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Mesopotamia

The Coming Gnostic Civilization, and his most recent book, Sedona: City of the Star People.

The Truth Behind the Christ Myth: Ancient Origins of the Often Used Legend – Part I

What is the origin of the legend of the Christed Son who was born of a virgin on December 25th? I am sure you are familiar with his legend which states that he was born in a manger surrounded by...
The Guennol Lioness of Elam from ancient Iran is over 5,000 years old!		Source: Unknown sculptor / Public domain

The Guennol Lioness and Her Secrets: An Enigmatic Figure in Ancient Iran

The world of the ancient past is undoubtedly filled with many mysteries. The knowledge of the ancients escapes us today: we are not fully aware of the extent of their wisdom and their ability to...
Top Stories This Week: Arabian Chivalry, Polish Treasures & The Lost City of Lagash

Top Stories This Week: Arabian Chivalry, Polish Treasures & The Lost City of Lagash

In this top story overview, we highlight our most read articles this week, including a look at the little-known subject of Arabian Chivalry and exploring Lagash, a lost city from Mesopotamia. Among...
Top: Sumerian chariots drawn by hybrid animals known as kungas, illustrated on the Standard of Ur (© Thierry Grange) Bottom left: Hybrid animals known as ‘kungas’ found at Umm el-Marra site, Syria (Glenn Schwartz/John Hopkins University). Bottom right: South of Gobekli Tepe, Turkry, D enclosure T pillars. (Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Berlin).		Source: CNRS

Earliest-known Human Engineered Hybrid Animals Identified in Mesopotamia

A super-powerful animal known as the ‘kunga’ was the first-known human-engineered hybrid of two animal species, reports a new study published in Science Advances . The researchers conducted a genome-...
‘Eagle of Lagash’ symbol found on votive bas relief of Dudu in the Louvre Museum. 	Source: Louvre Museum / CC BY-SA 2.0

Lagash, the Lost City of Mesopotamia

The historic region of Mesopotamia has been long regarded as one of the original cradles of civilization. Defined by the bountiful Tigris and Euphrates rivers, Mesopotamia gave birth to some truly...
The walls of the ancient Citadel of Erbil in Iraq as seen from the bazaar. Source: Levi Clancy / CC BY-SA 4.0

The Magnificent Citadel of Erbil - A True Archaeological Sandwich

The Iraqi city of Erbil is truly magnificent - and in many ways. With the settlement origins dating back at least 8,000 years, it is one of the world’s oldest continuously inhabited cities in the...
Dr. Martin Worthington, who was hired to attain authenticity in Marvel’s Eternals, in the Library of Trinity College Dublin pictured with a collection of cuneiform tablets written in ancient Babylonian language. Source: Trinity College Dublin

Irish Academic Adds Ancient Babylonian Authenticity to Eternals Movie

When Irish academic, Dr. Martin Worthington, embarked on learning how to speak the now-extinct Babylonian language of ancient Mesopotamia, little did he know that his knowledge would be used in a...
The Turin Papyrus composite and colored from plates 2-5 o the 1904 book "Aegyptische Chronologie" by Eduard Meyer (PLstrom / CC BY-SA 3.0)

New Ancient Middle Eastern Chronology Unlocks Hidden History Of Egypt and Mesopotamia

In the academic study of the ancient world, chronology or timeline is of the utmost importance. This is especially true for the ancient Middle East. When events in Egypt are to be correlated with...
Cuneiform tablet from Van fortress, Turkey    Source: Konstantin / Adobe Stock

AI Model Is Solving 4,500-Year-Old Cuneiform Translation Mysteries

Archaeologists just got infinitely smarter. AI is now successfully predicting lost passages of ancient texts, meaning 4,500-year-old cuneiform tablets, with missing sections, can now read. A deep-...
The so-called Abraham house at the Ur archaeological complex in southern Iraq is said to be the birthplace of the prophet Abraham (Ibrahim in Arabic). The "latest" Mesopotamian city discovered near Tell al-Duhaila is less than 20 miles (31 km) from Ur.      Source: Aziz1005 / CC BY 4.0

4,000-Year-Old Mesopotamian City Discovered In the Shadow Of Ur

A 4,000-year-old urban settlement has been discovered on the road to Ur in modern Iraq. Researchers suspect the discovery represents a lost Mesopotamian city capital that was founded on the ashes of...
Left; The Statue of Idrimi found at Tell. Right; Map of Tell Atchana with excavation squares indicated (data courtesy of Alalakh Excavations Archive.) 	Source: Left; British Museum, CC BY-SA 2.0 FR Right; PLOS ONE

Was The First International Age For A Privileged Few?

