The city of Ur in southern Iraq was one of the great centers of ancient Mesopotamia, and its most famous monument is the Great Ziggurat built for the moon god Nanna around 2050 BCE. Rising above a ...

Foundation figure in the form of a nail surmounted by the bust of a god (Sumerian, Early Dynastic III period, 2600–2300 BCE), copper alloy (courtesy private collection, via Morgan Library & Museum) ...

UR, Iraq — As the world mourns the looting of invaluable antiquities from the National Museum of Iraq in Baghdad, farther south, curator Dhief Muhsen calmly recounted how he remained at his post here ...

The city of Ur, once the largest in the world and the crown jewel of one of humanity's first civilizations, sits in a wasteland at the edge of a war zone. In late spring, the temperature easily hits ...

This gold helmet, painstakingly decorated to look like the wavy hairdo and ears of its wearer, was found in 1927 by British archaeologist Sir Leonard Woolley during excavations at Ur, an ancient city ...

As Iraq fitfully rebuilds, a groundbreaking exhibition is showcasing that nation’s rich roots in Mesopotamia, the region that gave birth to the world’s first urban civilization some 5,000 years ago.

In the 1920s Sir Leonard Woolley excavated at the site of Ur in southern Iraq and discovered a cemetery of unlooted graves from around 2,600 BC; this enigmatic object was found in one of them. Its ...