Search Results: Sickle

A bronze Assyrian sickle sword that is believed to have belonged to the Assyrian king Adad Nirari I (r. 1307-1275 BCE), made in northern Mesopotamia, c. 13th century BCE. The blade bears the cuneiform inscription: "Palace of Adad-nirari...

This cutting tool witnessed the beginning of agriculture. Ubaid period, 5th millennium BCE, Mesopotamia, Iraq. (The Sulaimaniya Museum, Iraq).

In Greek mythology, Cronus (also spelt Kronos) is a Titan and the youngest son of Uranus (Heaven/Sky) and Gaia (Earth). He dethroned Uranus and became the world's first king, ruling over his siblings and fellow Titans. Cronus married his...

Uranus (also spelt Ouranos) is the personification of heaven and the sky in Greek mythology. His Roman counterpart is Caelus. Gaia (Earth) gave birth to Uranus and chose him to be her equal. She lay with him, resulting in the birth of the...

The Greek poet Hesiod (c. 700 BCE) is most famous for his works Theogony and Works and Days. In this passage from Theogony, Hesiod relates the birth of the gods from cosmic Chaos and follows the lineage through the great Zeus, King of the...

Medusa is a figure from Greek mythology, the only mortal of the three Gorgons, along with her immortal sisters, Stheno and Euryale. The three Gorgons were born to the sea god of the dangers of the hidden deep, Phorcys, and the goddess of...

Gaia (also Gaea or Ge) is a primordial goddess and the personification of the Earth in Greek mythology. Gaia emerged from Chaos and is considered the supreme or mother goddess by immortals and mortals alike. All gods and goddesses are descended...

Perseus is one of the greatest and oldest pan-Hellenic heroes of Greek mythology. Perseus famously killed the dreaded Medusa, a Gorgon with snakes as hair and whose stare turned men to stone. Perseus also carried out the daring rescue of...

Typhon (also Typheus) is the largest and most dreadful monster in Greek mythology. He was tall, with a brutish face, and had wings, countless snakeheads in place of hands, and a lower body made up of coiled serpents. His eyes flashed fire...

Ninja (aka Shinobi) were the specialised assassins, saboteurs, and secret agents of medieval Japanese warfare who were highly-trained proponents of the martial arts, especially what later became known as ninjutsu or 'the art of the ninja'...