Ancient Mesopotamia

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In Asia Minor and Mesopotamia by 10,000 BC, people had long since abandoned cave dwelling. Many remained hunter-gatherers, but some had abandoned a migratory way of life in favour of living in the earliest permanent settlements amidst the prevailing hunter-gatherer populations.

However, while some of these settled locations such as Gobekli Tepe in Asia Minor thrived amid an intriguing local culture (see 'related links' for more on this area), they were also being abandoned by 8000 BC. Those in Mesopotamia continued to thrive though.

Mesopotamian prehistoric civilisation

People were utilising and storing a wide range of natural resources in favoured areas of what is now northern Iraq. The first evidence of domesticated grains (wheat and barley) and animals (sheep, goats, pigs, and cattle) could be found at Jarmo between about 8000-7000 BC, and baked clay female figures were being made at Mureybit.

Plastered semi-subterranean houses by the end of this period anticipated the development of mud brick, sun-dried clay as the main building material throughout later Mesopotamian history, and the earliest pottery was made and used for the preparation, serving, and storing of food.

The grinding and working of fine stone vessels and statuettes, particularly those styles which are named after the sites of Samarra and Halaf, was well established by 6000 BC.

Clay impressions of carved stamp seals were being made at Sabi Abyad in north-eastern Syria. Originally these seals were applied to a variety of containers to signify ownership, or responsibility for property. They are thought to indicate some measure of early administrative control. There is also evidence for the exchange of goods over distances which involved thousands of kilometres.

Hand-made pottery in the Samarra style was being made within the period 6000-5500 BC in central Iraq (click or tap on image to view full sized)

Agricultural settlements of the Halaf period, at about 5500 BC, extended all across northern Mesopotamia. Many resemblances between them indicate a shared culture and a level of social organisation.

Their most distinctive feature, a painted pottery of outstanding quality, was manufactured at many different centres.

Down south

Little is known of southern Mesopotamia before about 5500 BC, but some centuries later the influence of the southern Ubaid culture extended throughout the north. This culture was characterised by its distinctive painted pottery which was constructed on a slow wheel

As the culture spread, local pottery styles were replaced throughout Mesopotamia, extending into the eastern Mediterranean region, the Iranian plateau, and the Arabian peninsula.

At Eridu in the far south, an early shrine can be traced through many phases of rebuilding, becoming ever more massive. It was transformed in the historical 'Early Dynasty' period into a major Sumerian temple, a striking example of continuity in this region.

Smaller Ubaid villages gradually give way to fewer but larger settlements in the south.

From this, the Bronze Age Uruk culture emerged in the south, complete with many smaller cities appearing throughout the region and one super-sized city dominating in Sumer. This heralded the end of prehistoric Mesopotamia. The first stage then is to explore the Hassuna culture (see sidebar links or the panel below).

Some of the earliest cities, such as Sippar, Borsippa, and Kish in the north, and Ur, Uruk, and Eridu in the south, formed the endpoints of what became the complex Sumerian network of cities and canals (click or tap on map to view full sized)

Images and text copyright © P L Kessler, including exhibits at the British Museum. An original feature for the History Files.