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5000 BCE
Earliest evidence of human culture in Mesopotamia
We believe Sumerian civilization first took form in southern Mesopotamia around 4000 BCE—or 6000 years ago—which would make it the first urban civilization in the region. -
Period: 2000 BCE to 540 BCE
The Babylonians
Ancient Babylon was an influential city that served as a center of Mesopotamian civilization for nearly two millennia, from roughly 2000 B.C. to 540 B.C. -
1810 BCE
the birth of Hammurabi
Hammurabi, also spelled Hammurapi, was the sixth Amorite king of the Old Babylonian Empire, reigning from c. 1792 to c. 1750 BC. He was preceded by his father, Sin-Muballit, who abdicated due to failing health. During his reign, he conquered the city-states of Larsa, Eshnunna, and Mari. -
1754 BCE
the Hammurabi law
The Code of Hammurabi is one of the oldest deciphered writings of length in the world (written c. 1754 BCE), and features a code of law from ancient Babylon in Mesopotamia. The Code consisted of 282 laws. -
100 BCE
The last city in Mesopotamia
In 539 BC, however, Cyrus the Great captured Babylon and incorporated Mesopotamia into the Persian Empire. Periods of Greek and Parthian rule followed, and by about AD 100 Mesopotamian culture had effectively come to an end. -
Who first discovered the Mesopotamian civilization?
Sir Leonard Woolley (born April 17, 1880, London—died Feb. 20, 1960, London) was a British archaeologist whose excavation of the ancient Sumerian city of Ur (in modern Iraq) greatly advanced knowledge of ancient Mesopotamian civilization.