Smellscapes in Ancient Egypt
From Aristotle to John Adams, great minds of government have revered Carthaginian democracy as the purest expression of a people’s will. What impact did it have in the developmen
A Beehive from Solomon’s Pools (in the Albright Attic)
Beekeeping is an ancient human activity but archaeological evidence for it is difficult to find. An ancient jar from an unlikely spot, the attic of the Albright Institute, may be o
How Eclipses Were Regarded as Omens in the Ancient World
Humans have long been fascinated by celestial events. In the ancient world, eclipses were regarded as signs of things to come.
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
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