The Salt Traders of Seleucid Babylonia
january 2023 | Vol. 11.1 By Vito Messina The trade of salt was one of the most valuable economic activities in antiquity. Literary, epigraphic, and archaeological records point to
Mesopotamia Murder Mystery
December 2022 | Vol. 10.12 By Virginia Verardi Note: This report includes data derived from and images of human remains. Archaeology recovers processes in the past, like the evolut
Modern Wars and Ancient Governance: Archaeology and Textual Finds from First Millennium BCE Babylon
November 2022 | Vol. 10.11 By Odette Boivin When the German architect-turned-archaeologist Robert Koldewey and his colleagues unearthed cuneiform tablets from the ruins of Babylon
Prismatic Gilgamesh
October 2022 | Vol. 10.10 By Sophus Helle It is 150 years ago since George Smith, a self-taught Assyriologist working at the British Museum, first translated a line from the Epic
The Babylonian Akītu Festival and the Ritual Humiliation of the King
September 2022 | Vol. 10.9 By Sam Mirelman Many Mesopotamian festivals are known, but only one involved a priest striking the king. The akītu was one of the most importa
Everyday Life in Exile: Judean Deportees in Babylonian Texts
June 2022 | Vol. 10.6 By Tero Alstola When King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon conquered the kingdom of Judah in the early sixth century BCE, part of Judean population was deported t
The Concept of Music in Ancient Mesopotamia
April 2022 | Vol. 10.4 By Daniel Sánchez Muñoz Cuneiform texts, more or less well-preserved real musical instruments, and iconography inform us about the instruments, performers,
Language Death—The Case of Akkadian
February 2022 | Vol. 10.2 By Johannes Hackl The phenomenon of language death is as old as the recorded history of the world’s languages, if not as old as language itself. Languag
Were There Sumerians?
February 2022 | Vol. 10.2 By Paul Collins The Sumerians can seem very familiar. They have been understood as a distinct people, speaking a common language, who occupied the alluvia
The Medico-Magical Squill
January 2022 | Vol. 10.1 By Maddalena Rumor Penetrating the deepest meaning of a word allows our brain not only to make sense of the idea it conveys, but also to disentangle relate