TIMESCAPES MAP PACK 1 – EMERGENCE: Early Cultures of the Ancient Near East
Timescapes Series One begins in the year 3500 BC. There are two main reasons why this date is significant: the advent of writing (which signals the beginning of recorded history, as distinct from prehistory) and the exponential growth of cities. There is substantial evidence that in Mesopotamia (Sumer) and Egypt both of these events begin to accelerate around 3500 BC or shortly thereafter.
TIMESCAPES MAP PACK 1 – EMERGENCE
3500 BC: MESOPOTAMIA AND EGYPT: THE BEGINNING OF WRITTEN HISTORY
In the marshlands of the Persian Gulf around 3500 BC, the great cities of Sumer began to thrive: Eridu, Uruk and Ur. Many of these cities arose on sites that had been inhabited for thousands of years, but which during the 4th millennium began to experience a significant rise in population.
In Egypt, a similar evolution was taking place in sites along the Nile: as in Sumer, the development of more efficient agriculture and the rise in population levels led to the development of large urban centres.
TIMESCAPES MAP PACK 1 – EMERGENCE
3000 BC: SUMER AND ELAM
As the waters of the Persian Gulf gradually receded, more cities appeared on the plains of Sumer. Trade with Anatolia, Northern Mesopotamia and eastern regions as far away as the Indus Valley Culture saw Sumer become the dominant culture of Mesopotamia.
To the immediate east, the Iranic culture of Elam, with its capital at Anzhan, was also experiencing rapid growth, while population booms were also occurring in central Anatolia (Hatti) and in the ancient cities of the Levant (Megiddo, Jericho and Ugarit among others).
TIMESCAPES MAP PACK 1 – EMERGENCE
2500 BC: EARLY DYNASTIC CITY STATES: THE FERTILE CRESCENT
The Early Dynastic age sees a significant increase in the number of fortified cities and the expansion of the cultures of Egypt, Sumer and Elam.
New city states begin to appear across Mesopotamia: Ebla in Syria; The Hurrians and Assyrians in northern Mesopotamia; the kingdom of Mari on the Middle Euphrates; and Malidiya (Melid) in Anatolia.
Increased trade between these states results in ever larger and more powerful kingdoms and a surge in the construction of palaces and religious buildings.
There is also war: in fact from this period onwards the history of Mesopotamia is a story of virtually constant conflict. The first recorded war in history, between Sumer and Elam, is dated to 2700 BC.
