Myths & Legends
Troy, the Minotaur, the Delphic oracle, the Dead Sea Scrolls: the real archaeology, artifacts and texts behind famous myths, legends and sacred traditions. Each story keeps what tradition says separate from what the evidence shows, with sources for both.
Schliemann and the Search for Troy (1873)
Homer's Troy was long treated as pure legend. Then a mound in Turkey turned out to hold layer upon layer of real cities, and a treasure that was smuggled away. Read the full story
Knossos and the Minotaur (1900)
Greek myth put King Minos, the Labyrinth and the bull-headed Minotaur at Knossos on Crete. Excavations found a vast Bronze Age palace, but never a labyrinth. Read the full story
The Antikythera Mechanism (1901)
Sponge divers pulled a lump of corroded bronze from a Roman-era wreck in 1901. It turned out to be a geared Greek astronomical calculator, the oldest known of its kind. Read the full story
The Dead Sea Scrolls (1947)
In the late 1940s Bedouin shepherds entered a cave near the Dead Sea and found jars of ancient scrolls. They held biblical texts about a thousand years older than any known before. Read the full story
Dating the Shroud of Turin (October 13, 1988)
In 1988 three laboratories carbon-dated small samples of the Shroud of Turin to 1260-1390. Many believers still venerate it, and the debate over its age continues. Read the full story
The Oracle of Delphi and the Gas Theory (2001)
Ancient writers said the priestess at Delphi prophesied after breathing vapours from the earth. Geologists found faults under the temple, but which gas, if any, is still argued. Read the full story
Explore more: Strangest Deaths in History · Weirdest Disasters in History · Famous Historical Hoaxes · Strange Encounters · Odd Science from History · This day in strange history