The Kraken. In Scandinavian mythology, the Kraken is a giant sea creature that attacks ships and is so huge that its body could be mistaken for an island. Accounts of the Kraken are believed to have originated from sightings of the giant squid, which can reach 18 meters in length.
The Griffin is a legendary creature with the head and wings of an eagle, and the body, tail, and hind legs of a lion.
While griffins are common in the art and mythology of Ancient Greece, representations of griffins in ancient Persia and ancient Egypt date to as early as the 4th millennium BC. On Crete, archaeologists have uncovered depictions of griffins in the Bronze Age Palace of Knossos dating to the 15th century BC.
Medusa was a Greek monster. She had the face of an ugly woman with snakes instead of hair; anyone who looked into her eyes was immediately turned to stone. She was a priestess of Athena, devoted to a life of celibacy; however as punishment for marrying Poseidon she was cursed.
Medusa was beheaded by the hero Perseus, who used her head as a weapon until he gave it to the goddess Athena to place on her shield. In classical antiquity the image of the head of Medusa appeared in the evil-averting device known as the Gorgoneion.
The Banshee is a spirit creature originating in Irish folklore. She is said to scream when someone is about to die. The foretelling of death was seen as both a blessing and a curse.
The Bean Sidhe or Banshee haunts only the families of authentic noble stock and it is with great dread when her piercing "caoine" or keening is heard. The Banshee scream is always a death omen.
Mermaids. In ancient Syrian folklore there was a goddess named Atargatis. She was a fertility goddess whose cult eventually spread to Greece and Rome and was associated with water.
Often depicted in mermaid form, Atargatis is perhaps the “original” mermaid. A Melusine, or siren, has two tails. This creature is from medieval legend. A Melusine was a beautiful woman that transformed into a serpent from the waist down while bathing. This always resulted in calamity.
The Prittlewell Prince refers to a high-status Anglo-Saxon royal burial discovered in 2003 near Southend-on-Sea, Essex. Called "Britain's Tutankhamun" due to its undisturbed state, the chamber yielded over 40 treasures. Radiocarbon dates combined with other dating evidence narrowed the burial to a period of about 30 years (AD 575–605). This date was refined by tiny gold coins from the coffin, called tremissi from Merovingian France.
An extremely high status Anglo-Saxon royal was laid to rest in a lavish tomb. He was buried with amazing treasures. 1,400 years later, the remains of the royal tomb was discovered next to a pub and a grocery store in the Essex town of Prittlewell.
The identity of the Prince of Prittlewell may never be known. One theory suggests the tomb belonged to Sæberht, once King of Essex, who is known to have been an early Anglo-Saxon convert to Christianity. Two gold-foil crosses found at the head of the coffin were placed over the eyes of the deceased.
High status latticed blue glass beakers manufactured in Kent and a pair of drinking bottles
A haul of Viking coins uncovered during a police raid in 2019 could “change British history”, according to a leading historian. The coins were described as a “nationally important hoard”.
44 coins, which were valued at £766,000, were discovered by police after Craig Best, from Bishop Auckland, County Durham, tried to sell some of them in 2018. The coins date back to 879AD under the rule of King Alfred the Great of Wessex and include two extremely rare 'Two Emperor' coins which were issued by King Alfred and Ceolwulf II of Mercia.
Craig Best (left), Roger Pilling (right) were convicted and sentenced to a total of more than 18 years in 2019. It is the legal responsibility of the finder of any precious metal objects that are over 300 years old to report them to the local coroner.
Accounts had suggested Ceolwulf of Mercia as a "puppet" of the Vikings and a minor nobleman rather than a proper King in his own right. However, the 'Two Emperor' coins tell a different story and show two rulers standing side by side as allies and peers. They portray him as a king in his own right and a strong ally to Alfred, rather than a ‘puppet’ for the Vikings as previously thought.
A 'Two Emperor' coin will bring six figures.
Police seized the hoard of coins and a solid silver bar from properties in County Durham and Lancashire during an investigation. The items include coins from the reign of Alfred the Great, King of Wessex, and Ceolwulf II of Mercia. King Alfred inflicted a major defeat on the Vikings in AD 878. Experts believe the coins belong to an undeclared hoard from the Viking army at that time. Alfred the Great created a unified kingdom of England.
More than 3,000 copper alloy coins were found by two metal detectorists near the village of Rauceby, Lincolnshire, in July 2017.
The coins were found in a ceramic pot, buried in an oval pit and may have been buried as part of a ceremony, or votive commemoration.
The coins were declared treasure following an inquest hearing. The coins are thought to date to the time Constantine was declared emperor in York (306 AD) while on a military campaign. York was Rome's northern military command headquarters. Around six years later, back in Italy, Constantine converted from paganism to Christianity. He was baptized on his deathbed in 337.
Egypt unveiled the tombs of ancient high priests and a sarcophagus dedicated to the sky god Horus at an archaeological site in Minya in 2020.
The shared tombs were dedicated to high priests of the god Djehuty, from the Late Period around 3,000 years ago. One of the stone sarcophagi was dedicated to the god Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris, and features a depiction of the goddess Nut spreading her wings.
The ministry also unveiled 10,000 blue and green ushabti (funerary figurines), 700 amulets—including some made of pure gold bearing scarab shapes, and one bearing the figure of a winged cobra.
Horus is the name of a sky god in ancient Egyptian mythology which designates primarily two deities: Horus the Elder (Horus the Great), the last born of the first five original gods, and Horus the Younger, the son of Osiris and Isis.
Every Roman legion, which typically consisted of 5,000 to 6,000 soldiers, had a “primuspilus” (first spear) centurion, and a “secunduspilus” (second spear) centurion. These were the highest-ranking centurions and the most efficient and reliable officers in the army. In early episodes of 'Rome' Lucius Vorenus is a second spear centurion.
The Primus pilus was the senior centurion of the first cohort in a Roman legion. The name Primus Pilus is translated to "first spear". He was a career soldier and advisor to the legate. While normal cohorts were composed of five to eight centuries, the one led by the primus pilus had ten centuries, 800 men. It also had 200 staff, including cooks and clerks. The Primus Pilus was charged with protecting the legionary standard and pay-chest. The legion was largely self-supporting and among its men were specialists, such as engineers, surveyors, and architects, as well as craftsmen.
The primus pilus was the most senior of all the centurions within the legion. They were experienced, veteran soldiers who had moved up within the ranks. In modern terms the primus pilus would be a lieutenant colonel. The primus pilus was a well paid position. Only eight officers in a full legion outranked the primus pilus.
Altar by Marcus Aurelius Cocceius Florianus, Primus Pilus of Legio X Gemina.
Evocati were veteran soldiers who voluntarily re-enlisted after an offer from their commander. Evocati were better paid and didn't perform tasks like road building.
In 2019 a nearly complete fossil of the giant ‘lizard fish’ Ichthyosaur was unearthed in India. It’s the first time the fishlike reptile has been found on the sub continent.
It was found among the remains of its prey. It appears to belong to the Ophthalmosauridae family of Ichthyosaurs, closely related to Northern Hemisphere varieties. It likely lived between 152 and 157 million years ago.
