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