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Ancient Origins Tour IRAQ

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The Temple to Ninmakh to the east of Ishtar Gate in ancient Babylon. Source: CC BY-SA 4.0

Babylon’s Temple of Ninmakh, the Mesopotamian Goddess of Humankind

One of the great temples constructed during the Neo-Babylonian period (626-539 BC), the golden age of the city of Babylon, was the Temple of Ninmakh. The temple was built adjacent to the famous...
Archaeologists have discovered Alexander the Great’s Temple intertwining his legacy with Hercules and Sumerian god Ningirsu.

Alexander the Great Temple Proclaiming Him Divine Unearthed In Iraq

One of the last acts by Alexander the Great before dying at the tender age of 32 might have been dedicating a Greek temple to honor ancient gods and confirm his own divine status. This is according...
The British Museum’s ongoing Girsu Project discovered the true function of a mysterious structure. Source: British Museum/Dr. Sébastien Rey

Sumerian Anti-Armageddon Device 4,000 Years Older Than Believed

Drone mappers identified a 19 kilometer (12-mile) long canal in rural Iraq. Built over it, archaeologists excavated what was at first thought to be a bizarre-shaped temple. However, it turns out that...
One of the Ram in a Thicket statues. Source: British Museum / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Ram in a Thicket: A Mesopotamian Legacy from the Ancient City of Ur

The treasures of ancient cultures are a source of never ending inspiration. It is such a wonder to see the magnificence of the art that was created in the dawn of civilization, so long before our...
The Sirrush Dragons guarded the Gate of Ishtar.	Source: Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP (Glasg)/CC BY-SA 4.0

The Ishtar Gate and the Deities of Babylon

The Ishtar Gate was the main entrance into the great city of Babylon, commissioned by King Nebuchadnezzar II (605-562 BC) as part of his plan to create one of the most splendid and powerful cities of...
The Lamassu that has been re-excavated in Iraq. Image Credit : Mustafa Yahya

Astonishing 2,700-Year-Old Assyrian Winged Deity Unearthed in Iraq

In a landmark discovery, archaeologists have re-excavated a magnificent lamassu at the ancient city of Khursbad, Iraq. The monumental sculpture, an embodiment of an Assyrian protective deity , is...
A sample of Poidebard’s (1934) aerial photographs: A) fort at Qreiye; B) Roman fort and medieval caravanserai at Birke; C) fort at Tell Zenbil; and D) castellum at Tell Brak.

Declassified Cold War Spy Satellite Images Reveal Roman Forts In Syria and Iraq

In their examination of aerial photographs from the 1960s and 70s, archaeologists have identified 396 uncharted Roman forts in the Syrian and Iraqi regions along the Syrian steppe, from “the world’s...
The Magnificent Ishtar Gate of Babylon

The Magnificent Ishtar Gate of Babylon

The Ishtar Gate was the eighth gate of the city of Babylon (in present day Iraq) and was the main entrance into the great city. It was a sight to behold; the gate was covered in lapis lazuli glazed...
Ezekiel’s Tomb. Credit: David Stanley / Flickr.

Ezekiel's Tomb: Transcending Religious Boundaries (Video)

Ezekiel's Tomb , nestled beside the meandering rivers of Babylon in Al Kifl, Iraq , is a testament to the convergence of history, faith, and the enduring human spirit. This 14th-century shrine,...
Reconstruction of the ancient Babylon Ishtar gate. Source: pop_gino / Adobe Stock.

Babylon: Ancient Site, Modern Problems (Video)

Amidst the challenges brought on by years of conflict, Iraq's historic treasures, like Babylon , are gradually receiving attention once more. The ancient city, once the capital of King Nebuchadnezzar...
The Hanging Gardens of the Chaldean Dynasty of Mesopotamia. Source: Sarry/Adobe Stock

The Chaldean Dynasty and the Rise of the Neo-Babylonian Empire

Empires are formed and fall, dynasties rise to prominence and crumble in poverty and ruin, ethnicities disappear from the fate of the Earth - these are the inevitable aspects of the histories of...
New research has concluded that it was bees, and not Neanderthals, who left pollen within Shanidar Cave in Iraq. Source: ink drop / Adobe Stock

Bees, Not Neanderthal Florists, Dropped Pollen in Iraq’s Shanidar Cave

At Shanidar Cave in the Zagros Mountains of the Kurdish region of Iraq, excavations in the 1950s unearthed the remains of a Neanderthal who had apparently been placed on a bed of flowers after his...
Representational image of the Hanging Gardens of Babylon. Source: Creative Digital Art / Adobe Stock

