Images

These lyres were found in queen Pu-Abi's grave, inside the "Great Death-Pit", one of the graves in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. From Ur, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Early dynastic period, 2600-2400 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

The silver cow's head decorating the front has inlaid eyes of shell and lapis lazuli. This lyre was found in the 'Great Death-Pit', one of the graves in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. From Ur, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Early dynastic period...

Rectangular stone foundation document of the Assyrian king Adad-Nirari I. It recounts the king's victories over the Mitanni, who had failed to gain Hittite support, and the extension of Assyrian rule west to the Euphrates. The stone appears...

An elaborate headdress and necklace made of gold, lapis lazuli, and carnelian which belonged to a high-level Sumerian woman. These were found in the "Great Death-Pit", one of the graves in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. From Ur, southern Mesopotamia...

Map showing the ancient states in the western Caucasus (modern-day Georgia) from c. 600 BCE to 150 BCE.

This lyre was found in the 'Great Death-Pit', one of the graves in the Royal Cemetery at Ur. From Ur, southern Mesopotamia, Iraq. Early dynastic period, 2600-2400 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

An alabaster bas-relief depicting the Assyrian king Tiglath-pileser III. From the central palace, Nimrud (ancient Kalhu), Mesopotamia, northern Iraq. Neo-Assyrian era, circa 728 BCE. (The British Museum, London)

Bronze Sistrum (rhythm instrument) with handle in the shape of the god Bes, 30th Dynasty, c. 350 BCE. (Neues Museum, Berlin)

This Phoenician carved ivory panel is one of an almost identical pair with one now in the Iraq Museum, Baghdad. They originally formed part of a piece of furniture, perhaps a throne. The incised letter 'aleph' beside holes on the top and...

Each peg has a very faint cuneiform inscription of Gudea, the ruler of the city-state of Lagash. Foundation pegs were buried in the foundation of buildings to magically protect them and preserve the builder's name for posterity. In this...