From the ruins of the last Sumerian kingdom, a ruthless generation of warlords carved a fragmented and war-torn Mesopotamia into rival dynasties, but one man among them, Shamshi-Adad, would forge ...

The Great Ziggurat of Ur dedicated to the Moon god. Ziggurats were massive structure typical for Mesopotamia. Sumerians believed that the gods lived in the temple at the top of the ziggurats. Woods ...

The Sumerians created one of the world’s earliest civilizations, building cities, developing writing, and shaping the history of Mesopotamia. Yet one major question remains: where did the Sumerians ...

When historians look back into time to name the first civilized people, they usually pick the Sumerians, who built imposing cities, including Abraham’s Ur of the Chaldees, in southern Mesopotamia ...

Researchers have uncovered a vast and well-preserved network of ancient irrigation canals in the Eridu region of southern Mesopotamia, shedding new light on early farming practices. The research team, ...

A century ago, UChicago scholars argued a controversial idea: Western civilization had its roots in the ancient Middle East—not in Greece or Rome. Today, scholars at the OI and across the University ...