In southern Iraq, archaeologists have excavated a remarkable collection of carved clay tablets—ancient records of Akkadia, ...

Red tape may feel like a modern-day frustration, but according to archaeologists, it's been a part of governance for millennia. Evidence from ancient Mesopotamia reveals that bureaucratic systems were ...

Stored in one of the various cabinets and cases that make up the Penn Museum archives, there's a stone tablet that's barely 3 inches on each side. It easily fits in the palm of one's hand. It's ...

A recent study by Dr. Jana Matuszak, published in the academic journal Iraq, examines the mythical narrative contained in a tablet (Ni 12501) dating to the Early Dynastic IIIb period (ca. 2540–2350 ...

Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient tablet with an early form of writing that preserves a furniture shopping list from around 3,500 years ago. The tablet was uncovered during excavations at the ...

Writing, laws, cities, and science—these and other innovations were devised by the enterprising peoples living in Sumer, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, some 5,000 years ago. High ...

Excavations on unpromising mounds in the Iraqi desert revealed Sumer’s earliest city. Surviving relics and a rebuilt temple have given experts more clues about the ancient metropolis of Eridu.

The storm god Iškur is trapped in the netherworld. Without him in the sky, the rivers will dry up—the grasses, cows and people will die. A lone Fox volunteers to traverse worlds to rescue him, armed ...

This is the first episode of a two-part series on the origin of jokes and humor. The story appears in podcast feeds under the title, "Jokes, Part I: Sumer Funny, Sumer Not." Listen to part two here.

In southern Iraq, archaeologists have excavated a remarkable collection of carved clay tablets—ancient records of Akkadia, the world’s oldest empire. Marked with the administrative details of ...