Welcome to the best of National Geographic History. In today’s newsletter: what the Red Sea Scrolls reveal about the Great Pyramid, surprising spy photos and some very tall shoes. But first, welcoming this Viking woman warrior back into history.

ART BY ARIA SAFARZADEGAN 

For 140 years, archaeologists concluded a Viking grave in the small town of Birka was for a male warrior. Now, new evidence challenges that belief while also helping break old assumptions about Viking women and their place on the battlefield.

Related: 
— The fierce Amazons were more than just a myth—they were real
 — An intact Viking ship burial held a surprising mystery

IMAGE COURTESY OF NATIONAL TRUST PHOTOGRAPHIC LIBRARY/JOHN HAMMOND/BRIDGEMAN IMAGES

PHOTOGRAPH BY HOSSEIN FATEMI, PANOS PICTURES/REDUX 

...that women really wore these shoes? The shoe pictured above, called a chopine, is a type of platform shoe worn by noble Venetian women in the 1500s and signaled wealth, status, and (clearly) a good sense of balance.

ONE LAST THING: What's the real history behind the secretive Freemasons? 

Thanks for reading today’s newsletter, edited and curated by Jennifer Baik and produced by Amanda Williams-Bryant. Catch our latest Photo of the Week—and sign up here to get our future adventures in your inbox.