Ancient Middle East Archive
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The fermented cereal beverage of the Sumerians may not have been beer
Posted on January 31, 2012 | No Comments4000-year-old cuneiform writings from Mesopotamia tell us little about the brewing techniques used at the time -
Slaves or not, Babylonians were much like us, says book
Posted on January 12, 2012 | No CommentsThey got married, had children, made beer. Although they lived 3,500 years ago in Nippur, Babylonia, in many ways they seem like us. Whether they were also slaves is a hotly contested question which Jonathan Tenney, assistant professor of ancient Near Eastern studies, addresses in the newly released Life at the Bottom of Babylonian Society: Servile Laborers at Nippur in the 14th and 13th Centuries, B.C., published by Brill. -
1,600 year-old bathhouse discovered in Israel
Posted on December 27, 2011 | No CommentsThe bathhouse may have been used by an inn situated on an ancient road that ran through the southern Ayalon Valley, and it might also have been part of a wealthy country estate. -
Jerusalem’s Western Wall was completed after the reign of Herod, research finds
Posted on November 24, 2011 | No CommentsA ritual bath exposed beneath the Western Wall of the Temple Mount in Jerusalem shows that the construction of that wall was not completed during King Herod's lifetime. -
The Jewish Revolt against Rome: History, Sources and Perspectives
Posted on November 11, 2011 | No CommentsThe pursuit of history involves asking questions about the past, which is obviously no longer directly accessible. New data thus generates new questions; however, old data may also attract new questions and new perspectives. -
Ancient Near Eastern gods Enki and Ea: diachronical analysis of texts and images from the earliest sources to the Neo-Sumerian period
Posted on September 18, 2011 | No CommentsAncient Near Eastern gods Enki and Ea: diachronical analysis of texts and images from the earliest sources to the Neo-Sumerian period By Peeter Espak Master’s Thesis, Tartu University, 2006 Introduction:... -
What happened at Hatra? The problem of the Severan siege operations
Posted on September 13, 2011 | No CommentsWhat happened at Hatra? The problem of the Severan siege operations By Duncan Campbell The Defence of the Roman and Byzantine East, edited by P. Freeman and D. Kennedy (Oxford,... -
Vedic Elements in the Ancient Iranian Religion of Zarathushtra
Posted on August 14, 2011 | No CommentsVedic Elements in the Ancient Iranian Religion of Zarathushtra By Subhash Kak The Adyar Library Bulletin, Vol.67 (2003) Introduction: Scholars generally agree that before the advent of Zarathushtra, the religion of the... -
Race Relations in the Seleucid Empire: The Case of the Phoenicians
Posted on August 14, 2011 | No CommentsRace Relations in the Seleucid Empire: The Case of the Phoenicians By Christopher Bravo Citations: USC McNair Scholars Research Journal, Vol.3 (2007) Abstract: Though the academic study of race relations has... -
On the State and Prospects of the Study of Zoroastrianism
Posted on July 31, 2011 | No CommentsOn the State and Prospects of the Study of Zoroastrianism By Michael Stausberg Numen, Vol. 55 (2008) Abstract: The academic study of Zoroastrianism goes back to the seventeenth century. It was...