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 ...

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. Here’s how it works. But evidence uncovered in the past few decades indicates that the Sumerians have a few contenders ...

On the bitter plains of modern Iraq there remain large piles of baked bricks covered with much sand. They have sat there in silent witness to a lost religion for 4,000 years. Only in the 19th century ...