# Ancient Near East

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Home of many cradles of civilization

The ancient Near East Archaeological periods Chronology Copper Age Bronze Age Bronze Age Collapse Iron Age Regions and states Fertile Crescent Mesopotamia: Sumer Hamazi Subartu Suhum Uruk Akkadian Empire Armani Gutian Dynasty Simurrum Sumerian Empire Assyria Babylonia Tukri Kassites Chaldea Assyrian Empire Babylonian Empire Adiabene Egypt: Early Dynastic Period Old Kingdom Middle Kingdom New Kingdom Ptolemaic Kingdom Roman Egypt Iran: Elam Lullubi Medes Achaemenid Empire Parthian Empire Sasanian Empire Anatolia: Hattians Hurrians Hittites Carchemish Arzawa Assuwa Luwians Kaskians Hayasa-Azzi Shupria Colchis Neo-Hittite States Lydia Phrygians Diauehi Urartu Bithynia Pontus Commagene The Levant: Kish Civilization Ebla Armi Mari Nagar Amorites Qatna Mukish Amurru Yamhad Ugarit Hurrians Urkesh Urshu Mitanni Canaan Phoenicia Israel and Judah Palestine Alashiya Aram Neo-Hittite states Nabatea Iturea Seleucid Empire Coele-Syria Roman Syria Arabia: Dilmun Magan Gerrha Awal Tylos Saba Qedar Qatabān Ḥaḍramawt Awsān Thamud Maʿīn Lihyan Nabataea Himyar Hatra Tanukh Ghassanids Salīḥids Lakhmid Kinda Languages Akkadian Amorite Arabic Old Arabic Nabataean Arabic Nabataean Script Ancient North Arabian Dadanitic Hismaic Safaitic Taymanitic Thamudic Aramaic Armazic Eastern Aramaic Western Aramaic Imperial Aramaic Old Aramaic Aramaic Script Avestan Avestan Script Canaanite Ammonite Edomite Hebrew Moabite Phoenician Phoenician Alphabet Proto-Sinaitic Script Paleo-Hebrew Script Eblaite Egyptian Egyptian Hieroglyphs Elamite Linear Elamite Elamite Cuneiform Eteocypriot Cypriot Syllabary Gutian Hattic Hittite Hittite Cuneiform Hurrian Kaskian Kassite Luwic Carian Carian Script Kalasmaic Luwian Anatolian Hieroglyphs Lycian Lycian Script Milyan Pisidian Sidetic Lydian Lydian Script Median Mysian Palaic Parthian Inscriptional Parthian Manichaean Script Old Persian Old Persian Cuneiform Middle Persian Manichaean Script Pazend Script Philistine Phrygian Phrygian Script Samalian South Arabian South Arabian Script Sumerian Cuneiform Script Sutean Taymanitic Ugaritic Ugaritic Script Urartian Literature Akkadian Egyptian Hebrew Hittite Persian Sumerian Syriac Ugaritic Religion and mythology Religion and mythology Mesopotamian Babylonian Sumerian Egyptian Semitic Arabian Nabataean Canaanite Hebrew Punic Armenian Hurrian Anatolian Hittite Luwian Lydian Iranian Persian Scythian Ossetian Bronze Age Aegean Minoan Mycenaean Cosmology Ancient near eastern cosmology Flat Earth Firmament Cosmic ocean Abzu Ancient Mesopotamian underworld Mashu Other topics Animals Archaeology Genetic History Cradle of Civilization Ancient Semitic-speaking peoples Ancient Near East Conflicts Egypt Egyptology Mathematics Technology Medicine Assyria Assyriology Law Babylonia Astronomy Law Mathematics Hittites Hittitology Law Cuneiform Law Early Alphabet History of the Ancient Levant History of the Middle East Timeline List of Cities v t e

The **ancient Near East** was home to many [cradles of civilization](/source/Cradle_of_civilization), spanning [Mesopotamia](/source/Mesopotamia),[1][a] the [Levant](/source/Levant),[b] [Egypt](/source/Ancient_Egypt), [Iran](/source/Ancient_Iran),[c] [Anatolia](/source/Anatolia) and the [Armenian highlands](/source/Armenian_highlands),[2][d] and the [Arabian Peninsula](/source/Pre-Islamic_Arabia).[e] As such, the fields of [ancient Near East studies](/source/Ancient_Near_East_studies) and [Near Eastern archaeology](/source/Near_Eastern_archaeology) are one of the most prominent with regard to research in the realm of [ancient history](/source/Ancient_history). Historically, the [Near East](/source/Near_East) denoted an area roughly encompassing the centre of [West Asia](/source/West_Asia), having been focused on the lands between [Greece](/source/Ancient_Greece) and Egypt in the west and Iran in the east. It therefore largely corresponds with the modern-day geopolitical concept of the [Middle East](/source/Middle_East).

The [history of the ancient Near East](/source/History_of_the_Middle_East) begins with the rise of [Sumer](/source/Sumer) in the 4th millennium BC, though the date that it ends is a subject of debate among scholars; the term covers the region's developments in the [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age) and the [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age), and is variously considered to end with either the establishment of the [Achaemenid Empire](/source/Achaemenid_Empire) in the 6th century BC, the establishment of the [Macedonian Empire](/source/Macedonian_Empire) in the 4th century BC, or the beginning of the [early Muslim conquests](/source/Early_Muslim_conquests) in the 7th century AD.

It was within the ancient Near East that humans first practiced [intensive year-round agriculture](/source/History_of_agriculture), which led to the rise of the [earliest dense urban settlements](/source/List_of_ancient_cities#Middle_East) and the development of many now-familiar institutions of civilization, such as [social stratification](/source/Social_stratification), [centralized government](/source/Centralized_government) and [empires](/source/Empire), and [organized religion](/source/Organized_religion) (see: [ancient Near Eastern religions](/source/Religions_of_the_ancient_Near_East)) and [organized warfare](/source/History_of_warfare). It also saw the creation of the first [writing system](/source/Writing_system#Invention_of_writing), the first [alphabet](/source/History_of_the_alphabet) (i.e., [abjad](/source/Abjad)), the first [currency](/source/History_of_money), and the first [legal codes](/source/Legal_history), all of which were monumental advances that laid the foundations of [astronomy](/source/History_of_astronomy) and [mathematics](/source/History_of_mathematics), and the [invention of the wheel](/source/Invention_of_the_wheel).

During this period, the region's previously [stateless societies](/source/Stateless_society) largely transitioned to building [states](/source/State_(polity)), many of which gradually came to [annex the territories of their neighbouring civilizations](/source/Imperialism). This process continued until the entire ancient Near East was enveloped by [militaristic empires](/source/Middle_Eastern_empires) that had emerged from their own lands to conquer and absorb a variety of [cultures](/source/Cultural_history) under the rule of a top-level government.

