Ihab Son Sumerian Marshes

25/08/2024

Can you believe that this creative masterpiece dates back to more than 4600 years!?

From the Dawn of the Dynasties era, specifically from the Sumerian era, a holder of vessels and pots with a model of an animal (ibex) with details of its horns, beard, hooves and full body, dating back to the period between (2600-2350) years BC, made of copper and inlaid with mother-of-pearl and lapis lazuli.

Temple rituals during that period included offering food, drink and incense to the gods.

This holder was used to carry vessels containing incense and lighting during the offerings in the temple.

Can you imagine how beautiful and charming the scene was!

The statue is currently in the Metropolitan Museum of Art - New York

15/08/2024

One of the most mysterious pieces in history is the Nimrud Lens!

It is a circular piece made of rock crystal with a diameter of 38 mm and a thickness of 23 mm, estimated to be 3000 years old, discovered by archaeologist Austin Layard in one of the Assyrian palaces in the ancient city of Nimrud.

Since its discovery, several opinions and theories have emerged about the nature of this glass lens and its function.

Some researchers say that it was part of an astronomical observation device, so the Assyrians had extensive knowledge of astronomy.

Others said that the lens may have been used to focus beams of sunlight to ignite fire and produce high temperatures to melt gold.

But the most common and accepted opinion among archaeologists, which was stated by the curator of the British Museum, is that this lens was used by craftsmen as a magnifying tool while making gold jewelry, ivory artifacts, and finely crafted crafts. He based his opinion on the extreme precision in making Assyrian jewelry and artwork.
This rare and mysterious piece, one of the most important secrets of the ancient world, has been transferred to the British Museum.

20/07/2024

Clay inscription dating back to the ancient Babylonian era (circa 1800 BC)
A man is shown climbing a palm tree in the traditional Iraqi way
He handed a date to another person next to him.

14/07/2024

About 5,000 years ago, the Sumerians, who lived in ancient Iraq, revolutionized how we perceive and measure time.

They developed a sophisticated numerical system based on the number 60, known as the s*xagesimal system. This unique system divided the hour into 60 minutes and the minute into 60 seconds, concepts that are still in use today.

The Sumerians' need for precise timekeeping was driven by their agricultural society. Accurate calendars were essential for planting and harvesting crops. They also needed to coordinate their religious ceremonies and complex administrative activities.

To help keep time, the Sumerians made major advances in astronomy. They observed the movements of celestial bodies and used this knowledge to create a 12-month lunar calendar, which closely aligned with the agricultural seasons.

Dividing the day into 24 hours, every hour into 60 minutes, and every minute into 60 seconds was a tremendous achievement. These divisions were not arbitrary but were designed to be practical and easily divisible, reflecting the Sumerians' advanced understanding of mathematics.

This innovative approach to time had a profound influence on later civilizations, including the Babylonians, Greeks, and Romans, who adopted and developed the Sumerian system. The legacy of the Sumerians' timekeeping system is evident in our modern clocks and calendars, demonstrating the lasting influence of their ingenuity on our daily lives.

14/07/2024

A Babylonian obelisk from the city of Sippar (south of Baghdad) that was taken as spoils by the Elamites after they occupied Babylon in 1190 BC. The obelisk shows symbols of the gods Shamash and Sin with a figure of what is believed to be the god Shamash, and in front of him is another figure whose features were erased to be replaced with the figure of the Elamite king Shturuk-Nakhunta, where the obelisk was found. Another contains a picture of the Elamite king and is displayed in the same museum. The obelisk is displayed in the Louvre Museum.

13/07/2024

A weight unit in the shape of a locust...made with beauty and very clear details, from hematite, and dates back to the ancient Babylonian era, around the period between (1800-1700) BC.
It weighs one (Mina), which is equivalent to 570 grams.
This is how the forms of weights were in Mesopotamia with such complete artistic precision.

