The underlying substance is Sumerian bitumen: a naturally occurring petroleum material (often called an asphalt-like “black goo”) long associated with waterproofing and adhesion, and even with ...

Assyriologist Al-Rashid debuts with an eclectic history of Mesopotamia framed around an ancient collection of artifacts widely considered to be the first museum. Located in a room in a palace in Ur ...

Mesopotamian clay maps, dating back 5,000 years, provide a fascinating glimpse into the ancient world’s perception of geography, particularly its rivers. These clay tablets not only depict the ...

Catalog of an exhibition held at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, from March 18-July 27, 2020. Translated and adapted from L'histoire commence en Mésopotamie, which was published ...

Recent events in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey recall ancient and equally dramatic events in Babylon and Mesopotamia, whose lands these countries now occupy. A magnificent storyteller and a careful historian ...

Landscape, climate, population -- The beginnings of sedentary life (ca. 10,000-4000 BCE) -- The first urban society and the use of writing (ca. 4000-3200 BCE) -- City-states and the way toward the ...

Renowned Mesopotamian scholar Piotr Steinkeller, PhD’77, has been named the 2019 recipient of the Alumni Medal, one of the highest alumni honors awarded by the University. Dating to 1941, the award ...