Mesopotamia
The Relatable Emotions of Depressed People From 3,000 Years Ago
"He eats bread and drinks beer but it does not go well for him, then says, ‘Oh, my heart!’ and is dejected."
eBay, Organized Crime, and Evangelical Christians: The Ethical Minefield of Studying Ancient Civilizations
Iraqi artifacts smuggled into the US by Hobby Lobby contain new evidence of a lost Sumerian city, and have scholars divided over whether to study the looted relics.
Ancient Artifacts Smuggled by Hobby Lobby Traced to Mysterious Sumerian City
Some of the 5,500 stolen artifacts purchased by Hobby Lobby are believed to have originated in the long-lost city of Irisagrig.
Photos of the Region Some Believe Was the Biblical Garden of Eden
Photographer Tamara Abdul Hadi spent time with people living in the Iraqi marshlands.
Ancient Mesopotamian Sheep Liver Magic Predicted Trump's Rise
The polls, models, and experts didn't know what was going to happen on Election Day, but Selena Wisnom did—she read it in a sheep's liver.
World's Oldest Paycheck Shows Workers Were Paid in Beer
According to a cuneiform tablet, which is being called “the world’s oldest known payslip,” workers opted for rations of beer five millennia ago.
We Spoke to a 'Sex Priestess' About Working with Victims of Sexual Trauma
Kerri Ryan, a sexological bodyworker and self-proclaimed sex priestess, works to help women who have suffered sexual abuse or traumatic childbirths.
Were 'Devil Worshipper' Yazidis There for the Birth of Human Culture?
As well as the attempted annihilation of an ethnic group, it’s also their religion IS want to destroy. One of the strangest survivals throughout the entirety of human culture, their faith has been viewed as so subversive and unsettling that it’s...