Have you ever stood in a barren desert, feeling the world fall silent, only to hear a haunting, unearthly melody rising from the dunes? This isn’t a mirage or a trick of the mind. In some of the world ...

Excavations on unpromising mounds in the Iraqi desert revealed Sumer’s earliest city. Surviving relics and a rebuilt temple have given experts more clues about the ancient metropolis of Eridu.