Glossary

King of Assyria under whose reign the empire once again entered a period of expansion, which peaked under his successors Tukulti-Ninurta II, Ashurnasirpal II (Aššurnaṣirpal II) and Shalmanesar III. Among his primary achievements was the early subjugation of the Aramaean kingdoms along the River Habur.

Assyria refers to both the area dominated by Assyrian rulers and a region of upper Mesopotamia between the cities of Nineveh, Erbil and Ashur - the Assyrian triangle.

The home city of the Assyrians on the west bank of the Tigris. Covering a modest 70 hectares, it contained several palaces and the important temple of the god Ashur.

One of the last Assyrian kings. He succeeded his father Ashurbanipal (Aššurbanipal) but died prematurely in 625 BCE and was replaced by his brother Sin-shar-ishkun (Sin-šar-iškun).

Assurbanipal is often seen as the last of the great Assyrian kings. Under his reign, Assyria invaded Egypt as far west as Thebes and defeated Elam to the east, destroying one of its capitals, Susa. The great royal library of Nineveh bears his name because he added a large number of works to the catalogue. From the 650s onwards, however, he faced serious challenges to his power, including the revolt of his own brother, the Babylonian king Shamash-shum-ukin (Šamaš-šum-ukin). By the end of the decade, Egypt had been lost. Assurbanipal (Aššurbanipal) was the ruler who inspired Sardanapale, a character in classical literature, a fusion of the Assyrian king and his brother Shamash-shum-ukin (Šamaš-šum-ukin).

King of Assyria during a period of relative decline in the early 8th century BCE, between the reigns of Adad-nerari III (810-783) and Tiglath-phalasar III (745-727).

Assyrian king who expanded his empire into the middle Euphrates and up to the river’s great loop in the Syrian region now called Bīt-Adini. This kingdom submitted to Ashurnasirpal II but was destroyed by his son Shalmaneser III. Ashurnasirpal II moved the Assyrian capital from Ashur to Kalhu (present-day Nimrud) which retained its status until the reign of Sargon II (721-705 BCE).

Last king of Assyria during a period of relative decline in the early 8th century BCE, from the reign of Adad-nerari III (810-783). His successor, Tiglath-phalasar III (745-727), mounted the throne at a time of rebellion in the capital Kalhu (present-day Nimrud).

Anu, or An in Sumerian, was the god of heaven, and the king of the gods in the Mesopotamian pantheon. He was displaced by Enlil in the third millennium and then by Marduk in the pantheon of the 1^st millennium BCE. He was particularly revered in the city of Uruk.

Antediluvian sages sent by the gods, particularly Enki (also known as Ea), to furnish mankind with essential knowledge. The apkallu were part-man and part-fish. They left the water to educate men before returning to the sea. The leading sage was Adapa.

Prolific British author of detective novels, she married the archaeologist Max Mallowan in 1930. She then accompanied him on his excavations, drawing on these experiences for many of her stories.

Formal agreement sworn before the gods. In the Neo-Assyrian era, it could be a treaty agreed between the king of Assyria and his vassals or an oath taken by the people of the country. Most ades are unilateral commitments to the Assyrian king. However, some are international treaties made on an equal footing, such as the agreement entered into by Esarhaddon and Urtaku, king of Elam in 674 BCE.

Founder of the first Urartian kingdom around Lake Van.

King of Urartu. He took advantage of unrest in Assyria to extend his possessions southwards.

King of Urartu. He acceded to the throne after the suicide of his father Rusa I. He spent part of his reign resisting Cimmerian incursions into the northwest of the Empire.

Unit of length measurement in the "old" metrology system of the Esagil tablet. Equivalent to 75 cm.

An Assyrian king, son of Sennacherib, who had to fight for his throne against his half-brother Arad-Mullissu. He rebuilt Babylon, destroyed by his father in 689, and was the first Assyrian king to conquer Lower Egypt.

This term literally means “conjuror". The ashipu was an exorcist priest who purified men, animals and places. They were also able to lift curses, usually by transferring them to a body or thing other than the intended individual or building. The ashipu was also a physician. Medicine in the early 1st millennium was primarily the domain of the asû. But their prerogatives were eventually exercised by the ashipu. This is why the term is often translated as exorcist-physician.

New Year festival in 1st-millennium Mesopotamia. It took place in spring, in the month of Nisan (March/April).