## The concept of the Near East

Main article: [Near East](/source/Near_East)

Overview map of the ancient Near East

The phrase "ancient Near East" denotes the 19th-century distinction between the Near and [Far East](/source/Far_East) as global regions of interest to the [British Empire](/source/British_Empire). The distinction began during the [Crimean War](/source/Crimean_War). The last major exclusive partition of the east between these two terms was current in diplomacy in the late 19th century, with the [Hamidian massacres](/source/Hamidian_massacres) of the [Armenians](/source/Armenians) and [Assyrians](/source/Assyrian_people) by the [Ottoman Empire](/source/Ottoman_Empire) in 1894–1896 and the [First Sino-Japanese War](/source/First_Sino-Japanese_War) of 1894–1895. The two theatres were described by the statesmen and advisors of the British Empire as "the Near East" and "the Far East". Shortly after, they were to share the stage with ''[Middle East](/source/Middle_East)'', a term that came to prevail in the 20th century and continues in modern times.

As *Near East* had meant the lands of the Ottoman Empire at roughly its maximum extent, on the fall of that empire, the use of Near East in diplomacy was reduced significantly in favor of the Middle East. Meanwhile, the ancient Near East had become distinct. The Ottoman rule over the Near East ranged from [Vienna](/source/Vienna) (to the north) to the tip of the [Arabian Peninsula](/source/Arabian_Peninsula) (to the south), from [Egypt](/source/Ottoman_Egypt) (in the west) to the borders of [Iraq](/source/Iraq) (in the east). The 19th-century archaeologists added Iran to their definition, which was never under the Ottomans, but they excluded all of Europe and, generally, Egypt, which had parts in the empire.

## Periodization

Ancient Near East [periodization](/source/Periodization) is the attempt to categorize or divide time into discrete named blocks, or eras, of the Near East. The result is a descriptive abstraction that provides a useful handle on Near East periods of time with relatively stable characteristics.

Copper Age Chalcolithic (5000–3300 BC) Early Chalcolithic 5000–4500 BC Ubaid period in Mesopotamia Late Chalcolithic 4500–3300 BC Uruk period of Sumer, Predynastic Period of ancient Egypt, Proto-Elamite period in Iran, Ghassulian, Gerzeh Bronze Age Early Bronze Age (3300–2100 BC) Early Bronze Age I 3300–3000 BC Jemdet Nasr period in Mesopotamia, Protodynastic to Early Dynastic Period of Egypt, settlement of Phoenicians Early Bronze Age II 3000–2700 BC Early Dynastic Period of Mesopotamia Early Bronze Age III 2700–2200 BC Old Kingdom of Egypt, Akkadian Empire, early Assyria, Old Elamite period, Sumero-Akkadian states, Marhasi Jiroft Early Bronze Age IV 2200–2100 BC Second half of the Sixth Dynasty of Egypt, First Intermediate Period of Egypt Middle Bronze Age (2100–1550 BC) Middle Bronze Age I 2100–2000 BC Third Dynasty of Ur Middle Bronze Age II A 2000–1750 BC Minoan civilization, early Babylonia, Egyptian Middle Kingdom Middle Bronze Age II B 1750–1650 BC Second Intermediate Period of Egypt Middle Bronze Age II C 1650–1550 BC Hittite Old Kingdom, Minoan eruption Late Bronze Age (1550–1200 BC) Late Bronze Age I 1550–1400 BC Hittite Middle Kingdom, Hayasa-Azzi, Middle Elamite period, New Kingdom of Egypt Late Bronze Age II A 1400–1300 BC Hittite New Kingdom, Mitanni, Hayasa-Azzi, Ugarit, Mycenaean Greece Late Bronze Age II B 1300–1200 BC Middle Assyrian Empire, beginning of the high point of Phoenicians Iron Age Iron Age I (1200–1000 BC) Iron Age I A 1200–1150 BC Troy VII, Hekla 3 eruption, Bronze Age collapse, Sea Peoples Iron Age I B 1150–1000 BC Neo-Hittite states, Neo Elamite period, Aramean states Iron Age II (1000–539 BC) Iron Age II A 1000–900 BC Greek Dark Ages, traditional date of the United Monarchy of Israel Iron Age II B 900–700 BC Kingdom of Israel, Urartu, Phrygia, Neo-Assyrian Empire, Kingdom of Judah, first settlement of Carthage Iron Age II C 700–539 BC Neo-Babylonian Empire, Median Empire, fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire, Phoenicia, Archaic Greece, rise of Achaemenid Persia Classical antiquity Achaemenid 539–330 BC Persian Achaemenid Empire, Classical Greece Hellenistic & Parthian 330–31 BC Macedonian Empire, Seleucid Empire, Kingdom of Armenia, Kingdom of Pergamon, Ptolemaic Kingdom, Parthian Empire Roman & Persian 31 BC – 634 AD Roman–Persian Wars, Roman Empire, Parthian Empire, Kingdom of Armenia, Sassanid Empire, Byzantine Empire, Muslim conquests

## Background: prehistory

Further information: [History of the Middle East](/source/History_of_the_Middle_East) and [Timeline of Middle Eastern history](/source/Timeline_of_Middle_Eastern_history)

Part of a series on Human history ↑ Prehistory (Stone Age) (Pleistocene epoch) Holocene Timelines Neolithic – Contemporary (10,000 BCE – present) Age of the human race Recorded history (Common Era) Earliest records Protohistory Proto-writing Ancient Copper Age Bronze Age Iron Age Axial Age Classical antiquity Late antiquity Africa North America South America Oceania East Asia South Asia Southeast Asia West Asia Europe Postclassical Timeline Africa Americas Oceania East Asia South Asia Southeast Asia West Asia Europe Renaissance Modern Early modern Late modern Contemporary Africa North America South America Oceania East Asia South Asia Southeast Asia West Asia Europe See also Age of Discovery Modernity Postmodernity Futurology Political history ↓ Future v t e

- [Paleolithic](/source/Paleolithic)

- [Epipalaeolithic Near East](/source/Epipalaeolithic_Near_East) - [Kebaran culture](/source/Kebaran_culture) - [Natufian culture](/source/Natufian_culture)

- [Neolithic in the Near East](/source/Neolithic_in_the_Near_East) - [Pre-pottery Neolithic A](/source/Pre-pottery_Neolithic_A) - [Pre-pottery Neolithic B](/source/Pre-pottery_Neolithic_B) - [Pre-pottery Neolithic C](https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Pre-pottery_Neolithic_C&action=edit&redlink=1) - [Pottery Neolithic](/source/Pottery_Neolithic)

