Sometime around the sixth or seventh century CE, a certain Farrūkhdādh— son of Bāwaï and Shūshān —commissioned an incantation bowl to protect his household from curses, demons, and spirits.

In this week’s Photo Story, we explore Tell ʿAbd al-Azīz, also known as Girdi Abdulazīz— an archaeological mound situated on the south-west edge of Arbelā (modern-day Erbil, Iraq).

Sections of a rare Christian Palestinian Aramaic (CPA) lectionary manuscript have been digitised for the very first time. The two folios, tentatively dated to the tenth– or eleventh–century, correspond to the books of Micah and Isaiah, respectively.

Assyria occupies a unique place in the history of human culture. Centred at the crossroads between northern Iraq, north-western Iran, south-eastern Türkiye, and north-eastern Syria— it was here that some of the earliest urban civilisations began to appear.

Christianity’s origins are found in many places throughout Assyria where Syriac Christianity flourished shortly after the crucifixion. In the second half of the first century CE, Assyria’s major cities were transformed into vibrant centres of learning and philosophy for early Indigenous Assyrian converts.