Around 2112 B.C., the Sumerian king Ur-Namma (r. 2112–2095 B.C.) united the city-states of southern Mesopotamia into a short-lived kingdom known today as the Third Dynasty of Ur, or Ur III. More than ...

In 2334 BC, King Sargon of Akkad founded one of the world’s greatest empires. From humble roots, he created a Golden Age in Mesopotamia. Heroic epics tell tales of a strong leader. Sargon the Great ...

Ca. 2300–2000 b.c. The head likely depicts a Mesopotamian ruler and is one of the earliest known life-size lost-wax metal sculptures to survive. It had been thought that the head was virtually solid, ...

Chogha Zanbil was first spotted from a surveillance airplane in 1935. The excavated complex was discovered to be one of the few ziggurats built outside Mesopotamia. The ruins of the ancient Elamite ...

The first commercially printed Advent calendars might’ve had Bible verses, but today’s are nondenominational and have broadened to include just about anything, from jars of Bonne Maman orange ...

What's a better way to count down the days until Christmas than with ... pickles? Advent calendars are a popular way to count down to Christmas, with a surprise each day. More traditional Advent ...

We may receive a portion of sales if you purchase a product through a link in this article. Remember the SNL “Christmas Morning” sketch—the one where the whole family unwraps a bounty of perfect gifts ...

It took decades for archaeologists to realize this 3,500-year-old tablet depicts an ancient city at scale. But how did its creators pull that off? Archaeologists from the University of Pennsylvania ...

Can you chip in? As an independent nonprofit, the Internet Archive is fighting for universal access to quality information. We build and maintain all our own systems, but we don’t charge for access, ...

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