Images

Occasionally, cuneiform text scribes encounter difficult or rare words. The list on this clay tablet explain such words. From the library of Ashurbanipal at Nineveh (modern-day Ninawa Governorate, Iraq), northern Mesopotamia. Neo-Assyrian...

Two almost similar letter tablets relaying the Assyrian king Ashurbanipal's orders to his employees to find local copies of particular compositions, which the royal library at Nineveh lacked. Sent from Nineveh and found at the city of Borsippa...

This large and partially broken clay tablet tells us how Ishtar, goddess of love and war, decided to descend and enter the underworld. During her long journey, she was gradually stripped of her attributes, therefore, she lost all of her...

This fragment of a clay tablet narrates in 17 lines of cuneiform inscription the origin of Sargon and recounts how as a baby he was found in a basket floating in a river. Sargon reigned from 2334-2279 BCE. From the library of Ashurbanipal...

A copper-alloy amulet of Pazuzu; the king of the demons of the wind. He has a human body, 4 wings, lion forepaws, vulture's feet, and rattle snake tail. Pazuzu is often depicted with his right hand pointing upward and left hand pointing downward...

This is the 4th tablet of the story of Etana, which tells us how Etana was carried to Heaven on the back of an eagle. Etana did this long journey in order to find the plant of birth. He was a Sumerian king of Kish. This story is one of the...

This limestone statue is the only discovered statue which depicts a completely naked woman. It is very likely that the statue represents an attendant of goddess Ishtar or Ishtar herself in her role as a goddess of love. The cuneiform inscriptions...

This black stone statue was found inside one of the palaces at Kar Tukulti-Ninurta (modern-day Tilul Al-Aqar, Salah Aldin Governorate, Iraq). Monkeys were imported to Mesopotamia from Africa or India; they are not native to Mesopotamia. Several...

Only the upper half of this clay statue of a naked woman has survived. It represent a worshipper. Traces of red color (original paint) can still be seen. She has an elaborate hair style and wears a 4-strand necklace and broad bracelets. Date...

This ivory plaque is part of the so-called "Nimrud Ivories." The sphinx wears the typical Egyptian Pharaohs' double crown and an apron with cobra. This indicates that the plaque was made by a Phoenician craftsman. From Nimrud (ancient Kalhu...