Ancient Mesopotamia
Photo: via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 3.0
Mesopotamia is in the Middle East, mainly in present-day Iraq, with parts of it in Syria and Turkey and influence extending into what are now Iran and the Persian Gulf states. The name translates literally as 'between rivers', and an alternate term is the Land of the Two Rivers. The rivers involved are the Tigris and Euphrates; both rise in the mountains of Eastern Anatolia, run more-or-less parallel, then join near Basra to form the Shatt al-Arab which flows into the Persian Gulf.
The region had several of the world's earliest civilizations and has dozens of archeological sites, including many s. Unfortunately, many have been damaged or destroyed by Da'esh, the so-called Islamic State.
As of early 2026, most of the region is still too dangerous to visit; see warnings in the Syria and Iraq articles.
UnderstandMesopotamia forms part of a historically important region called the Fertile Crescent; the other main part is the Levant. The region was one of the cradles of civilisation, where farming and cities first arose.
TalkMost languages native to the region — including Akkadian which was the main language of the Akkadian, Babylonian and Assyrian empires, and Aramaic which became important later — were from the Semitic family which…
DestinationsThis article focuses on the great Mesopotamian civilisations of the Bronze Age; see Fertile Crescent for archeological sites dating back before those.
See also
Sources and licences
- Guide text adapted from the Wikivoyage article "Ancient Mesopotamia" by its contributors, available under CC BY-SA 4.0. Read on Wikivoyage · Contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0
- Photo: Lammasu.jpg, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons