A spiritual precept of ancient Egyptian rule. Ma'at requires the pharaoh to rule according to principals of truth and justice, with deference to right order and harmony. In ancient Egypt, pharaohs were thought to be divine instruments required to preserve the order and harmony of the universe.

2800-2500 BCE

The Epic of Gilgamesh is a poem dating to ancient Sumeria. It recounts the tale of Gilgamesh. Gilgamesh describes a cataclysmic flood sent down upon the Earth by the gods to destroy human kind. A god, Ea, revealed the plot to destroy humanity to a man, Utnapishtim. Utnapishtim …

Latin: wedge form. A system of writing developed in ancient Mesopotamia, and used by the Sumerian and later civilizations. Some ancient texts date as far back as 3000 BCE. Sumerians wrote cuneiform impressions on clay tablets, with a reed stylus. They then dried these tablets in the sun to obtain …

The art and practice of attempting to foretell or obtain knowledge concerning future events, the supernatural, or divine will. Divination frequently implies the use of characteristic tools of the trade, for example, foretelling events through interpretation of animal remains, shape of smoke columns, dice rolls, predictive cards, etc. Divination was …

A stepped tower, or recessed pyramid used in construction of Sumerian, Babylonian and Assyrian Temples. Such towers were frequently constructed from mud brick, a common building material of ancient Mesopotamia.

1750 BCE

A collection of 282 ancient laws used in governing the people of old Babylon. The Code of Hammurabi is one of the best known sources of ancient law text. The Code provides severe penalties for criminal behavior, but these penalties varied according to specific social class. Hammurabi's Code …