09/07/2024

Part of an alabaster stone slab found by the British in 1904 in the palace of the city of Nineveh (Tel Quynjaq). It depicts a naval or river military campaign of the Assyrian king Sinacherib (Sennacherib 705 - 681 BC). Where we see one of his double-decker warships. It was a fast and frightening ship because of its protrusion. It had a prominent point at its front and stern to destroy and sink enemy ships, meaning it was a (destroyer), moved by 44 men with two rows of oars on the sides, while the soldiers were on the upper level surrounded by shields, in a way similar to the fortifications of city walls / displayed in the British Museum

08/07/2024

Iraqi "Zar" dice

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The dice in the picture have been found
During archaeological excavations in the “Tel Khafaja/Diyala” area
Central Iraq of Mesopotamia
Which dates back to the third millennium BC
Specifically the Akkadian era

05/07/2024

A tablet preserved in the Oriental Studies Institute at the University of Chicago, inscribed in the Akkadian language and dating back to the year (1700-1800) BC, on which it is written:
“A pregnant woman is like a vessel that holds a carnelian or a lapis lazuli. She is filled with either a carnelian or a lapis lazuli – but I do not know whether the fetus inside her is a carnelian or a lapis lazuli.”
From these symbolic expressions and their striking beauty, the mother’s ability to bear children and the ambiguity regarding the s*x of the fetus were transformed into a container for precious stones - red agate is a symbol of the fetus if it is female... and blue lapis lazuli is a symbol of the fetus if it is male.
To this moment, most people in the world still buy blue clothes for a baby boy, and light red or pink clothes if the baby is a girl!

28/06/2024

On Gilgamesh's journey to search for immortality, he obtained a plant that rejuvenates youth and gives humans a chance to live eternally.
While he was sleeping, exhausted and exhausted by the arduous and painful journey he had undergone, a snake crept in, snatched the plant of renewed youth, and fled.
After Gilgamesh woke up from his sleep and learned about the matter, he wept bitterly, with pain filling his voice, and with all despair he said:

Why did I get tired of my hands?
For whom did I give my heart's blood?
I did not reap a blessing for myself
Rather, as a snake of dust, I reaped grace

Specifically here, in this part of the epic, man lost his chance for eternal immortality!
What is strange is that the snake is one of the unique creatures in its ability to renew its skin, and that is why it was called “snake”!
This proves the extent of the intelligence and genius of the Mesopotamian writer in his formulation of the Epic of Gilgamesh with all the events and philosophical symbols it contains in the utmost depth.

17/06/2024

During celebrations of religious holidays in Mesopotamia, the priests would perform prayers collectively with the people and sing religious hymns, then the high priest would sprinkle the corners of the temple with disinfectant water, drums would be beaten, supplications would be recited, and incense would be burned.
Then, finally, the ritual of slaughtering the lamb from its neck takes place, as we do nowadays, and the walls of the temple are wiped with its blood, and its head and body are thrown into the river. It was believed that this scapegoat would take with him all the sins of that year.

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Sources: 1- Introduction to babylon the gate of gods history of ancient civilizations - Taha Baqir
2- Ancient Iraq _ Lisa Brightman, Georges Roux

09/06/2024

An Assyrian version of the Epic of Gilgamesh dating back to the seventh century BC

It talks about the sage (Utunpishtim) building a ship carrying a number of people, animals, birds, and belongings on board in order to save them from the great flood.

