Christmas: The meaning behind the word

Brain being pulled out of the nose with a hook.

When you wish someone a Merry Christmas, you are really wishing them a merry burial, a historian claims. The word Christmas has its origins in ancient Egypt, deriving from the word ‘krst’ meaning ‘at rest’ in the sense of a burial or dead, according to Malcolm Hutton. The word ‘krst’ appears on most coffins which contain Egyptian bodies. Egyptians often referred to mummified bodies as ‘The Anointed’ because the body had been anointed with embalming fluid and natron - a salt mixture blended with oil and used for cleaning the body. The connection between Christ and anointed was made explicit in both Hebrew and Greek. In Hebrew, anointed translates as ‘Masiah’ (or ‘Messiah’) while in Greek it means ‘Christós’.

Monstrance, a vessel in which the consecrated Host is exposed.

Traditionally, "Christmas" is thought to be a shortened form of "Christ's mass". Some Roman Catholic monstrances - used in the Benediction blessing - still have the image of Ra with a bull’s head below it. “It was the Church that did the hijacking, taking from the Ancient Egyptians.”

Royal Mint Unleashes The Red Dragon of Wales

Dragons are found in legends all over the world, and are associated with strength, wisdom and power.

The coin for The Red Dragon of Wales, struck at The Royal Mint’s home in South Wales, captures the spirit of the Welsh nation. The Red Dragon was an emblem of Owen Tudor, the grandfather of Henry VII. Henry’s troops carried a fiery red dragon standard at the Battle of Bosworth.

The Red Dragon emerged from heroic traditions of King Arthur and his father Uther Pendragon, to become a Royal Beast of the Tudor monarchs. From there it has become the emblem of the modern Welsh nation.

Scientists unveil skeleton of ancient human ancestor

Researchers in South Africa have unveiled what they call "by far the most complete skeleton of a human ancestor older than 1.5 million years ever found." The skeleton dates back 3.6 million years. Researchers say it has taken 20 years to excavate, clean, reconstruct and analyze the fragile skeleton.

The skeleton, dubbed Little Foot, was discovered in the Sterkfontein caves, about 40 kilometres (25 miles) northwest of Johannesburg when small foot bones were found in rock blasted by miners.

Ancient Christian mosaic uncovered in the ruins of a monastery in Israel

The tessellated tile work features a four line inscription in Greek, commemorating the builder of the monastery in which it was found. It also includes the date of its construction according to the Georgian calendar, the first evidence of its use in Israel, which corresponds with 539 AD.

An immaculately preserved mosaic created by Christians living in Israel 1,500 years ago has been uncovered by archaeologists. Inscription reads: 'By the grace of God (or Jesus), this work was done from the foundation under Procopius, our most saintly and most holy bishop, in the month Dios of the 3rd indiction, year 292.

The find was made in the coastal city of Ashdod. Ashdod was one of the most important cities on the coast of Israel in the Byzantine period.

Ancient Skull from China raises Questions

Most scientists believe all modern humans are descended from African ancestors. But a new analysis of an ancient Chinese skull found too many similarities to the earliest human fossils found in Africa to be a coincidence. The 260,000 year old skull was discovered nearly 40 years ago in China’s Shaanxi Province. It belonged to a member of Homo erectus.

Its possible we need to reassess how our ancestors migrated, interacted and subsequently evolved.

The similarities show that early modern humans may not have been genetically isolated from other parts of the world. Characteristics of modern Homo sapiens may have actually developed in east Asia, and were later carried to Africa.

The art market’s Disneyland - $ 1.6b

Art auctions in New York are shaping up to be a spectacle. Leading the charge is Da Vinci’s 500-year-old “Christ as Salvator Mundi". It is being sold by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev. He purchased it for $127.5 million in 2013. Warhol’s 32-foot-wide canvas depicting “The Last Supper” 60 times as a massive black and white grid. The 1986 work is estimated at $50 million.

Vincent Van Gogh’s 1889 landscape “Laboureur dans un champ”. Estimated at about $50 million Peter Doig’s “Red House" is estimated at $18 million to $22 million.

Schumacher’s Ferrari will mark the first time a collector car will be offered at a Sotheby’s art auction. Estimated at $4 million to $5.5 million, the Ferrari F2001, Chassis No. 211, was driven by the racing legend to win the Grand Prix de Monaco.

Hoard of Ancient Coins found in U.K.

A collection of rare coins dating back 2,500 years have been uncovered in a study desk drawer at a 14th century castle in Kent. The unique hoard of 186 coins that came from as far away as China and Syria was discovered by volunteers searching for photographs at Scotney Castle in Lamberhurst, near Tunbridge Wells. The collection includes Greek coins from the seventh century BC and Roman coins from the late second century BC. The majority of the collection features Roman coins from the late second century BC to the fourth century AD. The cache of coins was discovered hidden in the back of a dusty drawer by National Trust staff who had no idea they were there

U.K. treasure hunter finds 600 year old gold rings

The rings were unearthed by a metal detectorist in a field in Dorset after remaining buried there since the Middle Ages. The larger ring is said to be incredibly rare, with a band of four decorated brooch motifs. It is 22mm in diameter and weighs 3.6g. The smaller finger ring features a gothic letter R, which was probably the initial of the medieval owner. It is 19mm in diameter and weighs 1.9g. They were likely worn by someone who was visiting from France. They would have been someone of very high standing, like a bishop or a lord. The outer ring has been given a pre-sale estimate of £25,000 while the inner one is said to be worth £5,000.

