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Sumer and Mesopotamia: the first cities
Uruk, the first true city, c. 4000 BC; Sumerian cities to c. 2000 BC· Empire, kingdom or state· Middle East & Africa
Well documentedSolid records, physical evidence or scientific consensus.
Sumer, in what is now southern Iraq, built the world's first cities, led by Uruk from about 4000 BC.
See it on the History map →What happened
Between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, farmers dug irrigation canals that turned dry plains into rich barley fields. Surpluses supported temples, priests, craftsmen and kings. Uruk grew to perhaps 40,000 people by 3000 BC (estimates vary); rivals included Ur, Lagash and Kish. Sumerians developed cuneiform writing and counting in sixties, the reason for 60-minute hours, and were among the first to use wheeled vehicles. Sargon of Akkad conquered them around 2334 BC; Sumerian rule ended about 2000 BC.
Why it matters
Sumer created the urban template: dense cities, bureaucracy, written law, taxes, schools and organized religion. Much of later civilization in the Middle East and Europe builds on it.
Think of it like
Temples worked like big property managers: owning land, collecting rents in grain, paying staff and keeping the books.
How we know
Excavated cities, the royal tombs at Ur dug by Leonard Woolley in the 1920s, and hundreds of thousands of clay tablets, mostly accounts, plus letters, laws and literature.
Still debated
Why Uruk grew so large so fast is debated, and who the Sumerians were is unclear: their language is unrelated to any other known.
Inside this (4)
Connections (7)
▸Agricultural (Neolithic) Revolution made possible Sumer and Mesopotamia: the first citiesWell documented
The connection
Some 5,000 years of farming in the Middle East built up the population, food surplus and organization that cities need. In southern Mesopotamia, irrigated barley fields yielded big surpluses, which fed temple workers, craftsmen, priests and officials in Uruk, the first true city, about 4000 BC.
When and how
Southern Mesopotamia, from villages of the Ubaid period (about 6500–3800 BC) to the cities of the Uruk period (about 4000–3100 BC).
How we know
Excavated settlement layers showing villages growing into towns and cities, and early tablets recording barley rations for workers.
Debates and open questions
Why the first cities formed in hot, dry southern Mesopotamia rather than in older farming areas with rain is still debated.
▸Sumer and Mesopotamia: the first cities was the birthplace of Invention of writingWell documented
The connection
Sumer's cities ran on records: temple and palace managers had to track grain, beer rations, livestock, land and labor. Number marks pressed into clay, perhaps descended from older counting tokens, evolved into signs on tablets about 3300 BC at Uruk, and then into full cuneiform writing that could record spoken language.
When and how
Uruk, southern Iraq, about 3400–3200 BC; tablets found in the Eanna temple district by German excavators, who began digging at Uruk in 1912.
How we know
Dated tablets, from Uruk's earliest accounts to later Sumerian texts, show step-by-step development from accounting marks to signs for sounds and grammar.
Debates and open questions
Whether Sumer truly came first is debated: the earliest Egyptian signs are about the same age, perhaps slightly younger, perhaps not.
▸Sumer and Mesopotamia: the first cities were united by conquest under Akkadian Empire of SargonWell documented
The connection
Sumer was a patchwork of rival city-states, such as Uruk, Ur, Lagash and Umma, often at war over water and land. Sargon, a ruler from Akkad in central Mesopotamia, defeated them, toppling Lugalzagesi of Uruk, and united them under one crown. The Akkadians adopted Sumerian cuneiform, gods and city life, keeping Sumerian culture alive under new rulers.
When and how
Southern Mesopotamia (today's Iraq), about 2334 BC, when Sargon defeated Lugalzagesi of Uruk and took the Sumerian cities.
How we know
Sargon's victory inscriptions, preserved in later copies from Nippur; Akkadian-era tablets showing Akkadian officials running Sumerian cities.
Debates and open questions
Exact dates are uncertain, and how much of Sargon's story, including his birth legend, is propaganda or later invention is debated.
▸Sumer and Mesopotamia: the first cities laid the legal groundwork for Code of HammurabiMostly agreed
The connection
Hammurabi did not invent written law. Sumerian kings had already issued law collections: Ur-Nammu of Ur about 2100 BC and Lipit-Ishtar of Isin about 1930 BC. They used the same 'if someone does this, then that' format and many similar rules on property, marriage, slaves and fines. Hammurabi's scribes built on this tradition, writing in Akkadian.
When and how
Southern Mesopotamia, from Ur-Nammu's laws about 2100 BC to Hammurabi's Babylon about 1754 BC.
How sure are we?
Clay tablets of the Ur-Nammu and Lipit-Ishtar laws, and the Laws of Eshnunna, show the same format and many overlapping rules.
Debates and open questions
How much Hammurabi copied directly versus drew on shared legal custom is unclear; the earlier law collections survive only in fragments.
▸Sumer and Mesopotamia: the first cities traded by sea with Indus Valley civilizationWell documented
The connection
Mesopotamian texts describe ships from 'Meluhha', almost certainly the Indus region, bringing carnelian beads, ivory, timber and gold. Trade moved along the Persian Gulf via Dilmun (Bahrain) and Magan (Oman). Indus merchants may have lived in Mesopotamian cities; Mesopotamian goods turn up at Indus sites too, though more rarely.
When and how
The Persian Gulf and Arabian Sea, about 2500–1900 BC, especially during the Akkadian Empire and the later Ur III kingdom.
How we know
Indus seals and etched carnelian beads at Ur and other cities; Sargon's boast of ships from Meluhha docking at Akkad; Gulf ports in Bahrain using Indus-standard weights.
Debates and open questions
What Mesopotamia sent back is unclear, perhaps textiles, wool or silver that leave little trace; identifying Meluhha with the Indus is near-certain but unproven.
▸Sumer and Mesopotamia: the first cities was an early center of the Bronze AgeMostly agreed
The connection
Mesopotamia had no metal ore of its own, but its wealthy cities imported copper from Oman and Anatolia and tin from as far as Afghanistan. Sumerian smiths made bronze weapons, tools and fine metalwork, such as the treasures of Ur's royal tombs about 2600 BC. Demand for metal helped build long-distance trade.
When and how
Southern Mesopotamia, about 3000–2000 BC; trade partners included Magan (Oman), Dilmun (Bahrain) and lands farther east.
How sure are we?
Bronze objects from Ur and other cities, chemical analysis of their metal, and tablets recording copper and tin trade.
Debates and open questions
Arsenic bronze and early tin bronze appear as early or earlier in Anatolia, Iran and the Balkans, so Sumer was a leader, not clearly the inventor.
▸Çatalhöyük foreshadowed the cities of Sumer and Mesopotamia: the first citiesMostly agreed
The connection
Çatalhöyük showed that thousands of people could live together in one place, about 3,000 years before Uruk. But it lacked what made Sumer's cities different: rulers, temple institutions, writing, specialized trades and a wide gap between rich and poor.
When and how
Central Turkey, about 7100–5950 BC; southern Iraq from about 4000 BC.
How sure are we?
Comparison of excavations: house plans, burials and goods at Çatalhöyük versus temples, palaces and tablets in Sumer. No direct descent is claimed.
Debates and open questions
Whether 'town' or 'proto-city' is the right term, and how much early towns like it shaped later urban life, is debated.