Mesopotamia
The cradle of civilization, home to Sumer, Akkad, Babylon, and Assyria. Inventors of writing, law, and the wheel.
3,500 years BCE
2,961 years of history
89 recorded events
Babylon capital city
Key Facts
First written language (cuneiform)
Code of Hammurabi
Hanging Gardens of Babylon
Key Events
10000 BCE
Agricultural Revolution
Humans transition from hunter-gatherers to farmers in the Fertile Crescent. The Neolithic Revolution transforms civilization.
technologicaleconomic
4000 BCE
First Cities Built (Uruk)
Uruk in Mesopotamia becomes the world's first true city, with an estimated population of 40,000-80,000 and monumental architecture.
politicalcultural
3500 BCE
Writing Invented (Cuneiform)
Sumerians in Mesopotamia develop cuneiform, the world's first writing system, initially used for trade records.
culturaltechnological
1754 BCE
Code of Hammurabi
Babylonian King Hammurabi codifies 282 laws — one of the oldest and most complete written legal codes. Establishes the principle 'an eye for an eye.'
political