this is the realm of ancient mesopotamia. centered around grand palaces and temples, urban life emerged in an area that archaeologists call the first cradle of civilization. today the ruins of these once grand cities crumble in the dry desert earth. but how could civilization have emerged in such an arid environment in the first place ? and what might have caused its destruction ? data from mashkan shapir provide clues. stone: we found a very large palace structure, which was decorated with baked clay pieces, showing the city's own god -- nergal, the god of death. zimansky: there was a large temple area, in which we found pieces of sculpture -- lifesize and somewhat smaller -- of animals, human beings, all of which were probably part of the temple furniture. keach: they also found fish hooks, weights to hold down nets and fish spears -- all evidence there was once water here. written tablets like these describe mashkan shapir as a major port. but the city was 20 miles from the tigris river and 30 miles from the euphrates. how

from that entry you can check on entries from mesopotamia which might let to you alexander the greatnd on and on. it's easy to be trapped in a wikipedia rabbit hole of information that never ends. my producer called it information eternity. feminine touches tuesday marks the ada love lace day named for the first woman computer programmer. with all those editors you can read about events in record time. wikipedia posts news almost as fast as the associated press. coming up, banksy takes manhattan. is it art or just a hyped type on inside story, we bring together unexpected voices closest to the story, invite hard-hitting debate and desenting views and always explore issues relevant to you. that's all i have an real money. victoria azarenko on august 20th, >> is there a difference between a painting on a canvas or painting on the wall? earlier graffiti was considered a city on decline. bankscy has been shown on walls in the city of new york. should we praise his work or ask for arrest. he is a culture ambassador for urban arts and joining us from chile, art critic for the village voice

so i don't i mean look a smidgen of somehow then i mean we're going to read it was a day's full mesopotamia where does joe saddam get the gas in the technology. came from the united states well you know if we can go back to the first well well i don't know about that first there was an adam i mean that's that's you know you know who invented water i mean at some point you got to say well ok we're not you know why do they have any more exposure when we did pretty well documented but it's pretty well documented ok michael but you know you but again i'm i'm not i will not allow you to say that the united states is the cause of all these problems which is i think where you want this conversation i am i'm not i'm not saying that i'm not saying it's the cause but i'm saying interventions make it worse i'm not saying it's the cause ok let's be clear on i don't ok i don't know you you can't really what you can't rewind the clock and see if we hadn't done a well then b. and that's exactly why don't we learn enough for attention in the past on intervention in syria from the past caught a hundred thou

the immediate neighborhood of mesopotamia has changed. i am reluctant to say what the greatest change is. i do not want my family to be the target if i say something stupid. -- let me get philosophical. we are now in 2013. we have gone through this negotiation in a different way. said, he is absolutely right. with all the changes that have happened in that region, we still talk about and approach and a tone that belongs to another decade. this is what worries me. we are right. of course -- that is what i say to my son, of course i am right, i am your father. he knows i am right. how do we move forward? this is what is happening on danger.redible let's look at the region. some other way to attack the tumor. my suggestion, apart from the have moreould be to courage. to say something that many beyond iran would not like. how do the leaders we have in front of us build tomorrow. tomorrow has anything to do with yesterday? no. tomorrow is new. can we be ready? to builde enough guts tomorrow? terms, to the leaders i see in front of me. are you

mesopotamia in 1534 was -- [inaudible] and it began the rule of the sunnies more five centuries. when somebody tell us about -- [inaudible] why don't we reply 1946? would iran be as complete and whole as it is today if the u.k. and the u.s. in '46 had not really kicked out the soviets? these things are helpful, i think. helpful not because we know things, but because they play into the narrative. there are always different narratives, not only one. so i understand, but for god's sake, that's not the whole story. >> giandomenico, there's a narrative in that essentially says that's not important because congress is about to pass new sanctions. how do you deal with that narrative, with that reality that in the midst of these negotiations there are bills introduced, bills passed three days before rouhani is inaugurated, congress passed in the house new sanctions that will go to the senate probably many a few weeks. what will that do in this specific environment based on a narrative of the individuals you know on that other side for the prospect of getting a deal? and, please, mohsen,

the immediate neighborhood of mesopotamia has changed. i'm reluctant to say what is the greatest change of the region because my family, children, they are the target of those who say that i say something stupid. of course, i do very secretly, but anyway, let me just go philosophically so i tried to avoid being shot downstairs. we are not in 2013. we have gone through this negotiation in a different way. when all the angles and as dr. kahl said, he's absolutely right, he knows all the leader correctly. now, at this point in time, with all the changes which have happened in that region, we still talk about an approach and a tone which is, belongs to another decade. and this is what worries me, that, of course, we are right. of course, we are always right. that's what i said to my son. of course, i'm always right. i'm your father. what are you talking about? how do we move? he knows i'm right, so how do we move forward? and this is what is happening now in my view on this incredible, dangerous issue. let's look at the region. let's have som