A marble pillar or stele that has been preserved in the British Museum for 150 years bears a cuneiform inscription, deciphered in late 2018, and which has turned out to be the first known record of a border dispute. It also mentions, for the first time, the term no-man’s-land. The pillar is Mesopotamian and about […]
Mesopotamia
Posted inAntiquity
The Dur-Kurigalzu ziggurat that medieval travelers mistook for the Tower of Babel
The Dur-Kurigalzu ziggurat, mistaken for the Tower of Babel due to proximity to Baghdad, is a historically rich edifice at risk from invasions, urban expansion, and natural factors. Constructed around 1400 BC and showcasing ancient building techniques, its preservation is crucial for historical learning.
Posted inAntiquity
The Assyrians, the people who built an empire in Mesopotamia 4,000 years ago, still exist
Assyria is the ancient region of northern Mesopotamia around the city of Assur, founded around 2600 BC on the banks of the Tigris (today its ruins are in northern Iraq). It was part of the Akkadian Empire of Sargon of Akkad until 2154 BC, which united all the Mesopotamian cities. And from the second millennium […]
Posted inAntiquity, Archaeology
Luxury Mansion of a 4,000-year-old Priest, with Bathroom and Toilet, Uncovered at Ur
Ur is one of the oldest cities in the world. What was life like for its inhabitants about 4000 years ago? A team led by Adelheid Otto, director of the Institute of Archaeology of the Near East at LMU (Ludwig Maximilian University Munich), is conducting excavations in Ur that may provide some answers to this […]