Free Republic

A new figure in humanity's history emerged last week when archaeologists announced the discovery of what could be one of the world's oldest known spiritual figures. After years of meticulous excavation just miles from Israel's Mediterranean coast, scientists from the Institute of Archaeology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem unearthed a 12,000-year-old grave that held the remains of a diminutive "shaman" woman.

Few people ever knew, but the murky medieval alleyways of this Atlantic port city once provided cover for a persecuted minority that risked being burnt at the stake. In the 16th century, an unremarkable thick-walled granite house that still stands in a row of narrow, small-roomed buildings along a cobbled street held a dangerous secret. At the back of the house, steep steps lead down to a warren of alleys ideal for conspiratorial comings and goings that helped keep an outlawed religious ceremony hidden. Four centuries later, the secret of the clandestine synagogue is out. The mystery began unraveling...

Biblical accounts of the construction of an ancient underground tunnel below Jerusalem have been verified by dating the material lining its walls. The books of Kings and Chronicles report that the Siloam tunnel was built by King Hezekiah, ruler of Judea 2700 years ago. Its aim was to provide a secret source of drinking water should the city face a siege by Assyrian assailants. Even today, the tunnel delivers water from the Gihon Spring to the Siloam Pool, 500 metres away. Some scholars have questioned the biblical account, suggesting that the tunnel, which is up to 30 metres below ground,...

Two teams of researchers, working separately thousands of miles from each other but both defeating incredible odds, have made stunning finds in frozen Antarctica -- so stunning that the National Science Foundation calls their discoveries evidence of a lost world. The researchers found what they believe to be the fossilized remains of two species of dinosaurs previously unknown to science. One is a 70-million-year old quick-moving meat-eater found on the bottom of an Antarctic sea, while and the other is a 200-million-year-old giant plant-eater that was found on the top of a mountain, reports Reuters. The lost world in which...