Animal Dung and Energy — A View from Mesopotamia
Long before coal or oil, fire depended on whatever you could gather. In the ancient Near East, animal dung was essential fuel. What cultural, political, and legal rules governed it
The Wheat From the Chaff: What We Can Learn From Studying Plants in Antiquity
December 2023 | Vol. 11.12 By Jennifer Ramsay Plants are a fundamental part of human’s evolutionary history and undoubtedly, we would not exist without them. Plants provide us wi
Divine Channels: Rediscovering the Canal Networks of the Assyrian Empire
Today northern Iraq is a land of rolling plains and a few rivers. But Assyrian kings cut immense canals into the landscape for irrigation and transportation.
A Cosmic Impact and the Beginning of Farming at Abu Hureyra in Syria
March 2021 | Vol. 9.3 By Andrew M.T. Moore Towards the end of the last Ice Age a group of hunter-gatherers settled at Abu Hureyra in the Euphrates Valley in what is now Syria. The
Servant Figurines from Egyptian Tombs: Whom Did They Depict, and How Did They Work?
Scholars have interpreted servant figurines in Egyptian tombs as anonymous toys designed to come to life. But a closer look suggests they may have represented a deeper relationship
Fossil Pollen and the Story of Olives in the Mediterranean Basin
Olives are among the most characteristic Mediterranean crops. Examining fossil pollen has yielded new insights on how they spread across the Mediterranean.