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Special Index

Features for Ancient Mesopotamia

 

The Standard of Ur showing war chariots

Features / Lists

Ancient Mesopotamia

HASSUNA, SAMARRA & HALAF CULTURES / LATE NEOLITHIC

Prehistory

Life Before Civilisation

By 10,000 BC, people had abandoned cave dwelling in favour of living in the first permanent settlements.

Hassuna Culture

Hassuna Culture

Farming arrived in the fertile lowlands of Mesopotamia from 8000 BC onwards, transforming human society.

Samarra Culture

Samarra Culture

This was the second of the early Neolithic cultures which led to the creation of civilisation in Mesopotamia.

Halaf Culture

Halaf Culture

By the mid-sixth millennium the Halaf dry-farming culture had appeared in northern Mesopotamia and Syria.

UBAID PERIOD (5300-3900 BC) / CHALCOLITHIC

Ubaid

The Ubaid Period

This was the crossover point between prehistory and the threshold of early urban civilisation in Mesopotamia.

Iran

The Sumerian Effect in Iran

Numerous Iranian sites reveal evidence that they were home to a long-lived network of societies.

URUK IV PERIOD (3900-3100 BC) / GAWRA CULTURE (4000-3500 BC)

JEMDET NASR / URUK III PERIOD (3100-2900 BC) / EARLY BRONZE AGE

EARLY DYNASTIC I PERIOD (2900-2800 BC) / BEFORE THE FLOOD

Ubaid

The Sumerian King List

This highly important list was written on clay tablets, with the first version appearing around 2100 BC.

Script

First Writing System

The first communications revolution occurred when the Sumerians developed pictures into written script.

EARLY DYNASTIC II PERIOD (2800-2600 BC) / AFTER THE FLOOD

EARLY DYNASTIC IIIa PERIOD (2600-2500 BC)

Temple

Tell al-'Ubaid & the Temple

The site lies close to Ur and is famous partly for the prehistoric pottery to which it has given its name.

EARLY DYNASTIC IIIb PERIOD (2500-2334 BC) / LAGASH DYNASTY PERIOD

AKKAD DYNASTY PERIOD (2450-2250 BC)

GUTIAN PERIOD (2250-2150 BC)

Zagros Mountains

Gutian Origins

The Gutians arrived in the Zagros Mountains in the last few centuries of the 2000s BC.

UR III PERIOD (2150-2000 BC)

OLD BABYLONIAN PERIOD (2000-1600 BC) / MIDDLE BRONZE AGE

CONTEMPORARY STATES

LATE BRONZE AGE (1600-1200 BC)

IRON AGE I (1200-1000 BC) / DARK AGE

IRON AGE II (1000-586 BC)

GREAT EMPIRES (586-1 BC) / CLASSICAL & ROMAN