Does your heart soar when you're happy? If you were living in ancient Mesopotamia, you might assign such joyful flights to the liver. Researchers have analysed Mesopotamian texts to see how they described emotions inhabiting different parts of the body. The study, published in iScience, draws on Neo-Assyrian cuneiform texts dating from 934-612 BC.
The Armenians, a population in Western Asia historically native to the Armenian Highlands, were long thought to be descendants of Phrygian settlers from the Balkans. This theory, rooted primarily in the writings of the Greek historian Herodotus, stemmed from his observation that Armenians serving in the Persian army were armed in a manner similar to the Phrygians.
In a groundbreaking discovery, scientists have deciphered what is believed to be the world's oldest map--a 3,000-year-old Babylonian clay tablet that may reveal the location of Noah's Ark. The artifact, known as the Imago Mundi, has been housed in the British Museum since 1882 after its discovery in what is now Iraq.
In a groundbreaking discovery, archaeologists have unearthed an ancient relic that offers a vivid snapshot of life nearly 3,000 years ago. However, it wasn't a precious gem, intricate artifact, or a hidden scripture, but rather a seemingly mundane brick. The story behind this find isn't just about its age but the biological treasure trove it held within.
For roughly two centuries, from ca. 900 -- 700 BCE, the Near Eastern empires of Neo-Assyria and Urartu co-existed, though the former gradually conquered and subsumed the latter in the mid-7th century. By 550 BCE, forty years after the Assyrians themselves were defeated, the Achaemenid Empire had conquered the major centres of the Near East and catapulted the Persians into position as a regional...
While western media attention has lately centered mainly on Ukraine or Israel and Gaza, devastating conflict continues in Syria between its authoritarian government and a complex array of independent factions supported by foreign governments.