Nippur: Did you mean...?

In ancient Mesopotamia, the meaning of life was for one to live in concert with the gods. Humans were created as co-laborers with their gods to hold off the forces of chaos and to keep the community running smoothly. Mesopotamian Creation...

The Sumerian Flood Story (also known as the Eridu Genesis, Sumerian Creation Myth, Sumerian Deluge Myth) is the oldest Mesopotamian text relating the tale of the Great Flood which would appear in later works such as the Atrahasis (17th century...

The gods of the Mesopotamian region were by no means uniform in name, power, provenance or status in the hierarchy. Mesopotamian culture varied from region to region, from city-state to city-state and, because of this, Marduk should not be...

This terracotta tablet is a smaller version of the original law code stela of King Hammurabi to be used in schools and courts. The tablet was found at Nippur (modern Nuffar, Al-Qadisiyah Governorate, Iraq), southern Mesopotamia. Old Babylonian...

This clay tablet (with its clay envelope) was a legal document which documented the purchase of a house property. From Nippur (modern Nuffar, Al-Qadisiyah Governorate, Iraq), southern Mesopotamia. Old-Babylonian era, 1757 BCE. (Istanbul Archeological...

A terracotta tablet with cuneiform inscriptions that narrates a love poem. This is the oldest love poem ever known. The poem was probably written by an unknown woman who was chosen as a bride for Shu-Sin, King of Ur, III dynasty. The poem...

The smaller sarcophagus on the left belonged to a child. Baked clay and glazed. Parthian, 1st century BCE to 1st century CE. From Nippur, Southern Mesopotamia, in modern-day Iraq. (Museum of Archaeology, Istanbul, Turkey).

Sculptures of the female form are a feature of the exhibition Ice Age art: arrival of the modern mind. Here, exhibition curator Jill Cook and artist Ghislaine Howard explore these representations of women in Ice Age and contemporary art.

A map showing the route that Alexander the Great took to conquer Egypt, Mesopotamia, Persia, and Bactria.

This law code is considered the oldest known law code surviving today. Many terracotta tablets of this law code have been excavated at several archaeological sites in Mesopotamia. This tablet was found at Nippur (modern Nuffar, Al-Qadisiyah...