Urban civilization rose in Southern Mesopotamia on the back of tides

[Judi Lynn]

2. First ancient cities built on rhythms of water in Mesopotamia

First ancient cities built on rhythms of water in Mesopotamia

August 25, 2025

Evrim Yazgin
Cosmos science journalist

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The Great Ziggurat of Ur dedicated to the Moon god. Ziggurats were massive structure typical for Mesopotamia. Sumerians believed that the gods lived in the temple at the top of the ziggurats. Credit: Reed Goodman, Clemson University.


A model of the ancient environment suggests a new theory about how some of the first cities in human history were built.

The research, published in PLOS One, proposes that the beginnings of urban civilisation in ancient Mesopotamia were driven by the dynamic relationships between rivers, tides and sediments at the head of the Persian Gulf.

The Sumerian civilisation was in the south of the region known as Mesopotamia in modern Iraq. Sumer’s city-states of Ur, Uruk, Eridu and Lagash began to emerge around 7500 BCE, and were established by about 5,000 BCE.

While some “proto-cities” like Jericho and Çatalhöyük had emerged earlier, the Sumerian city-states are considered the cradle of civilisation because of the development of agriculture, writing and inventions such as the wheel which formed the cultural bedrock of these cities.

More:
https://cosmosmagazine.com/history/archaeology/first-cities-ancient-mesopotamia-water/