Mesopotamian Inventions: Did you mean...?

Syria is a country located in the Middle East on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and bordered, from the north down to the west, by Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon. It is one of the oldest inhabited regions in the world with archaeological...

Festivals in ancient Mesopotamia honored the patron deity of a city-state or the primary god of the city that controlled a region or empire. The earliest, the Akitu festival, was first observed in Sumer in the Early Dynastic period (circa...

Mesopotamian female deity wearing a horned headdress and sitting on a chair or a throne, probably goddess Ishtar or goddess Bau. The lunar symbol of the moon god Sin appears at the upper part, flanking the headdress. Elaborate dress and braided...

Mesopotamian amulet covered with a quotation from a poem, the Akkadian Erra Epic, thought suitable to ward off plague. From Ashur, Northern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Neo-Assyrian Period, 800-612 BCE. The British Museum, London.

Among the many contributions to world culture credited to Mesopotamia is an object so familiar to people in the modern world that few pause to consider its origin: the dog collar. Throughout the ancient world, from China to Rome, dogs are...

Ereshkigal (also known as Irkalla and Allatu) is the Mesopotamian Queen of the Dead who rules the underworld. Her name translates as 'Queen of the Great Below' or 'Lady of the Great Place.' She was responsible for both keeping the dead within...

This article documents and elaborates on the many critical behind-the-scenes events, unknown to the public, before the history leaves us. The author The bulk of the “the land between the two rivers” lies in what we call today the Republic...

A pottery incense container found at layer 5 of the altar platform of the central temple of Basmosian Hill, Mesopotamia, Hurrian period, 2nd millennium BCE. Sulaimaniya Museum, Iraq.

These rings were found on the fingers of a woman named Puabi, inside her grave. Puabi was a Semitic Akkadian woman from Ur, c. 2600 BCE, possibly a queen or priestess. Two rings were made of gold wire that was twisted before being wound...

This carved grey stone has an integral handle. It was possibly a weight. There are eight compartments decorated with the shapes of eyes and rosettes. The handle imitates basketry and is ornamented with lozenges in relief. The stone might...