Our Early Neolithic Canine Companions
Dogs have been faithful human companions for millennia. New finds from a once lush region of eastern Jordan helps fill in the picture of how the relationship developed.
The Alphabet: The First Thousand Years
The alphabet is probably the most important information technology ever invented. Why did it take a millennium to spread unevenly around the ancient Near East?
Rain, Rain, Go Away: Dealing with Wastewater and Rain in Ancient Egypt
The problem of water isn’t just making sure there is enough but getting rid of it. Ancient Egyptians addressed the problem with surprisingly modern techniques.
The Greek Alphabet: Older Than You May Think?
March 2019 | Vol. 7.3 By Willemijn Waal The Greek alphabet is often considered to be the first ‘true’ alphabet, from which all modern alphabets are derived. So why does it look
The Cross: History, Art and Controversy
The Christian cross is a ubiquitous symbol today, but actual images of the cross were uncommon in Christian iconography before the mid-4th century.
Why Did Sennacherib Create Two Accounts of His Siege of Lachish?
Sennacherib’s reliefs from his palace at Nineveh famously show the destruction of the Judean city of Lachish. But why do the written accounts of the conquest differ from the reli
Sunlight and Shade in the First Cities – A Sensory Archaeology of Early Iraq
There are two periods of about five days each, in the Spring and in the Autumn, when the weather in southern Iraq is quite nice. Otherwise it’s cold, windy and rainy, or roasting
Hebrew as the Language behind the World’s First Alphabet?
Which Semitic language – and people – stands behind the enigmatic Proto-Sinaitic inscriptions? A controversial proposal brings us back to familiar, if equally controversial, gr
Trash and Toilets in Mesopotamia: Sanitation and Early Urbanism
For much of the world sanitary disposal of human and other waste remains a critical issue. What do the first cities of ancient Mesopotamia have something to teach us about this ver