Neribtum

   A small ancient Mesopotamian city located about 10 miles (16 km) east of modern Baghdad. Not much is known about the history of Neribtum (modern Tell Ishchali), but an expedition to the site in the 1930s by the University of Chicago's oriental Institute uncovered a cult center, including a temple of Inanna, goddess of love and sexual passion. Inside the temple the archaeologists found a carved stone figurine of a monkey. Monkeys are not indigenous to Mesopotamia. So the existence of the figurine in the heart of that region suggests either that the sculptor had visited India or Egypt, where monkeys roamed, or that a trader had brought one or more monkeys to Mesopotamia.

   See also: Inanna; sculpture