While the mysterious Sea Peoples ransack the Mediterranean c. 1200, they give little sign of their identity and seem to appear out of...

The Terramare (Terramara) culture of Bronze Age Italy develops in the fertile black earth of the Po Valley c. 1700 - 1150 BCE. The term...

Pomegranate (Punica granatum) is one of the seven ancient foods of the southern Mediterranean. Figs are also part of the group. Read:...

Her home is Arcadia, a pastoral idyllic land of cypress and sunshine. Her father Poseidon, is lord of groundwater, earthquakes and...

The early Mycenean pantheon includes now familiar deities such as Poseidon, who evolves as a god of the underworld, and Demeter and...

The Phoenicians rise from semi-nomadic hunter gatherers who settle the coasts of today's Lebanon to become the foremost merchant and...

Tukulti-Ninurta I (r. 1243 - 1207 BCE) rules during the Middle Assyrian Empire. His father Shalmaneser I has subdued the Hurrian Empire...

Aruru is a Goddess of vegetation, portrayed with a nasty yen for violence. Her major cult centers are Sumerian sites Adab (Bismaya), Kesh...

Babylonia comes under control of the Kassite Empire in the aftermath of the 1531 BCE sack of Babylon by the Hittites to the north. The...

Lahar is a pastoral goddess of sheep, flocks and wool in ancient Mesopotamia. Throughout the year various deities are invoked to keep...

Shumugan (Šumugan, Šamagan, Šumuqan, Šakkan) is an ancient Syrian and Mesopotamian god associated with animals. He's a patron of...

Ninkilim is a Sumerian god of wild animals. His name means Lord Rodent. He's especially connected to rats, mice and other vermin, insect...

Ushumgallu (Ušumgallu, Ušumgal) is a lion-dragon horned snake demon in Akkadian mythology. Similar hybrid creatures appear in...

Lagash (Lagaš) would be a modern wonder in the ancient world, a brilliant hub of trade, commerce and the meeting of minds. Inhabited...

Bizilla (Bizila) is a Mesopotamian goddess sukkal to the great matriarch and Queen of the Gods, Ninlil. Her name Bizilla means she who is...

A small innocuous shrub growing in desert regions, green ushtun (Seidlitzia rosmarinus) is used in the ancient world as soap and...