The House of Aršāma, Persian Satrap in Egypt
Satraps (“governors”) did the everyday work of maintaining Persian imperial rule across its vast empire. Ancient texts from Egypt allow us to understand how this arrangement wo
A Failed Coup: The Assassination of Sennacherib and the Assyrian Civil War of 681 BC
When the Assyrian king Sennacherib was assassinated in 680 BC, it launched a civil war amongst his sons. How did Esarhaddon come out on top? And what were the consequences for the
Samsi, “Queen of the Arabs”, and Her Fight Against Assyria
Was peppermint actually found in ancient Egyptian pyramids? Retailers of peppermint products like to say so. What’s the truth, and where did this factoid come from?
How Did Cyrus the Great Die?
April 2024 | Vol. 12.4 By Morteza Arabzadeh Sarbanani As far as we know, Cyrus the Great, founder of the Achaemenid Persian Empire, probably died around 530 BCE at the age of seven
How Empires and Cities in the Ancient Near East Accelerated Wealth Inequality
October 2023 | Vol. 11.10 By Andrea Squitieri and Mark Altaweel The rise and economic development of mostly Western states from the 18th to 20th centuries resulted in increased ph
Before and After Babel
August 2023 | Vol. 11.8 By Marc Van De Mieroop “But the LORD came down to see the city and the tower the people were building. The LORD said, “If as one people speaking the sam
The History of Isaiah and the Age of Empires
October 2022 | Vol. 10.8 By Jacob Stromberg The prophet Isaiah stood at the beginning of an age of empires in the ancient Near East. In order, the age saw the rise of the neo-Assyr
The Neo-Assyrian Empire and Egypt
August 2022 | Vol. 10.8 By Mattias Karlsson The Neo-Assyrian empire, with its center along the river Tigris in northern Mesopotamia, controlled large parts of the ancient Near East
Everyday Life in Exile: Judean Deportees in Babylonian Texts
When King Nebuchadnezzar II of Babylon conquered the kingdom of Judah, part of Judean population was deported to Babylonia. The Hebrew Bible offers little information about exilic
Did Kings Meet Each Other Face-to-Face During the Late Bronze Age?
march 2022 | Vol. 10.3 By Mohy-Eldin E. Abo-Eleaz During the Late Bronze Age (ca. 1550–1200 BCE) five great powers – Egypt, Mitanni, Babylon, Ḫatti, and Assyria – arose and