Excavations on unpromising mounds in the Iraqi desert revealed Sumer’s earliest city. Surviving relics and a rebuilt temple ...

In the cradle of civilisation, illness wasn’t just a medical problem — it was a supernatural one. That’s why Mesopotamians ...

The Sumerians likely bartered palm ... depicts a deified ruler and the goddess Ishtar, invoked in matters of war, love and fertility, along with vanquished prisoners proffering plates of fruit.

Mesopotamia—“the land between two rivers ... Babylonian landmarks built by Nebuchadrezzar II: the dazzling blue Ishtar Gate, now reconstructed and on display at the Pergamon Museum ...

The original Ishtar Gate (left, a 1980s replica ... “Turmoil descended upon the land,” mourned the Sumerian scribe. “The statues that were in the treasury were cut down . . . there were ...

Mesopotamian Goddess Ishtar Credit: google lens As the fertility goddess, Ishtar was often associated with eggs, which were seen as a symbol of new life and rebirth.