### Chalcolithic

See also: [Levantine Chalcolithic](/source/Levantine_Chalcolithic)

#### Early Mesopotamia

The [Uruk period](/source/Uruk_period) (c. 4000 to 3100 BC) existed from the [protohistoric](/source/Protohistoric) [Chalcolithic](/source/Chalcolithic) to the early [Bronze Age](/source/Bronze_Age) period in the [history of Mesopotamia](/source/History_of_Mesopotamia), following the [Ubaid period](/source/Ubaid_period).[3] Named after the [Sumerian](/source/Sumer) city of [Uruk](/source/Uruk), this period saw the emergence of urban life in Mesopotamia. It was followed by the Sumerian [civilization](/source/Civilization) in [southern Mesopotamia](/source/Southern_Mesopotamia).[4] The late Uruk period (3400 to 3200 BC) saw the gradual emergence of [cuneiform](/source/Cuneiform) script and corresponds to the early Bronze Age.[5][*[additional citation(s) needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*]

## History

For a chronological guide, see [Chronology of the ancient Near East](/source/Chronology_of_the_ancient_Near_East).

### Bronze Age

Further information: [Short chronology timeline](/source/Short_chronology_timeline)

Bronze Age ↑ Chalcolithic Africa, Near East (c. 3300–1200 BC) Egypt, Anatolia, Caucasus, Elam, Levant, Mesopotamia, Sistan, Canaan Late Bronze Age collapse East Asia (c. 3100–300 BC) Erlitou, Erligang, Gojoseon, Jomon, Majiayao, Mumun, Qijia, Siwa, Wucheng, Xindian, Yueshi, Xia dynasty, Shang dynasty, Sanxingdui, Zhou dynasty Eurasia and Siberia (c. 2700–700 BC) Poltavka culture, Abashevo culture, Sintashta culture, Andronovo culture, Mezhovskaya culture, Cherkaskul culture Europe (c. 3200–900 BC) Aegean (Cycladic, Minoan, Mycenaean), Caucasus, Catacomb culture, Srubnaya culture, Bell Beaker culture, Apennine culture, Terramare culture, Únětice culture, Tumulus culture, Urnfield culture, Proto-Villanovan culture, Hallstatt culture, Canegrate culture, Golasecca culture, Argaric culture, Atlantic Bronze Age, Bronze Age Britain, Nordic Bronze Age Indian subcontinent (c. 3300–1200 BC) Indus Valley Civilisation, Bronze Age India, Ochre Coloured Pottery, Cemetery H Topics Arsenical bronze, writing, literature, Sword, Chariot ↓ Iron Age v t e

#### Early Bronze Age

#### Sumer and Akkad

Relief of early [war wagons](/source/War_wagon) on the [Standard of Ur](/source/Standard_of_Ur), c. 2500 BC

Sumer hosted many early advances in [human history](/source/Human_history), such as [schools](/source/History_of_education) (c. 3000 BC),[6] making the area a [cradle of civilization](/source/Cradle_of_civilization). The oldest excavated archaeological site in Sumer, [Tell el-'Oueili](/source/Tell_el-'Oueili), dates to the 7th millennium BC, although it is likely that the area was occupied even earlier.[7][8] The oldest layers at 'Oueili mark the beginning of the [Ubaid period](/source/Ubaid_period), which was followed by the [Uruk period](/source/Uruk_period) (4th millennium BC) and the [Early Dynastic periods](/source/Early_Dynastic_Period_(Mesopotamia)) (3rd millennium BC). The [Akkadian Empire](/source/Akkadian_Empire), founded by [Sargon the Great](/source/Sargon_the_Great), lasted from the 24th to the 21st century BC, and was regarded by many as the world's first empire. The Akkadians eventually fragmented into Assyria and Babylonia.

#### Elam

Ancient [Elam](/source/Elam) lay to the east of Sumer and [Akkad](/source/Akkad_(city)), in the far west and southwest of modern-day [Iran](/source/Iran), stretching from the lowlands of [Khuzestan](/source/Khuzestan) and [Ilam Province](/source/Ilam_Province). In the Old Elamite period, c. 3200 BC, it consisted of kingdoms on the [Iranian plateau](/source/Iranian_plateau), centered on [Anshan](/source/Anshan_(Persia)), and from the mid-2nd millennium BC, it was centered on [Susa](/source/Susa) in the [Khuzestan](/source/Khuzestan) lowlands. Elam was absorbed into the [Assyrian Empire](/source/Assyrian_Empire) in the 9th to 7th centuries BC; however, the civilization endured up until 539 BC when it was finally overrun by the [Iranian](/source/Iranian_peoples) [Persians](/source/Persians#History). The [Proto-Elamite civilization](/source/Proto-Elamite) existed from c. [3200 BC](/source/3200_BC) to [2700 BC](/source/2700_BC), when Susa, the later capital of the Elamites, began to receive influence from the cultures of the Iranian plateau. In archaeological terms, this corresponds to the late [Banesh](/source/Banesh) period. This civilization is recognized as the oldest in Iran and was largely contemporary with its neighbour, Sumer. The Proto-Elamite script is an early Bronze Age writing system briefly in use for the [ancient](/source/Ancient_language) [Elamite language](/source/Elamite_language) (which was a [language isolate](/source/Language_isolate)) before the introduction of [Elamite cuneiform](/source/Elamite_cuneiform).

#### The Amorites

The [Amorites](/source/Amorites) were a nomadic [Semitic](/source/Semitic_languages) people who occupied the country west of the [Euphrates](/source/Euphrates) from the second half of the 3rd millennium BC. In the earliest Sumerian sources, beginning about 2400 BC, the land of the Amorites ("the *Mar.tu* land") is associated with the West, including [Syria](/source/Syria_(region)) and [Canaan](/source/Canaan), although their ultimate origin may have been [Arabia](/source/Arabia).[9] They ultimately settled in Mesopotamia, ruling [Isin](/source/Isin), [Larsa](/source/Larsa), and later Babylon.

#### Middle Bronze Age

- Assyria, after enduring a short period of [Mitanni](/source/Mitanni) domination, emerged as a great power from the accession of [Ashur-uballit I](/source/Ashur-uballit_I) in 1365 BC to the death of [Tiglath-Pileser I](/source/Tiglath-Pileser_I) in 1076 BC. Assyria rivaled Egypt during this period, and dominated much of the near east.

- Babylonia, founded as a state by Amorite tribes, found itself under the rule of [Kassites](/source/Kassites) for 435 years. The nation stagnated during the Kassite period, and Babylonia often found itself under Assyrian or Elamite domination.

