Archaeologist and scholar Giorgio Buccellati’s book At the Origins of Politics describes how Mesopotamia’s urban revolution ...

She lived more than 4,000 years ago, she was a Sumerian priestess and, worth mentioning, she was the first recorded author in the world. Her name is Enheduanna, and her place in history is finally ...

Researchers studying clay balls from Mesopotamia have discovered clues to a lost code that was used for record-keeping about 200 years before writing was invented. The clay balls may represent the ...

The origins of writing in Mesopotamia lie in the images imprinted by ancient cylinder seals on clay tablets and other artifacts. A research group from the University of Bologna has identified a series ...

When New Art’s Really Old: From the Valley of the Kings to Pompeii to a Rubens in a Paris Closet Wall Panel with a Striding Lion, neo-Babylonian period 605–562 B.C. Glazed brick. Object: H: 99.7 × W: ...

An ancient civilization that ruled Mesopotamia nearly 4,000 years ago was likely wiped out because of disastrous dust storms, a new study suggests. The Akkadian Empire, which ruled what is now Iraq ...

Q&A with Agnete Lassen, associate curator of the Yale Babylonian Collection. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. Ancient Mesopotamia ...

Nebuchadnezzar II claimed divine inspiration for his restoration work, stating that the gods Zababa and Ishtar motivated him to undertake the project. After completing the renovations, he proclaimed: ...

His name meant “true king,” and Sargon of Akkad (unknown–2279 B.C.) took advantage of that presumed legitimacy to establish the world’s first empire around 2330 B.C. in Mesopotamia, the fertile land ...

To reopen Wednesday after a yearlong closure during the COVID-19 pandemic, the Getty Villa has at last unveiled “Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins.” The show, originally scheduled to open in March 2020 ...