Sumerian City-States

State · 3,400–1,761 BCE · at its largest around 2,500 BCE

Independent city-states of southern Mesopotamia such as Uruk, Ur, Lagash and Kish, where cuneiform writing, monumental temples and early kingship developed.

On its lands while it lasted

Eridu (c. 5,400–600 BCE): Regarded by the Sumerians as the first city; its temple to the god Enki was rebuilt many times from the Ubaid period onward.
Uruk (c. 5,000 BCE – c. 700 CE): Sumerian city on the Euphrates that by about 3100 BCE was probably the largest city in the world, centre of the first urban civilization.
Uruk period (c. 4,000–3,100 BCE): Period of rapid urbanization in Mesopotamia with the first cities, monumental temples, mass-produced pottery, cylinder seals and the invention of writing.
Cuneiform writing (c. 3,200 BCE): Scribes in Sumer, notably at Uruk, developed one of the world's first writing systems, which evolved from pictographic accounting tablets into wedge-shaped signs pressed into clay.
First writing at Uruk (c. 3,200 BCE): Clay tablets from Uruk recorded goods and labour with signs drawn in clay, the earliest known true writing system and ancestor of cuneiform.
Warka Vase (c. 3,000 BCE): Carved alabaster vessel from the temple complex of Inanna at Uruk, showing a procession of offerings to the goddess; one of the earliest surviving works of narrative relief. Looted from the Iraq Museum in 2003 and later returned.
Standard of Ur (c. 2,600 BCE): A wooden box inlaid with shell, red limestone and lapis lazuli from the Royal Cemetery at Ur, depicting scenes of war and peace in Early Dynastic Sumer.
Royal Game of Ur (c. 2,600 BCE): Inlaid board game of twenty squares found by Leonard Woolley in the Royal Cemetery at Ur in the 1920s; one of the oldest known game boards, now in the British Museum.
Sargon founds the Akkadian Empire (c. 2,334 BCE): Sargon of Akkad united the Sumerian city-states and lands beyond under Akkadian rule, creating what is often called the first empire in history.
Enheduanna (c. 2,285 BCE – 2,250 BCE): High priestess of the moon god Nanna at Ur and daughter of Sargon of Akkad, she is the earliest known author identified by name.
Babylon (2,201 BCE – 1 CE): Capital of Babylonia (1800 BCE–601 BCE), Neo-Babylonian Empire (600 BCE–539 BCE), Achaemenid Empire (550 BCE–330 BCE).
Epic of Gilgamesh (c. 2,100 BCE): An epic about Gilgamesh, king of Uruk, whose earliest Sumerian episodes date to around the Third Dynasty of Ur; it is among the oldest surviving great works of literature.
Ziggurat of Ur (c. 2,100 BCE): A massive stepped temple platform built by Ur-Nammu and his son Shulgi for the moon god Nanna; its lower levels were partly reconstructed in the 20th century.
Code of Ur-Nammu (c. 2,100 BCE): The oldest known surviving law code, from the Third Dynasty of Ur, which prescribed monetary fines for many offences.
Hammurabi (c. 1,810 BCE – 1,750 BCE): Sixth king of the First Babylonian dynasty (r. 1792–1750 BCE), he conquered much of Mesopotamia and issued one of the best-known ancient law codes.