- [Canaan](/source/Canaan): [Ugarit](/source/Ugarit), [Kadesh](/source/Kadesh_(Syria)), [Megiddo](/source/Megiddo_(place))

- The [Hittite Empire](/source/Hittite_Empire) was founded some time after 2000 BC, and existed as a major power, dominating [Asia Minor](/source/Asia_Minor) and the [Levant](/source/Levant) until 1200 BC, when it was first overrun by the [Phrygians](/source/Phrygians), and then appropriated by Assyria.

#### Late Bronze Age

Sphinx Gate entrance of the [Hittite](/source/Hittites) city of [Hattusa](/source/Hattusa)

The [Hurrians](/source/Hurrian) lived in northern Mesopotamia and areas to the immediate east and west, beginning approximately 2500 BC. They probably originated in the [Caucasus](/source/Caucasus) and entered from the north, but this is not certain. Their known homeland was centred on [Subartu](/source/Subartu), the [Khabur River](/source/Khabur_(Tigris)) valley, and later they established themselves as rulers of small kingdoms throughout northern Mesopotamia and Syria. The largest and most influential Hurrian nation was the kingdom of [Mitanni](/source/Mitanni). The Hurrians played a substantial part in the [history of the Hittites](/source/History_of_the_Hittites).

[Ishuwa](/source/Ishuwa) was an ancient kingdom in [Anatolia](/source/Anatolia). The name is first attested in the second millennium BC, and is also spelled Išuwa. In the classical period, the land was a part of [Armenia](/source/Ancient_Armenia). Ishuwa was one of the places where agriculture developed very early on in the [Neolithic](/source/Neolithic). Urban centres emerged in the upper Euphrates river valley around 3500 BC. The first states followed in the third millennium BC. The name Ishuwa is not known until the literate period of the second millennium BC. Few literate sources from within Ishuwa have been discovered and the primary source material comes from Hittite texts. To the west of Ishuwa lay the kingdom of the [Hittites](/source/Hittites), and this nation was an untrustworthy neighbour. The Hittite king [Hattusili I](/source/Hattusili_I) (c. 1600 BC) is reported to have marched his army across the Euphrates river and destroyed the cities there. This corresponds well with burnt destruction layers discovered by archaeologists at town sites in Ishuwa of roughly the same date. After the end of the Hittite empire in the early 12th century BC a new state emerged in Ishuwa. The city of [Malatya](/source/Malatya) became the centre of one of the so-called [Neo-Hittite](/source/Neo-Hittite) kingdom. The movement of nomadic people may have weakened the kingdom of Malatya before the final Assyrian invasion. The decline of the settlements and culture in Ishuwa from the 7th century BC until the Roman period was probably caused by this movement of people. The Armenians later settled in the area since they were natives of the [Armenian plateau](/source/Armenian_plateau) and related to the earlier inhabitants of Ishuwa.

[Kizzuwatna](/source/Kizzuwatna) was a kingdom of the second millennium BC, situated in the highlands of southeastern Anatolia, near the [Gulf of İskenderun](/source/Gulf_of_%C4%B0skenderun) in modern-day [Turkey](/source/Turkey), encircling the [Taurus Mountains](/source/Taurus_Mountains) and the [Ceyhan](/source/Ceyhan_River) river. The centre of the kingdom was the city of [Kummanni](/source/Kummanni), situated in the highlands. In a later era, the same region was known as [Cilicia](/source/Cilicia).

Empires in the ancient Near East around the end of the [2nd millennium BC](/source/2nd_millennium_BC)

[Luwian](/source/Luwian_language) is an extinct language of the [Anatolian branch](/source/Anatolian_languages) of the [Indo-European](/source/Indo-European_languages) [language family](/source/Language_family). [Luwian speakers](/source/Luwian_speakers) gradually spread through Anatolia and became a contributing factor to the downfall, after c. 1180 BC, of the Hittite Empire, where it was already widely spoken. Luwian was also the language spoken in the Neo-Hittite states of Syria, such as [Melid](/source/Melid) and [Carchemish](/source/Carchemish), as well as in the central Anatolian kingdom of [Tabal](/source/Tabal_(state)) that flourished around 900 BC. Luwian has been preserved in two forms, named after the writing systems used to represent them: [Cuneiform Luwian](/source/Cuneiform_Luwian) and [Hieroglyphic Luwian](/source/Hieroglyphic_Luwian).

[Mari](/source/Mari%2C_Syria) was an ancient Sumerian and Amorite city, located 11 kilometres north-west of the modern town of [Abu Kamal](/source/Abu_Kamal) on the western bank of Euphrates river, some 120 km southeast of [Deir ez-Zor](/source/Deir_ez-Zor), Syria. It is thought to have been inhabited since the 5th millennium BC, although it flourished from 2900 BC until 1759 BC, when it was sacked by [Hammurabi](/source/Hammurabi).

[Mitanni](/source/Mitanni) was a [Hurrian](/source/Hurrians) kingdom in northern Mesopotamia from c. 1600 BC, at the height of its power, during the 14th century BC, encompassing what is today southeastern Turkey, northern Syria and northern Iraq (roughly corresponding to [Kurdistan](/source/Kurdistan)), centred on the capital [Washukanni](/source/Washukanni) whose precise location has not yet been determined by archaeologists. The Mitanni language showed [Indo-Aryan](/source/Indo-Aryan_language) influences, especially in the names of gods.[10] The spread to Syria of a distinct pottery type associated with the [Kura-Araxes culture](/source/Kura-Araxes_culture) has been connected with this movement, although its date is somewhat too early.[11] [Yamhad](/source/Yamhad) was an ancient Amorite kingdom. A substantial Hurrian population also settled in the kingdom, and the Hurrian culture influenced the area. The kingdom was powerful during the Middle Bronze Age, c. 1800–1600 BC. Its biggest rival was [Qatna](/source/Qatna) further south. Yamhad was finally destroyed by the Hittites in the 16th century BC.