British archaeologist and politician. Between 1845 and 1851, Layard explored the tells of Kuyunjik (Nineveh) and Nimrud (Kalhu). In 1854, he helped create the Nineveh Court at Crystal Palace in London.

The azâmu, in the Esagil tablet, is an architectural term that refers to the corner of a building extending into the Great Court and reducing its surface area. It is connected to another court called Ubshu-ukkinna.

Aramaic is a Semitic language. It emerged in the 1^st millennium BCE in the Near East where its alphabetical writing system spread throughout this period.

A dialect of Akkadian spoken and written in northern Mesopotamia (Assyria).

The Achaemenid Persian empire stretched across vast swathes of the Near and Middle East during the Achaemenid period. The empire was founded in the 6th century by Cyrus the Great and ended with the death of its last king Darius III in 330 during the military campaign of Alexander the Great.

L'akkadien est l'une des langues parlées et écrites en Mésopotamie, depuis le III^e millénaire av. J.-C. C'est l'une des plus anciennes langues sémitiques. Son nom provient de la ville d'Akkad fondée par Sargon I^er (2334-2279 av. J.-C.). Les derniers textes rédigés en akkadien date du Ier siècle ap. J.-C.

The cultivation of domesticated plant species is attested in the Levant as early as the 9^th millennium. There are two types of agriculture: dry, where there is enough rainfall to water crops, and irrigated, where crops need to be supplied with water. Dry agriculture is possible in regions receiving more than 200 mm/m³ of water per year. The driest dry-farming areas could still be supplied with water by irrigation to supplement natural rainfall.

Astrologists bore the name of the “scribe of (the astrological series) Enuma-Anu-Enlil" (tupšar Enuma-Anu-Enlil).

Mesopotamian god of storms. In Assyria and Babylonia, he was one of the most powerful gods in the pantheon, associated with both the life-giving and destructive properties of rain and flood. In some regions of Mesopotamia, such as Suhu, he was, in the 1st millennium, the most important god in the local pantheon. Adad is the Akkadian name of the god. He is called Addu in Amorite and Ishkur (Iškur) in Sumerian.

King of Assyria who maintained the empire within the borders established by Shalmanesar III (858-824 BCE) and wielded considerable diplomatic influence over the Northern Levant. He ruled his empire with the active support of his mother Shammuramat (probably the inspiration behind the mythical Semiramis) and leading dignitaries including Shamshi-ilu (Šamši-ilu), commander in chief of the Assyrian armies.

Exorcism was intended to ward off evil by calling on the help of the gods. They were used to treat illnesses, avert bad omens, protect against financial loss and nurture romantic relationships. The exorcist priest was the ashipû (ašipû). Exorcists claimed their knowledge was handed down to them by the gods Ea and Asalluhi.

God of royalty in the ancient Mesopotamian pantheon. 

The major Mesopotamian astrological series. It was used to interpret celestial omens, read the sky and even potential tectonic phenomena. The title is an incipit, in other words, the opening words of a text, and means “When Anu (the sky god) and Enlil (the wind god)".

Ea, or Enki in Sumerian, was the god of wisdom and technology in the Mesopotamian pantheon. He was Enlil's brother and Marduk's father.

Syrian city mainly occupied in the 3rd and 2nd millennia. Some 17,000 tablets were recovered from Palace G dating from c. 2350-2250 BCE.

Ezida is the name of many temples of Nabu, god of scribes, wisdom and knowledge. It is a Sumerian name that can be translated as “temple of truth".

Esagil is the name of the sanctuary - a group of buildings, temples and chapels - dedicated to the god Marduk in Babylon. Its existence is historically attested as early as the 2^nd millennium BCE. Its name means "the temple (é) whose head (sag) is elevated (íl)".

A river approximately 2,780 km long, flowing from Turkey to Syria and Iraq. It flows through several major cities, including Mari and Babylon. Before the river was dammed, it flooded heavily from March to May. It has two main tributaries: the Balikh and the Khabur. It joins the Tigris at Al-Qurnah, in the Shatt-al Arab, which flows into the Persian Gulf.

"Conjuring" priests were specialists in exorcism. The training was long; an exorcist's manual found in Ashur (Aššur) lists the titles of more than one hundred works on exorcism.

