Clay tablet: Did you mean...?

The Sun God tablet from the Temple of Shamash at Sippar, Southern Mesopotamia modern-day Iraq, Middle Babylonian Period, 860-850 BCE. The upper part of the tablet has a carved panel. Nabu-nadin-shum (a priest) and the goddess Aa lead Nabu-apla-iddina...

The Enuma Elish (also known as The Seven Tablets of Creation) is the Babylonian creation myth whose title is derived from the opening lines of the piece, "When on High". The myth tells the story of the great god Marduk's victory over the...

John C. Calhoun (1782-1850) was an American lawyer and statesman, one of the key political figures of the Antebellum Era. Initially a nationalist, Calhoun spent his early career trying to strengthen and modernize the federal government, but...

The Library of Ashurbanipal (7th century BCE) is the oldest known systematically organized library in the world, established in Nineveh by the Neo-Assyrian king Ashurbanipal (r. 668-627 BCE) to preserve the history and culture of Mesopotamia...

Scribes in ancient Mesopotamia were highly educated individuals trained in writing and reading on diverse subjects. Initially, their purpose was to record financial transactions through trade, but in time, they were integral to every aspect...

The Compromise of 1850 was a series of five bills passed by the US Congress in September 1850 to diffuse a sectional crisis brewing between the 'free states' of the North and the 'slave states' of the South. The crisis was sparked by a disagreement...

Schooldays (c. 2000 BCE) is a Sumerian poem describing the daily life of a young scribe in the schools of Mesopotamia. The work takes the form of a first-person narration and dialogue in relating the challenges the student faces and how he...

Henry Clay, toward the end of his long congressional career, photo by Julian Vannerson or Montgomery P. Simons, 1848.

Henry Clay (1777-1852), the Great Compromiser, takes the Senate floor one final time to present the Compromise of 1850, drawn by P. F. Rothermel, engraved by R. Whitechurch, published circa 1855. Library of Congress, Washington, D.C.

Portrait of a young Henry Clay, oil on canvas by Charles Bird King, 1821. National Gallery of Art, Washington, D.C.