Search
Search Results
Article
The Aftermath of Looting: Illegally Excavated Mesopotamian Tablets
He who saw everything in the broad-boned earth, and knew what was to be known, Who had experienced what there was, and had become familiar with all things. The Epic of Gilgamesh. The tornado has started After the US-led invasion...
Article
Ancient Mesopotamian Beliefs in the Afterlife
Unlike the rich corpus of ancient Egyptian funerary texts, no such “guidebooks” from Mesopotamia detail the afterlife and the soul's fate after death. Instead, ancient Mesopotamian views of the afterlife must be pieced together...
Article
Ancient Mesopotamian Ghost Spell
Medicine in ancient Mesopotamia was based on the belief that illness was caused by supernatural agencies and, although medicines were given and injuries treated, magical spells and incantations were also understood as effective. Among these...
Image
Mesopotamian Tablet with Puchase Details from Dilbat
This tablet lists purchases of land by a man named Tupsikka, with payments made in baskets of barley. One transaction reads "The price of the field is 90 gur-sag-gal 16 quarts of oil". Stone tablet, about 2400-2200 BCE. Excavated by Hormuzd...
Article
The Newly Discovered Tablet II of the Epic of Gilgamesh
Surpassing all other kings, heroic in stature, brave scion of Uruk, wild bull on the rampage! Going at the fore he was the vanguard, going at the rear, one his comrades could trust! (Prologue, Tablet I, The Epic of...
Definition
Mesopotamian Religion
Mesopotamian religion was central to the people's lives. Humans were created as co-laborers with their gods to hold off the forces of chaos and to keep the world running smoothly. As in ancient Egypt, the gods were honored daily for providing...
Video
Mesopotamia: From Nomads to Farmers
This video provides an overview of Mesopotamian civilization, specifically in the region of Sumer and its city-states. It is narrated by a young Sumerian girl training to be a scribe in the format of a journal.
Image
A Mesopotamian Tablet with Gynaecological Recipe Against Miscarriage
A medical recipe was written on this clay tablet to prevent miscarriage. It recommends that a women should wear for 3 days a particular species of dried edible mouse which has been stuffed with myrrh. Probably from Babylon, Mesopotamia, Iraq...
Definition
Mesopotamian Literature
Ancient Mesopotamian literature developed c. 2600 BCE after scribes, who had formerly been record keepers, began composing original works in the region of Sumer. The Sumerians invented writing c. 3500 BCE, refined the script c. 3200 BCE...
Definition
Ereshkigal
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...