Catalog of an exhibition held at the J. Paul Getty Museum at the Getty Villa, Malibu, from March 18-July 27, 2020. Translated and adapted from L'histoire commence en Mésopotamie, which was published ...

Explore Mesopotamia, a civilization that flourished for more than 3,000 years. Mesopotamians built the first complex urban societies; developed writing, literature, and law; and united vast regions ...

The Great Ziggurat of Ur dedicated to the Moon god. Ziggurats were massive structure typical for Mesopotamia. Sumerians believed that the gods lived in the temple at the top of the ziggurats. Woods ...

The Sumerians are often called the creators of the world’s first civilization. But where did they come from—and why does their origin remain unclear? In this video, we explore ancient texts, ...

Cylinder seal (modern impression) with goddesses Ninishkun and Ishtar, Mesopotamia, Akkadian, Akkadian period (ca. 2334–2154 BCE), Cuneiform inscription: “To the deity Niniškun, Ilaknuid, ...

At the dawn of the second millennium BC, Mesopotamia was in chaos. Eventually, the kings of Babylon established control and created an empire. While Mesopotamian political, economic, social and ...