Images

This baked-mud brick was stamped with the name of king Ishme-Dagan; he was the 4th king in the First Dynasty of Isin and son of Iddin-Dagan. From Ur, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Isin-Larsa period, circa 1889-1871 BCE. (The British Museum...

This baked-mud brick was stamped with the name of king Warad-Sin, king of Larsa; reigned 1770-1758 BCE (short chronology) and possible co-regency with his father Kudur-Mabuk. The cuneiform inscriptions mention the building of the temple of...

This baked-mud brick was stamped with the name of the Neo-Sumerian king Amar-Sin (also spelled Amar-Suen; his name was previously misread as Bur-Sin). The cuneiform inscription mentions the king's making of a great vessel or laver, which...

This baked-mud brick was stamped with Akkadian cuneiform inscriptions. The text mentions the name of the Kassite king Kurigalzu and records the building of a temple to Bel. From Dur-Kurigalzu (modern-day Aqar-Quf, western Baghdad), Mesopotamia...

This cuneiform inscription on this fragment of a large brick mentions the name of the Neo-Assyrian king Shalmaneser III, reigned 858-824 BCE, and the construction of a temple at the city of Nimrud (ancient Kalhu; Biblical Calah). From Nimrud...

Mud brick stamped with the name and titles of the Neo-Sumerian king Ur-Nammu (r. 2047-2030 BCE, short chronology) from the ziggurat of Ur, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Note the dog's paw print; this "footprint" might well have been "stamped"...

The bottle is completely intact and has a rough glaze. From Babylon, Mesopotamia, Iraq. Neo-Babylonian period, 626-539 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

The Aramaic inscription on this limestone bust of a woman reads "Attai daughter of El'a". The woman wears a Greek chiton, From a funerary relief at Palmyra, modern-day Homs Governorate, Syria. Circa 50-150 CE. (The British Museum, London)

Stone stela of the Assyrian king Shalmaneser I, reigned 1273-1244 BCE. The Akkadian inscription mentions how the king rebuilt one of the gateways at the city of Ashur. From Ashur, northern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Middle-Assyrian period. (The British...

The shank of this corbel is lost. Otherwise, this hand-like corbel was very exceptionally well made; the fingernails were individually well-demarcated. The cuneiform inscriptions mention the name of the Assyrian king Ashurnasirpal II, reigned...