Babylonian Timeline

3800 BCE – 500 BCE · 3 sites

Babylonian history stacks on Sumerian cities: Old Babylonian law and letters, then a Neo-Babylonian imperial revival under Nebuchadnezzar II. The archaeology is temples, processional streets, and archives — not only the later legend of hanging gardens.

All sites in this period

Featured

Country Record

Earliest Known Site in Iraq

Babylon

1894 BCE – 539 BCE

Capital of ancient Babylonia, Babylon flourished under Hammurabi and Nebuchadnezzar II, famed for its Hanging Gardens and Ishtar Gate, before falling to Persia in 539 BCE.

412

Bronze AgeIron Age

87

Featured

Country Record

Longest Continuously Occupied Site in Iraq

Ur

3800 BCE – 500 BCE

Ur, a major Sumerian city-state in southern Mesopotamia, flourished from 3800 BCE to 500 BCE, renowned for its massive ziggurat, opulent royal tombs, and as the traditional birthplace of Abraham.

322

ChalcolithicBronze AgeIron Age

76

Nineveh

705 BCE – 612 BCE

The greatest city of the Neo-Assyrian Empire — Sennacherib's "city without rival" on the Tigris across from modern Mosul, with 80 kilometres of walls enclosing palaces, hanging gardens, and the world's first great library: 30,000 clay tablets assembled by Ashurbanipal recording the full scope of Mesopotamian knowledge.

311

Iron Age

75