Tag Archives: archaeology

White Paper: Massive Textual Archives of the Ancient World: What We Have Deciphered, What Remains Locked, and What May Yet Be Found

Posted on December 1, 2025 by nathanalbright

Abstract Over the past 150 years, archaeology has uncovered immense textual archives from the ancient world—royal libraries, palace accounting systems, civic records, and religious corpora—many of which have been at least partly deciphered. Yet critical gaps remain: some writing systems … Continue reading →

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White Paper: Investigating the Location of Akkad and Other Lost Historical Cities

Posted on October 21, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary The ancient city of Akkad—capital of the Akkadian Empire founded by Sargon of Akkad (ca. 2334–2279 BCE)—remains one of the most tantalizing unsolved mysteries in Near Eastern archaeology. Despite centuries of research, Akkad’s precise location remains unknown. This … Continue reading →

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White Paper: The Political History of Laconia: Bronze Age Foundations

Posted on September 15, 2025 by nathanalbright

Executive Summary Laconia’s political history cannot be understood without tracing its roots back into the Bronze Age. Long before Sparta’s rise as a hegemonic power, the Eurotas valley and its surrounding regions formed part of the Mycenaean world, with elite … Continue reading →

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Deciphering The Elamite Language

Posted on December 20, 2024 by nathanalbright

Elamite was the language of Elam, an ancient civilization centered in what is now southwestern Iran. The language was written in cuneiform script and was used from around 2300 BCE to 350 BCE. The decipherment of Elamite presents an interesting … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Palenque

Posted on June 28, 2024 by nathanalbright

Palenque (Unearthing Ancient Worlds), by Deborah Kops In reading this book I am perhaps a bit more harsh on this book than I might otherwise be if it was meant for adults. That is not to say that it is … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Cafe Neandertal

Posted on February 18, 2024 by nathanalbright

Cafe Neandertal, by Beebe Bahrami On page 184 of this book, the author says something that is truly remarkable and delusional: ”Yes, I am a writer, and I find myself quite often trying to get the right words and narrative to … Continue reading →

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Book Review: Llamas And The Andes

Posted on November 6, 2020 by nathanalbright

Llamas And The Andes: A Nonfiction Companion To Magic Tree House #34: Late Lunch With Llamas, by Mary Pope Osborne and Natalie Pope Boyce Admittedly, this is by no means a bad book. But more than is the case with … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Lost Empire Of Atlantis

Posted on October 8, 2020 by nathanalbright

The Lost Empire Of Atlantis: History’s Greatest Mystery Revealed, by Gavin Menzies Starting with 1421 [1] and then 1431, Menzies is an author who was on the path of squandering considerable promise as a popular (if unconventional) historian with an … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The First Civilizations

Posted on June 4, 2020 by nathanalbright

The First Civilizations:  The Archaeology Of Their Origins, by Glyn Daniel What is civilization?  In Southern Europe there were a variety of cities that were built by speakers of unknown and lost languages, and few books are written about them … Continue reading →

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Book Review: The Aegean Bronze Age

Posted on January 11, 2020 by nathanalbright

The Aegean Bronze Age, by Oliver Dickinson It should be noted at the outset that I greatly prefer the historical approach to the archaeological approach when it comes to providing insight on the past.  To be sure, I have a … Continue reading →

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