Sumerians – News, Research and Analysis – The Conversation

Jane Levy in a scene from Evil Dead, based on a fictional Sumerian book that summons evil. Sony Tristar/AAP

October 30, 2023

Necromancers, demons and friendly ghosts: humans have been fascinated with the afterlife since ancient Mesopotamia

Louise Pryke, University of Sydney

Some of popular culture’s most famous ghosts and demons have roots in ancient Mesopotamia. What did ancient humans believe about the supernatural? And what stories did they tell?

Part of a restoration edict of Ammisaduqa, one of the rulers of ancient Babylon. © The Trustees of the British Museum

July 26, 2022

Proclaim debt amnesty throughout all the land? A biblical solution to a present-day problem

Eva von Dassow, University of Minnesota

A scholar of the ancient Near East explains how loan forgiveness was handled thousands of years ago in the Bible and royal decrees.

Cylinder seal (left) and modern impression (right) showing two people drinking beer through long straws. Khafajeh, Iraq (Early Dynastic period, c. 2600–2350 B.C.). Courtesy of the Oriental Institute of the University of Chicago

August 24, 2020

Brewing Mesopotamian beer brings a sip of this vibrant ancient drinking culture back to life

Tate Paulette, North Carolina State University

Beer was extremely popular in ancient Mesopotamia. Sipped through straws, it differed from today’s beer and was enjoyed by people from all walks of life.

The National Museum of Iraq photographed in February 2018. Many of the pieces discovered at the ruins of Ur, arranged and labelled by Ennigaldi-Nanna, can be found here. Wikimedia Commons

May 21, 2019

Hidden women of history: Ennigaldi-Nanna, curator of the world’s first museum

Louise Pryke, Macquarie University

Ennigaldi-Nanna is largely unknown in the modern day. But in 530BC, this Mesopotamian priestess worked to arrange and label various artefacts in the world’s first museum.

Some of the artefacts found after disappearing from the National Museum of Iraq. Ceerwan Aziz

April 9, 2018

Fifteen years after looting, thousands of artefacts are still missing from Iraq’s national museum

Craig Barker, University of Sydney

Looting of Iraq’s national museum began on April 10, 2003. At least half of the artefacts taken remain missing and disturbingly, the illegal trade in stolen antiquities has grown in the years since.

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