Definitions

Utu-Shamash (also known as Babbar, Samas, Shamash, and Utu) is the Sumerian god of the sun and divine justice. He is the son of the moon god Nanna and the fertility goddess Ningal in the Sumerian tradition...

Nanna (also known as Nannar, Nanna-Suen, Sin, Asimbabbar, Namrasit, Inbu) is the Mesopotamian god of the moon and wisdom. He is one of the oldest gods in the Mesopotamian pantheon and is first mentioned...

Ereshkigal (also known as Irkalla and Allatu) is the Mesopotamian Queen of the Dead, who rules the underworld. Her name translates as "Queen of the Great Below" or "Lady of the Great Place." She was responsible...

The First Anglo-Boer War (aka Transvaal War, 1880-1) was a conflict between Britain and the Boer Republic of Transvaal in Southern Africa. The Boers were fighting for their independence after the...

The Synod of Whitby was an assembly held in 664 by King Oswiu of Northumbria, with the aim of deciding whether Oswiu's kingdom should follow Roman Christian customs or those of the Irish Christians at Iona, particularly regarding...

Inanna is the ancient Sumerian goddess of love, sensuality, fertility, procreation, and also of war. She later became identified by the Akkadians and Assyrians as the goddess Ishtar, and further...

Cylinder Seals were impression stamps used by the people of ancient Mesopotamia. Known as kishib in Sumerian and kunukku in Akkadian, the seals were used by everyone, from royals to slaves, as a means of...

The Jameson Raid was an unofficial and failed attempt by the British to take over the Boer Republic of Transvaal in Southern Africa in December 1895. Masterminded by the millionaire imperialist Cecil...

Edmund I ruled the Kingdom of the English from 939 to 946. In his youth, alongside his brother, King Aethelstan (reign 924-939), he defeated a Celtic-Viking alliance at the Battle of Brunanburh (937). Yet when...

The Code of Hammurabi was a set of 282 laws inscribed in stone by the Babylonian king Hammurabi (reign 1792-1750 BCE), who conquered and then ruled ancient Mesopotamia. Although his law...