Baghdad: Did you mean...?

In the aftermath of the failure of the Second Crusade (1147-1149 CE), which only managed to bring Damascus under Nur ad-Din's (sometimes also given as Nur al-Din, l. 1118-1174 CE) dominion, Egypt...

The Story Begins from a Dead End August 25, 2015 was a very hot day of summer but its omen was a very promising one! That day, I was with my friend, Mr. Hashim Hama Abdulla, director of the...

History doesn't repeat itself, but it does rhyme. (Mark Twain) Darband-i Basara (the Pass of Basara) is a narrow natural gorge which transects the anticlines of the upper part of the Qaradagh Mountain...

The Ottoman Empire under Suleiman I (reign 1520–1566), known as Suleiman the Magnificent in Europe and Kanuni (the Lawgiver) in Ottoman tradition, became...

The Vase of Warka (also called Uruk Vase) is one of the earliest surviving examples of narrative art. It was excavated (in fragments) by a German excavation team in a temple complex dedicated to the goddess Inanna at the city of...

The mask of Warka, the first almost complete and life-size depiction of the human face in history, with respect to its anatomical details. It is made of marble and is about 20 cm tall. The eyes may have been inlaid with shells...

The votive or sacred Warka Vase is decorated with three horizontal registers and shows signs of repair in antiquity. The top register depicts a complete scene. Here, a naked man offers a bowl of fruits...

This prism records the first eight campaigns of the Assyrian King Sennacherib (704-681 BCE). This six-sided baked clay document (or prism) was discovered at the Assyrian capital Nineveh, in an area known...

An almost 3-meter-high alabaster bas-relief depicting four high-ranking Assyrian officials or dignitaries, stepping forward to greet the Assyrian king, Sargon II. From the Royal Palace of Sargon II at Khorsabad, in...

This scene is part of a long one depicting Sumerians milking cows and preparing dairy products. The scene once decorated a frieze on the facade of the Temple of Ninhursag at Tell al-'Ubaid, in modern-day...