Mesopotamia – News Stories About Mesopotamia - Page 1

Earliest Pay Stub Shows Workers Were Paid in Beer

5K-year-old tablet found in Mesopotamian city of Uruk

(Newser) - Rather be paid in beer than money? You might've enjoyed life in Mesopotamia. Scientists have discovered one of the earliest examples of writing in the form of "the world's oldest known payslip." Dating to around 3300 BC, the clay tablet found in the Mesopotamian city of...

'Ancient Music of Babylon' Recorded for 1st Time

Stef Conner writes music, sings to ancient poems

(Newser) - A singer with folk roots and a guy who "plays a mean lyre" have recorded haunting songs that sound something like ancient Babylonian music, Raw Story reports. No one knows what Babylonians listened to—the tunes are long-lost—but singer/composer Stef Conner says she relied on the natural stresses...

Newly Found Roman God Stumps Experts

Archaeologists say he could be a Roman-Near Eastern hybrid

(Newser) - Archaeologists have unearthed an ancient sculpture of a bearded man standing in a plant—and while they say it's most definitely a god, they have no idea which one. Found at the site of a Roman temple in Turkey, the roughly 2,000-year-old relief "clearly" depicts a deity,...

Archaeologists Scramble to Restore Babylon

Work begins for first time since US invasion

(Newser) - Archaeologists are once again digging into the ruins of Babylon and the rest of Mesopotamia, left unexplored since the American invasion of Iraq, the New York Times reports. “There is great potential at this site. You could excavate the street plan of the entire city,” says an expert....

20 Headless Bodies Found Near Baghdad

Car bomb at bus station kills at least 20 others

(Newser) - Twenty decapitated corpses were found alongside the Tigris River today, in an area where coalition forces have recently pushed to annihilate al-Qaeda militants. All young men, the bodies were bound and many heads were discovered nearby, the AP reports. The military drive in Salman Pak began two weeks ago.

US Goes on Move Against Qaeda

New strategy will refocus troops away from Baghdad

(Newser) - In a major tactical shift, the US is set to launch a large-scale offensive against Al-Qaeda in Mesopotamia, General David Petraeus said today. The new campaign moves attention away from Baghdad's sectarian violence to the outskirts of the capital, where the military will target Al-Qaeda strongholds and aim to destroy...