There were many myths in Mesopotamian culture. They took the form of hymns, tales and epics. Among the most famous are the Gilgamesh Epic, the Erra Epic, the Descent of Ishtar to the Underworld, Atra-hasîs, the Myth of Anzû, the Etana Epic, and the Creation Epic.

Period during which the powerful Assyrian state emerged and gained independence under Ashur-uballit I (1365-1330 BCE). The Assyrian state expanded its territory westward and southward during the reign of Adad-nirari I (1307-1275 BCE), a process completed when Tukulti-Ninurta I (1244-1208 BCE) captured Babylon. After his death, Assyria was plunged into a crisis and only recovered in the late 12^th century under Tiglath-Pileser I (1114-1076 BCE). Repeated clashes with the Aramaeans caused Assyria to lose the territories it had conquered at the end of the 2^nd millennium.

A military campaign is a large-scale, long-term movement by an army with a warlike aim. Most often, kings used military operations to collect tribute, seize booty, crush revolts, and support vassals who recognised their authority. Campaigns also aimed to extend imperial territory by systematically annexing defeated regions.

British archaeologist. Assistant to Leonard Woolley in Ur, he went on to direct several excavations in northern Mesopotamia. His deep test excavation in Nineveh (1931) and his excavations in Arpachiyeh laid the foundations of our knowledge of protohistoric Mesopotamia. In 1930, he married the novelist Agatha Christie. 

Marduk was the most powerful god in the pantheon of the city of Babylon. Originally a minor agricultural deity, Marduk owed his promotion to the political power gained by Babylon under the Hammurabi (18^th century BCE). Written in the late 2^nd millennium BCE, the creation epic recounts how Marduk became king of the gods after defeating the primordial goddess Tiamat.

Mullissu was the consort of Ashur, god of the city of the same name. Ashur was identified with the chief god Enlil in the 18th century BCE, whose consort Ninlil became Mullissu, the consort of Ashur. Although the two names sound different, Mullissu comes from Mulliltu, the Assyrian pronunciation of Ninlil.

The Medes were an ancient Iranian people organised into chieftaincies and then a united kingdom. The Median capital was Ecbatana. In the 7^thcentury BCE, the Median king Cyaxares allied with the Babylonians against the Assyrians. He took part in the conquest of Assyria, taking Ashur, Kalhu (modern Nimrud), Nineveh, and Arbela (modern Erbil).

A city in Lower Mesopotamia, identified with the modern site of Tell Muqqayar, 20 km from the Euphrates. Occupied from the 5^th millennium, Ur was one of the largest Sumerian towns in the mid-3^rd millennium, as attested by its celebrated “royal tombs". It was briefly the capital of a powerful empire (known as Ur III) at the end of the 3rd millennium. Residence of Sin/Nanna, the moon god, the city had a holy quarter devoted to the deity, with a ziggurat - extremely well conserved - and a large number of buildings. Despite losing its political dominance, Ur continued to be one of the leading cities of southern Mesopotamia in the 2nd and 1st millennia. The Tell Muqqayar site, identified as early as the mid-19^th century, was one of the main sites excavated between 1919 and 1934 by British archaeologists. Fieldwork resumed in 2015.

Historical period between the 10^th and 7^th centuries BCE which saw the revival of a strong Assyrian state weakened by conflict with the Aramaean states. Assyria reconquered its lost territories, and campaigned as far as Anatolia, Elam, and Egypt.

An early form of the cuneiform writing system and the Akkadian language. Neo-Babylonian also refers to the political period of the Neo-Babylonian Empire, from 626 to 539 BCE, and more generally to the whole of the 1^st millennium BCE.

The New Year, usually in spring, was celebrated with several days of religious ceremonies and processions. The New Year festival (akitu) is attested in Mesopotamia from the late 3^rd millennium BCE to the Achaemenid period.

Mesopotamian god of scribes, wisdom and writing. He is called Nebo in the Bible. He is considered to be the son of Marduk, the patron deity of Babylon and, like his father, may have been represented by a dragon, the mushhushshu (mušhuššu). His temples are often called Ezida, "the temple of truth".

Nabopolassar was the first king of the Neo-Babylonian empire and father of Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562). He liberated Babylonia from Assyrian rule and conquered the middle Euphrates and then, with help from his ally Cyaxares, king of the Medes, he set about conquering Assyria, which fell between 614 and 610 BCE. Nabopolassar then took up arms in the Levant against the Saite of the 26th Dynasty of Egypt, who had come to the aid of Assyria. He renovated Babylon and bequeathed to his son an empire roughly equivalent to the Assyrian empire.

