Ashurbanipal

It was probably just as well that the Hittites and Egyptians declared peace and ceased to fight each other, for they likely needed to turn their attention to two other events that may have taken place in about 1250 BC. Although both events may be legendary, and although it has yet to be proven that either actually took place, both still resonate in

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The fate of Israel (in the north) and Judah (in the south) would change with the rise of the Mesopotamian powers. Mesopotamia often had two competing empires: Babylon to the south, and Assyria to the north. Neither was particularly powerful from the thirteenth through the early ninth centuries. This changed with the rise of…

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Sargon’s reign, over four thousand years ago, set the archetype of ‘king as father.’ He had himself portrayed as paternalism embodied, the Great Man, an ideal leader who stood above his people and knew what was best for them. In order to do so, Sargon also invented patronage as a business model for the arts, recognising the capacity of culture to e

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