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Mesopotamian Artifacts

Welcome to our exploration of Mesopotamian artifacts, where we delve into the rich archaeological discoveries and ancient treasures that offer a glimpse into the material culture and artistic achievements of the people of Mesopotamia. Mesopotamia, has left behind a vast array of artifacts that bear witness to the remarkable craftsmanship and cultural legacy of this ancient civilization.

In this section of our website, we invite you to embark on a journey through the world of Mesopotamian artifacts, where each article unveils a different piece of the archaeological puzzle. From intricate sculptures and stunning jewelry to meticulously inscribed clay tablets and decorated pottery, these artifacts tell stories of ancient beliefs, societal practices, and the technological advancements of Mesopotamian civilization.

The Mesopotamian military represented here used weapons of war to achieve great success. Source: WILD HARE/Adobe Stock
3 January, 2024 - 16:57 Aleksa Vučković

Mesopotamian Military Mastery - The Ancient Reinvention of Warfare

Creating a great empire in ancient times was no simple task, and it usually involved a lot of warfare. Ancient Mesopotamia, called by many the cradle of civilization, was also the cradle of organized...
Sulimaniya brick B318, part of the collection holding the signature of the geomagnetic anomaly. Source: MIT License
19 December, 2023 - 13:55 Sahir

Ancient Mesopotamian Bricks Record 3,000-Year-Old Geomagnetic Anomaly

A geomagnetic anomaly that occurred between 3,000 and 2,500 years ago has shed light on ancient Mesopotamia in a way that has never been explored before. Analysis of ancient bricks from Mesopotamia,...
Ernst Stötzner during scanning a cuneiform tablet in order to decipher the text. Source: Maike Glöckner/Uni Halle
3 December, 2023 - 13:56 ancient origins

Ancient Cuneiform Tablets Instantly Deciphered By Revolutionary Methods

New artificial intelligence software is now able to decipher difficult-to-read texts on cuneiform tablets, almost in an instant. Instead of photos, the AI system uses 3D models of the tablets,...
One of the Ram in a Thicket statues. Source: British Museum / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
12 November, 2023 - 21:54 Aleksa Vučković

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...
Mesopotamian clay balls have been unearthed in Iran. Source: Fair use
7 November, 2023 - 14:00 Joanna Gillan

Mesopotamian Clay Balls: Ancient Relics or Prehistoric Hard Drives?

Research conducted in late 2013 offered intriguing clues to decoding the secrets of the Mesopotamian clay balls, which date back 5,500 years. The study, which used CT scanning to look inside the clay...
The Great Flood. Source: Faith Stock/Adobe Stock
17 October, 2023 - 15:04 Joanna Gillan

How Sumerian Tablets Told the Story of The Great Flood

The world's first known flood myth can be traced back to the Sumerians around 2000 BC. Sumerian tablets recount captivating tales of human beginnings, the creation of mankind, and the profound...
The Taylor Prism was discovered in 1830 at Nineveh and is currently housed at the British Museum in London. It tells the story of King Sennacherib’s third campaign and his conquests in Judah. Source: Public domain
4 September, 2023 - 14:53 Aleksa Vučković

Sennacherib's Prisms Reveal the Glorious Reign of an Assyrian King

Imagine if all of the world’s ancient cultures and civilizations had had well-developed writing systems. Then envision the marvels we would know about today, the hidden secrets and remarkable tales...
Aerial view of the structure at Tel Shimron supporting the passageway to the corbelled vault. Credit: Eyecon. Source: Eyecon
23 August, 2023 - 22:55 Nathan Falde

Israel's Tel Shimron Excavations Reveal Ancient Architectural Marvel Dating to 1,800 BC

Archaeologists participating in the ongoing Tel Shimron excavations in the Jezreel Valley of northern Israel recently unearthed the first section of an arched, vaulted passageway with steps that they...
Ancient Mesopotamia Amulet
15 November, 2013 - 01:01 johnblack

Ancient Mesopotamian Amulet found in Oman

An ancient amulet inscribed with cuneiform writing and dating back to the Mesopotamian civilization has been found during excavations in Dibbia, Musandam in Oman. It has been reported in the times of...
Ubaid Lizardmen Source: CC by SA 4.0
26 February, 2022 - 21:59 johnblack