Nebuchadnezzar I occupied the throne of Babylon between 1126 and 1105 BCE. He is famous for his crushing victory against the Elamites, and recovering the statue of the god Marduk which had been stolen and taken to Susa. It was during his reign that the god Marduk was placed at the head of the Mesopotamian pantheon and Babylon became the religious capital of Mesopotamia. The Creation Epic, the mythological text that explains Marduk’s supremacy, was written during this period.

Nebuchadnezzar II was one of the greatest kings of the Neo-Babylonian period. His reign (604-562 BCE) marked the high point of the Neo-Babylonian empire. He was the successor of Nabopolassar. His name means "god Nabu, watch over my heirs". His reign was marked by major military conquests. He defeated the kingdom of Judah and deported part of its population after the siege of Jerusalem (597 BCE). He ordered the rebuilding of Babylon and the construction of great monuments revealed during archaeological excavations.

One of the chief gods of war whose great shrine was in the city of Nippur.

Assyrian city occupied as early as the 8^th millennium BCE. Sennacherib (704-681) made it his capital and extensively rebuilt the city. Nineveh has two tells, Kouyunjik, the original site, and Nebi Yunus, on which Esarhaddon (680-669) built an arsenal.

A dialect of Akkadian used by Mesopotamian scholars and scientists from the late 2^nd millennium and throughout the 1^st millennium in Assyria and Babylonia. The grammatical forms of Standard Babylonian were initially borrowed from Paleo-Babylonian. It was standardised in the early 1^st millennium and became the language of writing for literary and learned works. It was also used in Assyria for royal inscriptions and annals.

The first known language in Mesopotamia, it was spoken by the Sumerian people who occupied southern Iraq in the 3^rd millennium BCE. The cuneiform writing system was used to write the Sumerian language and then Akkadian. Sumerian is not related to any other known language. It was "agglutinating" because it works by adding prefixes and suffixes on an invariable root. Although Sumerian ceased to be a living language in Mesopotamia from the 2^nd millennium BCE, it was still employed in some literary and scholarly texts after this date, and some Sumerian ideograms were also still in use.

Queen of Assyria, mother of Adad-nerari III (810-783). Her name appears several times in inscriptions alongside her son, and she played an important role in political life, passing into posterity as Semiramis in classical sources.

Sargon II was a king of Assyria in the neo-Assyrian period [9^th-7^th centuries BCE], who ruled over much of the Near East between 721 and 705 BCE. He was the son of King Tiglath-Phalazar III and brother of King Salmanazar V, who preceded him on the throne. He was the second Assyrian ruler, after Sargon I of Assyria, to bear the name of "legitimate king". Sargon II was the model Assyrian ruler, and his reign, which is well documented, coincides with a period of political and economic expansion in Assyria. He was the ultimate warrior king and led more than a dozen victorious military campaigns across the Near East and along its periphery, and extended the borders of Assyria to the edge of Central Anatolia. He subdued vast kingdoms and made vassals of important rulers. In 714 BCE, he defeated the king of Urartu, Rusa I, on the slopes of Mount Wa'ush. Sargon II was also a builder king and one of the outstanding achievements of his reign was the founding of a new capital, Dûr-Sharrukîn, the fortress of Sargon, near the present-day village of Khorsabad in Iraq. After the Eighth Campaign, Sargon II reigned for another decade. He pursued an expansionist policy and conducted several military campaigns in Babylonia and the Levant. In 705, the elderly king launched another military campaign in southeast Anatolia. Cimmerian incursions had destabilised the local political situation and Sargon II intervened in support of a client kingdom. The king was defeated and killed in battle. His body was never found, depriving him of burial. His tragic end profoundly marked his contemporaries, especially his son and successor, King Sennacherib. The new king consulted divinatory priests and the oracles to understand why the gods had turned against his father. Although we do not know what answers Sennacherib received, one reason seems to have been Sargon II's odd habit of breaking oaths with other rulers.

