Clay tabletIn the Ancient Near East, clay tablets (Akkadian 𒁾) were used as a writing medium, especially for writing in cuneiform, throughout the Bronze Age and well into the Iron Age. Cuneiform characters were imprinted on a wet clay tablet with a stylus often made of reed (reed pen). Once written upon, many tablets were dried in the sun or air, remaining fragile. Later, these unfired clay tablets could be soaked in water and recycled into new clean tablets.
ZigguratA ziggurat (ˈzɪɡʊˌræt; Cuneiform: 𒅆𒂍𒉪, Akkadian: ziqqurratum, D-stem of zaqārum 'to protrude, to build high', cognate with other Semitic languages like Hebrew zaqar (זָקַר) 'protrude') is a type of massive structure built in ancient Mesopotamia. It has the form of a terraced compound of successively receding storeys or levels. Notable ziggurats include the Great Ziggurat of Ur near Nasiriyah, the Ziggurat of Aqar Quf near Baghdad, the now-destroyed Etemenanki in Babylon, Chogha Zanbil in Khūzestān and Sialk Plus, Sumer in general.
MitanniMitanni (mɪˈtæni; Hittite cuneiform KUR URUMi-ta-an-ni; Mittani Mi-it-ta-ni), 1550–1260 BC, earlier called Ḫabigalbat in old Babylonian texts, 1600 BC; Hanigalbat or Hani-Rabbat (Hanikalbat, Khanigalbat, cuneiform Ḫa-ni-gal-bat, Ḫa-ni-rab-bat) in Assyrian records, or Naharin in Egyptian texts, was a Hurrian-speaking state with Indo-Aryan linguistic influences in northern Syria and southeast Anatolia (modern-day Turkey).
SemiramisSemiramis (səˈmɪrəmɪs,_sɪ-,_sɛ-; ܫܲܡܝܼܪܵܡ Šammīrām, Σεμίραμις, سميراميس Samīrāmīs, Շամիրամ Šamiram) was the legendary Lydian- Babylonian wife of Onnes and of Ninus, who succeeded the latter on the throne of Assyria, according to Movses Khorenatsi. Legends narrated by Diodorus Siculus, who drew primarily from the works of Ctesias of Cnidus, describe her and her relationships to Onnes and King Ninus. Armenians and the Assyrians of Iraq, northeast Syria, southeast Turkey, and northwest Iran still use Shamiram as a given name for girls.
KirkukKirkuk (كركوك; کەرکووک; ܟܪܟܘܟ; Kerkük) is a city in Iraq, serving as the capital of the Kirkuk Governorate, located north of Baghdad. The city is home to a diverse population of Kurds, Turkmens and Arabs. Kirkuk sits on the ruins of the original Kirkuk Citadel which sits near the Khasa River. Kirkuk was proclaimed the "capital of Iraqi culture" in 2010. It is described by the Kurdish leader and former Iraqi president Jalal Talabani as “the Jerusalem of Kurdistan”.
TikritTikrit (تِكْرِيت Tikrīt ˈtɪkriːt) is a city in Iraq, located northwest of Baghdad and southeast of Mosul on the Tigris River. It is the administrative center of the Saladin Governorate. , it had a population of approximately 160,000. Originally a fort during the Assyrian empire, Tikrit became the birthplace of Muslim military leader Saladin. It was the birthplace of Saddam Hussein and the city from where a significant portion of those he appointed to government roles originated during the time of Ba'athist Iraq until the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Amurru kingdomAmurru (Sumerian: 𒈥𒌅𒆠 MAR.TUKI; Akkadian: 𒀀𒈬𒌨𒊏 Amûrra, 𒀀𒈬𒊑 Amuri, 𒀀𒄯𒊑 Amurri) was an Amorite kingdom established c. 2000 BC, in a region spanning present-day western and north-western Syria and northern Lebanon. The inhabitants spoke the Amorite language, an extinct early Northwest Semitic language classified as a westernmost or Amorite-specific dialect of Ugaritic. The kingdom shares a name with the eponymous god Amurru.
Ancient Mesopotamian religionMesopotamian religion was the original religious beliefs and practices of the civilizations of ancient Mesopotamia, particularly Sumer, Akkad, Assyria and Babylonia between circa 6000 BC and 400 AD. The religious development of Mesopotamia and Mesopotamian culture in general, especially in the south, were not particularly influenced by the movements of the various peoples into and throughout the area. Rather, Mesopotamian religion was a consistent and coherent tradition, which adapted to the internal needs of its adherents over millennia of development.
