Historian Barbara Tuchman wrote a book titled A Distant Mirror, about how we can see ourselves in 14th Century politics. I found the same is true when looking at the 9th Century BCE. For example, we’re still engaged in siege warfare. From ancient Assyria to modern Iraq, now to Venezuela, and probably next to Iran, […]
Archive | Assyria
The Mighty Hunters–Now and Then
Assyrian king portrayed as a lion hunter Many of you have read about the dentist who paid $54,000 for the privilege of luring the lion Cecil out of a wildlife sanctuary, shooting him, and taking his head and skin home as trophies. People were outraged, but it wasn’t a unique occurrence. Just in the last […]
Assyrian Empire: Blood at the Banquet
By Martha Shelley on December 14, 2014 in Assyria, Empire, Jezebel, Middle East, The Throne in the Heart of the Sea
This week the big news in the U.S. has been about torture, as conducted by the C.I.A. after 9/11. I’ve spent some time with the comments section in my hometown newspaper: the majority of readers are outraged, while some defend the practice. Some even seem naïve enough to be shocked. However, most ruling elites, ours […]