Sennacherib was an Assyrian king with three major enemies: the Kingdom of Kush in the Levant, the Elamites, and Babylonians; the latter two kingdoms were allies. His reign was dominated by the challenge to Assyrian dominance over Babylonia, which he countered by leading several offences in the south. Exasperated by a string of Babylonian revolts, he destroyed the city in 689 BCE by drowning it, he said, under the waters of the Euphrates. After his murder, his son Esarhaddon waged war against his brother Arad-Mullissu to secure his hold on the throne.

He proclaimed himself king of Assyria on the death of his brother Ashur-etel-ilani and allied himself with Nabopolassar (future king of Babylon) against the chief eunuch Sin-shumu-lishir who had seized power in Assyria. After defeating him, he reigned over Assyria until the fall of Nineveh in 612.

King of Assyria. He led two victorious military campaigns against Urartu, an area still named the Land of Nairi. 

(= Salmanasar V).

King of Assyria (726-722). He is probably the brother of Sargon II and Sîn-ahu-usur (Sîn-aḫu-uṣur). He was overthrown in 722 by a revolt of urban elites.

King of Assyria during a period of relative decline in the early 8th century BCE, between the reigns of Adad-nerari III (810-783) and Tiglath-phalasar III (745-727).

Šamaš means “sun" in Akkadian; in Sumerian he is known as Utu. The sun god, he also had other functions, such the god of justice (he appears at the top of the Law Code of King Hammurabi), travellers and divination. His temples, which bear the name E.babbar or "shining temple", are found at Larsa and Sippar, among other sites.

Son of the Assyrian king Esarhaddon, most probably the elder brother of Ashurbanipal (Aššurbanipal) and king of Babylon. Esarhaddon divided his empire between Ashurbanipal, king of Assyria, and Shamash-shum-ukin, king of Babylon. Shamash-shum-ukin remained under the diplomatic and military authority of his brother, however. For fifteen years, Shamash-shum-ukin reigned like any other Babylonian king, obeying its codes and fulfilling his duties. Shamash-shum-ukin eventually led a revolt at the end of 652 BCE. After a string of victories, the Babylonians were besieged in their city for two years. It fell in the summer of 648. Shamash-shum-ukin died in his burning palace. The legendary king of Assyria Sardanapalus is probably an amalgamation of him and his brother.

Assyrian king, son and successor of Shalmaneser III (858-824). The early years of his reign were not easy. Some regions of his empire, such as Hindanu in the middle Euphrates, revolted, and the end of his father’s reign had been rocked by rebellions among Assyrian dignitaries and the country’s cities and provinces. He was forced to seek the support of king Marduk-zakir-shumi (Marduk-zakir-šumi) I (854-819) of Babylon.

Shamshi-ilu was an influential Assyrian court dignitary and turtanu or commander in chief. He was awarded the title by Adad-nerari III (810-783) around 800 and retained it under his three successors, Shalmaneser IV (782-773), Ashur-dan (Aššur-dan) III (772-755) and Ashur-nirari (Aššur-nerari) III (754-745). Shamshi-ilu led many campaigns with and without the king. He fought mainly against the kingdom of Urartu which, until the 8th campaign of Sargon II (721-705), was Assyria’s main enemy in the 8th century. Shamshi-ilu commemorated his victories on the Syro-Hittite style lions found in Til-Barsip (present-day Tell-Ahmar). With Nergal-eresh (also known as Palil-eresh), he was one of the most active and independent dignitaries of the first half of the 8th century.

Tributary on the left bank of the Euphrates, approximately 100 km long.

Barley was the most widely grown cereal in Mesopotamia. The first evidence of the cultivation of barley dates from the 6^th millennium BCE.

Mixture of hydrocarbons that naturally form a viscous paste.

There were several sources of bitumen in Mesopotamia, including around Hit on the middle Euphrates. Bitumen was widely used by the Mesopotamians for waterproofing or caulking pipes, terraces and boats, glue notably to make tools, and black paint to decorate buildings or objects. Bituminous limestone impregnated with hydrocarbons from Lower Mesopotamia was used for sculpture. It was soft and easy to work but resembled hard stones such as diorite and basalt.

Founded in 1932 with money bequeathed by Gertrude Bell, its first director was Max Mallowan. It was renamed The British Institute for the Study of Iraq (Gertrude Bell Memorial) in 2007. It has produced the annual IRAQ review since 1934.

