Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia[lower-alpha 1] is a historical region of West Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the Fertile Crescent. Today, Mesopotamia occupies modern Iraq.[1][2] In the broader sense, the historical region included present-day Iraq and parts of present-day Iran, Kuwait, Syria and Turkey.[3][4]

Mesopotamia

Map showing the extent of Mesopotamia. Shown are Washukanni, Nineveh, Hatra, Assur, Nuzi, Palmyra, Mari, Sippar, Babylon, Kish, Nippur, Isin, Lagash, Uruk, Charax Spasinu and Ur, from north to south.

A modern satellite view of Mesopotamia (October 2020).

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History of Iraq
Prehistory Ubaid period Hassuna culture Halaf culture Halaf-Ubaid Transitional period Samarra culture (Eridu) Uruk period Jemdet Nasr Period
Bronze Age Sumer Assyria Akkadian Empire Gutian dynasty of Sumer Third Dynasty of Ur Isin-Larsa period First Babylonian Empire Kassites Simurrum Middle Assyrian Empire Babylonia Neo-Assyrian Empire Neo-Babylonian Empire
Iron Age Achaemenid Assyria Seleucid Babylonia Parthian Babylonia Roman Mesopotamia Sasanian Asorestan
Middle Ages Islamic conquest Rashidun Caliphate Umayyad Caliphate Abbasid Caliphate Hamdanids Buyid amirate of Iraq Marwanids Uqaylids Al-Mazeedi Ayyubids Seljuk Empire Atabegs of Azerbaijan Zengids Ilkhanate Jalairid Sultanate Timurid Empire Kara Koyunlu Aq Qoyunlu
Early modern period Safavids Ottoman Iraq Mamluk dynasty
Modern Iraq Mandatory Iraq Kingdom of Iraq Republic of Iraq (1958–68) Ba'athist rule (1968–2003) Occupation (2003–11) Recent history
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The Sumerians and Akkadians (including Assyrians and Babylonians), each originating from different areas, dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of recorded history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the Achaemenid Empire. Mesopotamia was next conquered by Alexander the Great in 332 BC, and after his death it became part of the Greek Seleucid Empire.

Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. It has been identified as having "inspired some of the most important developments in human history, including the invention of the wheel, the planting of the first cereal crops, and the development of cursive script, mathematics, astronomy, and agriculture". It is recognised as the cradle of some of the world's earliest civilizations.[5]

Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the Parthian Empire. It became a battleground between the Romans and Parthians, with western parts of the region coming under ephemeral Roman control. In 226 AD, the eastern regions of Mesopotamia fell to the Sassanid Persians. The division of the region between the Roman (Byzantine Empire from 395 AD) and Sassanid Empires lasted until the 7th century Muslim conquest of Persia of the Sasanian Empire and Muslim conquest of the Levant from Byzantines. A number of primarily neo-Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BC and 3rd century AD, including Adiabene, Osroene, and Hatra.