The [Aramaeans](/source/Aramaeans) were a Semitic ([West Semitic language](/source/West_Semitic_language) group), semi-nomadic and pastoralist people who had lived in upper Mesopotamia and [Syria](/source/Aram_(region)). Aramaeans have never had a unified empire; they were divided into independent kingdoms all across the Near East. Yet to these Aramaeans befell the privilege of imposing their language and culture upon the entire Near East and beyond, fostered in part by the mass relocations enacted by successive empires, including the Assyrians and [Babylonians](/source/Babylonia). Scholars even have used the term 'Aramaization' for the Assyro-Babylonian peoples' languages and cultures, that have become Aramaic-speaking.[12]

The [Sea peoples](/source/Sea_peoples) is the term used for a confederacy of seafaring raiders of the second millennium BC who sailed into the eastern shores of the Mediterranean, caused political unrest, and attempted to enter or control [Egyptian](/source/Egypt) territory during the late [19th dynasty](/source/Nineteenth_dynasty_of_Egypt), and especially during Year 8 of [Ramesses III](/source/Ramesses_III) of the [20th Dynasty](/source/Twentieth_dynasty_of_Egypt).[13] The Egyptian pharaoh [Merneptah](/source/Merneptah) explicitly refers to them by the term "the foreign-countries (or 'peoples')[14] of the sea"[15][16] in his [Great Karnak Inscription](/source/Great_Karnak_Inscription).[17] Although some scholars believe that they "invaded" [Cyprus](/source/Cyprus), [Hatti](/source/Hittite_empire) and the Levant, this hypothesis is disputed.[18]

#### Bronze Age collapse

Map of the [Late Bronze Age Collapse](/source/Late_Bronze_Age_collapse) (c. 1200 BC) in the Eastern Mediterranean

The *[Bronze Age collapse](/source/Bronze_Age_collapse)* is the name given by those historians who see the transition from the late Bronze Age to the [Early Iron Age](/source/Early_Iron_Age) as violent, sudden and culturally disruptive, expressed by the collapse of [palace economies](/source/Palace_economy) of the [Aegean](/source/Aegean_civilization) and Anatolia, which were replaced after a hiatus by the isolated village cultures of the [Dark Age period in history](/source/Dark_Ages_(historiography)) of the ancient Middle East. Some have gone so far as to call the catalyst that ended the Bronze Age a "catastrophe".[19] The Bronze Age collapse may be seen in the context of a technological history that saw the slow, comparatively continuous spread of iron-working technology in the region, beginning with precocious iron-working in what is now [Romania](/source/Romania) in the 13th and 12th centuries.[20] The cultural collapse of the [Mycenaean kingdoms](/source/Mycenaean_Greece), the Hittite Empire in Anatolia and Syria, and the [Egyptian Empire](/source/Ancient_Egypt) in Syria and [Palestine](/source/Palestine_(region)), the scission of long-distance [trade](/source/Trade_route) contacts and sudden eclipse of literacy occurred between 1206 and 1150 BC. In the first phase of this period, almost every city between [Troy](/source/Troy) and [Gaza](/source/Gaza_City) was violently destroyed, and often left unoccupied thereafter (for example, [Hattusas](/source/Hattusas), [Mycenae](/source/Mycenae), [Ugarit](/source/Ugarit)). The gradual end of the [Dark Age](/source/Dark_Age) that ensued saw the rise of settled Neo-Hittite and [Aramaean](/source/Aramaean) kingdoms of the mid-10th century BC, and the rise of the [Neo-Assyrian Empire](/source/Neo-Assyrian_Empire).

### Iron Age

Part of a series on the Iron Age ↑ Bronze Age By region Ancient Near East (1200–550 BC) Bronze Age collapse (1200–1150 BC) Anatolia, Caucasus, Levant Europe Aegean (1200–700 BC) Italy (1100–700 BC) Balkans (1100 BC – 150 AD) Eastern Europe (900 – 650 BC) Central Europe (800 – 50 BC) Great Britain (800 BC – 100 AD) Northern Europe (500 BC – 800 AD) Western Europe (800 BC – 1 AD) South Asia (1200–200 BC) Southeast Asia (1000–200 BC) Vietnam (1000 BC – 200 AD) Thailand (c. 2000 – 100 BC) Malaysia (500 BC – 200 AD) Indonesia (c. 400 BC – 100 AD) Philippines (5 BC – 500 AD) East Asia (500 BC – 300 AD) Africa (2600 BC – 500 AD) Related topics Iron Age metallurgy Archaeometallurgical slag ↓ Ancient history v t e

During the Early Iron Age, from 911 BC, the Neo-Assyrian Empire arose, vying with Babylonia and other lesser powers for dominance of the region, though not until the reforms of [Tiglath-Pileser III](/source/Tiglath-Pileser_III) in the 8th century BC,[21][22] did it become a powerful and vast empire. In the Middle Assyrian period of the Late Bronze Age, [ancient Assyria](/source/Ancient_Assyria) had been a kingdom of [northern Mesopotamia](/source/Upper_Mesopotamia) (modern-day northern Iraq), competing for dominance with its southern Mesopotamian rival Babylonia. From 1365 to 1076, it had been a major imperial power, rivaling Egypt and the Hittite Empire. Beginning with the campaign of [Adad-nirari II](/source/Adad-nirari_II), it became a vast empire, overthrowing the [Twenty-fifth Dynasty of Egypt](/source/Twenty-fifth_Dynasty_of_Egypt) and conquering Egypt, the Middle East, and large swaths of [Asia Minor](/source/Asia_Minor), [ancient Iran](/source/History_of_Iran#Classical_antiquity), the Caucasus and [east Mediterranean](/source/Eastern_Mediterranean). The Neo-Assyrian Empire succeeded the [Middle Assyrian period](/source/Middle_Assyrian_period) (14th to 10th century BC). Some scholars, such as [Richard Nelson Frye](/source/Richard_Nelson_Frye), regard the Neo-Assyrian Empire to be the first real empire in human history.[23] During this period, [Aramaic](/source/Aramaic_language) was also made an official language of the empire, alongside the [Akkadian language](/source/Akkadian_language).[23]

The states of the [Neo-Hittite kingdoms](/source/Neo-Hittite_kingdoms) were [Luwian](/source/Luwian_language), Aramaic and [Phoenician](/source/Phoenician_languages)-speaking political entities of [Iron Age](/source/Iron_Age) northern Syria and southern Anatolia that arose following the collapse of the Hittite Empire around 1180 BC and lasted until roughly 700 BC. The term "Neo-Hittite" is sometimes reserved specifically for the Luwian-speaking principalities like Melid ([Malatya](/source/Malatya)) and Karkamish ([Carchemish](/source/Carchemish)), although in a wider sense the broader cultural term "Syro-Hittite" is now applied to all the entities that arose in south-central Anatolia following the Hittite collapse – such as [Tabal](/source/Tabal_(state)) and [Quwê](/source/Quw%C3%AA) – as well as those of northern and coastal Syria.[24][25]

[Urartu](/source/Urartu) was an ancient kingdom of Armenia and North Mesopotamia[26] which existed from c. 860 BC, emerging from the Late Bronze Age until 585 BC. The Kingdom of Urartu was located in the mountainous plateau between [Asia Minor](/source/Asia_Minor), the [Iranian plateau](/source/Iranian_plateau), Mesopotamia, and the [Caucasus Mountains](/source/Caucasus_Mountains), later known as the [Armenian Highland](/source/Armenian_Highland), and it centered on [Lake Van](/source/Lake_Van) (present-day eastern Turkey). The name corresponds to the [Biblical](/source/Bible) *Ararat*.

