After the Elamites shattered Ur, Mesopotamia splintered into rival kingdoms, ambitious warlords, and fragile survivor states fighting over the ruins of Sumer. This chapter follows Shamshi-Adad’s ...

UR, Iraq — As the world mourns the looting of invaluable antiquities from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, farther south, curator Dhief Muhsen calmly recounted how he remained at his post here ...

The city of Ur, once the largest in the world and the crown jewel of one of humanity's first civilizations, sits in a wasteland at the edge of a war zone. In late spring, the temperature easily hits ...

When it was made: Circa 2600 B.C. This gold helmet, painstakingly decorated to look like the wavy hairdo and ears of its wearer, was found in 1927 by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley during ...

Foundation figure in the form of a nail surmounted by the bust of a god (Sumerian, Early Dynastic III period, 2600–2300 BCE), copper alloy (courtesy private collection, via Morgan Library & Museum) ...

Standing before the imposing ziggurat which was once part of a temple complex at the Sumerian capital of Ur, Iraqi archaeologist Abdelamir Hamdani worried about the natural elements that are eating ...

As Iraq fitfully rebuilds, a groundbreaking exhibition is showcasing that nation’s rich roots in Mesopotamia, the region that gave birth to the world’s first urban civilization some 5,000 years ago.