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Mesopotamia
Mesopotamia (from the Greek, meaning 'between two rivers') was an ancient region located in the eastern Mediterranean bounded in the northeast by the Zagros Mountains and in the southeast by the Arabian Plateau, corresponding to modern-day...

Definition
Nisaba
Nisaba (also Naga, Se-Naga, Nissaba, Nidaba, and associated with Nanibgal) is the Sumerian goddess of writing, accounts, and scribe of the gods. Although her name is commonly given as Nidaba, noted scholar Jeremy Black points out that "the...

Article
The Island Kingdom of Aegina: The Old Gods Still Whisper Their Truths
Today, traveling an hour by ferry from Piraeus, the port of Athens, the first remnant of Aegina's great past a visitor will see is the lonely pillar of Apollo rising from the trees on the hill of Kolona. Once a splendid complex of three buildings...

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Women in the Old Testament
Modern practitioners of Judaism and Christianity often turn to the Bible for stories concerning women and their roles in ancient religion and society. It is important to acknowledge that these stories were written by men. The male perspectives...

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Neo-Assyrian Cuneiform Lexical List
Neo-Assyrian lexical list of names of stones on a clay tablet.

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Babylonian Cuneiform Lexical List
Late Babylonian lexical list of personal names on a clay tablet.

Article
Hymn to Nisaba
The Hymn to Nisaba (c. 3rd millennium BCE) is a poem praising Nisaba, the Sumerian goddess of writing and accounts who also served as scribe of the gods. The poem is officially dedicated to Enki, the god of wisdom (sometimes given as her...

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Aramaic Alphabet written in Cuneiform Signs
This is a classroom experiment. As Babylon grew, the language spoken on its streets changed. This remarkable tablet captures interaction between the age-old cuneiform writing for Babylonian Akkadian and the alphabetic Aramaic that ultimately...

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Urartian Cuneiform
Urartian cuneiform inscription on the left of the temple door at Erebuni Fortress.

Definition
Ull
Ull (also known as Ullr), with his bow and skis, is such an elusive presence in Norse mythology that no conclusive remarks can be made about him. The 13th-century Icelandic author Snorri describes him only briefly in his Prose Edda, and he...