Search Results: Stephanie dalley

The Myth of Etana is the story of the Sumerian antediluvian King of Kish who ascends to heaven on an eagle to request the Plant of Birth from the gods so that he might have a son. Etana is named as the first king of Kish in the Sumerian King...

The Sumerian Flood Story (also known as the Eridu Genesis, The Flood Story, Sumerian Creation Myth, Sumerian Deluge Myth) is the oldest Mesopotamian text relating the tale of the Great Flood which would appear in later works such as the Atrahasis...

The Atrahasis is the Akkadian/Babylonian epic of the Great Flood sent by the gods to destroy human life. Only the good man, Atrahasis (his name translates as `exceedingly wise') was warned of the impending deluge by the god Enki (also known...

Explore the 6 most common misconceptions about the Middle Ages, and find out what living in medieval times was actually like. Medieval Europe. Where unbathed, sword-wielding knights ate rotten meat, thought the Earth was flat, defended...

Dig into the history of the elite mercenaries known as condottieri, who were soldiers for hire for Italy's rich and powerful. During the 14th and 15th centuries, mercenaries known as condottieri dominated Italian warfare, profiting from—...

Tamerlane was one of history’s greatest conquerors— but was he a great state builder or a bloodthirsty tyrant? You decide. He was born in the 1330s in the Chaghatayid Khanate, formerly the Mongol Empire. On the steppe, he rose from a lowly...

Dig into what caused the Irish potato famine, and explore how the UK government’s response turned the crisis into a catastrophe. – For over 200 years, potatoes thrived in Ireland; roughly half the country’s residents lived almost entirely...

Trace the history of barber-surgeons, and find out what led to barbers performing medical procedures in medieval Europe. – It’s a cold morning in 15th century France and you’re off to the barber for a shave and haircut. You hear the...

Trace the rise and fall of the Mughal Empire, which became one of the wealthiest and most powerful states in the early modern world. Though he was descended from some of the world’s most successful conquerors, Babur struggled to gain a...

Babylon is the most famous city from ancient Mesopotamia whose ruins lie in modern-day Iraq 59 miles (94 km) southwest of Baghdad. The name is derived from bav-il or bav-ilim, which in Akkadian meant "Gate of God" (or "Gate of the Gods"...