To reach the afterlife, Egyptians lived in accordance with ma'at, or harmony

Without mummies, ancient Egyptians feared their souls would perish

The ancient Egyptians placed major importance on mummification because of their beliefs about the afterlife. They believed a preserved body was essential for the soul’s survival, as it needed a physical form to return to. Without it, they feared the soul would perish.

Egypt's 'Books of the Dead' helped the dead pass through the underworld

During the New Kingdom of ancient Egypt, elaborate burial rites included the incantation of magic spells to help those who had died navigate the underworld. Texts of these spell-binding funerary guidelines, widely known as the "Books of the Dead," have survived intact.

Reconstructing an average day in ancient Egypt

Egyptologists can reconstruct the intimate details of everyday life in the ancient civilization by studying the archaeological material preserved in tombs, monuments, and partially intact neighborhood layouts. Watch a comprehensive tour of the daily habits and lifestyles of ancient Egyptians with expert Dr. Joann Fletcher.

Ancient Egypt for Kids

Ancient Egypt lasted a very long time! This video breaks down the timeline and geography of their civilization, daily life, and education in Egypt (including bringing the "Book of the Dead" to life).

Inside Saqqara, ancient Egypt's sprawling necropolis outside Memphis

Located 20 miles south of modern-day Cairo, the 4-square-mile site contains the oldest known stone complex in the world, the venue for royal tombs and monuments for one of the earliest Egyptian capitals, Memphis.

Ancient Egyptians played Senet, a board game where players threw sticks or bones as dice.

Egypt's pantheon is the result of a thousand years of myths

Their pantheon consisted of nearly 2,000 divine beings which evolved over time, led by the broadly worshipped sun god Ra. Many of the myths surrounding each god changed dramatically or even intertwined with others as cult followings grew popular or shifted from city to city.

Explore the roughly 190 Egyptian pharaohs across 31 dynasties

The meticulous records kept by scribes in ancient Egypt allow contemporary historians the unusual ability to list the civilization's hundreds of monarchs, from the quasi-legendary Egyptian unifier Narmer (also known as Menes) all the way to the Roman emperors 3,000 years later.

Aztec mythology informs the Day of the Dead

The ancient people believed the dead journeyed to Mictlán, the Land of the Dead. To get there, they had to travel for four years through nine underworld levels, with the final being occupied by Mictlantecuhtli, the Aztec god of death, and his wife Mictecacíhuatl.

Afterlife traditions help some humans process death

Watch this video discussing concepts of the afterlife presented through an anthropological lens about one family's experience and traditions passed down from one generation to another.

A history of China's ancient hidden tombs

Like many ancient cultures, the Chinese had a tradition of burying the dead in elaborate tombs, which would serve as both burial places and residences for the deceased. Archaeological evidence of these tombs, including those of former emperors, provides insights into the country's cultural evolution.

Wealthy Egyptians slept on woven beds to allow air circulation in hot climates

The history of beds is a fascinating look at economics, social science, and cultural beliefs around what takes place during sleep. This brief survey of the history of bed-making begins roughly 5,000 years ago and runs through ancient Egypt and Rome to modern Europe. Take a look here.

Egyptians called the Nile River the 'Ar,' meaning 'black'

The over 4,000-mile river would turn dark during its warm-season flooding as sediments flowed downriver. This nutrient soil, which would settle on the riverbank, was essential for farming in Egypt.

The three theories explaining how the pyramids were built

There's no consensus over how the ancient monuments were built, and no blueprints left behind. But centuries of study have produced three competing theories: a simple, massive external ramp, a more complex internal ramp, or a highly sophisticated water elevator.

More than half of American adults believe in the afterlife

It’s hard to find actual data regarding ghosts, but a survey conducted by Pew Research Group in 2023, revealed that around half of the US adult population believes ghosts can interact with the living, with most thinking that spirits can help rather than harm us.

The Maya played a ballgame that symbolized the conflict between good and evil

Played on I-shaped courts across Mesoamerica, the Maya ballgame was a ritualized sport tied to cosmic struggle. Contrary to popular belief, the game did not involve mass sacrifice or basketball-style scoring.

Earth's total mass is equivalent to 13 quadrillion Egyptian pyramids of Khafre

Newton's law of universal gravitation was used to calculate the value after Henry Cavendish torsion balance experiments determined the missing value of the universal gravitational constant from Newton's equation.

Apeirophobia is the fear of everlasting life

The fear may stem from the human brain's inability to conceptualize the concept of anything happening beyond what it can project out, such as the concept of an infinite life.

