology and history into a rich tapestry and bring the stones to life!

 

 

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Touring Through Ancient Greece (Open Webinar)
Wednesday April 19, 2023 12:00pm EST
Touring Through Ancient Greece (Open Webinar)

Join us on our virtual webinar tour through ancient Greece when we follow in the footsteps of three of Greece’s most prominent heroes; Theseus, Pericles and Herodes Atticus, who guide us through a time span of a thousand years, covering the time frame of the Bronze Age of Heroes (second millennium BC,) when Theseus ruled as the 10th King of Athens; through the Golden Age of Athens (449 to 431 BC) the period between the Persian and the Peloponnesian Wars when the brilliant Pericles the Statesman reconstructed his city; to the Roman Period (second century AD) when the most intelligent and one of the wealthiest men alive Herodes Atticus restored many of the monuments built by his predecessors.  The lives of these men are interwoven into a tapestry of ancient Greek culture, cemented in the archaeological ruins, we can visit today. To many, archaeological sites are “just a pile of rubble” but imprinted on those stones is a rich history of myths, dreams, hopes, and a full range of all the human emotions, as well as those of the ancient gods.

Our itinerary of course starts in Athens, on the Acropolis, where Theseus ruled his city and the 12 cities of the synoikismos from a megaron on top of the holy rock.  Several ancient temples predate the constructions of Pericles, which can be seen today. We take a closer look at the Parthenon and the Erecththeion and then we stroll from the Greek to the Roman agora, where the trial of Socrates took place and Herodes Atticus walked. Landmarks in Athens such as the marble Panathenic Stadium was renovated by Herodes Atticus, and he built the Odeon below the Arcopolis. Many of the heroes were buried in Kerameikos, Athens’ necropolis, where Pericles held his Funeral Oration.

The seductive scenery along the east coast of Attica overlooking the Aegean Sea, easily lures one back to an era when mythical gods and goddesses still claimed the land and implored their heroes to build temples for them and their heroines to serve in their sanctuaries as priestesses. We visit Artemis at Brauron, Nemesis and Themis at Rhamnous, Demeter and Eos at Thorikos and Poseidon at Sounion, even some mysterious Egyptian gods near Marathon, which may hold a key to the murder of Herodes’ wife. 

We meet Theseus at Marathon as well the heroes of the Greco-Persian Wars during the Battle of Marathon - which was the birth place of Herodes Atticus.  We travel to the Oracle of Delphi, who spoke to King Aegeus father of Theseus, warned Athens to retreat behind a wall of wood during the invasion of the Persians and Herodes Atticus decorated the stadium at Delphi. Then we cross over to the Peloponnese and test our strength at Olympia, where Herodes’ wife Regilla was the only woman to preside over the Olympic Games, before her tragic death.   And finally we trace the footsteps of St Paul in Corinth, where Herodes built the Stadium, before we head back to Athens.

All along our journey we are accompanied by the gods and goddesses whose lives were intertwined with the mortals.

Dr. Micki Pistorius editor of the Premium Ancient-Origins has doctorate’s degree in Psychology and an honors degree in Biblical Archaeology. She is an Ancient Origins tour leader to Greece where she blends mythology and history into a rich tapestry and bring the stones to life!

 

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Discover the Mystery of Skara Brae
Monday August 5, 2019 6:45am EST
by Laird Scranton
Discover the Mystery of Skara Brae

Secrets preserved for millennia…

At around 3200 BC—a few hundred years before the beginning of the Dynastic Era in ancient Egypt—a series of megalithic structures were built on a remote island north of Scotland. These Neolithic structures are thought to have spawned later megalithic traditions in the UK, including the famous Stonehenge.  

A key to many of the unanswered questions about this Scottish tradition may lie with a well-preserved community called Skara Brae, thought to have been the first farming village in the UK.  Perhaps even more interestingly, answers to those questions suggest that this island tradition may have exerted important influences on ancient Egyptian culture!

Discover the mystery and see this eye-opening premiere webinar with Laird Scranton on AO Premium.

