Newswise — Woods Hole, Mass. (August 20, 2025) -- A newly published study challenges long-held assumptions about the origins of urban civilization in ancient Mesopotamia, suggesting that the rise of ...

A radically expanded view of the origin of civilization, extending far beyond Mesopotamia, is reported by journalist Andrew Lawler in the 3 August issue of Science. Mesopotamia is widely believed to ...

In ancient times, Mesopotamia, meaning 'land between two rivers', was a vast region that lay between the Tigris and Euphrates river systems, and it is where civilization emerged over 7,000 years ago.

The Sumerians created the world's first cities, developed the earliest known writing system, and laid the foundations for civilization in ancient Mesopotamia. Yet despite their enormous influence on ...

Excavations at Konar Sandal A and B, two mounds standing 13 and 21 meters high respectively, uncovered clay and stone tablets inscribed with geometric characters. Some researchers connect these ...

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 ...

“Mesopotamia: Civilization Begins” features artworks on loan from Musée du Louvre, Metropolitan Museum of Art, Bibliothèque nationale de France, and Musée Auguste Grasset – Varzy. (Getty Museum) (The ...

Recent events in Iraq, Iran, and Turkey recall ancient and equally dramatic events in Babylon and Mesopotamia, whose lands these countries now occupy. A magnificent storyteller and a careful historian ...

The Sumerian takeoff -- Factors hindering our understanding of the Sumerian takeoff -- Modeling the dynamics of urban growth -- Early Mesopotamian urbanism : why? -- Early Mesopotamian urbanism : how?

The dissolution of the colonial creation named “Iraq” is now almost complete. Perhaps what comes next is a return to the past; not a brutal Islamic “caliphate,” but something more basic. Today, ...

Sumer was an ancient civilization located in southern Mesopotamia, in what is now modern-day Iraq. It is often considered the cradle of civilization due to its numerous innovations, including the ...