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

The story of Hypatia, a leading Roman scholar murdered by monks

Hypatia of Alexandria was a secular philosopher in Egypt who headed a university, improved scientific instruments, penned textbooks, and advised the city's leaders. As a Neoplatonist, she approached numbers as a sacred language. Religious fervor and her visible advisory role led to her brutal dismemberment by rogue monks.

The idea of resurrection was not common at the time of Jesus' death

NT Wright, a leading New Testament scholar, argues that first-century Jews held a wide spectrum of beliefs about the afterlife. This included that the early Christian claim of one individual rising bodily from the dead, ahead of the general resurrection, was without precedent in Judaism or the wider Greco-Roman world.

Final life insurance is most common for people over the age of 50

Final expense life insurance is a type of life insurance where, instead of paying a sum of money to your beneficiaries after death, the insurance covers the expenses for your funeral, burial, and any end-of-life care.

Cells can last in the human body from days to a person's entire life

Despite claims that a person's body replaces itself every seven to 10 years, the rate at which cells die and are replaced varies by cell type. Gastrointestinal cells that line the digestive tract and stomach last only a few days, while some heart muscle cells and most neurons are around from birth until death.

The universe may have been reborn from a state of emptiness

Some physicists propose the universe might be the latest in an eternal cycle of universes, each emerging from the empty remains of the one before. This model is inspired partly by Norse and Egyptian myth, suggesting the universe is a cosmic ouroboros—a self-consuming serpent representing an eternal return.

Wedding rings can be traced back to ancient Egypt, where the ring symbolized eternity

The tradition later spread through Greece and Rome, evolving with precious gems during the medieval period. Diamonds became central after De Beers' 1947 "a diamond is forever" campaign, boosting sales by 50% in three years.

Ayatollah Khamenei ruled Iran for 36 years after succeeding Khomeini as Supreme Leader

When Khomeini died in 1989, Ali Khamenei was appointed acting supreme leader on the same day. He served in this position until his death in February 2026, shaping Iran for nearly four decades.

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

In 1963, a basement renovation in Turkey revealed a passageway to a hidden, multilevel underground city that once housed as many as 20,000 people

Learn more about the history of fireworks, which dates back to an accidental invention during an alchemist's quest for information about immortality.

Explore the archaeological treasures of Pompeii, the city buried under volcanic ash when Mount Vesuvius erupted in 79 CE.

44% of Americans say they pray at least once a day—discover how your state's religiosity stacks up against the rest of the country.

Salvador Dalí believed he was his own dead brother, who had died nine months before he was born

Take a 3D tour of the Hajj, Islam's annual pilgrimage to Mecca, undertaken by over 1.5 million Muslims.

The first line of 'immortal' human cells, which can divide indefinitely and are used in scientific research, was nonconsensually taken from a Black woman.

SpongeBob exemplifies Aristotle's philosophy for living well because he understands that happiness doesn't come from external factors like money, recognition, or power.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

According to the physics of black holes, our 4D reality may be a hologram—a projection of information coded on a 2D surface on the edge of the universe.

Recent research found that the brain doesn't seem to massively rewire following amputation—upending earlier beliefs about the cause of phantom limb pain.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

While the sun's gravity keeps the planets in orbit, their gravity also pulls on the sun, causing it and everything else in the solar system to orbit around a mutual balance point called the barycenter—the true center of the solar system.

After her fellow cult members tried to kill her with an LSD-infused hamburger, one member of the Manson Family, the murderous cult led by Charles Manson, decided to testify against the group's leader.

Apollo astronauts left items in the moon's 'toss zone,' including golf balls, family photos, and bags of human waste, to make room for lunar rocks.

See how each of the more than two million known species relates to each other—and to common ancestors—in this zoomable tree of life.

Iran's Revolutionary Guard Corps is independent of Iran's regular army and is one of the most powerful and influential military-political organizations in the Middle East.

In 2026, Finland was named the world's happiest country for the ninth consecutive year based on its wealth, social safety network, and high life expectancy, among other factors.

The identity of the Tank Man in the iconic photo from the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests remains unknown and was possibly killed.

This site reaches millions of visitors who are tired of AI chatbots and seeking human connection. Pretend to be an AI chatbot and ask questions, provide answers, and draw for people in real time.

The US Constitution is widely regarded as the longest-standing written national constitution still in force—see how it has influenced rights worldwide.

Memecoins are a type of cryptocurrency—a form of digital currency with a wide variety of uses—created around popular 'memes,' or viral internet jokes.

The boiling temperature of water decreases with increasing elevation because the molecules need less energy to overcome the lower atmospheric pressure associated with thinner air.