Explore the history of an ancient city

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.

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Click here for the May-June 2008 issue table of contents

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