![]() | Ifrit are supernatural creatures in some Middle Eastern stories. In Islam, this term refers to the most powerful and dangerous Jinns. The Ifrits are a class of infernal spirits, classified as a jinn and also held to be a death spirit drawn to the life-force (or blood) of a murdered victim seeking revenge on the murderer. As with ordinary jinn, an Ifrit may be either a believer or an unbeliever, good or evil, but it is most often depicted as a wicked, ruthless and evil being; a powerful Shaitan (demon). According to Islamic sources, the ifrit has a fiery appearance with leaping flames from his mouth. In early folklore, the ifrit is said to be formed from the blood of a murder victim. Driving an unused nail into the blood was supposed to stop their formation. The creatures were reported as being able to take the form of Satan, the murder victim, or even a sandstorm. Ifrits are believed to inhabit the underworld, or in desolated places like ruins or caves. | ![]() |
Saturday, 22 July 2017
Ifrit Monsters
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Ifrit Monsters
Crack China’s ancient riddle of the bones for big cash rewards
![]() | A picture may be worth a thousand words but one mysterious ancient Chinese character could be a 100,000 yuan (US$15,000) payday for anybody who can definitively say what it means. The National Museum of Chinese Writing in Anyang, Henan province, has issued a worldwide appeal for help to decipher thousands of esoteric characters cut into bones and shells dating back more than 3,000 years to the Shang dynasty. The inscriptions are the earliest written records of Chinese civilization and shed light on life and society at the time. They were carved by fortune-tellers on turtle shells and ox shoulder blades known as oracle bones, and record questions on everything from weather to taxes. |
![]() | So far, scholars have managed to crack the code to less than half of the roughly 5,000 characters found on excavated oracle bones. Around 3,000 of them remain a mystery. The museum is encouraging researchers to use cloud computing and big data to generate breakthroughs. The museum started offering the rewards because progress on deciphering the characters had stalled in recent years. For researchers studying the ancient Chinese texts, making sense of one character can be a career-defining achievement. | ![]() |
Wednesday, 19 July 2017
Perfectly preserved gilded body of 1,000-year-old Buddhist Master Ci Xian
![]() The respected monk's remains were varnished before being gilded | After Master Ci Xian passed away, his disciples had his body preserved but it later went lost over the years. His remains were re-discovered in 1970s inside a cave. Master Du from the Dinghui Temple said Buddhist Master Ci Xian's preserved body had been worshipped at the Dinghui Temple since 2011. The temple decided to have the remains gilded last year. | ![]() |
Sunday, 9 July 2017
Bust of Hitler, Nazi guns and ancient fossils found in Buenos Aires raid
![]() Glyptodon is an ancient relative of the armadillo that lived in south America around 2.5 million years ago. |
Thursday, 6 July 2017
Roman Gold and Silver Coins Uncovered in Spain
![]() | The coins, which date from the 2nd century AD, are said to be from the era of Nero and Trajan. | ![]() Ruins of the Roman town of Segóbriga, Spain |
Wednesday, 5 July 2017
Heritage Auction features rare Gold Coins
![]() | Nearly 500 lots from every era and region are scheduled to be sold on August 3, 2017 by Heritage. 125 ancient coins are featured. An array of Greek coins is highlighted by an unrecorded gold stater of Magnesia in Ionia, a run of Lydian electrum and gold, and 10 gold pieces of Ptolemaic Egypt. | ![]() |
Sunday, 2 July 2017
Ancient tower of Aztec Skulls found
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