Siege engine in [Assyrian](/source/Neo-Assyrian_Empire) relief of attack on an enemy town during the reign of [Tiglath-Pileser III](/source/Tiglath-Pileser_III), 743–720 BC, from his palace at [Nimrud](/source/Nimrud)

Two related [Israelite](/source/Israelite) kingdoms known as [Israel and Judah](/source/History_of_ancient_Israel_and_Judah) emerged in the [Southern Levant](/source/Southern_Levant) during the Iron Age. The northern [Kingdom of Israel](/source/Kingdom_of_Israel_(Samaria)), with its most prominent capital at [Samaria](/source/Sebastia%2C_Nablus), was the more prosperous of the two kingdoms and soon developed into a regional power; during the days of the [Omride dynasty](/source/Omride_Dynasty), it controlled [Samaria](/source/Samaria), [Galilee](/source/Galilee), the upper [Jordan Valley](/source/Jordan_Valley), the [Sharon](/source/Sharon_plain) and large parts of the [Transjordan](/source/Transjordan_(region)). It was destroyed around 720 BC, when it was conquered by the [Neo-Assyrian Empire](/source/Neo-Assyrian_Empire). The southern [Kingdom of Judah](/source/Kingdom_of_Judah), with its capital at [Jerusalem](/source/Jerusalem), survived longer. In the 7th century BC, the kingdom's population increased greatly, prospering under Assyrian vassalage. After the fall of the Neo-Assyrian Empire in 605 BC, the ensuing competition between the [Twenty-sixth Dynasty of Egypt](/source/Twenty-sixth_Dynasty_of_Egypt) and the [Neo-Babylonian Empire](/source/Neo-Babylonian_Empire) for control of the [Levant](/source/Levant) resulted with the rapid decline of the kingdom. In the early-6th century BC, Judah was weakened by [a series of Babylonian invasions](/source/Jewish%E2%80%93Babylonian_war), and in 587–586 BC, [Jerusalem was besieged and destroyed](/source/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(587_BC)) by the second Babylonian king, [Nebuchadnezzar II](/source/Nebuchadnezzar_II), who subsequently [exiled the Judeans to Babylon](/source/Babylonian_captivity).

The term Neo-Babylonian Empire refers to Babylonia under the rule of the 11th ("Chaldean") dynasty, from the revolt of [Nabopolassar](/source/Nabopolassar) in 623 BC until the invasion of [Cyrus the Great](/source/Cyrus_the_Great) in 539 BC (Although the last ruler of Babylonia ([Nabonidus](/source/Nabonidus)) was in fact from the Assyrian city of Harran and not Chaldean), notably including the reign of Nebuchadrezzar II. Through the centuries of Assyrian domination, Babylonia enjoyed a prominent status, and revolted at the slightest indication that it did not. However, the Assyrians always managed to restore Babylonian loyalty, whether through the granting of increased privileges, or militarily. That finally changed in 627 BC with the death of the last strong Assyrian ruler, [Ashurbanipal](/source/Ashurbanipal), and Babylonia rebelled under Nabopolassar the Chaldean a few years later. In alliance with the [Medes](/source/Medes) and [Scythians](/source/Scythians), [Nineveh](/source/Nineveh) was sacked in 612 and [Harran](/source/Harran) in 608 BC, and the seat of empire was again transferred to Babylonia. Subsequently, the Medes controlled much of the ancient Near East from their base in [Ecbatana](/source/Ecbatana) (modern-day [Hamadan](/source/Hamadan), Iran), most notably most of what is now Turkey, Iran, Iraq, and the [South Caucasus](/source/South_Caucasus).

The [Achaemenid Empire](/source/Achaemenid_Empire) at its greatest extent c. 500 BC

Following the fall of the Medes, the [Achaemenid Empire](/source/Achaemenid_Empire) was the first of the [Persian Empires](/source/Persian_Empire) to rule over most of the Near East and far beyond, and the second great Iranian empire (after the Median Empire). At the height of its power, encompassing approximately 7,500,000 km2 (2,900,000 sq mi), the Achaemenid Empire was territorially the largest empire of classical antiquity, and the first world empire. It spanned three continents ([Europe](/source/Europe), Asia, and Africa), including apart from its core in modern-day Iran, the territories of modern Iraq, the Caucasus (Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, [Dagestan](/source/Dagestan), Abkhazia), Asia Minor (Turkey), [Thrace](/source/Thrace) (parts of eastern [Bulgaria](/source/Bulgaria)), [Macedonia](/source/Macedonia_(ancient_kingdom)) (roughly corresponding to present-day [Macedonia](/source/Macedonia_(Greece)) in northern Greece), many of the [Black Sea](/source/Black_Sea) coastal regions, northern [Saudi Arabia](/source/Saudi_Arabia), [Jordan](/source/Jordan), [Israel](/source/Israel), [Lebanon](/source/Lebanon), Syria, [Afghanistan](/source/Afghanistan), [Central Asia](/source/Central_Asia), parts of [Pakistan](/source/Pakistan), and all significant population centers of ancient Egypt as far west as [Libya](/source/Libya).[*[citation needed](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Citation_needed)*] It is noted in western history as the foe of the [Greek city states](/source/Greek_city_states) in the [Greco-Persian Wars](/source/Greco-Persian_Wars), for freeing the Israelites from their [Babylonian captivity](/source/Babylonian_captivity), and for instituting Aramaic as the empire's official language.

In 116–117 AD, most of the ancient Near East (excepting several more marginal regions) was briefly re-united under the rule of the [Roman Empire](/source/Roman_Empire) under [Trajan](/source/Trajan).[27]

## See also

- [Asia portal](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portal:Asia)

- [Ancient near eastern cosmology](/source/Ancient_near_eastern_cosmology)

- [Ancient Near East studies](/source/Ancient_Near_East_studies)

- [Diplomacy in the ancient Near East](/source/Diplomacy_in_the_ancient_Near_East)

- [Economy of Urartu](/source/Economy_of_Urartu)

- [Genetic history of the Middle East](/source/Genetic_history_of_the_Middle_East)

- [Levantine pottery](/source/Levantine_pottery)

- [List of cities of the ancient Near East](/source/List_of_cities_of_the_ancient_Near_East)

- [List of museums of ancient Near Eastern art](/source/List_of_museums_of_ancient_Near_Eastern_art)

- [Religions of the ancient Near East](/source/Religions_of_the_ancient_Near_East)

## Notes

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Modern-day [Iraq](/source/Iraq) and northeastern [Syria](/source/Syria), as well as parts of southeastern [Turkey](/source/Turkey) and southwestern [Iran](/source/Iran).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Modern-day [Syria](/source/Syria), [Lebanon](/source/Lebanon), [Palestine](/source/Palestine), [Jordan](/source/Jordan), [Israel](/source/Israel), and [Cyprus](/source/Cyprus).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** [Elam](/source/Elam), [Media](/source/Media_(region)), [Parthia](/source/Parthia), and [Persis](/source/Persis)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** All of modern-day [Armenia](/source/Armenia), in addition to the [Turkish Eastern Anatolia Region](/source/Eastern_Anatolia_Region), northwestern [Iran](/source/Iran), southern [Georgia](/source/Georgia_(country)), and western [Azerbaijan](/source/Azerbaijan).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Includes southern [Iraq](/source/Iraq) and southeastern [Jordan](/source/Jordan).