Mentioned in historical sources as early as the 3^rd millennium, the capital of Hammurabi (1792-1750) reached its greatest glory under Nebuchadnezzar II (604-562). The Esagila temple complex was dedicated to the god Marduk. The largest city in Mesopotamia, it covered 976 hectares.

Goddess and consort to the god Babylonia

Babylonia occupied Lower Mesopotamia between Baghdad and the Persian Gulf. The area was previously divided into two countries: Sumer and Akkad.

State on the great bend of the Euphrates, permanently vanquished by Shalmaneser III (858-824 BCE).

Province of the land of Sangibutu, bordering Urartu. The province specialised in the breeding of royal (sheep) flocks. The king mentions that the plains were covered in vast enclosures to pen animals. The land of Bari corresponds to the northern shores of Lake Urmia in Iran.

Divination was an important discipline for a variety of professions. At its most basic level, divination was the interpretation of the will of the gods, not only in the future and present, but also in the past, if someone wished to find the cause of a given situation. There were two main types of divination: spontaneous divination, when the gods sent messages to men, and induced divination, when men turned to the gods for answers.

A new city founded by Sargon II (721-705 BCE). Work began in 717 BCE. Within the acropolis stood the “palace without rival", a ziggurat and various temples, including one dedicated to Nabu, god of scribes and knowledge.

British archaeologist. He led several excavations in northern Mesopotamia, including in Kalhu (present-day Nimrud) where he took over from Max Mallowan. He directed the excavation of the arsenal of Shalmaneser III (858-824) and the temple of Nabu.

"Doctors" (asû) were a category of exorcists who appear to have had the exclusive right to administer remedies.

The end of a text usually separated from the rest of the tablet by a line. The colophon provided important information on where the text fitted into works that could span more than one hundred tablets. The scribe noted the title of the series, chapter, and lastly the section. He could also count the lines. The colophon very often mentioned the name of the tablet’s owner, the scribe who wrote it, if different, the place of composition and, very seldom, the date. It was impossible to find a text in Assyrian and Babylonian libraries without a colophon.

Term for the hall in a temple in which stood the statue of the deity. It was a sacred place where only sanctuary officials who had been ritually purified were allowed to enter. This highly restricted group was called erib biti or “ones who enter the temple".

Mineral substance composed of hydrated alumina silicate used for multiple purposes in Mesopotamia including bricks and plaster for construction, pottery for containers or small objects such as figurines, and tablets and other writing vehicles.

The companion of a god in Mesopotamian society. There are many divine couples, including Marduk and Sarpanit, Shamash and Aya, Nabu and Tashmetu and Ashur and Mullissu.

This Babylonian literary text was composed at the end of the 2^nd millennium BCE. It tells of the origin of the world and the appearance of gods and men. Initially, there were only two entities: Tiamat, salt water, and Apsû, fresh water. The other gods are descended from them. The epic describes the conflicts that arose between the gods and Marduk’s victory in a cosmic battle against Tiamat. Marduk then used Tiamat's body to create the world, and incited his father Ea to create mankind (in older literary texts, Ea created man). This poem to the glory of Marduk explains his status as king of the gods, which he acquired at the end of the 2^nd millennium BCE, and which mirrored the growing political influence of the city of Babylon in Mesopotamia.

Photographic process invented by William Henry Fox Talbot and patented in 1841. This was the first process to make positive prints from paper negatives.

British traveller and archaeologist. A leading specialist in oriental languages and civilisations, he visited several sites in Babylon and Nineveh, and produced maps of them. On his death, his widow sold the extensive collection of Mesopotamian artefacts he acquired to the British Museum.

King of the Medes, allied with Nabopolassar, king of Babylon, he successfully defeated the Assyrian empire between 614 and 610 BCE.

Curses on kudurrus were inscribed at the end of the contract to bring misfortune to anyone who challenged the decision or damaged the stela. Curses invoked the power of the gods, who could unleash the forces of evil against anyone who did not respect the terms of the contract. There were also rituals to break curses placed on individuals.

Système d’écriture inventée en Mésopotamie du sud et utilisé pour transcrire plusieurs langues dont l’assyrien, le babylonien et l’urartéen. Le cunéiforme s’écrit et se lit de gauche à droite. Les signes sont tracés dans l’argile fraîche à l’aide d’une baguette en roseau taillée en biseau. Un signe signifie soit un mot, soit une syllabe.