The Bronze Age in the eastern Mediterranean, which included such civilizations as Anatolia, Mesopotamia, and Egypt, has been viewed as the “first international age,” and it has been assumed there...
Burial Mound Reinterpreted as Oldest War Memorial in the World

Burial Mound Reinterpreted as Oldest War Memorial in the World

Dating to around 2300 BC archaeologists have discovered what they suspect is the “oldest known war memorial ever discovered” at the ' White Monument’ at Tell Banat in Syria. And while for decades...
Prophecy has had a strong influence since ancient times

Prophecy Through the Ages: Society, Power and Legend

“Prophecy is an emanation sent forth by the Divine Being through the medium of the Active Intellect, in the first instance to man's rational faculty, and then to his imaginative faculty.” -...
Unravelling the Roots of Hera, the Wrathful Goddess of Marriage

Unravelling the Roots of Hera, the Wrathful Goddess of Marriage

Hera, also known by her Latin title as Juno, is best known in Western culture as the wife of Zeus, king of the gods. While technically subordinate to him, Hera is never a submissive figure, in fact...
Is Jiroft Site in Iran a True Cradle of Civilization?

Is Jiroft Site in Iran a True Cradle of Civilization?

Archaeologists are preparing to launch the third major excavation of an important site on the Jiroft plain , in the Halil River valley of southeastern Iran . The Konar Sandal remains were exposed...
Nabu: Ancient Mesopotamian God of Scribes and Wisdom

Nabu: Ancient Mesopotamian God of Scribes and Wisdom

Nestled in the fertile region around the River Tigris and Euphrates, the historical region of ancient Mesopotamia has long been regarded as one of the earliest cradles of civilization. Home to...
Is the mythology surrounding the Tower of Babel somehow connected to that of the Great Pyramid of Cholula in Mexico?

Parallel Twin Ziggurats: The Tower of Babel and Pyramid of Cholula

From the oasis sands of the biblical cradle of Mesopotamia all the way to the volcanic Valley of Mexico, parallel pyramids and mirroring myths have endured across the ages. Isolated from each other...
Noah's Sacrifice - watercolor circa 1896–1902 by James Tissot

The ‘Dynastic Race’ and the Biblical ‘Japheth’ – Part I: After the Deluge

The imperfect state of archaeological research in the Near East impedes any definite identification of the original race or races that created the earliest civilizations of Mesopotamia and Egypt...
Mesopotamian relief of Assyrian warriors. Credit: kmiragaya / Adobe Stock

Ancient Mesopotamia and the Rise of Civilization

In ancient times, Mesopotamia, meaning ‘land between two rivers’, was a vast region that lay between the Tigris and Euphrates river systems, and it is where civilization emerged over 7,000 years ago...
Sargon the Great, founder of the Akkadian Empire. Source: Dave LaFontaine / CC BY-SA 2.0

Explaining the Fall of the Great Akkadian Empire

The Akkadian Empire was an ancient empire that existed towards the end of the 3 rd millennium BC. This was the first empire in Mesopotamia , and some consider it to be the first true empire in world...
Ancient Temple of Aphrodite Unearthed in Modern Turkey

Ancient Temple of Aphrodite Unearthed in Modern Turkey

Archaeologists performing excavations in the Urla-Cesme Peninsula in western Turkey recently found something remarkable. They uncovered the remains of a 2,500-year-old temple dedicated to the worship...
A Frenchman Solves Linear Elamite Puzzle And Rewrites Writing History

A Frenchman Solves Linear Elamite Puzzle And Rewrites Writing History

Every once in a while a scientist goes rogue, and it’s happened to a French archaeologist in Tehran who claims the Iranian plateau was the shared birthplace of writing with Mesopotamia, based on his...
The oldest known signed Sumerian tablet that was recently auctioned for a fortune in England.          Source: Bloomsbury Auctions

Ancient Sumerian Tablet with ‘First Signature’ Sells for a Fortune

A signed Sumerian tablet that is over 5000 years old, from ancient Mesopotamia , has been sold at auction. This extremely historic artifact is believed to have one of the first-ever signatures and...
Supernatural beings such as the Kusarikku hybrid bull-men, pictured here in the middle, are featured in ancient Mesopotamian lullabies. They remain kind until disturbed, in this case, disturbed by a baby’s cries.                    Source: QuartierLatin1968 / CC BY-SA 2.0

Ancient Mesopotamian Lullabies, Sung to Soothe and Warn Babies

Lullabies are not a recent invention. In fact, they stretch back thousands of years, undoubtedly to the time before written history. Many ancient Mesopotamian lullabies, from the cultures of Babylon...

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