Near the river Tigris, outside the ancient city of Kalhu, known today as Nimrud, northern Iraq, a brickmaker once prepared a clay brick for the construction of a new palace dedicated to his king Ashurnasirpal II (approximately 883-859 BCE). Little did he know, that almost 2,900 years later, this clay brick would serve as a unique time capsule revealing details of the flora from this area and time, through the modern-day investigation of the ancient...
