Ancient Mesopotamia: Did you mean...?

Mesopotamian science and technology developed during the Uruk period (circa 4000-3100 BCE) and the Early Dynastic period (circa 2900-2350/2334 BCE) of the Sumerian culture of southern Mesopotamia. The foundation of future Mesopotamian advances...

Mari was a city-state located near the west bank of the Euphrates River in Northern Mesopotamia (now eastern Syria) during the Early Bronze Age and the Middle Bronze Age. One of the earliest known planned cities, Mari is believed to have...

The Sumerians were the people of southern Mesopotamia (modern-day southern Iraq) whose civilization flourished between circa 4000 and 1750 BCE. Their name comes from the region, which is frequently – and incorrectly – referred to as a "country."...

The figure could be an aspect of the goddess Ishtar, the Mesopotamian goddess of sexual love and war, or Ishtar's sister and rival, the goddess Ereshkigal who ruled over the Underworld, or the demoness Lilitu, known in the Bible as Lilith...

The upper halves of terracotta plaques, depicting a male figure (on the left, who has a long beard) and a female figure (on the right, with bare breast) wearing a horned headdress (symbol of divinity) and appearing to hold a long bar in both...

This boundary stone, or kudurru, records a gift of land made by Eanna-shum-iddina, governor of the Sea-Land in Southern Babylonia. The receiver's name is Gula-Eresh. The text ends with a series of curses on anyone questioning the gift or...

This is a diorite mina weight in the shape of a sugar loaf. The inscriptions state that this was a copy of a weight made for Nebuchadnezzar, following the standard of Shulgi, "The Old Sumerian King" (reigned 2094-2047 BCE). It was the property...

This lyre was found in the 'Great Death-Pit', one of the graves in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. From Ur, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Early dynastic period, 2600-2400 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

In this food issue list, "rations" is written by combining a human head a bowl (a triangular object in front of the head). This combination, in later Sumerian texts, means "to eat". The triangular object was the regular representation of...

Only the upper half of this clay statue of a naked woman has survived. It represent a worshipper. Traces of red color (original paint) can still be seen. She has an elaborate hair style and wears a 4-strand necklace and broad bracelets. Date...