Mystery ancient Iron Age skeleton unearthed in Ireland

A storm has unearthed an Iron Age skeleton on the coast of Ireland. The complete remains were discovered near Kilmore Quay in Co Wexford. The person lived between 1,500 and 2,500 years ago around the time the Celtic tribes arrived in Ireland.

The remains were buried, not washed ashore. They were found by people out walking on the beach. Locals are baffled by the find and say it throws up questions about whether there could be more historical sites in the area.

Astronomers find the cosmic source of gold and rare metals

130 million years ago, the ultra-dense cores of two dead stars collided. The first evidence of the cataclysmic collision were gravitational waves. They reached Earth on August 17th. As astronomers targeted their source, they turned up a trove of riches. It is explaining, among other things, the source of such precious metals as silver, gold and platinum. This is the first direct sighting of a collision between two neutron stars. The corpses of these stars are spectacularly dense. A single teaspoon of material would carry a mass that on Earth would weigh roughly one billion tons.

Churning debris produced in the afterglow of the collision included newly created gold, silver and platinum. There was also a smattering of other heavy elements, including uranium. Until now, the birthplace of such elements had been theory. The extreme conditions produced in the collision forged heavier elements than the parent stars had hosted.

The actual smashup now appears to have taken place 130 million light-years from Earth in the constellation Hydra. The afterglow revealed the birth of elements. As the collision spurted neutron-rich material into space, a variety of heavy elements formed through a chain of nuclear reactions known as the “r-process.”

3,200-year-old stone tells of invasion of mysterious sea people

Symbols on a 3,200-year-old stone slab have been deciphered by researchers who say they could solve "one of the greatest puzzles of Mediterranean archaeology". The 29-metre limestone frieze, found in 1878, in what is now Turkey, bears the longest known hieroglyphic inscription from the Bronze Age. Only a handful of scholars worldwide can read its ancient Luwian language. Researchers believe the inscriptions were commissioned in 1190 BC by Kupanta-Kurunta, the king of a late Bronze Age state known as Mira. The text suggests the kingdom and other Anatolian states invaded ancient Egypt and other regions of the east Mediterranean before and during the fall of the Bronze Age. The script tells how a united fleet of kingdoms from western Asia Minor raided coastal cities on the eastern Mediterranean. The identity and origin of the invaders which scholars call the Trojan Sea People had puzzled archaeologists for centuries. The first translation provides an explanation for the unexplained collapse of the Bronze Age's advanced civilizations.

It suggests they were part of a marauding seafaring confederation, which historians believe played a part in the collapse of nascent Bronze Age civilizations.

Feeling peckish? Blame the Neanderthals!

Our ancient ancestors have a role in today's smoking habits, moods and sleeping patterns, say researchers. It is estimated around two per cent of the DNA in non-African people today comes from Neanderthals. Early humans migrating from Africa interbred with Neanderthals in Europe roughly 100,000 years ago, and this DNA mixing still contributes to several modern traits. Previous studies have shown that Neanderthal DNA plays a role in human immunity and our susceptibility to certain diseases. But this is the first time the ancient genes have been shown to affect traits that change how we look and behave.

The team compared genetic data to DNA from a Neanderthal specimen found in the Altai mountains in Russia.

Neanderthals are a human-like species that evolved from a shared ancestor, but split from humans between 1,000,000 and 800,000 years ago. Neanderthals had been in Europe for thousands of years before humans arrived. Early humans migrating from Africa interbred with Neanderthals in Europe roughly 100,000 years ago, and this DNA mixing still contributes to modern human traits. Findings suggest that Neanderthals might have differed in their hair and skin tones, much as people now do. Researchers noted the traits influenced by Neanderthal DNA, including skin and hair pigmentation, mood and sleeping patterns, are all linked to sunlight exposure. Neanderthals were likely well adapted to lower and more variable levels of ultraviolet radiation from the sun, while the new human arrivals from Africa were not.

Neanderthal Skull (Homo neanderthalensis)

Ancient primate may be responsible for genital herpes

Our ancient ancestors have been catching herpes since before we were human. The infection is quite common today; the World Health Organization estimates that two-thirds of adults under 50 are infected with the herpes virus that causes oral cold sores. One in six have genital herpes. Humans might have dodged herpes' below-the-belt blow if it weren't for an ancient encounter between early members of our genus and a more distant primate relative. Blame genital herpes on Paranthropus boisei, a heavy-jawed primate with teeth so large it earned the nickname the 'Nutcracker Man'.

Herpes viruses are as varied as they are old. There are more than 100 different kinds of herpes. Eight regularly infect humans, causing diseases like chickenpox and mononucleosis. Scientists had previously analyzed the herpes genome and created a viral family tree. Oral herpes, HSV-1, has been around since humans and chimpanzees split 6 million years ago. The researchers also discovered that HSV-2 must have jumped from ancestral chimpanzees into the human lineage later, as recently as 1.4 million years ago. In a model's most likely scenario, Paranthropus boisei infected a human ancestor called Homo erectus.

Homo erectus

Amateur UK Metal Detectorist Finds Roman Hoard

A metal detectorist has found a cache of bronze treasures in Gloucestershire, dating back to the last decades of the Ancient Roman occupation of Britain. The fragments, dated between 318 and 450 AD, appear to have been deliberately broken and hidden. The cache includes fragments of metal boxes, handles from boxes, pieces of metal statues, bronze jewellery pieces, part of a cooking vessel, buckles, and furniture fittings.

A dog statue, archaeologists believe, is an example of a healing statue. Dogs were considered a healing totem, since they would aid their own healing by licking their wounds.