Laird Scranton is the author of a series of books and other writings on ancient cosmology and language. These include articles published in the University of Chicago’s Anthropology News academic journal, Temple University’s Encyclopedia of African Religion and the Encyclopedia Britannica. He is featured in John Anthony West’s Magical Egypt documentary series and in Carmen Boulter’s documentary The Pyramid Code

Laird is author of many books, including The Mystery of Skara Brae: Neolithic Scotland and the Origins of Ancient Egypt

 

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Were the Maya able to Foresee our Future?
Thursday December 7, 2017 4:00pm EST
by Dr Carl Johan Calleman
Were the Maya able to Foresee our Future?

The Maya is an ancient native American people sometimes credited with having been able to foresee the future, and especially the year 2012 has often been mentioned in such a context. In this thought-provoking webinar, Dr Carl Johan Calleman will review what the Classical Maya actually said about this, and what their calendrical tools of foreseeing the future actually were.

A key component was the Plumed Serpent—a symbol of a wave movement that has often been misunderstood. We can still use these tools for understanding our past and, with limitations, the future, but then we will have to know how the nine waves of the Mayan calendar system actually works!

Special guest author Dr Carl Johan Calleman returns to AO PREMIUM for this much-anticipated webinar.

He examines these themes and more in his book The Nine Waves of Creation - Quantum Physics, Holographic Evolution and the Destiny of Humanity 

 

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Deception, Trickery & Conspiracy: The End of the Italian Christopher Columbus
Thursday October 20, 2016 7:00pm EST
by Manuel Rosa
Deception, Trickery & Conspiracy: The End of the Italian Christopher Columbus

According to many history books, explorer Christopher Columbus ‘discovered’ America in 1492. But what if the accepted story is not only incorrect, but is a narrative which has hidden ulterior motives and international conspiracy for over 500 years? Who really WAS Columbus? Investigative historian and AO guest author Manuel Rosa joins Ancient Origins Premium for an exclusive webinar to reveal the hidden history of Christopher Columbus. The results will shock you – and could change history books forever.

Manuel Rosa author of Columbus: The Untold Story (5-Star review winner) is a Portuguese-American, investigative historian and author who emigrated from the Azores to the Boston area in 1973. He currently lives in North Carolina and works at Duke University’s Cancer Institute. Regarded as the world's foremost authority on Columbus, Rosa's own "voyage of discovery" began during the Columbus quincentennial, when his doubts were stirred by the marriage of a lowly foreigner to a highborn Portuguese lady. Such a union might pass muster as a fairy tale today, but it would have been unthinkable back then! The closer Rosa looked, the more certain he became that he was on to something, and before long he was spending all of his free time on research, now resulting in a history-changing book. Join us for this fascinating premier webinar.

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Giants On Record: Anomalous Skeletons in the Academic Literature
Wednesday June 29, 2016 7:30pm EST
by Hugh Newman
Giants on Record - Ancient Origins Premium Webinar

In this webinar Hugh will share his research on the thousands of giant skeletons that have been found in North America and look at the phenomenon based upon the written evidence in the academic record. News reports of giants could be exaggerated or even lies to sell newspapers, but when the academics repeat the same descriptions of oversized, powerful skeletons over a 100 year period in different parts of the country, the study of ‘giantology’ must be taken seriously. Hugh will share some examples of the writings of doctors, professors and heads of major institutions discussing their interaction with giant skeletons, massive jaws and double rows of teeth. 

Hugh Newman is a world explorer, megalithomaniac and author of Earth Grids: The Secret Pattern of Gaia’s Sacred Sites (2008); co-author of Giants On Record: America’s Hidden History, Secrets in the Mounds and the Smithsonian Files with Jim Vieira (2015), and is published in three 'Ancient Origins' e-books. He has been a regular guest on History Channel’s Ancient Aliens and Search for the Lost Giants and organises the annual Megalithomania conferences and tours and co-organises the Origins Conference in London with Andrew Collins. His latest project is a follow up to Giants On Record, investigating giant accounts in the British Isles.

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