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 ...

According to religious tradition, that statue conferred legitimacy upon the king, which is why the Assyrians had taken it after the last rebellion. Its return was a powerful symbol that the Babylonian ...

To attempt to stay ahead of the gods, Babylonian kings employed astronomers to watch the skies day and night, keeping an eye out for strange phenomena. The astronomers recorded their observations ...