Ancient Middle Eastern farmers prioritized grapes over olives, irrigating vineyards to sustain wine despite climate stress.

The story of how the first cities rose from southern Mesopotamia has long fascinated scientists and historians. Many ...

New research suggests Sumer’s earliest farms thrived on natural tidal irrigation long before the rise of canals.

International scholars find that Bronze and Iron Age farmers proved resilient in the face of climate change, cultivating ...

Both ethnographic and archaeological studies have been used to critique Wittfogel's hydraulic theory. These, however, often present data that are contradictory and in need of reformulation. In ...

The targets, in hindsight, were obvious choices. Amid a brutal campaign a decade ago to claim a caliphate across the lands of Mesopotamia, the insurgent group the Islamic State sought to control the ...

Archaeologists have uncovered a vast network of canals underneath the world’s oldest city in Mesopotamia, shedding more light on the rise of farming in the region. Researchers, led by geoarchaeologist ...

Researchers have unearthed the earliest definitive evidence of broomcorn millet (Panicum miliaceum) in ancient Iraq, challenging our understanding of humanity's earliest agricultural practices.