09/06/2024

A clay tablet carrying a very deep philosophical text from the Epic of Gilgamesh from Mesopotamia, and the translation of the text is as follows:
Where are you seeking, Gilgamesh?
You will not find the life you are looking for, because when the gods created humans, they decreed death over them, and they took control of life. As for you, Gilgamesh, always have your stomach full, be merry day and night, celebrate every day of your life, and dance and rejoice day and evening. Make your clothes clean and bright, wash yourself with water, pamper the child holding your hand, and make the wife happy in your arms. This is the share of humanity.
That is, it is an explicit call from thousands of years ago through the epics of Mesopotamia to reject exaggerated manifestations of sadness, and to enjoy the joys of life, for life is a short journey.
The tablet is located in the Pergamon Museum, Germany

09/06/2024

A model of a Babylonian chariot made of clay, from the ancient Babylonian era 1800-1600 BC
This model represents a vehicle protected by a front shield. The interior of the shield is stamped with the image of a worshiper standing before a god wearing a tall horned headdress (possibly the god Shamash) holding in his hand a staff and a ring, measuring instruments associated with divine justice. These shapes resemble images of gods on cylinder seals from that period.

08/06/2024

Baghdad (IraqiNews.com) – In the heart of Baghdad stands a building with a legacy that stretches back 65,000 years. This edifice invites you to explore the very origins of civilization. Within its walls, history is preserved in the form of the first alphabet, the first legal codes, and the earlies...

07/06/2024

The use of pesticides in agriculture..

The earliest recorded example of any form of pest control dates back to 2500 BC where the ancient Sumerians used sulfur compounds or “sulfur” to kill insects and moths that fed on their agricultural crops.
The attached photo is of a Sumerian seal from approximately the same period and is from a private collection.

07/06/2024

This statue, designed in the form of a mythical bird with the head of a lion and the body of an eagle, was discovered in the city of Mari in 1965 AD. It is made of lapis lazuli and gold.
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It dates back to the third millennium BC, when it was found in a clay jar with other statues and was called the “Treasure of Ur,” which was sent as a gift from the King of Ur, “Masanipada,” to the King of Mari, “Gansod.”

05/06/2024

Part of a tablet found in room 36 of the southwestern palace in the city of Nineveh (Tell Quynjaq), dated to 700 - 692 BC. It shows slingshot archers (a type of the Assyrian army) during combat, launching small round stones into the air targeting troops. The enemy standing on top of the city walls to defend their besieged city / On display at the British Museum. During the excavation, a number of sling stones were found at the main gate of the city of Lachish (Tel al-Duwair), which fell into the hands of the Assyrian king Sennacherib after he besieged it.

03/06/2024

A tablet dated to the time of King Ashurbanipali (Ashurbanipal 685 - 627 BC) discovered by the British in 1854 in the city of Nineveh. It documents the destruction of the Elamite city of Khamnu (its exact location is not yet known) after the end of the war against the Assyrian army. It includes three scenes: Above The Assyrian army marched, led by Ashurbanipal in his chariot, and in the middle we could see rising flames and flames rising from the city walls. Assyrian soldiers were smashing those walls with axes and heavy hammers, while others were transporting the spoils of war away from the shattered city. In the field below we see the Assyrian soldiers having a feast to celebrate the victory. On display in the British Museum
The war that occurred was due to the transgressions and violations committed by the Elamite Empire against Mesopotamia over the centuries. King Ashurbanipal directed a retaliatory strike in 646 BC against the Elamites, saying: “I, Assyria, the builder of my great father, invaded Susa, the great holy city, the abode of their gods, and the source of their secrets. I entered Its palaces, and I opened its treasuries where the silver, gold, goods, and riches were collected...the treasures of Sumer, Akkad, and Babylon that the kings of ancient Elam had plundered and carried away to their country. I destroyed the ziggurat of Susa, smashed its shining copper horns, and turned the temples of Elam and their gods into nothing. I exhumed the graves of their ancient and modern kings and exposed them to the rays of the sun And I carried their bones away to the land of Assyria. I destroyed the cities of Elam and scattered salt on their lands....The city of Khamanu, the royal city in the land of Elam, I besieged it, occupied it, and plundered its spoils.
In fact, the fertile plains and lands of Mesopotamia were not only ideal for war, but they attracted war. Invaders from all nations within the lands of the Assyrians coveted it: the Scythians in the north, the Arameans and Cimmerians in the west, the Elamites in the east, and the Babylonians in the south. The Babylonians never tired of rebelling against Assyrian rule. As a result, in order to prevent the passage of Assyrian war chariots and cavalry, the settlements built these walls, although they were often made of clay because stone was not cheap and not easily available, and in order to destroy the ambitions of their opponents, the Assyrians had to seize those cities. .
To view the full board, please click on the image

02/06/2024

Who?

who are you ?

