Manners & Customs

Ancient Mesopotamia: Mathematics and Measurement

During the earliest years of recorded history, the ancient Mesopotamians were experimenting with ways to count, measure, and solve mathematical problems. They were the first to give a number a place value and to recognize the concept of zero....

Read More

Religion in the Ancient Middle East

The Sumerians believed that the forces of nature (rain, wind, floods) were alive. The people couldn't control these forces of nature, so they worshipped them as gods. The people also believed that they were living on Earth only to please the gods....

Read More

Odyssey - Near East: Daily Life

For thousands of years, the needs of daily life in the Near East - shelter, tools, and domestic implements - have been resourcefully and creatively made from available natural materials. Houses were, and in some places still are, constructed of mud-brick, with flat roofs that served as sleeping porches in hot weather. Tools, weapons, and vessels we...

Read More

Ancient Babylonia - Temples and Rituals

The care and feeding of the gods in the great temples was a matter of daily concern. Elaborate rituals requiring the participation and support of numbers of temple personnel evolved around the daily presentation of offerings, the cleaning of the divine statues' garments, and the purification of the temples. Offerings were provided from the temple's...

Read More

Marriage in Ancient Mesopotamia and Babylonia

As the bride approaches the ceremonial altar holding on to the arm of her father, the groom nervously takes a peek at the scene surrounding him... Not far away are the gifts, which shortly will be exchanged. Family members stand proudly around in a festive atmosphere. Is this taking place in upstate New York, a tropical garden in Miami, or a quaint...

Read More

Odyssey - Near East: Death & Burial

In the ancient Near East burial, rather than cremation, was usually practiced. This tomb, called Tomb P1 by archaeologists, is from the ancient city of Jericho. It shows us one type of a Near Eastern tomb in its shape and in the contents buried inside. Thanks: Publix weekly ad, Kroger weekly ad, aldi ad, Walgreens weekly ad...

Read More

Women In Babylonia Under The Hammurabi Law Code

The best known and most complete of the ancient pre-Roman law codes is that of Hammurabi, Eighteenth Century BCE ruler of Babylon. It was the Hammurabi Code that said that one who destroys the eye of another should have his own eye put out as punishment and one who murders should himself be put to death, thus giving rise to the expression "an eye f...

Read More

Assyrian Stone Altar

Assyrian Stone Altar sketch...

Read More

Ancient Lattice Windows

The lattice window looked very much like a fisherman's net, and was used in warm middle eastern countries. It was formed of reticulated work, and highly ornamental. They also had hinges which allowed them to be open or shut. On very hot days then sun is kept out while the air is let in through the trellis openings....

Read More