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Ancient Near East

Mesopotamia, the area between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (in modern day Iraq), is often referred to as the cradle of civilization because it is the first place where complex urban centers grew. The history of Mesopotamia, however, is inextricably tied to the greater region, which is comprised of the modern nations of Egypt, Iran, Syria, Jordan, Israel, Lebanon, the Gulf states and Turkey. We often refer to this region as the Near or Middle East.

Standing female worshiper, — Sumer was home to some of the oldest known cities, supported by a focus on agriculture.

Sumer, an introduction

by Dr. Senta German

Neo-Sumerian / Ur III — Shown with an architectural plan in his lap, this prince constructed temples to the gods and likenesses of himself.

Seated Gudea holding temple plan

by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Warka (Uruk) Vase, Uruk, Late Uruk period, c. 3500-3000 B.C.E., 105 cm high (National Museum of Iraq) — One of the most precious artifacts from Sumer, the Warka Vase was looted and almost lost forever.

Warka Vase

by Dr. Senta German

What was the first bill of human rights? This seal encouraged freedom of worship throughout the Persian Empire.

The Cyrus Cylinder and Ancient Persia

by The British Museum

War (detail), The Standard of Ur, 2600-2400 B.C.E., shell, red limestone, lapis lazuli, and bitumen (original wood no longer exists), 21.59 x 49.53 x 12 cm, Ur © Trustees of the British Museum — At the center of Ur, a rubbish dump grew over the centuries—it evolved into a cemetery for the elite.

Standard of Ur and other objects from ...

by The British Museum

Early Writing Tablet recording the allocation of beer, 3100-3000 B.C.E, Late Prehistoric period, clay, probably from southern Iraq. © Trustees of the British Museum. — One of the oldest known forms of writing, cuneiform was the writing system for fifteen languages over 3,000 years.

Cuneiform, an introduction

by The British Museum

Leveraging their enormous wealth, the Assyrians built great temples and palaces full of art, all paid for by conquest.

Assyrian Sculpture

by The British Museum

For two thousand years, Babylon’s lost Tower and Hanging Gardens have haunted European imagination.

Babylonia, an introduction

by The British Museum

Reconstruction drawing of Nimrud, the site of an ancient Assyrian palace, by James Fergusson for Sir Henry Layard, published in 1853. — From physical models to virtual reality, reconstructing ancient sites and objects can help us understand the past.

Archaeological reconstructions

by Sebastian Hageneuer

Pieter Bruegel the Elder, The Tower of Babel, 1563, oil on panel, 114 × 155 cm (Kunsthistorisches Museum, Vienna) — Artists have depicted the Tower of Babel throughout the ages, a symbol of the extraordinary—but it did exist.

Towers of Babel

by The British Museum

The Liver Tablet, tablet, Old Babylonian, Sippar — What do the 60-minute clock and the zodiac have in common? The answer lies in ancient Babylon.

The Babylonian mind

by The British Museum

Bull Capital from Persepolis, Apādana, Persepolis (Fars, Iran), c. 520-465 B.C.E. (National Museum of Iran) (photo: s1ingshot) — The soaring audience hall of the Achaemenid Persian kings was an imposing space, designed to impress.

Persepolis: The Audience Hall of Darius and ...

by Dr. Jeffrey A. Becker

These records tell us a great deal about the ancient world, with topics ranging from receipts to school assignments.

Cuneiform Tablets

by UCLA Library

Writing Cuneiform, a video from The British Museum — Unlike modern writing, cuneiform wasn’t written in ink—but was instead pressed into the surface of clay.

Writing Cuneiform

by The British Museum

Cylinder seal and modern impression (detail) — See an ancient cylinder seal used 4000 years after it was made, and learn about its dynastic symbolism.

Cylinder seal with a modern impression

by The Metropolitan Museum of Art

, The Standard of Ur, 2600-2400 B.C.E., shell, red limestone, lapis lazuli, and bitumen (original wood no longer exists), 21.59 x 49.53 x 12 cm, Ur © Trustees of the British Museum — Intentionally buried as part of an elaborate ritual, this ornate object tells us so much, but also too little.

Standard of Ur and other objects from ...

by The British Museum

Standing Male Worshipper (detail) — One of a group buried in a temple almost 5,000 years ago, this statue’s job was to worship Abu—forever.

Standing Male Worshipper (Tell Asmar)

by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris

Winged human-headed bull (lamassu or shedu), Neo-Assyrian Period, reign of Sargon II (721-705 B.C.E.) Khorsabad, ancient Dur Sharrukin, Assyria, Iraq, gypseous alabaster, 4.20 x 4.36 x 0.97 m, excavated by P.-E. Botta 1843-44 (Musée du Louvre) — Winged, human-headed bulls served as guardians of the city and its palace—walking by, they almost seem to move.

Lamassu from the citadel of Sargon II

by Dr. Beth Harris and Dr. Steven Zucker

Capital of a column from the audience hall of the palace of Darius I, Susa, c. 510 B.C.E., Achaemenid, Tell of the Apadana, Susa, Iran (Musée du Louvre, Paris) — This massive capital is very different from those of Greece, and suggests the frightening power of the Persian Empire.

Capital of a column from the audience ...

by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris

Lion Hunts of Ashurbanipal (ruled 669-630 B.C.E.), c. 645 B.C.E., gypsum,Neo-Assyrian, hall reliefs from Palace at Ninevah across the Tigris from present day Mosul, Iraq; excavated by H. Rassam beginning in 1853 (British Museum) — Only the king was permitted to kill lions—and doing so signified his power and ability to keep nature at bay.

Ashurbanipal Hunting Lions

by Dr. Steven Zucker and Dr. Beth Harris