World of Mesopotamia

dwellerinthelibrary:

Fragments of Ishtar used as household goddesses Persia 1000 BCE by mharrsch on Flickr.

Marble Head of Female with Black Hair.
Diyala Region, Sumer; 2600-2350, Mesopotamia.

Goddess with flowing vase (probably Ishtar) found in Mari. ca. 1800. Syria.

Ziggurat at Uruk, 3500-3000 BC.

(Source: studyblue.com)

Figurines found in Mari, Syria, 2400 BCE.

(Source: studyblue.com)

Statue of Ebih-Il, superintendent of Mari, circa 2400 BC, Syria.

(Source: photos-galeries.com)

centuriespast:

Suppliant Goddess with Scorpions Before Winged Goddess with Weapons in Chamber Formed by Guilloches
Cylinder seal and impression
Syria
(ca. 1720–1650 B.C.)

The Morgan Library

(via climbing-the-holy-mountain)

Pazuzu head used in The Exorcist (1973).

In the opening moments of the movie, Father Lancaster Merrin discovers this ancient miniature bust at an archaeological dig site in Northern Iraq; soon thereafter, odd things start happening to the good Father.

Although not specifically named in the original movie, this image depicts the Assyrian demon god Pazuzu, bringer of storms, locusts, drought, and famine (nice guy), but also protector of pregnant women (go figure).  While Pazuzu’s face is like that of a lion or dog, and his torso that of a man, he also boasts eagle-taloned feet, two sets of wings, a scorpion’s tail, and of course, the serpentine penis.

Artisan not identified.

(Source: yourprops.com)

A recovered cuneiform era stone is displayed at the Iraqi National Museum in Baghdad, Iraq, Monday, April 1, 2013. Tens of thousands of artifacts chronicling some 7,000 years of civilization in Mesopotamia are believed to have been looted from Iraq in the chaos which followed the the US-led invasion in 2003. Despite international efforts to track items down, fewer than half of the artifacts have so far been retrieved.

(AP Photo/Hadi Mizban)

(Source: montrealgazette.com)

The Assyrian Hall at the National Museum of Iraq.

(Source: Washington Post)

allmesopotamia:

AMAZING!

kicker-of-elves:

guards protecting the city of Ur from treasure seekers and brick thieves National Geographic December 1966            Dean Conger

(via devillady255)

devillady255:

Two more books for my collection. Probably the last two for while. I keep buying but I only read like the half of them. XD

~Inanna. Lady of Largest Heart. Poems of the Sumerian High Priestess Enheduanna - Betty De Shing Meador.

~Sumerian Hymnd from Cuneiform text in the British Museum (1908) - Frederick Augustus Vanderburgh. This book’s title is a bit misleading. Because you get to page four of the book it states the hymns come from Babylonian tablets, not Sumerian ones. The hymns are to Bel Sin, Adad and Tammuz.

Sumerian votive statues.

An ancient Sumerian cuneiform inscribed clay foundation cone of Gudea, ruler of Lagash, in which the ruler dedicates the building of a temple to the hero Ningirsu in honor of the primeval god Enlil, the temple was adorned with an image of Anzu, the brilliant lion headed eagle demon. The ten line text reads: “Ningirsu, the mighty warrior of Enlil, Gudea, governor of Lagash, made appear that which will last forever, the Eninnu, Brilliant-Lion-Headed-Eagle, Anzu Temple, he built.”

Reign of Gudea, ca. 2144-2124 BC.
From the Temple of Eninnu, Lagash, Southern Mesopotamia. 
Length: 4 1/4 in. (11 cm).

(Source: hixenbaugh.net)

mirekulous:

Sumerian triad with the god Anu. Urartu, 860 BC-590 BC.

More pics: http://bit.ly/Ytwikg

(via alienxandre)