Ancient Reptilians: The Unanswered Mystery of the 7,000-Year-Old Ubaid Lizardmen

It is a commonly accepted view in mainstream archaeology that civilization started in ancient Mesopotamia with the great civilization of Sumer in what is now modern-day Iraq. However, at the...
The Nimrud lens. Source: The British Museum / CC BY-NC-SA 4.0
2 August, 2022 - 14:59 Joanna Gillan

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...
Assyrian Cuneiform
25 April, 2019 - 23:54 dhwty

Deciphering Cuneiform to Get a Handle on Life in Ancient Mesopotamia

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...
The Descent of Inanna into the Underworld: A 5,500-Year-Old Literary Masterpiece
2 January, 2017 - 14:49 dhwty

The Descent of Inanna into the Underworld: A 5,500-Year-Old Literary Masterpiece

The Descent of Inanna (known also as ‘Inanna’s Descent to the Netherworld / Underworld’) is a piece of work in the literary corpus of ancient Mesopotamia. This story, which was originally written in...
The Burney Relief
5 May, 2019 - 18:55 dhwty

The Famous Burney Relief: Who Was the Mysterious Mesopotamian Goddess?

The Burney Relief (known also as the Queen of the Night) is a terracotta plaque from ancient Mesopotamia . The relief is dominated by a nude female figure with wings and talons . She is usually...
Pharaoh Tutankhamun riding a chariot
18 June, 2015 - 21:22 dhwty

Superweapon of the Ancient World: A History of Chariots - Part I

The chariot is often associated with the ancient Egyptian civilization. It became a prominent weapon of war during the New Kingdom. In fact, it is often considered a superweapon of the ancient world...
Ancient Sumerian song - cuneiform tablets
25 July, 2014 - 03:56 aprilholloway

The ancient song recreated from 3,400-year-old cuneiform tablets

In 2014, scholars from the University of California at Berkeley brought to life the ancient sounds of Mesopotamia following the decryption and study of a set of ancient cuneiform texts that date back...
The broken top and bottom sections of the Assyrian stele.
10 February, 2018 - 22:11 aprilholloway

British Museum Decided Against Uniting a Cursed Assyrian Stele and Bad Luck Fell to the Police

“Whoever discards this image from the presence of Salmanu puts it into another place, whether he throws it into water or covers it with earth or brings and places it into a taboo house where it is...
The reconstructed Bull’s Lyre.
30 June, 2018 - 01:59 dhwty

A Bull-Headed Lyre: Reconstructing the Sound and Style of Ancient Mesopotamia

A musician may have strummed its strings all the way back in the 3rd millennium BC. This means that the Bull’s Lyre, aka the Golden Lyre of Ur, is one of the oldest string instruments in the world...
The drum has been used since ancient times for rituals and communication. Source: zolotareva_elina / Adobe Stock.
5 October, 2019 - 14:03 B. B. Wagner

Primeval Communication and the Beat of the Drum

Human beings need complex communication, no matter if it's through speech or music . The invention of drums has become an essential factor in all musical forms of artistic expression. It is through...
An example of the Proto-Sinaitic script.
10 April, 2017 - 02:00 dhwty

The A to Z of Alphabet Origins and the Most Ancient Written Languages

Writing is traditionally regarded as one of the requirements for a society to be considered as a civilization. Various writing systems have been invented by the great civilizations of the world, one...
The engraving of the gods depicted on the kudurru were arranged in a particular order.
28 March, 2019 - 12:54 dhwty

Signs of a Civilization? The Sacred Boundary Stones of Babylonia

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...
60 of the almost 100 cuneiform clay tablets were found at the archaeological site of Bassetki in the Kurdistan region of northern Iraq.
25 October, 2017 - 13:58 Alicia McDermott

Almost 100 Cuneiform Clay Tablets Unearthed and Archaeologists Cannot Wait to Decipher Them

The discovery of ancient writing is always exciting for researchers. Documented events, letters, lists, literature – it is all helpful in reconstructing the story of our predecessors. Thus, the...
Sumerian civilization artifact.
20 May, 2019 - 14:06 dhwty

Sumer: Where Written Language, Arithmetic and Civilization Were Born

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...
Medieval stargazers. People have been fascinated by the stars and their possible influence over our lives, long before and after the time of Babylonian astrology.
24 February, 2019 - 23:15 ashley cowie

Complex Astronomical and Astrological Systems Detailed on Ancient Assyrian Tablets

Archaeologists studying a group of five unique stone tablets dating to the first millennium in Babylonia and Assyria have announced that they reveal a hitherto unknown level of astronomical...

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