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Mesopotamian Spells Against Sorcerers
The first tablet of Maqlu (Akkadian, which means burning), the Akkadian series of incantations directed against demons and witches. The spells involved the manufacturer of wax figurines; these would then be burned in certain ceremonies. From...

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Mesopotamian Ceramic Objects Used in Magical Liturgy
Three rounded ceramic objects with saw-teeth-like margins. They have small holes on both the ventral and the dorsal aspects. Upon moving them, a sound comes out as if there is a small object inside them. May have been used in religious settings...

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Mesopotamian Beer Rations Tablet
The temples issued workers with daily rations of barley beer, the staple drink of Mesopotamia. The tablet was impressed with five different types of numerical symbol. From Mesopotamia, Iraq. Late Uruk Period, 3100-3000 BCE. (The British Museum...

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Mesopotamian Record of Barley
On this clay tablet, barley appears 4 times, depicted as a single stalk with ears at the top. Emmer wheat is different from barley, by writing numbers with extra strokes. Three different types of numerical symbol were used. From Mesopotamia...

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Mesopotamian Tablet with Proverbs
Fragment of a Neo-Assyrian clay tablet, with 8 lines of bilingual text, including proverbs and riddles, from the Library of Ashurbanipal, Kouyunjik, Iraq.
The British Museum, London.

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Mesopotamian Cylinder Naming Nabonidus & Sacred Buildings
Clay cylinder with Babylonian characters, recording the restoration of Sin's ziggurat at Ur and also asking him to protect Nabonidus and his son Belshazzar. From Ur, Southern Mesopotamia, modern-day Iraq. Neo-Babylonian Period, reign of Nabonidus...

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Mesopotamian Tablet Describing the Walls of Babylon
This clay tablet fragment gives detailed measurements for the inner city wall called Imgur-Enlil at the start of Nebuchadnezzar II's reign. It names landmarks including Zababa and Urash gates. Modern surveys show that the figures are realistic...

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Mesopotamian Tablet Naming Belshazzar
This adminsitrative document is dated to the "24th day of Kislimu in the 11th year Nabonidus, King of Babylon". It mentions "a slave of Bel-sharra-usur (Belshazzar),son of the king". Although Belshazzar is acting as regent, the formal date...

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Mesopotamian Plaque Showing a Man Shooting at a Monkey
Clay plaque showing a man shooting at a monkey. The monkey is in the branches of a tree, in the centre. There is a boar at the foot of the right side of the tree. A kneeling man assists the shooter. This is possibly a scene from an Indian...

Definition
Ancient Syria
Syria is a country located in the Middle East on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea and bordered, from the north down to the west, by Turkey, Iraq, Jordan, Israel, and Lebanon. It is one of the oldest inhabited regions in the world with archaeological...