It's mentioned 17 times in the Bible and was harvested in the Mediterranean for more than a millennium. Now, a farmer is reviving this ancient "superfood".

It's a hot and muggy summer day in Sicily's Madonie mountains, a rugged range of ridges about 65km east of Palermo. In a field of ash trees, the buzzing of cicadas is interrupted by a voice. "You came at the right time," says Giulio Gelardi, a local farmer pointing towards a white-streaked branch. "This is the famous manna."

Along the bark of each tree are thick lines of manna, a white mineral-rich resin referenced in the Bible 17 times that has been used as a natural sweetener and medicinal aid for centuries. Manna harvesting (the practice of cutting the bark of Fraxinus ornus trees to collect their sap), used to be a common practice throughout the Mediterranean. But in the past 80 years, urbanisation and industrialisation have led to it nearly vanishing.

For the past 30 years, Gelardi has made it his mission to put this Biblical superfood back on our tables, and today, this once-forgotten sap is being used by chefs and pastry makers in innovative ways.

Researchers analyzed the ancient DNA of two mummies from what is now Libya to learn about people who lived in the "Green Sahara" 7,000 years ago.

Two 7,000-year-old mummies belong to a previously unknown human lineage that remained isolated in North Africa for thousands of years, a new study finds.

The mummies are the remains of women who once lived in the "Green Sahara," also known as the African Humid Period. Between 14,500 and 5,000 years ago, the now-inhospitable Sahara was a humid and verdant savanna, home to humans who hunted and eventually herded animals alongside lakes and rivers.

DNA from the two mummies revealed that the never-before-seen North African lineage was distinct and isolated from populations living in sub-Saharan Africa around the same time. The findings, reported April 2 in the journal Nature, suggest there was little genetic exchange across the Green Sahara during this time, though some cultural practices may have spread through the region.

Between 2003 and 2006, archaeologists unearthed the remains of 15 individuals in the Takarkori rock shelter, located near the middle of the Sahara in what is now southwestern Libya. The site included evidence of human occupation and pastoralism, or herding, dating back more than 8,000 years. Of the 15 individuals, most of whom were women and children, two had naturally mummified, which helped preserve their DNA.

"We were very fortunate to have samples preserved at this level," study co-author Nada Salem, a paleogeneticist at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Germany, told Science magazine. The region's high temperatures can quickly break down the DNA in human remains, leaving few examples of ancient DNA in the region.

Cave discovery of a hunting kit yields a vivid glimpse into Big Bend history.

It might seem like only bits of sticks and rock in a cave, but the discovery of a pristinely preserved hunting kit is shining a new light on the fascinating lives of West Texas' earliest residents.

Deep inside that cave, an Indigenous hunter built a little fire, then reworked the broken components of weapons in his kit, leaving behind mundane items of everyday life that waited thousands of years to be discovered. What these archeologists found was worth the wait: potentially the oldest example of an intact full weapon system in North America.

"If it really is a contemporaneous kit, it's a pretty monumental finding," says Bryon Schroeder, director of the Center for Big Bend Studies (CBBS). "We can use the wood to reconstruct the environment and learn more about the amount of time they spent working on tools."

As the first civilizations began to emerge in Mesopotamia and Anatolia, significant transformations in social structure, economy, and culture took place. Among the most revealing archaeological sites shedding light on this period is Başur Höyük, an ancient royal cemetery located in eastern Türkiye. Recent studies indicate that this site offers crucial insights into the origins of inequality during the Bronze Age, situated at the margins of the Mesopotamian world.

Başur Höyük, located in the Siirt province of modern-day Türkiye, has been identified as a significant settlement during the third millennium BCE. Excavations have uncovered monumental tombs belonging to the local elite, which contain exceptional burial goods such as weapons, prestige objects, and offerings. These findings suggest a clear social differentiation among the region's inhabitants, indicating that Başur Höyük was a center of local power with strong connections to the major cities of Mesopotamia.

Recent archaeological studies are challenging long-held beliefs about the origins of kingship in Mesopotamia, particularly through findings from Başur Höyük. Excavations in this region have revealed evidence suggesting that kingship and warrior aristocracies may have emerged much earlier than previously thought, outside of urban centers.

Notably, at Arslantepe on the Malatya Plain of eastern Türkiye, a palace complex dating to around 3300 BC is documented from a non-urban setting, located far from the nearest centers of urban growth in lowland Mesopotamia, where evidence for secular rulership is either negligible or ambiguous at that time. This finding aligns with recent research indicating that palatial structures may have existed earlier than previously thought, challenging the traditional view that such buildings only appeared after the rise of cities. Additionally, the site has yielded what is identified as the earliest known "royal tomb," containing a significant amount of metal weaponry and ornamentation. Surrounding this main burial are subsidiary graves interpreted as ritual sacrifice victims, further emphasizing the complexity of social hierarchies in early societies.

Paging Dr. Indiana Jones.

The CIA claimed to have confirmed the existence of the Ark of the Covenant by way of remote viewing — aka extra sensory perception or ESP — alleging the mysterious and sacred object is guarded by "entities" with an "unknown" power, a recently resurfaced declassified document claims.

In a remote viewing session on Dec. 5, 1988, remote viewer #32 was tasked with identifying a target that, unbeknownst to them, ended up being the storied Ark of the Covenant, according to document, which was declassified on Aug. 8, 2000, and has been circulating on social media.

The Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) has unearthed a significant number of megalithic structures near the Malampuzha dam in Palakkad, Kerala. The excavation revealed over 110 megaliths spread across 45 hectares of land, primarily constructed from massive granite slabs and boulders, with some structures incorporating laterite stones.

Most of the burials are of Cists variety - both single and multiple chambered-Stone Circles, Urns, Dolmens, and Dolmenoid Cists," ASI wrote while sharing the images of the megaliths.

Among these ancient structures, dolmens are particularly noteworthy. Dolmens are a type of megalithic tomb consisting of two or more vertical stones supporting a large horizontal stone slab, often used for burial purposes. These structures provide valuable insights into the burial practices and belief systems of early societies.
The ASI noted that the clustering of these megalithic burials is expected to enhance our understanding of early Iron Age society in Kerala. As researchers continue to analyze the findings, more information is anticipated to shed light on the historical significance of these structures.

Recent archaeological discoveries in southeast Iran are reshaping our understanding of early civilizations, particularly the Jiroft Civilization, which thrived around 5,000 years ago. This Bronze Age society, centered in the Halil Rud Valley, has been identified as a significant cultural hub, potentially predating Mesopotamia as the cradle of civilization in the Eastern World.

The Twin Konar Sandal Mounds have emerged as a focal point for researchers, revealing clay and stone tablets inscribed with primitive characters believed to be precursors to the Elamite writing system. These findings suggest that Jiroft may have played a pivotal role in the development of early writing and urbanization, challenging long-held beliefs that Mesopotamia was the sole birthplace of these advancements.

For over a century, scholars have recognized the importance of ancient Persia in the evolution of civilizations. However, concrete evidence has only recently come to light, thanks to ongoing excavations in the region. The archaeological work, initially aimed at protecting prehistoric necropolises from rampant looting, has unveiled a wealth of artifacts that highlight the technological and artistic achievements of the Jiroft people.

Archaeologist Youssof Majidzadeh proposed in 2003 that the civilization discovered in Jiroft could be the legendary Aratta, mentioned in Sumerian poetry for its wealth. However, this theory lacked solid historical evidence and faced criticism from the academic community. Other experts suggested that, due to references in Mesopotamian texts about conflicts with a powerful Iranian state, this kingdom might be the Marhashi Kingdom.

Researchers claim they've discovered the legendary Halls of Amenti in a "vast city" beneath Egypt's Pyramids of Giza — a wild theory that has perplexed archaeological experts who dismiss the claims as "fake news."

Italian and Scottish scientists studying the pyramid of Khafre say the "groundbreaking study has redefined the boundaries of satellite data analysis and archaeological exploration," according to spokesperson Nicole Ciccolo.

Aptly named the Khafre Project, Corrado Malanga from Italy's University of Pisa and Filippo Biondi of the University of Strathclyde in Scotland led the expedition to discover the Giza Plateau's second-largest pyramid.

I didn't expect to be writing a follow-up to my last letter, about the journalist Tom O'Neill's mind-bending book, "Chaos: Charles Manson, the C.I.A., and the Secret History of the Sixties," and the many ways it discredits Vincent Bugliosi's 1974 bestseller about the Manson murders, "Helter Skelter." But I've since watched Errol Morris's film adaptation of "Chaos," released by Netflix this month.

You can read my full response to the documentary in a review published today over at the Los Angeles Review of Books. In short, I found the film to be an unsatisfying departure from the book. Viewers who haven't read "Chaos" may find the film interesting enough; the archival footage is sadly gripping. But the power of O'Neill's book lies in its slow, meticulous amassing of evidence, and in the film, much of this reporting is diminished or left out entirely.

In the weeks since I filed the review, I haven't been able to stop ruminating. I keep thinking of more ways that "Chaos" the film fails to convey the scope of "Chaos" the book. One distortion-by-omission has started to seem important. In the documentary, there's little indication of just how many leads O'Neill followed over the twenty years he spent reporting the book. Viewers who watch the film without reading the book could easily come away with the impression that government involvement is the only theory O'Neill ever seriously considered. This matters, I think, for reasons I'll get to later.

The first consequence of the Israeli massacres in Gaza, the West Bank, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Yemen is not what we expected. To this day, the criminals in power in Tel Aviv continue their conquest with the weapons they are given. The transformation took place first in Israel itself and in the Jewish diaspora, forcing the IDF to accept an unwritten ceasefire in Lebanon, while benefiting from Washington's help in shifting the fighting to Syria. The Ukrainian and Lebanese fronts merged and moved to Syria.

Why don't we see the massacres in the Middle East?

In recent years, the Israeli peace movement has been dismantled, anti-Semitism has been confused with anti-Zionism, and the narrative of a clash of civilizations has been spread. These three errors prevent us from seeing and understanding what is happening in the Middle East.

The peace movement of Nahum Goldmann, president of the World Zionist Organization, no longer exists. Its goal was to make Israel the spiritual and moral center of all Jews, a neutral state modeled on Switzerland, with international security guarantees, and a permanent symbolic international presence. Goldmann, who denounced the trial of Adolf Eichmann in Jerusalem and not by an international tribunal (which allowed revisionist Zionists to mask their relationship with him), negotiated a just and lasting peaceful coexistence with Egyptian President Gamal Abdel Nasser and Palestine Liberation Organization President Yasser Arafat, and was even arrested in Israel.