Archaeology Odyssey

These letters, now in the British Library in London, provide a fascinating glimpse of the very first reactions to the Assyrian discoveries.

Layard first identified Nimrud as the site of ancient Nineveh; in fact, it is the site of the Assyrian city of Kalhu, called Calah in the Bible (Genesis 10:11–12). He apparently identified Nimrud with the biblical character Nimrod, who, after founding Babel, “went into Assyria, and built Nineveh” (Genesis 10:11). Layard later moved north to excavate at Mosul, the actual site of Nineveh.

See Michael Hudson, “Proclaim Liberty Throughout the Land,” Bible Review, February 1999.

See Zahi Hawass, “Mummies: Emissaries of the Golden Age,” AO 03:05.

See especially Ian Morris and Kurt Raaflaub, eds., Democracy 2500: Questions and Challenges (Dubuque, IA: Kendall/Hunt, 1998).

For a superb study of the rite of human sacrifice from the Akedah to the Crucifixion, see Jon D. Levenson, The Death and Resurrection of the Beloved Son: The Transformation of Child Sacrifice in Judaism and Christianity (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1993).

See Gay Robins, “The Enigma of Hatshepsut: Egypt’s Female Pharaoh,” AO 02:01.