Iraq Timeline Part I: "The Cradle of Civilization"

4000 BC
The Sumerian Empire, arguably the first human civilization, develops in Iraq based on two factors: the violent unpredictability of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers and the richness of the soil. The unpredictability of the rivers, whose floods could wipe out whole villages of people, necessitated a form of collective management and irrigation. The richness of soil and sophisticated irrigation systems made a food surplus possible for the first time in history. The earliest form of writing, cuneiform, was developed by the Sumerians, using chopped off reeds as writing instruments against wet clay tablets. Sumerians also invented the wheel, a mathematical system based on the number 60 (the basis of time in the modern world), and a system of banking.

2340 BC
The Akkadian Empire is born when Sargon, the "gardener" of the Sumerian royal court who was in charge of the taming of the rivers through the use of irrigation systems and the commander of thousands of men, leads a successful revolt. He establishes his capital in Akkadia, for which his empire is named. The Akkadian Empire is short-lived, quickly succumbing to revolts throughout the region.

1700 BC
King Hammurabi''s Babylonian empire ushers in a new age in the Iraqi region. Known best for the legal concepts he introduced, Hammurabi established legal protection for the lower classes, the state''s authority to enforce the law and the declaration that the punishment should fit the crime (the "Hammurabi Code"-"an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"-is quoted to this day). Not long after Hammurabi''s reign, Abraham emerges from Ur, spreading a similar concept of justice to other parts of the Middle East. The legal philosophy Hammurabi devised underpins the entire Western legal system. Apart from his laws, Hammurabi becomes known for his obsessive micromanagement of the daily operations of the empire and his bold military strategies.

900 BC
From Northern Mesopotamia, the Assyrian Empire, which had a long tradition of military prowess, became the new rulers of this region through their conquests. According to scholar Sandra Mackey: "They brought with them an arsenal of chariots capable of mowing down enemy soldiers, battering rams forceful enough to break down the walls of resistant cities, and movable towers from which armored warriors unleashed hails of spears and arrows on their foes within a vast territory... More than anything, the Assyrians brought to the battlefield a passion for war and a zeal for terror." Iraqi scholar Joseph Braude calls Assyria "the first totalitarian state." It was to this state (and its capital: the city of Nineveh) that the biblical prophet Jonah came with a message from God causing the Assyrians to repent.

586 BC
Nebuchadnezzar, who has gained control of Southern Mesopotamia and Syria, razes the Temple of Solomon in Palestine and marches the Jews off to captivity in Babylon (2 Kings 26:8-21). In Babylon, Jewish scholars compile the Talmud.

539 BC
Cyrus invades and conquers Mesopotamia, incorporating the territory into the Persian Empire. According to Iraqi scholar Joseph Braude, Cyrus won praise because he "ruled by granting autonomy and religious freedom to the Jews, Zoroastrians and countless other religious and cultic groups in the ancient Near East. He built an Empire that adopted a posture of tolerance in the face of a complex ethnic and religious environment that since the dawn of time had been plagued by warfare and conflict." The Bible also praises Cyrus for allowing Jews to return to Palestine and rebuild their temple (2 Chronicles 36:22-23).

331 BC
Alexander the Great conquers the Persian Empire, marking the first Western imperialist enterprise in the territory of Iraq. Alexander dies in Babylon in 331 BC and his empire crumbles. Mesopotamia falls under the rule of the Greek Seleucid Empire. The Seleucid Empire falls to the Parthian Empire and later, the Sassanians.