Ancient history: Difference between revisions - Wikipedia

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Mesopotamia is the site of some of the earliest known [[Civilization|civilisations]] in the world.{{sfn|Parker|2017|p=54}} Agricultural communities emerged in the area with the [[Halaf culture]] around 8000 BC and continued to expand through the [[Ubaid period]] around 6000 BC.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=54}} Cities began in the [[Uruk period]] (4000–3100 BC) and expanded during the [[Jemdet Nasr period|Jemdet Nasr]] (3100–2900 BC) and [[Early Dynastic Period (Mesopotamia)|Early Dynastic]] (2900–2350 BC) periods.{{sfn|Emberling|2015|pp=256–257}} The surplus of storable foodstuffs created by this economy allowed the population to settle in one place instead of migrating after crops and herds. It also allowed for a much greater population density, and in turn required an extensive labour force and division of labour.{{sfn|Hart-Davis|2012|p=38}} This organization led to the necessity of record keeping and the development of writing.{{sfn|Wiesner-Hanks|2015|p=79-80}}

[[Babylonia]] was an [[Amorite]] state in lower Mesopotamia (modern southern [[Iraq]]),{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=63}} with Babylon as its capital. Babylonia emerged when [[Hammurabi]] created an empire out of the territories of the former kingdoms of [[Sumer]] and [[Akkadian Empire|Akkad]].{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=63}}

The [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]], or [[Chaldea]], was Babylonia from the 7th and 6th centuries BC.{{sfn|Bentley|Ziegler|2006|p=38}} Under the reign of [[Nebuchadnezzar II]], it conquered [[Jerusalem]]. This empire also created the [[Hanging Gardens of Babylon]] and the still-surviving [[Ishtar Gate]] as architectural embellishments of its capital at Babylon.{{sfn|Roberts|Westad|2013|p=110}}