Over the past thousand years,^[1]http://www.timemaps.com/history/iraq-2500bc kingdoms and empires have come and gone in Mesopotamia. The first recorded empire^[2]http://www.timemaps.com/ancient-mesopotamia-history#sargonin world history appeared briefly under the fierce Sargon and his descendants (c. 2334 to 2218 BC), and the powerful states of Ur^[3]http://www.timemaps.com/ancient-mesopotamia-history#ur (2112 to 2004 BC) and Babylon (1792 to 1712 BC) followed. Hammurabi,^[4]http://www.timemaps.com/ancient-mesopotamia-history#ham king of Babylon (1792-49) is famous as history’s first great law-giver. These high points of Mesopotamian civilization have been separated by periods of outside invasion and internal fragmentation, yet despite these upheavals, styles of art, architecture and literature^[5]http://www.timemaps.com/civilization-ancient-mesopotamia#art derived from the old Sumerian cities have retain a powerful grip on the region’s culture.

By 1500 BC new invaders divide the ancient lands of Mesopotamia between them. The Kassites^[6]http://www.timemaps.com/ancient-mesopotamia-history#kassites rule Babylonia in the south, while Assyria is now part of the extensive (but short-lived) kingdom of the Mitanni. The powerful and warlike kingdom of Elam^[7]http://www.timemaps.com/history/iran-1500bc lies to the east. Despite the recent origins of these powerful states, this period represents the high point of Bronze Age civilization in Mesopotamia. The next few centuries^[8]http://www.timemaps.com/history/iraq-1000bc will see great upheavals hit this brilliant world.