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Nemet-Nejat, Karen Rhea (1998). [*Daily Life In Ancient Mesopotamia*](https://books.google.com/books?id=lbmXsaTGNKUC&q=daily+life+in+ancient+mesopotamia+iran+iraq+turkey+syria&pg=PA11). Greenwood Press. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780313294976](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780313294976). Retrieved 28 February 2015.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["Armenian Highland"](https://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/35301/Armenian-Highland). *Encyclopædia Britannica*. August 28, 2017.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECrawford200418,_40_8-0)** [Crawford 2004](#CITEREFCrawford2004), pp. 18, 40.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECrawford200418_9-0)** [Crawford 2004](#CITEREFCrawford2004), p. 18.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-FOOTNOTECrawford2004194–197_10-0)** [Crawford 2004](#CITEREFCrawford2004), pp. 194–197.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** [Samuel Noah, Kramer](/source/Samuel_Noah_Kramer) (1959) [1956]. [*History Begins at Sumer*](http://archive.org/details/historybeginsats00samu). [Anchor Books](/source/Anchor_Books). pp. xviii–xix, 1. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-385-09405-4](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-385-09405-4). {{[cite book](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Template:Cite_book)}}: ISBN / Date incompatibility ([help](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Help:CS1_errors#invalid_isbn_date))

1. **[^](#cite_ref-12)** Huot, Jean-Louis; Vallet, Régis (1990). ["Les Habitations à salles hypostyles d'époque Obeid 0 de Tell El'Oueili"](https://www.persee.fr/doc/paleo_0153-9345_1990_num_16_1_4527). *Paléorient*. **16** (1): 125–130. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.3406/paleo.1990.4527](https://doi.org/10.3406%2Fpaleo.1990.4527).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-13)** Altaweel, Mark; Marsh, Anke; Jotheri, Jaafar; Hritz, Carrie; Fleitmann, Dominik; Rost, Stephanie; Lintner, Stephen F.; Gibson, McGuire; Bosomworth, Matthew; Jacobson, Matthew; Garzanti, Eduardo (2019). ["New Insights on the Role of Environmental Dynamics Shaping Southern Mesopotamia: From the Pre-Ubaid to the Early Islamic Period"](https://doi.org/10.1017%2Firq.2019.2). *IRAQ*. **81**: 23–46. [doi](/source/Doi_(identifier)):[10.1017/irq.2019.2](https://doi.org/10.1017%2Firq.2019.2). [ISSN](/source/ISSN_(identifier)) [0021-0889](https://search.worldcat.org/issn/0021-0889). [S2CID](/source/S2CID_(identifier)) [200071451](https://api.semanticscholar.org/CorpusID:200071451).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-14)** ["Amorite (people)"](https://www.britannica.com/topic/Amorite). *Encyclopædia Britannica*. 2014.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-Dassow2014_15-0)** von Dassow, Eva, (2014). "[Levantine Polities under Mittanian Hegemony](https://www.academia.edu/7479998/Levantine_Polities_under_Mittanian_Hegemony)". In: Eva Cancik-Kirschbaum, Nicole Brisch and Jesper Eidem (eds.). *Constituent, Confederate, and Conquered Space: The Emergence of the Mittani State*. pp. 11–32.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-16)** [James P. Mallory](/source/James_P._Mallory), "Kuro-Araxes Culture", *Encyclopedia of Indo-European culture*, [Fitzroy Dearborn](/source/Fitzroy_Dearborn), 1997.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-17)** Professor [Simo Parpola](/source/Simo_Parpola), ([University of Helsinki](/source/University_of_Helsinki)) (2004). ["National and Ethnic Identity in the Neo-Assyrian Empire and Assyrian Identity in Post-Empire Times"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110717071922/http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v18n2/Parpola-identity_Article%20-Final.pdf) (PDF). *Journal of Assyrian Academic Studies*. **18** (2): 9. Archived from [the original](http://www.jaas.org/edocs/v18n2/Parpola-identity_Article%20-Final.pdf) (PDF) on July 17, 2011.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-18)** A convenient table of sea peoples in hieroglyphics, transliteration and English is given in the dissertation of Woodhuizen, 2006, who developed it from works of Kitchen cited there.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-19)** As noted by Gardiner V.1 p. 196, other texts have ḫȝty.w "foreign-peoples"; both terms can refer to the concept of "foreigners" as well. Zangger in the external link below expresses a commonly held view that "sea peoples" does not translate this and other expressions but is an academic innovation. The Woudhuizen dissertation and the Morris paper identify [Gaston Maspero](/source/Gaston_Maspero) as the first to use the term "peuples de la mer" in 1881.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-20)** [Gardiner, Alan H.](/source/Alan_Gardiner) (1947). *Ancient Egyptian Onomastica*. Vol. 1. London: Oxford University Press. p. 196.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-21)** [Colleen, Manassa](/source/Colleen_Darnell) (2003). *The Great Karnak Inscription of Merneptah: Grand Strategy in the Thirteenth Century BC*. New Haven: Yale Egyptological Seminar, Department of Near Eastern Languages and Civilizations, Yale University. p. 55. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-9740025-0-7](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-9740025-0-7).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-22)** Line 52. The inscription is shown in Manassa p. 55 plate 12.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-23)** Several articles in Oren.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-24)** [Drews, Robert](/source/Robert_Drews) (1995). *The End of the Bronze Age: Changes in Warfare and the Catastrophe Ca 1200 B.C*. United States: Princeton University Press. p. 264. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-691-02591-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-691-02591-9).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-25)** See A. Stoia and the other essays in [M.L. Stig Sørensen](/source/M.L._Stig_S%C3%B8rensen) and R. Thomas, eds., *The Bronze Age – Iron Age Transition in Europe* (Oxford) 1989, and [T.A. Wertime](/source/Theodore_Wertime) and J.D. Muhly, *The Coming of the Age of Iron* (New Haven) 1980.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-26)** ["Assyrian Eponym List"](https://web.archive.org/web/20161114070111/http://www.livius.org/li-ln/limmu/limmu_1c.html). Archived from [the original](https://www.livius.org/li-ln/limmu/limmu_1c.html) on 2016-11-14. Retrieved 2020-03-26.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-27)** Tadmor, H. (1994). *The Inscriptions of Tiglath-Pileser III, King of Assyria.* p. 29

