5000-2350 B.C.E.
Sumer, a loosely organized league of city-states, springs up in the southern part of Mesopotamia. Its capital, Ur, is thought to be the birthplace of Abraham, the patriarch of Judaism, Christianity and Islam. Around 3000, writing is developed independently in Mesopotamia and Egypt. Mesopotamian boatmen seal their barges with black pitch that bubbles from the ground; people decorate their temples with bitumen, a byproduct of distilled petroleum.

2000-1800
Abraham leads Israelites from Mesopotamia into Canaan, in modern-day Israel.

1962-1600
Mesopotamia is divided into rival states, Babylon in the south, Assyria to the north.

1704-1662
Babylon's King Hammurabi writes a detailed law code.

854
Assyrian records first mention Arabs, nomads who herd sheep and goats in the deserts of the Arabian Peninsula south of Mesopotamia.

730
Assyrian empire expands from the Persian Gulf to Egypt and Asia Minor, including Mesopotamia and today's Israel.

THE EMPIRES

587
Under King Nebuchadnezzar, Babylonians take Syria from Egypt and conquer Judea. Babylonians destroy the First Temple in Jerusalem and take the Israelites into slavery.

539
Persia (modern-day Iran) conquers Babylon and sends the Jews back to reconstruct Jerusalem and build the Second Temple.

331
Alexander the Great conquers Persia and creates a commercial center in Babylon.

163 B.C.E-114 Common Era
Roman armies add Persian territories to their expanding empire.

224-637 C.E.
Sassanians form a revitalized Persian empire, with Mesopotamia at its core. Pagans, Christians, Jews and Buddhists worship alongside Zoroastrians, whose ancient religion is the official faith.

570
Islam's founder, Mohammed, is born.

622
Mohammed begins recruiting followers to his monotheistic faith.

632
Mohammed dies in Medina, in what is now Saudi Arabia.

634-637
In the name of Islam, an Arab army conquers Syria, Egypt, Mesopotamia, Palestine and Persia and rules from Damascus.

694-750
Mesopotamians revolt against Arabic rule from Damascus. Jafar al-Mansur, a caliph from Mohammed's family, builds a new capital, Baghdad, which becomes a trading center for Islamic Empire.