Mesopotamia timeline
This chart puts 15 Mesopotamian states and empires on one timeline in order, from Uruk period (before 3200 to 3100 BCE) to Achaemenid Empire (550 to 330 BCE).
See it on the interactive chart
- Uruk periodbefore 3200 to 3100 BCE
- Sumeriansc. 3100 to 2000 BCE
- Kishc. 2900 to 2334 BCE
- Urukc. 2900 to 2334 BCE
- Maric. 2900 to 1761 BCE
- Akkadian Empirec. 2334 to 2154 BCE
- Third Dynasty of Urc. 2112 to 2004 BCE
- Old Assyrian city-statec. 2025 to 1363 BCE
- Old Babylonian Empirec. 1894 to 1595 BCE
- Kassite Babyloniac. 1595 to 1155 BCE
- Mitannic. 1550 to 1260 BCE
- Middle Assyrian Empirec. 1363 to 912 BCE
- Neo-Assyrian Empire911 to 609 BCE
- Neo-Babylonian Empire626 to 539 BCE
- Achaemenid Empire550 to 330 BCE
- Isolates and small families
- Semitic
- Iranian
- People or culture without a state
In order
Uruk period
Age of the first cities and states in southern Mesopotamia, when Uruk may have held 25,000 to 50,000 people. Proto-cuneiform writing appeared, possibly recording Sumerian (the most widely held view, though debated), and Uruk settlements and influence reached Syria and Iran.
Sumerians
Speakers of Sumerian, a language isolate written from at least 3100 BCE, in the city-states of southern Mesopotamia. Akkadian replaced it as the everyday language around 2000 BCE (the date is debated), but it lived on in temples and schools for two millennia.
Kish
Northern Babylonian city whose early prestige made 'King of Kish' a title later claimed by strong rulers. Tradition says Sargon served as cupbearer to a king of Kish before founding Akkad. Its Semitic links, proposed as a 'Kish civilization', are debated.
Uruk
City that may have been the world's largest around 3100 BCE, ringed by a 9 km wall, and home of the legendary king Gilgamesh. Its kings competed with Kish and Ur until the Akkadian Empire annexed it.
Mari
Euphrates trading city whose palace archive of about 25,000 tablets documents diplomacy under King Zimri-Lim. Hammurabi, once his ally, destroyed Mari in 1761 BCE.
Akkadian Empire
Sargon of Akkad united Sumer and northern Mesopotamia in what is often seen as the first empire, and his grandson Naram-Sin declared himself a living god. Revolts, a major drought and Gutian, Amorite and Elamite pressure brought it down.
Third Dynasty of Ur
Sumerian revival under Ur-Nammu, who built the great ziggurat of Ur and issued the oldest surviving law code. Its bureaucracy left tens of thousands of tablets before Elamites sacked Ur in 2004 BCE.
Old Assyrian city-state
City-state of Assur whose merchants ran the Anatolian tin trade. Shamshi-Adad I briefly built a kingdom of Upper Mesopotamia around 1800 BCE, and Assur later fell under Mitanni.
Old Babylonian Empire
Amorite dynasty that Hammurabi made master of Mesopotamia, carving his law code on a stone stele. The Hittite king Mursili I sacked Babylon in 1595 BCE.
Kassite Babylonia
Dynasty of Kassite origin that ruled Babylonia for over four centuries, longer than any other, and wrote to Egypt in the Amarna letters. An Elamite invasion ended it in 1155 BCE.
Mitanni
Hurrian-speaking kingdom of northern Syria and Upper Mesopotamia whose kings took Indo-Aryan throne names and invoked gods such as Mitra and Indra in treaties. It rivalled Egypt, then was broken by the Hittites and annexed by Assyria by about 1260 BCE.
Middle Assyrian Empire
Ashur-uballit I freed Assur from Mitanni, and Tukulti-Ninurta I subjugated Babylonia. After Tiglath-Pileser I it lost most lands outside its heartland, partly to Aramean invasions, but kept its Assyrian core.
Neo-Assyrian Empire
Largest empire of its time, ruling all of Mesopotamia, the Levant and Egypt with a standing army and mass resettlement of conquered peoples. Ashurbanipal gathered a great library at Nineveh, which the Medes and Babylonians captured in 612 BCE.
Neo-Babylonian Empire
Nebuchadnezzar II rebuilt Babylon with the Ishtar Gate, destroyed Jerusalem and took many Judeans into exile. Cyrus the Great took Babylon without a fight in 539 BCE.
Achaemenid Empire
Cyrus the Great and his successors built the largest empire of its time, from Egypt and Thrace to the Indus, joined by the Royal Road and run by satraps. Alexander conquered it by 330 BCE after Gaugamela.
Major events
- Early writing appears at Uruk. Scribes at Uruk record goods on clay tablets in proto-cuneiform, which emerged around 3350 to 3200 BCE. Over the following centuries it grows into cuneiform, a writing system used until the 1st century BCE.
- Sargon founds the Akkadian Empire. Sargon of Akkad, whose reign is often dated 2334 to 2279 BCE, defeats Lugalzagesi of Uruk and unites Sumer and Akkad in what is often seen as the first empire in history.
- Elamites sack Ur. An Elamite army destroys Ur and carries off its last king, Ibbi-Sin, ending the Third Dynasty of Ur. The Lament for Ur mourns the city's fall.
- Code of Hammurabi. Hammurabi of Babylon has his laws inscribed on a basalt stele, covering criminal, family, property and commercial cases and resting on the principle of an eye for an eye.
- Hittites sack Babylon. Mursili I leads a 2,000 km march into Mesopotamia and sacks Babylon, ending Hammurabi's dynasty and opening the way for the Kassites.
- Battle of Qarqar. Shalmaneser III of Assyria fights a coalition of eleven kings led by Hadadezer of Damascus and Ahab of Israel. His record lists Gindibu the Arab with 1,000 camels, the first mention of Arabs.
- Assyria conquers Samaria. Assyria takes Samaria after a three-year siege, ends the Kingdom of Israel and deports tens of thousands of Israelites, who are remembered as the Ten Lost Tribes.
- Fall of Nineveh. Babylonians and Medes capture the Assyrian capital after a two-month siege and loot it. Within three years the Neo-Assyrian Empire is gone.
- Destruction of Jerusalem. Nebuchadnezzar II destroys Jerusalem and Solomon's Temple and deports the Judean elite to Babylon. The exile reshapes Jewish religion and scripture.
- Cyrus takes Babylon. After defeating the Babylonians at Opis, Cyrus the Great enters Babylon, which Persian-era texts say fell without battle. He lets deported peoples, including the Judeans, return home.
- Battle of Gaugamela. Alexander defeats Darius III near Erbil. Babylon, Susa and Persepolis fall within months, and the Achaemenid Empire is finished.
Questions
What is the order of Mesopotamian states and empires?
By start date: Uruk period, Sumerians, Kish, Uruk, Mari, Akkadian Empire, Third Dynasty of Ur, Old Assyrian city-state, Old Babylonian Empire, Kassite Babylonia, Mitanni, Middle Assyrian Empire, Neo-Assyrian Empire, Neo-Babylonian Empire and Achaemenid Empire.
How many Mesopotamian states and empires were there?
This timeline shows 15. Other lists count differently, depending on how they treat rival states and periods of division.
Which came first?
Uruk period, before 3200 to 3100 BCE, is the earliest on this timeline.
Where do these dates come from?
Each row's dates were checked against the sources listed on that row's own page, mostly English Wikipedia articles, which cite the underlying scholarship. Dates that are uncertain are marked c.