The clay tablet was the main vehicle of writing in the ancient Near East. It was usually quadrangular. The characters were written by pressing a sharpened reed pen into the clay, giving them their characteristic wedge-shaped strokes. Some tablets were then fired, but most were unfired.

Mesopotamian goddess, consort of Nabu, god of writing and knowledge.

Mesopotamian goddess, wife of Nabû in the Babylonian pantheon.

(= Tiglath-phalasar III). King of Assyria (745-727). He brought an end to more than a century of Urartu expansion. He launched a particularly ambitious military campaign that led him to the capital Tushpa, on the shores of Lake Van, to which he laid siege. He radically reorganised the Assyrian empire by transforming former vassal kingdoms into provinces. In 729-728 BCE, he ascended the throne of Babylon, referred to as the reign of Pulu.

The Arabic word tell refers to an artificial mound formed by superimposed habitation layers, with each new occupation built on the ruins of the previous one. During excavations, archaeologists know that the lowest levels are the oldest and the upper levels the most recent. 

Turkish archaeological site, mainly occupied in the 3^rd millennium and early 1^st millennium. One of its kings, Suppiluliuma, resisted attacks by Shalmaneser III (858-824), but the city was later integrated into the Assyrian empire.

One of the greatest Assyrian kings. He led military campaigns against the Hittites and the Babylonians, capturing King Kashtiliashu IV, who was deported to Assyria. He had a new city built to the north of Ashur, Kar-Tukulti-Ninurta.

Assyrian king who continued the expansionist policy of his predecessor Adad-nerari II. He incorporated the Habur triangle and the river valley into the resurgent Assyrian empire and fought campaigns up to the border with Babylonia and along the middle Euphrates.

The Tigris is approximately 1,900 km long and rises in Turkey. It ran through the ancient Assyrian capitals of Ashur, Nimrud and Nineveh. It has three major tributaries: the Great Zab, the Little Zab and the Diyala. It joins the Euphrates at Al-Qurnah, in the Shatt-al Arab, which flows into the Persian Gulf.

Stepped pyramidal tower characteristic of Mesopotamian religious architecture of the 2^nd and 1^st millennia BCE. On its summit was a small shrine which was also used to observe the stars and probably as an intermediary space between the gods and man.

A ziggurat is a multi-storied tower with a square or rectangular base. Some ziggurat ruins can still be seen in the Near East, especially in Ur. They were built from piled mud bricks. Ascent was by stairs or ramps. Archaeologists are still unsure exactly what the ziggurats were used for. We do know, however, that ceremonies took place in temples at the top of these structures. These buildings had a strong symbolic dimension and embodied the link between heaven and earth.

British Assyriologist. This self-taught scholar is best known for his public reading of the flood story in the Gilgamesh Epic on 3 December 1872. He then led the excavations at Kalhu and Nineveh and benefited from his stay in the Middle East to buy multiple tablets from sites in southern Mesopotamia, including Sippar and Babylon.

British traveller, explorer and civil servant. Bell travelled extensively and helped create Iraq and the Museum of Iraq in Baghdad.

This epic tells of the adventures of the king of Uruk, Gilgamesh (Gilgameš), and his search for immortality. It was a celebrated tale in the Mesopotamian world and has been copied many times. Its earliest version dates back to the 2^nd millennium BCE.

The term “patron deity" refers to the chief deity, a god or goddess, of a city (from the Latin patronus or protector). In Mesopotamia, the city was believed to belong to the patron deity who lived there and protected it. When it was taken by force, the deity was thought to have turned against it. The victor took away the cult statue of the patron deity and all others in the city, removing divine protection from the city for many years. This practice was not confined to Mesopotamia; it has also been found in Rome, for example.

All documents routinely produced by a society besides literary and learned texts and official inscriptions. This category includes administrative texts (inventories and promissory notes), legal texts (such as contracts), letters, drafts, etc.

A culture that spread across northern Mesopotamia in the 6th millennium.

Archaeologist and diplomat, born in Mosul, who became a British citizen. He was assistant to A.H. Layard before directing several excavations, including at Kalhu, Babylon and Sippar, on behalf of the British Museum.

