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Dr. James Henry Stevenson studied and translated contract texts from the British Museum, which are written in Assyrian and Babylonian cuneiform along with Aramaic inscriptions. Stevenson admits the cuneiform is difficult, but the Aramaic is far…

This chart (adapted from René Labat, Manuel D’Epigraphie Akkadienne: Signes, Syllabaire, Ideogrammes) shows the development of classical Akkadian syllabic cuneiform from older Sumerian pictographs and logograms. The first column on the left gives the…

Cylinder seals were invented around 3500 BCE and came into use with the development of cuneiform writing. The seals retained their popularity through the Akkadian, Assyrian and late Babylonian eras. They were not only a mark of ownership but a form…

Cuneiform is a system of writing characterized by wedge-shaped impressions made by a stylus generally on a clay tablet or engraved on stone or metal. Cuneiform writing developed in ancient Mesopotamia at about the same time that hieroglyphic writing…

The cooking pot, excavated in 1996, was donated by the Megiddo Expedition, Tel Aviv University in 2001. This is a typical example of a cooking pot from the late Iron Age, confirmed by similarly-shaped finds at Hazor and Samaria. During this period…

Lamps made from shells, concave stones, and other natural objects have been found from some 15,000 years ago. The advent of pottery offered new material that could readily be crafted and styled into different forms. Early examples were open bowls or…

Storage jars, ranging from small to large, preserved water, wine, and dry foods for domestic use throughout the year. Larger jars, amphorae with narrow necks and two handles each, could also transport goods a great distance. Marine archaeologists…

Small tesserae or tiles were cut from stone and shaped in cubes or other forms to be used in creating a mosaic. They could be assembled with pieces of various colors to form simple or ornate designs and images. These tesserae are from the Roman…

Many pots were created with handles, which often survive intact along with other sherds, and from their shapes and sizes archaeologists can identify the types and approximate dates of the vessels to which they were attached. The handles here…