I used to imagine the origin of the colloquial Iraqi interrogative word (manu) with which we ask questions about a person. I thought it was from the origin of the Arabic word (who is), but its presence in the Akkadian language, which is identical to the colloquial word, proved its ancient roots rooted in the languages ​​of ancient Iraq. An example of this is when we ask questions about a person.) Mannu atta (mannu atta) in the Akkadian language we say

I mean, who are you???

01/06/2024

Ashurbanipal, the commander of the Assyrian army, ordered Shanabu
Assur-bani-pal (669-629 B.C.).
Continuing to march with the army that his father had prepared to suppress the strife in Egypt, he advanced to the Delta, fought Taharqa and the other Egyptian princes, and conquered Memphis.
Then he followed Taharqa to Upper Egypt and also conquered Thebes. Thus, all of Egypt was subjected to Assyrian rule, and Assyrianipal appointed Egyptian governors over it, including Bismamak, and he contracted with them to pay tribute to the Assyrian state and offer loyalty to it. After the withdrawal of the Assyrian armies, he annexed the Egyptian provinces under his banner and established the twenty-sixth dynasty, which was loyal to the Assyrian state.
Dr. F***j Basmachi.

30/05/2024

An adventure in the Chibayish marshes in southern Iraq with my friend Jonas from Denmark that I will never forget..

The marshlands of Iraq, also known as the Mesopotamian Marshes, are a unique and vital ecosystem located in the southern part of the country, primarily withi...

30/05/2024

Cassite language

In the 18th and 4th centuries BC, the Kassite tribe existed in northern Mesopotamia. For centuries, Kassite kings ruled in Babylon, after which they were overthrown by the Elamites. Although the people themselves existed for eight centuries after that, there is no information about their language after the Elamites came to power. In fact, little is known about the Kassite language today. Not even a single text survives. Everything modern science knows about this language is found in the Akkadian language sources. Even there, the cassette's word count is very small: just over 60 words. Only one short Akkadian-Kashi dictionary has survived, consisting of only 48 entries.

30/05/2024

A glass jar belonging to the Assyrian king Sharu-Kin (Sargon II), dated between 720-710 BC. It was found in the northwestern palace in the city of Kalkhu (Nimrud). It is a transparent light green color and was originally covered with a thick, opaque layer resembling enamel. The jar has a body It is oval, pear-shaped, with a flat edge, a short and wide concave neck, and a flat base. It has two vertical handles, and on the front and back of the body is an impression of a lion walking towards the right, in addition to a cuneiform inscription that reads: “Palace of Sharru-Kin, King of Assyria, King of Assyria.” / Displayed in the British Museum

27/05/2024

The southern palace in Babylon
Nebu Kodori (Nebuchadnezzar II) says in a text after he finished building the southern palace: “In Babylon, my favorite city, which I love, there was the palace, the home, the marvel of humanity, the center of the earth, the radiant dwelling, the abode of majesty, above the place of Babylon’s palace (the palace Southern) in Babylon, from the inner wall to the eastern canal from the bank of the Euphrates River to the procession street, which Nabu-apla-osar (Nbopolassar), king of Babylon, my father, built of rough brick and lived in, and as a result of the rise in the (underground) water level, it became its foundation. Weak, I demolished its old walls of rough brick, laid the foundation stone in it, and reached the depth of the (underground) water, and to resist the (underground) water, I laid solid foundations, huge cedar timbers that I brought (from Lebanon), placed them along its roofs, and covered the doors with strips. Of cedar and brass, lintels and handles of bronze, I placed in their doorways, silver and gold and precious stones, every imaginable opulence, wealth, luxury, everything that was so opulent, I piled up within it, I stored an immense abundance of royal treasure. inside it " .
You can imagine what this palace looked like!

