Rare Assyrian-period, mother-of-pearl seal discovered at Israels Tel Hadid
Excavators of Tel Hadid recently released the discovery of a unique seal stamp from the seventh century b.c.e., the time of Assyrian domination of the Levant.
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'Of most interest is the second feature—the crescent on a triangular stand. Researchers identified this feature with the crescent-on-standard motif associated with Sin, the moon god of Harran in Mesopotamia. This symbol spread throughout the Southern Levant under Assyria’s domination. Koch and colleagues point to a parallel on a seventh-century b.c.e. tablet from nearby Tel Gezer.
Next to the moon on a standard is the other triangular shape that has “leglike features,” as the authors describe it. Because of these human characteristics, they propose it could depict a worshiper. A cylinder seal discovered in the Garden Tomb in Jerusalem, dating to the seventh century b.c.e., contains a similar triangular figure identified as a worshiper.'
In a collaboration between Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich (LMU) and the University of Baghdad, an ancient Babylonian hymn dating back over two millennia has been rediscovered and fully deciphered.
The new AI tool “Palaeographicum” is revolutionizing research into the cultures of the Ancient Near East: It identifies individual variations of cuneiform signs—a huge step forward for academia.
The Shamash Gate in ancient Nineveh has revealed rare evidence of two violent chapters separated by more than 2,500 years: the fall of the Assyrian capital in 612 B.C. and the battle to free Mosul from ISIS in 2017.
Swiss-Assyrian artist Shamiran Istifan is receiving widespread acclaim for her latest exhibition at the Aargauer Kunsthaus, where her installations explore themes of beauty, migration, identity and censorship through striking visual symbolism.
In a major policy announcement, Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi declared that facilitating the return of Assyrians who fled the country during two decades of conflict is now a "national and government priority."
A new academic study offers one of the most extensive multidisciplinary examinations to date of the historical relationship between the designations Assyria, Syria, and Syriac–a question that has occupied historians for centuries.
Micah van Halteren
