Explore the history of an ancient city

Hear Jason Ur discuss Tell Brak as it was then and is today...

Assistant professor of Anthropology and archaeologist Jason Ur talks about the ancient city of Tell Brak in northeastern Syria. He explains how thousands of years of mud architecture can create a mountain, what trash tells us about where people lived, and how even the ugliest pottery can be lovely to the archaeologist. The May-June issue reports on Jason Ur's work in "Outside-In Ur-banism."

Interact with an embedded Google map below. The Jaghjagh river, a tributary of the Euphrates, flows from right to left along the bottom of the map. Tell Brak is located in the upper left-hand corner next to the navigation arrows. Double-click on the mound to zoom in on Tell Brak.

View Interactive  Map

Related topics

You might also like

How AI Is Reshaping Supply Chains

Harvard Kennedy School lecturer on using AI to strengthen supply chains

This Astronomer is Sounding a Warning on ‘Space Junk’

As debris accumulates in low Earth orbit, the danger of destructive collisions continues to rise.

Understanding AI Vulnerabilities

As artificial intelligence capabilities evolve, so too will the tactics used to exploit them. 

Most popular

In 2004, a frenzy spread across Harvard Yard in days. Four billion users later, we are only just catching up.

All That’s Unseen charts the Harvard graduate’s uneasy journey from Appalachia to Cambridge and back.  

Alexander Pascal, the executive director of Harvard’s Berkman Klein Center, says governments should not passively accept that AI is inevitable.

Explore More From Current Issue

A flooded office scene with computers, a woman working, and a pink sunset backdrop.

A College student’s attempt to recapture the romanticism of the workplace.

A football player in a white jersey evades a defender in a green uniform on the field.

Despite personnel losses, Crimson captain Xaviah Bascon is upbeat about the 2026 season.

A woman with long, wavy hair wearing a white suit, seated in a bright, modern room.

The Harvard graduate’s roundtable talk show touches on hot button issues from religion to sex.