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105 places in the atlas, 11 of them inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Old Babylonian / Isin-Larsa Period · Amorite Babylonian (Larsa)
Amorite ziggurat of sun-god Shamash at Larsa (Tell Senkerah) c.1950–1760 BCE: 70 × 40 m Ebabbara complex, capital of Isin-Larsa kingdom before Hammurabi.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian (Isin-Larsa contemporary) · Sumerian-Akkadian Eshnunna kingdom
Akkadian-Old Babylonian city-state of Eshnunna (c.3000–1760 BCE) controlling Diyala basin between Sumer and Elam, famous for the Laws of Eshnunna (c.1930 BCE, ~60 laws predating Hammurapi by two…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Early Dynastic to Akkadian (3000–2150 BCE) · Sumerian–Akkadian (Diyala/ Akkadian frontier)
Southern Diyala town of Early Dynastic to Akkadian period dominated by 60x55 m Temple of Shara built on high mudbrick terrace (proto-ziggurat) with massive enclosure and two shrines (Shrine I and II)…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Middle to Neo-Assyrian (1350–612 BCE) · Assyrian
Second capital of Assyria after Assur under Ashurnasirpal II (883 BCE), who built the Northwest Palace with 600 m of alabaster lamassu and bas-reliefs (Black Obelisk of Shalmaneser III showing King…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Old Babylonian to Mitanni · Amorite / Old Assyrian
Old Babylonian planned city ziggurat at Tell al-Rimah (Qattara/Karana) c.1800 BCE: 45×45 m Adad ziggurat on 130 m terrace, Sinjar plain encircled city.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Early Dynastic to Isin-Larsa (2600–1760 BCE) · Sumerian–Akkadian (Me-Turan / Simurrum)
Twin-mound Late Early Dynastic to Isin-Larsa city (Me-Turan) on Diyala-Adhaim confluence engulfed by Hamrin reservoir fringe.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Tell
Hassuna through Halaf and Ubaid (c.6000–5000 BCE); Hassuna, Samarra, Halaf early · Hassuna → Samarra–Hajji Muhammad → Halaf (Yarim Tepe facies)
Hassuna–Halaf type transition (c.6000–5000 BCE) with earliest updraft kilns and Halaf painted ware over Hassuna (Soviet Bader).
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Ubaid to Islamic · Sumerian → Akkadian → Babylonian → Kassite
Holy city of Sumer and Akkad, seat of Enlil (Lord Air) whose Ekur temple gave legitimacy to kingship — 'king without Nippur is no king'.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Jemdet Nasr to Old Babylonian (3000–1750 BCE) · Sumerian–Akkadian (Diyala)
Major Diyala valley city (3000–1800 BCE) with the iconic Temple Oval — 80x75 m double-walled oval enclosure with inner 36 m oval temple terrace rising 4 m — earliest oval ziggurat precursor (Jemdet…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Proto-Hassuna, Hassuna, Samarran (6500–5500 BCE) · Hassuna culture
Between two wadis south-west of Mosul, this 1943–44 excavation by Seton Lloyd and Fuad Saffar defined the Hassuna culture — earliest ceramic Neolithic in northern Iraq — through 15 building levels.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Tell
Early Dynastic to Middle Assyrian (c.3000 BCE to 1100 BCE, peak Old Babylonian 1800–1500 BCE) · Assyrian / Mitanni / Old Babylonian (Qattara/Karana)
Major Assyrian mound Tell al-Rimah (ancient Qatara/Karana) on Sinjar plain: 600×400 m tell 30 m high with central high temple mound and Old Babylonian ziggurat stump 40×40 m, 15 m high with mudbrick…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Tell
EBA-MBA-LBA (c.3500-1200 BCE) · Euphrates EBA to Old Babylonian/Mitannian
Tell al-Rimah (Qattara/Karana) — buried eba-mba-lba tell/village at Nineveh Governorate.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Early Dynastic to Neo-Assyrian to Parthian · Assyrian (Akkadian dialect)
First capital and holy city of Assyria (c.2600 BCE–614 BCE, 70 ha on Tigris bend) — temple of god Assur (Ashur) whose city and god name are one.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Tell
Neolithic Hassuna-Samarra (c.6000–5600 BCE) · Hassuna
Type site 1939–44 excavation by Seton Lloyd that defined the Hassuna painted pottery tradition of northern Iraq.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian (3000–1750 BCE) · Sumerian–Akkadian (Kish)
Eastern mound of the Sumerian city-state Kish (3200–2200 BCE), once Sargon's capital, dominated by Early Dynastic III 60x45 m Temple Oval ziggurat-like terrace and later 3-stair Old Babylonian…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Ubaid to Old Babylonian (c.5000–1700 BCE; peak ED IIIb–Lagash II) · Ubaid → Sumerian (Lagash) → Akkadian → Ur III → Isin-Larsa → Babylonian
Lagash state capital with Gudea statues, 50,000 tablets and newly CT-mapped canal temple.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Hassuna–Halaf, Uruk, Middle Bronze (6000–1400 BCE) · Zagros–Mesopotamian interface
Mound on former confluence of Little Zab dammed by Dokan Lake, excavated 1957–59 by Danish Jarmo team (G. J.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian (3000–1760 BCE), Isin-Larsa Eshnunna · Sumerian–Akkadian (Eshnunna Dynasts)
Capital of powerful Eshnunna kingdom (2100–1760 BCE) ruling Diyala and parts of Elam trade. Central tell holds Palace of the Rulers (45x38 m courtyard palace) and 32x30 m Shu-Sin (Ur III)…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian (3000–1750 BCE) · Akkadian, Eshnunna, Babylonian
Provincial capital of Hamrin–Diyala corridor identified as Me-Turan, twin to Tell Haddad and Tell al-Sib excavated 1977–87 by Iraqi State Board before Hamrin Dam, yielding 3000 cuneiform tablets of…
🇮🇶 Iraq · Pyramid
Halaf, Ubaid (6100–5500 BCE) · Halaf culture
Low mound outside Mosul lending name to Late Halaf painted ware zenith, excavated 1933 by Max Mallowan and John Cruikshank Rose and 1976 by Ismail Hijara.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Temple complex
Late Uruk to Akkadian (c.3400–2200 BCE; temple peak ED II–III 2750–2350 BCE) · Uruk → Jemdet Nasr → Early Dynastic Sumerian (Diyala) → Akkadian
Oval Shara Temple with ED votive hoard and earliest saw-tooth niche architecture.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Tell
Ubaid to Early Dynastic I (c.5000–2900 BCE; mural is Late Uruk–Jemdet Nasr c.3200 BCE) · Ubaid → Uruk → Jemdet Nasr → Early Dynastic
Painted Temple mound with 3200 BCE leopard mural — first mural art in Mesopotamia.
🇮🇶 Iraq · Tell
Jemdet Nasr to Early Dynastic IIIa (c.3000–2500 BCE) · Early Dynastic Sumerian
Canoe-shaped Sumerian city Tell Fara 35 miles S of Nippur, legendary home of Ziusudra (Utnapishtim).
🇮🇶 Iraq · Ancient city
Early Dynastic to Old Babylonian (c.2900–1700 BCE; peak Lagash–Umma border war 2500–2350 BCE) · Sumerian (Umma ensi dynasty) → Akkadian → Ur III → Isin-Larsa
Lagash's blood-enemy with Stele-of-Vultures war archive and 20,000 Ur III tablets of a date-palm oligarchy.
