HittitesThe Hittites (ˈhɪtaɪts) were an Anatolian people who played an important role in establishing first a kingdom in Kussara (before 1750 BC), then the Kanesh or Nesha kingdom (1750–1650 BC), and next an empire centered on Hattusa in north-central Anatolia (around 1650 BC). This empire reached its height during the mid-14th century BC under Šuppiluliuma I, when it encompassed most of Anatolia and parts of the northern Levant and Upper Mesopotamia.
Metropolitan Museum of ArtThe Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City, colloquially "the Met", is the largest art museum in the Americas. In 2022 it welcomed 3,208,832 visitors, ranking it the third most visited U.S museum, and eighth on the list of most-visited art museums in the world. Its permanent collection contains over two million works, divided among 17 curatorial departments. The main building at 1000 Fifth Avenue, along the Museum Mile on the eastern edge of Central Park on Manhattan's Upper East Side, is by area one of the world's largest art museums.
EtiologyEtiology (ˌiːtiˈɒlədʒi; alternatively spelled aetiology or ætiology) is the study of causation or origination. The word is derived from the Greek word (), meaning "giving a reason for" (). More completely, etiology is the study of the causes, origins, or reasons behind the way that things are, or the way they function, or it can refer to the causes themselves. The word is commonly used in medicine (pertaining to causes of disease) and in philosophy, but also in physics, biology, psychology, government, geography, spatial analysis and theology in reference to the causes or origins of various phenomena.
GilgameshGilgamesh (; originally ) was a hero in ancient Mesopotamian mythology and the protagonist of the Epic of Gilgamesh, an epic poem written in Akkadian during the late 2nd millennium BC. He was possibly a historical king of the Sumerian city-state of Uruk, who was posthumously deified. His rule probably would have taken place sometime in the beginning of the Early Dynastic Period, 2900 – 2350 BC, though he became a major figure in Sumerian legend during the Third Dynasty of Ur (2112-2004 BC).
Persian GulfThe Persian Gulf (خلیج فارس, xæliːdʒe fɒːɾs), sometimes called the (Al-Khalīj al-ˁArabī), is a mediterranean sea in West Asia. The body of water is an extension of the Indian Ocean located between Iran and the Arabian Peninsula. It is connected to the Gulf of Oman in the east by the Strait of Hormuz. The Shatt al-Arab river delta forms the northwest shoreline. The Persian Gulf has many fishing grounds, extensive reefs (mostly rocky, but also coral), and abundant pearl oysters, however its ecology has been damaged by industrialization and oil spills.
Behistun InscriptionThe Behistun Inscription (also spelled Bisotun, Bisitun or Bisutun; بیستون, Old Persian: Bagastana, meaning "the place of god") is a multilingual Achaemenid royal inscription and large rock relief, produced during the reign of Darius I the Great (522-486). It is carved on a cliff at Mount Behistun in the Kermanshah Province of modern Iran. The inscription was important to the decipherment of cuneiform, because it is the longest known cuneiform text recorded in multiple languages, being written in Old Persian, Elamite, and Babylonian (a variety of Akkadian).
EuphratesThe Euphrates (juːˈfreɪtiːz ; see below) is the longest and one of the most historically important rivers of Western Asia. Together with the Tigris, it is one of the two defining rivers of Mesopotamia (the land between the rivers). Originating in Turkey, the Euphrates flows through Syria and Iraq to join the Tigris in the Shatt al-Arab, which empties into the Persian Gulf. The Euphrates is the fifteenth-longest river in Asia and the longest in Western Asia, at about , and has a drainage area of that covers six countries.
Seleucid EmpireThe Seleucid Empire (sɪˈljuːsɪd; Βασιλεία τῶν Σελευκιδῶν) was a Hellenistic power in West Asia. It was founded in 312 BC by the Macedonian general Seleucus I Nicator, following the division of the Macedonian Empire founded by Alexander the Great, and ruled by the Seleucid dynasty until its annexation by the Roman Republic under Pompey in 63 BC. After receiving the Mesopotamian regions of Babylonia and Assyria in 321 BC, Seleucus I began expanding his dominions to include the Near Eastern territories that encompass modern-day Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon all of which had been under Macedonian control after the fall of the former Persian Achaemenid Empire.
Aegean civilizationAegean civilization is a general term for the Bronze Age civilizations of Greece around the Aegean Sea. There are three distinct but communicating and interacting geographic regions covered by this term: Crete, the Cyclades and the Greek mainland. Crete is associated with the Minoan civilization from the Early Bronze Age. The Cycladic civilization converges with the mainland during the Early Helladic ("Minyan") period and with Crete in the Middle Minoan period.
SusaSusa (ˈsuːsə ; Middle 𒀸𒋗𒊺𒂗; Middle and Neo-𒋢𒋢𒌦; Neo-Elamite and Achaemenid 𒀸𒋗𒐼𒀭; Achaemenid 𒀸𒋗𒐼; شوش Šuš ʃuʃ; שׁוּשָׁן Šūšān; Σοῦσα Soûsa; ܫܘܫ Šuš; 𐭮𐭥𐭱𐭩 Sūš or 𐭱𐭥𐭮 Šūs; 𐏂𐎢𐏁𐎠 Çūšā) was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers in Iran. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital of Elam and the Achaemenid Empire, and remained a strategic centre during the Parthian and Sasanian periods.
