Category: Middle East

Frieze of Darius’ Archers/Susa, ca. 500 B.C. Coloured, glazed ceramic, total height 475 cm. At Louvre in Paris.

A small section of the Achaemenid Palaces of Darius I in Susa, Persia, constructed by Babylonian craftsmen when Babylon was part of the world’s first true empire

The Sumerians were the first known people to settle in Mesopotamia over 7,000 years ago. Located in the southernmost part of Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers (modern day Iraq), Sumer was often called the cradle of civilization. By the 4th millennium BC, it had established an advanced system writing, spectacular arts and architecture, astronomy and mathematics.

Royal Akkadian Head from Nineveh. Around 2250 B.C and traditionally identified as Sargon of Akkad. The original sculpture embellished the art collections of Baghdad’s Iraq Museum (inv.nr. IM 11331), but unfortunately it is not exhibited in Baghdad anymore