In many respects the narrative of the Egyptian god, Osiris, seems to be all too human. Is it possible that his origin goes back to a real historical king? Could the historical Osiris have been none...
Sargon the Great of Akkad (fl. c. 2370-2314) is one of the greatest heroes of ancient Mesopotamian history , the one who founded the Akkadian Empire (c. 2370-2190), the very first world empire. The...
It is often assumed that the biblical ‘Nephilim’ were all Giants. The Nephilim, however, entail much more and can be traced back to a much richer tradition found in ancient Mesopotamia about the...
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...
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-...
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...
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 Sumerians were the first known people to settle in Mesopotamia over 7,000 years ago. Located in the southernmost part of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (modern day Iraq),...
The Akkadian Empire was the first empire in Mesopotamia and arguably the first true empire that existed, being around during the third millennium BC. As has been a recurring empirical theme ever...
The ancient Sumerian poet Enheduanna has a unique claim to fame: she was the first author in the world known by name. While there were previous instances of poems and stories written down, Enheduanna...
Spectacular things were happening in Mesopotamia in the period we call the Early Bronze Age, particularly in the southern part of it, commonly called Babylonia. It was here that the wealthy,...
The Sumerian civilization (known also as Sumer) was one of the earliest civilizations in the world. This ancient civilization emerged in the region of southern Mesopotamia (modern day southern Iraq...
Ancient languages are captivating despite the fact that studying them or learning about them is a long, complex process. Of course, many students just get briefly acquainted with this subject and...
Cuneiform is a system of writing that was invented by the Sumerians of ancient Mesopotamia. Believed to have been created sometime during the 4th millennium BC (between 3500 and 3000 BC), this script...
A kudurru (meaning ‘boundary’ or ‘frontier’ in Akkadian ) is a type of stone document used in ancient Mesopotamia . While stone monuments have been used at various times in ancient Mesopotamia, it is...
In 2334 BC, King Sargon of Akkad founded one of the world’s greatest empires. From humble roots, he created a Golden Age in Mesopotamia. Heroic epics tell tales of a strong leader. Sargon the Great...