Mesopotamia Timeline
DATE / EVENT / NOTES~3500 BC / Uruk / Likely to be one of the first cities, founded on the banks of the Euphrates River, Uruk is thought to have played a leading role in the eventual urbanization of Sumer society. The Sumer used irrigation to farm large areas of land
~3300 BC / Number System / Previous to numbers existing, people would use individual symbols to stand for quantities. While this made record keeping easier, the evolution of numbers allowed for documenting and counting into the millions, in order for record keeping of larger societies. The Sumerians developed a numerical system based on 60. The base 6 numerical system is the reason why Babylonians chose 12 months instead of 10 for their calendar and why hours and minutes are divided into 60 units and why we have dozens and a circle has 360 degrees.
~3300 BC / Invention of writing
Cuneiform / Scholars and archaeologists believe that writing was first invented in Uruk, about 3300 BC, and it has been often called the single greatest intellectual achievement by human beings. Cuneiform was first developed by the ancient Sumerians of Mesopotamia around 3,500 B.C. The first cuneiform writings were pictographs created by making wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets with blunt reeds used as a stylus.
~3300 BC / Industrial Meat Curing / Charcuterie or meat curing was first developed, with a possible link to the first cities evolving. It is undetermined whether it was invented or inherited, but it allowed for food to be transported and remain fresh for longer periods of time.
3300-1800 BC / Bronze Age / The first bronze wedged seed plow was invented, which was an innovation in society. This allowed for for less labor to be used in order to do more work and bigger harvests for the same amount of land.
~3200 BC / Invention of the wheel / Evidence indicates they were created to serve as potter’s wheels around 3500 B.C. in Mesopotamia—300 years before someone figured out to use them for chariots.
~3000 BC / High-walled city-states / Archaeologists estimate that as much as 85-90% of the population lived within high-walled city-states, which provided safety from previous frequent invasions. Such walls were a source of technological pride, but they needed constant maintenance, as they were built of mud-brick
~2700 BC / Gilgamesh I / Gilgamesh may have been the actual king of Uruk around 2700 B.C. Gilgamesh was the subject of many epics, including the Sumerian "Gilgamesh and Enkidu in the Nether World" and the Babylonian "Epic of Gilgamesh.
~2400 BC / Mesopotamian Measurement / Stone blocks from the Sumerian period, dated to 2400 B.C., have been found that have the roughly equivalent weight of around 24 ounces and are inscribed with the same name. They may be part of a system of weights and measurements.
2330 BC / Sargon the Great / By 2700 BC the era of conflict set in with city states conquering their neighbors, establishing empires, then being conquered in turn. In roughly 2330 BC Sargon the Great rose to the throne of the Akkad to take command over all Sumer and later extend his dominion. However, the Akkadian Empire only lasted mere 150 years before another period of invasions started.
~2000 BC / Pythagorean Theorem / The so-called Pythagorean theorem (“the sum of the hypotenuse of a right triangle is equal to the sum of the squares of the other two sides”) was known to the Sumerians as early as 2000 B.C. A cuneiform tablet from Tell Hamal, dated to 1800 B.C., shows an algebraic-geometrical table with triangles described by perpendicular lines drawn from the right angle to the hypotenuse.
~2000 - 1600 BC / Old Babylonian
period / In Mesopotamia the Old Babylonian period began after the collapse of Sumer, probably due to an increase in the salt content of the soil that made farming difficult. Weakened by poor crops and lack of surplus goods, the Sumerians were conquered by the Amorites, situated in Babylon. The center of civility shifted north. The Amorites preserved much of the Sumerian culture but introduced their own Semitic language, an early ancestor to Hebrew, into the region.
~1800 BC / Astronomy / The Babylonians excelled at astronomy. Many of the constellations that we see in the sky were first categorized by them. The kept careful records and recorded celestial events under the belief they could shape future events. Under Hammurabi the Lawgiver, in 1800 B.C., star catalogs and planetary records were compiled.
1750 BC / King Hammurabi of Babylon / King Hammurabi of Babylon ended the period of invasions and established centralized control and stability - as reflected in the famous Code of Hammurabi, the earliest known written system of law and justice for a large political entity. This new epoch of intellectual flourishing did not last
1702 BC / Venus Astronomy / There are documented tablets which show visual recordings and calculations based on observations of Venus rising and setting, which will last for 21 years.
1600 - 900 BC / Kassite and Elamite Rule / After Babylon was sacked by the Hittite king Mursilis, the Kassites took over. The Kassites were a transhumant group from the Zagros Mountains who ruled over Babylon successfully for several centuries. They kept Babylon as their capital city. Their rule saw some fighting with the rival Assyrians as the northern Assyrians vied for control of Mesopotamia against the southern Babylonians. The Kassite rule was briefly brought to an end by an Elamite invasion before a series of native Babylonian kings, most notably Nebuchadnezzar, were once more able to take control of the city.
911 - 608 BC / Neo-Assyrian Period / The rivalry between Assyria and Babylon only grew during the Kassite and Elamite rule over Babylon. By the 10th century BCE, the Neo-Assyrian Empire had grown into a formidable force. The Neo-Assyrians ruled their empire from their capitals of Ashur and Nineveh; however, Babylon was still a large city and an important rival. It was ostensibly under Neo-Assyrian control, though revolts and political unrest were common, as the Babylonian kings refused to submit willingly to being vassals of the Neo-Assyrians. Civil wars such as those fought between the Babylonians and the Neo-Assyrians eventually led to the downfall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire.
604 - 562 BC / Nebuchadnezzar II / Nebuchadnezzar II ruled in Babylon. He undertook some monumental building projects that included the Hanging Gardens. The New Babylonian Revival used glazed bricks for building thereby creating a colorful city. In 586 BC, after a long siege, Jerusalem is taken by Nebuchadnezzar and the city, including Solomon's Temple, is destroyed.
539 BC / Cyrus the Persian / Babylon, under Chaldean rule since 612 BC, fell to the Persians. Cyrus the Persian captured Babylon. The Persian Empire under Cyrus lasted to 331 BC, when it was conquered by Alexander the Great. Cyrus returned some of the exiled Jews to Palestine, while other Jews preferred to stay and establish a 2nd Jewish center, the first being in Jerusalem. The Cyrus Cylinder was created following the Persian conquest of Babylon, when Cyrus overthrew the Babylonian king Nabonidus and replaced him as ruler, ending the Neo-Babylonian Empire. It was discovered in 1879 and became considered as the world's first declaration of human rights.
331 BC / Alexander the Great / Leaving Egypt in 331 BC, Alexander marched eastward into Mesopotamia and defeated Persians, at the Battle of Gaugamela. Persians fled the field, and Alexander chased them as far as Arbela. Gaugamela would be the final and decisive encounter between the two armies. Persians fled over the mountains to Ecbatana (modern Hamedan), while Alexander captured Babylon.