Ancient Middle East Archive
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The Politico-Economic Impact of the Horse on Old World Cultures
Posted on May 1, 2012 | No CommentsThe politico-military and economic importance of the horse will thus be examined in the rise of the Hittite, Achaemenid, Chinese, Arab, and Mongol empires. -
King Hammurabi of Babylon
Posted on April 22, 2012 | No CommentsAccording to his own testimony, Hammurabi was destined for kingship since time immemorial, when two powerful gods, Anu and Enlil, entrusted to a third god, Marduk, control over destiny, on Earth as in heaven. -
Ancient North Arabian
Posted on April 8, 2012 | No CommentsIn the western two-thirds of the Arabian Peninsula, from southern Syria to Yemen, inscriptions testify to the use of a number of different ancient languages and scripts. -
Ancient Blacksmiths, The Iron Age, Damascus Steels, And Modern Metallurgy
Posted on April 8, 2012 | No CommentsThe history of iron and Damascus steels is described through the eyes of ancient blacksmiths. For example, evidence is presented that questions why the Iron Age could not have begun at about the same time as the early Bronze Age (i.e. approximately 7000 B.C.). -
What pays What? Cashless Payment in Ancient Mesopotamia ( 626-331 BC)
Posted on March 19, 2012 | No CommentsRight from the start, a question may be asked about what was understood as 'money' in those days? -
Sand and spice: Roman Arabia in world historical context from the Third Century BCE to the Seventh Century CE
Posted on March 6, 2012 | No CommentsThis thesis examines the Roman province of Arabia on both a micro and macro level. Trans-regional world historical perspective reveals a history of Roman Arabia that is ultimately a study of exchange. -
Prehistoric architecture found in Jordan from 20,000 years ago
Posted on February 21, 2012 | No CommentsThe ancient hut structures in eastern Jordan were discovered by a team of archaeologists including academics from The University of Nottingham. The finding suggests that the area was once intensively occupied and that the origins of architecture in the region date back 20 millennia, well before the emergence of agriculture. -
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.