Searching for the Hanging Gardens of Babylon

The real location of the elusive Hanging Gardens of Babylon has eluded researchers for centuries. It is the only one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World whose location is still unknown, yet...
A fragment of the stone stele from the Ishtar temple. It depicts the goddess Ishtar inside a starburst with rosettes. Source: Penn Museum

Assyrian Relics Resurrected at Nimrud, Defying Terrorist Destruction

During recent excavations in the ancient Assyrian city of Nimrud in Iraq, a team of archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology uncovered an exciting...
The Tower of Babel. Source: FrankBoston / Adobe Stock.

Unraveling the Tower of Babel: Myth or Reality? (Video)

The ancient ruins of Babylon , located in central Iraq, have long captivated historians and archeologists alike. Among its remnants lies a structure that has stirred intrigue and speculation—the...
The long-lost remains of a Sumerian palace and temple in the ancient city of Girsu on the southern plains of Iraq. Source: British Museum.

4,500-Year-Old Sumerian Palace Uncovered in Iraqi Desert

Reaching the culmination of a search that has been going on for the past several years, a team of archaeologists affiliated with the British Museum has finally unearthed the long-lost remains of a...
Excavations continue at the impressive and expansive ancient city of Lagash. Drone photo of the site of Lagash (Tell Al Hiba) looking north. This spring was a particularly wet one in Iraq, causing the marshes to surround the site on three sides. Source: Lagash Archaeological Project

4,700-Year-Old Tavern Serves Up Surprises in Ancient Lagash, Iraq

Archaeologists have discovered a large tavern or public eating space dating to around 2700 BC at the ancient city site of Lagash in southern Iraq. Equipped with benches, a clay oven, storage jars...
A door sill from the palace of King Adad-Nirari III, at Nimrud. Source: Michael Danti/

Archaeologists Salvage Inscribed Palace Door Threshold at City of Nimrud

A 6.5-foot (2 meters)-high threshold stone from the 9th and 8th century BC has been unearthed by archaeologists at the ancient Iraqi city of Nimrud. This is the first major excavation at the site...
These ancient Iraq carvings dating to the Assyrian Empire were unearthed near the Mashki Gate in Mosul, escaping destruction by IS in 2016. Source: Iraqi Ministry of Culture

Ancient Assyrian Carvings Found Near Mashki Gate Destroyed by ISIS

Eight stunningly detailed carved stone panels have been discovered near the Mosul, Iraq. They were unearthed near Mashki Gate, a site that was bulldozed by Islamic State (IS) terrorists in 2016. The...
Remote sensing and drone footage of the Lagash / Tell al-Hiba site was deployed to conclude that the ancient Mesopotamian city was made up of four marsh islands. Source: Lagash Archaeological Project

Drone Footage Reveals Lost Mesopotamian City Built on Marsh Islands

Using remote sensing data technologies at the site of one of the oldest urban centers in world history, scientists have identified a vast Mesopotamian settlement called Lagash. Once upon a time,...
The Nimrud lens. Source: The British Museum / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0

Is the Assyrian Nimrud Lens the Oldest Telescope in the World?

The Nimrud lens is a 3,000-year-old piece of rock crystal unearthed by Sir John Layard in 1850 at the Assyrian palace of Nimrud, in modern-day Iraq. Since its discovery over a century ago, scientists...
Weld-Blundell Prism, a clay cuneiform inscribed with the Sumerian Kings List. Source: Public domain

The Sumerian King List Reveals the Origin of Mesopotamian Kingship

Out of the many incredible artifacts that have been recovered from sites in Iraq where flourishing Sumerian cities once stood, few have been more intriguing than the Sumerian King List. An ancient...
The interior of a mudhif in southern Iraq. Source: TasfotoNL / Adobe Stock

Saving Iraqi Mudhif Reed Architecture from Oblivion

Take a look around someone’s house and you can learn a great deal about their way of life and their culture. This is true for historic dwellings as well, and the Iraqi mudhif reed house is no...
Jim Fitton, a retired British geologist on holiday, was sentenced to 15 years of prison in Iraq for antiquities smuggling.		Source: YouTube screenshot / itv News

British Geologist Gets Ridiculous 15-year Prison Sentence in Iraq

In a legal case that has been unfolding in Iraq since the last week of March, the arrest of a retired British geologist has the seismic potential to rock diplomatic relations. When Jim Fitton was...

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