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العربية
Topic timeline · c. 3,500 BCE – 539 BCE

Mesopotamia

8 events

The land between the Tigris and Euphrates, where the first cities, writing and written laws appear.

Showing 3,405 years

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  1. c. 5,500 BCE – 1,900 BCESumerAsiaSumer ( SOO-mər) is the earliest known civilization, located in the historical region of southern Mesopotamia (now south-central Iraq), emerging during the Chalcolithic and early Bronze Ages between the 5th and 4th millennium BC. Like nearby Elam, it is one of the cradles of civilization, along with Egypt, the Indus Valley, the Erligang culture of the Yellow River valley, Caral-Supe, and Mesoamerica.
  2. c. 3,200 BCEWriting begins in SumerMesopotamia (Iraq)Scribes in cities like Uruk press wedge-shaped marks into clay tablets to keep records of grain and goods. Cuneiform is one of the first writing systems, and it marks the start of recorded history.
  3. 3,100 BCE – 2,700 BCEProto-ElamiteElamThe Proto-Elamite period, also known as Susa III, is a chronological era in the ancient history of the area of Elam, dating from c. 3100 BC to 2700 BC. In archaeological terms this corresponds to the late Banesh period. Proto-Elamite sites are recognized as the oldest civilization in Iran. The Proto-Elamite script is an Early Bronze Age writing system briefly in use before the introduction of Elamite cuneiform.
  4. 2,334 BCE – 2,154 BCEAkkadian EmpireAsiaThe Akkadian Empire or the Kingdom of Akkad/Agade was an ancient kingdom established around 2300 BC, often seen as the first empire in world history, succeeding and unifying the long-lived city-states of the Early Dynastic period.
  5. c. 2,100 BCEEpic of GilgameshMesopotamiaThe Epic of Gilgamesh is an epic from ancient Mesopotamia that is the world's oldest surviving example of narrative literature. The literary history of Gilgamesh begins with five Sumerian poems about Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, some of which may date to the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2100 BCE). These independent stories were later used as source material for a combined epic in Akkadian.
  6. c. 1,754 BCECode of HammurabiBabylon (Iraq)King Hammurabi of Babylon has 282 laws carved on a basalt stele. It is one of the oldest written law codes known.
  7. 626 BCE – 539 BCENeo-Babylonian EmpireAsiaThe Neo-Babylonian Empire or Second Babylonian Empire, historically known as the Chaldean Empire, was the last polity ruled by monarchs native to ancient Mesopotamia. Beginning with the coronation of Nabopolassar as the King of Babylon in 626 BC and being firmly established through the fall of the Assyrian Empire in 612–609 BC, the Neo-Babylonian Empire was conquered by the Achaemenid Persian Empire in 539 BC, less…
  8. 539 BCEFall of BabylonBabylonThe fall of Babylon occurred in 539 BCE, when the Achaemenid Empire conquered the Neo-Babylonian Empire. The success of the Persian campaign, led by Cyrus the Great, brought an end to the reign of the last native dynasty of Mesopotamia and gave the Persians control over the rest of the Fertile Crescent.