The Hellenistic period begins, in Mesopotamia, with the conquest of Babylon by Alexander the Great in 331 BCE. The reign of Alexander and the wars between the Diadochi, his successors, is now commonly known as the Macedonian period. It precedes the Seleucid era. According to the Macedonian and Babylonian calendars, it official begins in 312-311, but in reality it dates from the recapture of Babylon by Seleucus in 305. After proclaiming himself king, Seleucus dated the start of his reign to 312-311, when he first returned to Babylonia. The Seleucid period in Babylonia ended with the conquest of the region by the king of the Parthian Empire, Mithridates I (165-131) in 141 BCE.

British Assyriologist and archaeologist. He worked in Iran, Turkey, Sudan, Egypt and Mesopotamia where he led the excavations at Kouyunjik (Nineveh) in 1904-1905 and 1927-1932, among other sites. Here, he discovered the temple of Nabu and Ishtar.

Rituals are sets of gestures and words spoken in religious ceremonies and which follow strict rules. Only specialists could perform these rituals.

Pen used to press cuneiform signs into fresh clay.

Farmland in Mesopotamia was irrigated by the waters of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. This water was essential as the region did not receive enough rainfall to practice dry farming. Water flowed into the fields through complex networks of man-made canals using gravity. The most common crops were barley, legumes and date palms. The god of rain and storms, Adad, was the protector of irrigation.

Goddess of love and war in the Mesopotamian pantheon. Daughter of the sun god Shamash (Šamaš).

German architect, archaeologist and conservator. After training on an excavation in Babylon, he directed the study of Ashur, the first Assyrian capital, between 1903 and 1914. From 1928 to 1951, he was director of Near Eastern Antiquities at Berlin Museum.

British geologist, naturalist and archaeologist. He led excavations in southern Iraq, at Ur and Uruk, in Susa, and in Assyria, at Nineveh and Nimrud.

Salt lake of volcanic origin in eastern Turkey. It currently covers an area of 3,700 km². It is the geographic heart of the confederation of the Biainili, Van territory, in Urartian. 

The Battle of Qarqar, a city in the Orontes Valley, was fought in 853 BCE between the Assyrian army led by Shalmaneser III (859-824) and a coalition of Levantine kingdoms (Hama, Damascus, Israel, and several Phoenician cities) aided by Egyptian soldiers and an Arab contingent. The battle was not the great victory the Assyrian king claimed it to be. It was, at best, indecisive.

Assyrian city founded by Shalmanesar I (1263-1234) and then chosen by Ashurnasirpal II (883-859) as his capital. It covered 357 hectares and contained an Acropolis where the palace and temple were located along with a vast arsenal palace.

Assyrian city founded by Shalmanesar I (1263-1234) and then chosen by Ashurnasirpal II (883-859) as his capital. It covered 357 hectares and contained an Acropolis where the palace and temple were located along with a vast arsenal palace.

Initially a female protective deity, the lamassu was also, in the 1^st millennium, a guardian genius, or protective spirit. In Assyrian palaces, it most often took the form of a human-headed winged bull.

British archaeologist. He directed excavations at the site of Ur, southern Iraq, between 1922 and 1937. He is often seen as the first “modern" archaeologist: he was personally involved in excavations, carefully recorded his discoveries and took care to conserve and study perishable materials.

Region bordering the eastern coast of the Mediterranean.

The Library of Ashurbanipal (668-630/627 BCE) was composed of several collections that formed the reference collection of the kings of Assyria in Nineveh in the 7th century BCE. It is difficult to say exactly how many tablets have been discovered in this library. They number roughly 15,000 to date. Inventories of wax-covered wooden tablets, better known as wax tablets, suggest clay was not the only material used to write literary and learned texts. None have survived. The library at Nineveh is attributed to Ashurbanipal, although his father Esarhaddon had already worked a lot on it.Ashurbanipal considerably added to its collections, as shown by the letters he sent into Babylonia requesting tablets. The library was abandoned after the destruction of Nineveh in 612. However, some tablets did find their way to Uruk.

Signs sent by deities as messages to mankind. They are generally seen as spontaneous omens, where the gods take the initiative to communicate rather than waiting for humans to appeal to them. There are different types of omen. They might be celestial phenomena, such as stars, planets or part of the veiled moon’s crescent, for example, everyday events, such as an animal behaving in an unusual way, or “monstrous" births, and the like. Omen were interpreted by divinatory priests, astrologists and exorcists. The latter were also responsible, when necessary, for preventing divine wrath from falling on its chosen target.