Irrigation: Did you mean...?

The Inca civilization flourished in ancient Peru between c. 1400 and 1533 CE. The Inca Empire eventually extended across western South America from Quito in the north to Santiago in the south. It was the largest empire ever seen in the Americas...

Sumer was the southernmost region of ancient Mesopotamia (modern-day southern Iraq and parts of Kuwait), which has long been considered the cradle of civilization. The name comes from Akkadian, the language of the north of Mesopotamia, and...

Nineveh (modern-day Mosul, Iraq) was one of the oldest and greatest cities in antiquity. It was originally known as Ninua, a trade center, and would become one of the largest and most affluent cities in antiquity. It was regarded highly by...

The Eridu Genesis (also known as the Sumerian Flood Story, The Flood Story, Sumerian creation myth, Sumerian deluge myth) is the oldest Mesopotamian text relating the tale of the Great Flood that would appear in later works such as the Atrahasis...

East of the Zagros Mountains, a high plateau stretches off towards India. While Egypt was rising up against the Hyksos, a wave of pastoral tribes from north of the Caspian Sea was drifting down into this area and across into India. By the...

The Fertile Crescent, often called the 'cradle of civilization', is the region in the Middle East that curves like a quarter-moon shape from the Persian Gulf through modern-day southern Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, Jordan, Israel, and northern Egypt...

Genghis Khan (aka Chinggis Khan) was the founder of the Mongol Empire which he ruled from 1206 until his death in 1227. Born Temujin, he acquired the title of Genghis Khan, likely meaning 'universal ruler’, after unifying the Mongol tribes...

Sargon of Akkad (reign 2334-2279 BCE) was the king of the Akkadian Empire of Mesopotamia, the first multinational empire in history, who united the disparate kingdoms of the region under a central authority. He is equally famous today as...

The Edo period refers to the years from 1603 until 1868 when the Tokugawa family ruled Japan. The era is named after the city of Edo, modern-day Tokyo, where the Tokugawa shogunate had its government. It is also sometimes referred to as the...

Hammurabi (reign 1792-1750 BCE) was the sixth king of the Amorite First Dynasty of Babylon, best known for his famous law code, which served as the model for others, including the Mosaic Law of the Bible. He was the first ruler able to successfully...