Berossus, a Babylonian priest writing in Greek, preserved a version of the Sumerian King List that includes rulers said to have lived for thousands of years. But how reliable is this account? In this ...

The underlying substance is Sumerian bitumen: a naturally occurring petroleum material (often called an asphalt-like “black goo”) long associated with waterproofing and adhesion, and even with ...

Sumerians used advanced ancient technology to engineer bitumen with fibers and minerals, revealing sophisticated material science.

More than 5,000 years ago, the world’s oldest known writing system emerged in what is now Iraq, establishing the country as the epicenter of recorded human history. […] ...

Until now, it was believed that mathematical thinking only began once people gained the knowledge of numbers and writing. However, a new study reveals a potentially earlier origin of math hidden in ...

The Sumerians are known for having established one of the world’s earliest agricultural civilizations, but a chance discovery in southern Iraq suggests they also traveled the seas and conducted ...

A new interdisciplinary study shows that the rise of the first urban civilization was not solely a product of human ingenuity, but a complex response to coastal dynamics and the predictable rhythms of ...

New research shows that the rise of Sumer was deeply tied to the tidal and sedimentary dynamics of ancient Mesopotamia. Early communities harnessed predictable tides for irrigation, but when deltas ...

The story of how the first cities rose from southern Mesopotamia has long fascinated scientists and historians. Many explanations point to fertile soil, farming, and trade networks as the engines of ...

First, keep in mind that in the 400,000-odd years that Homo sapiens has been around, most people had no use for exact time. Dawn, sunrise, sunset and night were very important, but no cave person ...

The Indus Valley Civilisation, also known as the "Harappan Civilisation," is the oldest civilisation found in India. However, can you imagine another civilisation that existed before the Indus Valley ...