1. ^ [***a***](#cite_ref-Frye_28-0) [***b***](#cite_ref-Frye_28-1) [Frye, Richard N.](/source/Richard_Nelson_Frye) (1992). ["Assyria and Syria: Synonyms"](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_KesgkBziUs). *PhD., Harvard University*. [Journal of Near Eastern Studies](/source/Journal_of_Near_Eastern_Studies). And the ancient Assyrian empire, was the first real, empire in history. What do I mean, it had many different peoples included in the empire, all speaking Aramaic, and becoming what may be called, "Assyrian citizens." That was the first time in history, that we have this. For example, Elamite musicians, were brought to Nineveh, and they were 'made Assyrians' which means, that Assyria, was more than a small country, it was the empire, the whole Fertile Crescent.[*[dead YouTube link](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Link_rot)*]

1. **[^](#cite_ref-29)** Hawkins, John David; 1982a. "Neo-Hittite States in Syria and Anatolia" in *Cambridge Ancient History* (2nd ed.) 3.1: 372–441.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-30)** Hawkins, John David; 1995. "The Political Geography of North Syria and South-East Anatolia in the Neo-Assyrian Period" in *Neo-Assyrian Geography*, [Mario Liverani](/source/Mario_Liverani) (ed.), [Università di Roma "La Sapienza"](/source/Universit%C3%A0_di_Roma_%22La_Sapienza%22), Dipartimento di Scienze storiche, archeologiche e anthropologiche dell'Antichità, Quaderni di Geografia Storica 5: Roma: Sargon srl, 87–101.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-31)** [*Urartu* article, Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 2007](http://encyclopedia2.thefreedictionary.com/Urartu)

1. **[^](#cite_ref-CAH_XI_32-0)** Griffin, Miriam T. (2000). ["Trajan"](https://doi.org/10.1017/CHOL9780521263351.004). In Bowman, Alan K.; Garnsey, Peter; Rathbone, Dominic (eds.). *The Cambridge Ancient History: Volume 11, The High Empire, AD 70-192*. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 96–131. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-26335-1](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-26335-1).

### Sources

- [Crawford, Harriet](/source/Harriet_Crawford) (2004) [1991]. [*Sumer and the Sumerians*](http://archive.org/details/sumersumerians00). [Cambridge University Press](/source/Cambridge_University_Press). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-521-82596-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-521-82596-2).

## Further reading

- [Fletcher, Banister](/source/Banister_Fletcher) & Dan Cruickshank. *Sir Banister Fletcher's a History of Architecture*. 20th ed. Architectural Press, 1996. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-7506-2267-9](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-7506-2267-9). Cf. Part One, Chapter 4.

- Hallo, William W. & William Kelly Simpson. *The Ancient Near East: A History*. 2nd ed. Holt Rinehart and Winston, 1997. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-15-503819-2](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-15-503819-2).

- Pittman, Holly (1984). [*Art of the Bronze Age: Southeastern Iran, Western Central Asia, and the Indus Valley*](http://libmma.contentdm.oclc.org/cdm/compoundobject/collection/p15324coll10/id/33948). New York: The [Metropolitan Museum of Art](/source/Metropolitan_Museum_of_Art). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [9780870993657](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/9780870993657).

- [Sasson, Jack](/source/Jack_Sasson). *The Civilizations of the Ancient Near East*, New York, 1995.

- Scarre, Christopher & Brian M. Fagan. *Ancient Civilizations*. 3rd ed. Prentice Hall, 2007.

- Marc Van de Mieroop, *History of the Ancient Near East: Ca. 3000–323 B.C.*, Blackwell Publishers, 2nd ed., 2006 (first published 2003). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [1-4051-4911-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/1-4051-4911-6).

## External links

- [The History of the Ancient Near East](http://ancientneareast.tripod.com/index.html) – A database of the prehistoric Near East as well as its ancient history up to approximately the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans ...

- [Vicino Oriente](http://www.journal-vo.it/) – Vicino Oriente is the journal of the Section Near East of the Department of Historical, Archaeological and Anthropological Sciences of Antiquity of Rome 'La Sapienza' University. The Journal, which is published yearly, deals with Near Eastern History, Archaeology, Epigraphy, extending its view also on the whole Mediterranean with the study of Phoenician and Punic documents. It is accompanied by 'Quaderni di Vicino Oriente', a monograph series.

- [Ancient Near East.net](https://web.archive.org/web/20141218213302/http://www.ancientneareast.net/) – an information and content portal for the archaeology, ancient history, and culture of the ancient Near East and Egypt

- [Freer Gallery of Art, Smithsonian Institution](https://web.archive.org/web/20050304014027/http://www.asia.si.edu/collections/results.cfm?group=Ancient%20Near%20East) The Freer Gallery houses a famous collection of ancient Near Eastern artefacts and records, notebooks and photographs of excavations in [Samarra](/source/Samarra) (Iraq), [Persepolis](/source/Persepolis) and [Pasargadae](/source/Pasargadae) (Iran)

- [The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery Archives](https://web.archive.org/web/20100828102017/http://www.asia.si.edu/visitor/archives.htm) – The archives for The Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery houses the papers of [Ernst Herzfeld](/source/Ernst_Herzfeld) regarding his many [excavations](/source/Excavations), along with records of other archeological excavations in the ancient Near East.

- [Archaeowiki.org](https://web.archive.org/web/20080708194356/http://www.archaeowiki.org/) – a wiki for the research and documentation of the ancient Near East and Egypt

- [ETANA](http://www.etana.org) – website hosted by a consortium of universities in the interests of providing digitized resources and relevant web links

- [Ancient Near East Photographs](http://content.lib.washington.edu/neareastweb/index.html) – this collection, created by Professor Scott Noegel, documents artifacts and archaeological sites of the ancient Near East; from the University of Washington Libraries Digital Image Collection

- [Near East Images](https://www.near-east-images.blogspot.com/) A directory of archaeological images of the ancient Near East

- [Bioarchaeology of the Near East](http://www.anthropology.uw.edu.pl/) – an Open Access journal

v t e Timeline of the ancient Near East Category

Authority control databases International GND National Czech Republic

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Ancient Near East](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Near_East) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Near_East?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.