The Akkadian Empire, one of the first great empires in human history, thrived in ancient Mesopotamia under the rule of Sargon of Akkad. However, its reign eventually came to an end. For decades,...
One might find it curious that we divide the hours into 60 minutes and the days into 24 hours – why not a multiple of 10 or 12? Put quite simply, the answer is because the inventors of time did not...
The Mesopotamian marshes in Iraq, once a thriving ecosystem and the heart of an ancient Marsh Arab civilization, are facing a dire threat as they wither away. Parched by a prolonged drought, the...
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...
“At that time, the gods Anu and Enlil, for the enhancement of the well-being of the people, named me by my name: Hammurabi, the pious prince, who venerates the gods, to make justice prevail in the...
From Cleopatra to Razia Sultan, history is filled with powerful women who defied the norms of their time. But have you ever heard of Queen Kubaba? Reigning over Sumer around 2,500 BC, she might just...
One of the most fascinating and accomplished civilizations in history was the fruitful region of Mesopotamia. Frequently called the “Cradle of Civilization,” Mesopotamia was home to some of the...
The ancient realm of Mesopotamia is still very much clouded in enigma. It existed so far back in time, that our knowledge about its cities and civilizations will never be 100% clear. Still,...
In the annals of ancient Mesopotamian history, one name stands out as a towering figure: Sargon of Akkad , the founder of the Akkadian Empire . Sargon's rise to power was nothing short of remarkable...
Some of humanity's most ancient civilizations originated on the current continent of Asia. At the dawn of civilization, places like Mesopotamia , Harappa, China, and others saw various advance...
A Sumerian ziggurat was a towering, stepped structures built in ancient Mesopotamia over 4,000 years ago. They were constructed by the Sumerians , who were one of the earliest civilizations in human...
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...
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...
4,000-year-old Hittite texts speak of the lost cultic centre of Zippalanda, somewhere in modern Turkey. Now, new discoveries at the Uşaklı Höyüy site further suggest this was the ancient holy city...
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,...
Since the dawn of humanity, countless civilizations have engaged in ritual sacrifice. Often, these sacrifices involved other humans, and were so common they were considered a normal aspect of life...
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...
Kutahya in Western Anatolia is home to one of the world’s oldest settlements, which began 8,100 years ago. At this very site, during the excavations of Tavşanlı Höyük or the Tavşanlı Mound, a 3,300-...
Ancient Neo-Assyrian artwork showing a procession of deities has been found in an Iron Age tunnel complex carved into the bedrock in Turkey. The unfinished, yet exceptional ancient artwork was...
Archaeologists in Turkey have discovered a massive underground city, which they believe may be the largest in the world. They have only excavated 3% of it so far but are unearthing multitudes of...
4,000 years ago, a boat sank onto the bed of a channel of the Euphrates River, near the ancient city of Uruk. Now, archaeologists working in modern-day southern Iraq have been forced to conduct an...
The use of Mesopotamian material in the motifs and stories found in Genesis 1–11 (also called the Primeval History) has been of great interest to biblical scholars for many years. Although the...
Something of a hidden gem, Caracol is one of the largest Maya sites of Central America, and certainly the largest in Belize, yet it receives far less footfall than other ruins in the region. The...
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...