24/05/2024

This is a 5,000-year-old clay tablet found in. Uruk Mesopotamia (modern Iraq). It has dots, brackets, and little drawings carved on it. It says:

29,086 measures barley 37 months Kushim. It contains the first signature in the name of a person called Kushim. The tablet contains an administrative record of beer brewing. The tablet was sold at an auction for 230 thousand dollars.

It appears to record a business deal.

So, who's Kushim?

Thousands of such business deals were found. Kushim was mentioned in eighteen of them.

He might be an accountant, or a treasurer. Or this might be just a title.

23/05/2024

King Santruk says in one of his writings from the city of Hatra in the city of Mosul in northern Iraq:
"Santrug king of de Arabs"
It means "Santruq, King of the Arabs."
De: It is the definite article in the ancient Arabic language and corresponds to the definite article “the” in the ancient Arabic language
The old definite article "de" is the origin of the definite article "the" in the English language today.

The picture is of King Santruk, King of the Arab Kingdom of Hatra, from inside the corridors of the Iraqi National Museum.

23/05/2024

How a French Botanist Brought to Europe the First Complete Written Testimony of Mesopotamian Civilization. André Michaux owned a farm in Satory, near Versailles. Once, while visiting a friend who was a doctor in Baghdad, they went to some ancient ruins near the city of Taq Kasra. There, Michaux found a strange black stone. It had a series of odd carvings on its upper part and what seemed like a type of strange writing on its lower part. As he noted in his journal, he kept it and took it with him for three and a half years, in 1786, when he returned to France with a large herbarium and a wealth of plant seeds that earned him the title of Royal Botanist. He sold it to the French Museum of Antiquities in 1800 for about 1,200 francs, which stored it in the National Library. Historians across Europe had never seen anything like it, and news of its discovery spread like wildfire through the continent’s scientific societies. Because the fact was that this stone was the first complete written testimony of the existence of the ancient Mesopotamian culture to reach Europe. Rawlinson was the first to propose a transcription of the stele in 1861, but a complete translation came from Jules Oppert in 1895.

Image / The Michaux Stone, now at the Bibliothèque Nationale de Paris.
Credit: Public domain / Wikimedia Commons

This kudurru is 46 centimeters tall and 20 centimeters wide and weighs 22 kilograms. It’s dated between 1099 and 1082 B.C., during the reign of Marduk-nadin-ahhe in Babylon. On its front and back, it contains 95 lines written in four columns, crowned by two registers containing 21 iconographic symbols representing mythical animals, divine attributes, and stars.

23/05/2024

A bronze votive tablet representing the Assyrian king Esarhaddon and his mother Zakoto worshiping in the Temple of Marduk in Babylon / on display in the Louvre Museum
The text written on the tablet commemorates the rebuilding of the city of Babylon and the return of the statue of the god Ea to the temple of the god Marduk. Sennacherib had burned and destroyed Babylon and taken the statue of the god Ea in the first year of his reign, around the year 705 BC. However, his son Esarhaddon rebuilt it under the influence of his mother. Queen Zakoto (the meaning of her name is pure), who was keen on the development of her native city (Babylon), and she was the royal wife of Sennacherib and the daughter-in-law of Sargon (II), the mother of Esarhaddon and the grandmother of Ashurbanipal. She was mentioned in many letters as the mother of the king or the queen mother. These messages covered multiple topics, the most important of which were religious and political matters.

21/05/2024

A golden vessel from the finds discovered in the graves of Assyrian queens is similar to what Libali Sharat, the wife of King Ashurbanipal, used in carvings to celebrate the victory over the Elam king Teoman.