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The peak of Mt. Everest is still out of reach for me but the heights of human endeavour were within reach at Burj Khalifa. The panorama of Paris spread before you when you’re atop the Eiffel is still my favorite, but the beauty that is the bubble that is Dubai is still worth a look! … Continue reading
The Al-Badayer is the desert of choice for desert safaris and dune-bashing. You can’t really share the fun of dune-bashing in a pic, but the rest of it can so here are some shots of the sun setting among the dunes. It’s nothing new of course, the sun sets every day, but the sight of … Continue reading
Back in 2018, we took a short trip to Dubai. One of the highlights of any trip to the UAE should be a desert safari. We had to partake of that! The desertscape was so serene (as long as you’re hydrated, I guess). The safaris usually take place in the late afternoon and end in … Continue reading
Votive offerings Little models of homes/temples were offered to Sumerian gods and goddesses as part of worship rituals, asking the deity to protect the supplicant. What struck me immediately I saw these were the similarities with certain Hindu ritual offerings. On Diwali in Northern India, Hindus create a small temple of sorts at home and … Continue reading
The Ain Ghazal statues are some of the oldest large-size depictions of the human form. These range from 8000-7000 BCE and were found in Ain Ghazal (hence the name) in Jordan. Some of the cache are distributed (London, Paris, Abu Dhabi) while the rest are (hopefully still) on display at the museum in Amman, Jordan. … Continue reading
Hammurabi’s laws are generally believed to be the oldest written laws, though that is not the case. The (mostly)preserved laws of Ur-Nammu predate these by about three centuries, and there is mention of older codices that have not yet been found (oh, the possibilities!) Hammurabi’s code, though remains the better-known and better-preserved legal codex, dating … Continue reading
A war scene from a fragment of what was probably a palace wall. The scene depicts an assault on a fortified city, interestingly defended by a double-wall system with the inner wall higher than the outer one, allowing the defenders to shoot arrows and pour heated oil, tar etc. from two levels at the attackers. … Continue reading
A statue of Gudea, Prince of Lagash. Having read about him in Sumerian history, it was a “little shiver down my spine” moment to see him face-to-face! The epic of Gilgamesh is probably the oldest epic/fable/legend known to us. It’s unclear if Gilgamesh was an historical figure or not, though the current thought is that … Continue reading
Lamassu from the palace of Sargon II near modern-day Khorsabad. These mythical creatures with the body of a winged bull or lion and the head of a human were considered as guardian deities, and seals depicting these magical creatures were buried under the threshold of Assyrian homes in the 1st millennium BCE. Of course, the … Continue reading
Cuneiform writing has always fascinated me. The first known script, I still wonder at the genius of the humans who came up with it. From simple scribbles for counting to a complex set of symbols for recording their history, literature, mythology, and more, this was one of the most remarkable inventions of all time. More … Continue reading
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