His term “state-city” emphasizes the overall political and administrative ... For the king, the aim was to make “submission not just tolerable but actually desirable.” That enabled Mesopotamian rule ...

This 8th-century miniature, by the Spanish monk Beatus of Liébana, depicts the Bible story of Babylonian King Nebuchadrezzar eating grass as divine punishment. Photograph by Granger Collection ...

The irrigation network consists of over 200 primary canals, some of which stretch up to nine kilometers in length and are between two and five meters wide.