Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. When you buy through links on our articles, Future and its syndication partners may earn a commission. An eighth-century B.C.

In southern Iraq, archaeologists have excavated a remarkable collection of carved clay tablets—ancient records of Akkadia, the world’s oldest empire. Marked with the administrative details of ...

The underlying substance is Sumerian bitumen: a naturally occurring petroleum material (often called an asphalt-like “black goo”) long associated with waterproofing and adhesion, and even with ...

Nestled between the Euphrates and Tigris rivers, in what is modern-day Iraq, a sophisticated early civilization called Sumer sprang up some 6,000 years ago (long before any of Europe's most ancient ...

Sumerians used advanced ancient technology to engineer bitumen with fibers and minerals, revealing sophisticated material science.

The Great Ziggurat of Ur dedicated to the Moon god. Ziggurats were massive structure typical for Mesopotamia. Sumerians believed that the gods lived in the temple at the top of the ziggurats. Woods ...

Today, trans people face politicization of their lives and vilification from politicians, media and parts of broader society. But in some of history's earliest civilizations, gender-diverse people ...