I know they look boring, but: ancient tablets discovered at Persepolis contain incredibly valuable information not only to scholars of the ancient Near East but to all of us. But they’re most valuable when considered together and publicly available as part of our collective human heritage. The book that I’m writing now has morphed from […]
Our Collective Human Heritage Read More »
If Americans know anything at all about Cyrus II, it’s usually positive. The founder of the Persian Empire earned praise then and now for inaugurating a new way to rule: with respect — respect for differences of religion, respect for the wisdom of individual communities, respect (i.e. fair pay) for honest work… and all this
Today, Jews (really really observant Jews) fast during the daylight hours to recall a devastating event of over 2500 years ago. This, the 10th day of the month of Tevet, is remembered as the anniversary of the Babylonian king’s assault of Jerusalem. Tradition maintains that it was on this day in 587 B.C. that Nebuchadnezzar
Anniversary of Crisis and Change — the 10th of Tevet Read More »
Cyrus’ daughter Atossa has captivated me for all sorts of reasons, not least: she may be the first woman to have had a mastectomy and survived. Whether she did or didn’t is a matter of some debate. Only a brief note by Herodotus informs us of her condition and treatment. The author of Bathsheba’s Breast,
Bathsheba’s Breast… Cancer Read More »
Our relationship with Iran has hardly been comfortable in the past decades, even before the latest bizarrities. Yet just when Americans were donning crazy costumes for weekend Halloween parties, and as surprising as was the snow in New York City, the calendar afforded a day for our countries to find common ground. My article in recognition of International
Cyrus the Great Day Read More »
People hunted with birds in Cyrus the Great’s time and place (6th cent BC, Mesopotamia).* Just another of many things I’ve learned recently while working on my next book. Trying to figure out what bird to give him, I spent the better part of Friday night learning what kinds might have been found in his area.
Falconry in Ancient Iran Read More »
The eunuchs especially got my attention this time — a little plump, double-chinned, and very dignified in their ancient, stone-carved representation. I’ve visited the Oriental Institute in the past but am each time struck by something different. What a gem — a small museum in a beautiful old building on a tree-lined street in Chicago’s South Side, it houses
U Chicago’s Oriental Institute Read More »
Referring to the Cyrus Cylinder, Ahmadinejad is reported as saying that it represents the kind of foundation on which people can build a highly developed civilization. So far, so good, as it goes. But he reputedly went on to note the relative lack of such a foundation for the “Zionist regime” — meaning Israel?, Judaism? Let’s see… the Bible?!
In the Game of Cultural Background: Iran vs. Israel Read More »
A silent film nearly 100 years old will get a fresh airing complete with new music tonight (March 3) in Baltimore. I have yet to see D. W. Griffith’s “Intolerance,” but I’m intrigued. It tells four different historical moments of intolerance, the first of which deals with the fall of Babylon to Cyrus II. I can’t tell
Griffith’s “Intolerance” and Cyrus Read More »
Babylon, bab-ilu, Babel, “Gate of the gods” was the Big Apple of its day. Yet we get “the whore of Babylon” and the “Tower of Babel,” Bob Marley’s Babylon site of oppression and reputation for excess. The biblical view of Babylon is no less real in its critique than the grandeur that we know Babylon
The Many Faces of Babylon Read More »
