This 38,000-year-old Adorant figurine from a cave in the Swabian Alps contains symbols that may encode similar amounts of information as the earliest forms of written language. https://scim.ag/4rdysad
Are you curious about ancient #Assyrian or #Mesopotamian religions? Thanks to the Assyrian Cultural Foundation's Assyrian Renaissance lecture series, you can check out my thoughts on the topic here: youtu.be/vC9AbeNEU1I?... #Assyriology #Ancient #History
New issue of Journal of Near Eastern Studies Vol. 84, No. 1 (2025) www.journals.uchicago.edu/toc/jnes/202... @chicagojournals.bsky.social
@marshallcunningham.bsky.social @shanazaia.bsky.social
Boost Your Collection: check out how the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam is bringing their cuneiform object collection to life
www.linkedin.com/posts/anoukn...
Photo of a round clay tablet of pale clay. In the centre (roughly) is a drawing of a circle. Inside the circle is the cuneiform for the number 45. On the circleβs line itself above that is the number in cuneiform 3, and to the right of the diagram is the number in cuneiform for 9.
Almost 4,000 years ago during an era we call the Old Babylonian period, a student formed a round tablet out of clay and drew a circle on it for a math assignment.
The area of the circle (45) was then calculated using an approximation of pi (β 3). #HappyPiDay
Last year, I wrote a brief article about how the heart βbreaksβ in ancient Mesopotamia. What could a broken heart have meant 3,000 years ago, and how did people express mental distress?
To me, how they made emotional pain make sense is really moving anetoday.org/al-rashid-he...
Drawing of a T-shaped pillar of the GΓΆbekli Tepe type with arrows pointing out and labelling specific features like arms, hands, belt, and loincloth carved into the stone.
#GΓΆbekliTepe 's monumental T-pillars are actually giant #anthropomorphic sculptures. Got to admit, though, that in the beginning of my work there, meanwhile more than 17 years ago, I found it ... challenging to recognize this likeness.
Until we finally excavated the "hands & loincloth" part ...
Beige-coloured Cuneiform tablet with drawing of a seven-sided star in the top left and a table below it across the rest of the tablet. Reverse of the tablet is damaged and shows several cracks and spots.
Close-up of the seven-sided star with cuneiform signs at its points and part of the table below on a beige-coloured cuneiform tablet
It looks like an ancient Excel spreadsheet with a doodle. But ~2,500 years ago, someone made a diagram of a 7-pointed star, and a table that seems to give instructions for how to make that diagram.
The seven points of the star are labeled with the names for the strings of a Mesopotamian harp.
A workshop about my book on the Greek city-state, this Tuesday, in person and on zoom
sofheyman.org/events/celeb...
βMasterpieces of the MANN,β a special exhibit currently on display at Maraya, #AlUla, showcasing collections from the National Archaeological Museum of Naples, including those of Alexander III of Macedon, Trajan & Marcus Aurelias, and a mosaic replete with beautiful creatures π #SaudiArabia
Ea-nΔαΉ£ir is the recipient of the worldβs oldest complaint letter. Heβs reportedly the worst businessman of the 18th century, a mediocre conman whose actions should have him put out of business. Is this fair?
Hereβs a thread on the most up-to-date research on this captivating figure.
Itβs kinda rare to find drawings on clay tablets from ancient Mesopotamia. This one shows a drawing of coils β maybe intestines β on one side and cuneiform signs on the other.
Assyrian and Babylonian diviners had to βreadβ sheep intestines for signs of events to come www.penn.museum/collections/...
If you want a digital tour of At-Turaif district in Riyadhβs old town β a UNESCO World Heritage Site β then I am here to oblige you.
Entering the district via a bridge with a sweeping view that I did zero justice to
Please add me! I'm at VU Amsterdam
