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ΕλληνικάINITIAL ATLAS · NODES AND ROUTES
Map of Sumer
Sumerian Atlas
It locates the Sumerian cities and their exchange routes through the Persian Gulf.
Museum documentation · free public access, no account required.
Editorial visualisation · Contextual correspondence
Declared editorial visualisation, based on the cartography and sources of the fact sheet; it is not an exact historical frontier.
History and context
The map begins in Villages and Networks and allows you to advance through 8 phases. The documented places—Eridu, Uruk, Ur—appear only when they help to read the active period.
Sumeria was a network of city-states; the lines show circulation, not a single capital or a stable border.
Evidence and interpretation
The coastline comes from Natural Earth. The layers distinguish origin, core, direct control, influence, networks, disputed territories and external domains; they are rough curatorial envelopes, not modern borders. The faint contour preserves the previous phase to make each expansion, contraction or absorption visible. Sumeria was a network of city-states; the lines show circulation, not a single capital or a stable border.
Catalogue facts
- Reading mode
- Nodes and contact routes
- Sequence
- 8 phases · Ubaid villages and networks (ca. 6500–3800 BC) → Urban concentration of Uruk (ca. 4000–3500 BC) → Uruk Horizon (ca. 3500–3100 BC) → Jemdet Nasr and regionalization (ca. 3100–2900 BC) → Sumerian City-States (ca. 2900–2350 BC) → Integration into the Akkadian Empire (ca. 2334–2154 BC) → Kingdom of Ur III (ca. 2112–2004 BC) → Isin-Larsa and Babylonian heritages (from ca. 2004 BC)
- Nodes
- Eridu (VI–IV millennia BC) · Uruk (≈3500–3000 BC) · Ur (III millennium BC)
- Range
- Approximate envelope of Ubaida communities in southern Mesopotamian.
- Caution
- Sumeria was a network of city-states; the lines show circulation, not a single capital or a stable border.
A closer look
About 1 min to read · 1 section. Further reading and sources · free access. Editorial review recorded: .
The scope of objects and the growth of a city
The Met essay places Mesopotamian-inspired objects from central Iran to the Nile Delta before approximately 3000 BCE. Later that cultural expansion was reduced, while cities like Uruk continued to grow. This difference helps to read the phases of the atlas: a circulation network can contract without its main urban center disappearing. It is convenient to compare two scales, the extension of contacts and the internal transformation of each settlement, to understand why they do not always advance at the same pace.
- Museum · The Met · Uruk: The First CityAccess recorded: .
Location and territory
REGIONAL AREA
Southern Mesopotamia and cities of the floodplainSouthern Mesopotamia and cities of the alluvial plain. The footprint marks the indicative center of the area, not a border or an exact point.TERRITORIAL ATLAS · REAL GEOGRAPHY · CHANGING EXTENT
Sumerian Atlas
Cities of the alluvial plain and circulation through the Gulf
Villages, canals, and ritual centres are connected in the southern alluvium; Ubaid is an archaeological tradition, not a proven Sumerian ethnicity.
WHAT CHANGES · OriginA network of villages, canals and sanctuaries emerges in the southern alluvium, still without a common territorial authority.
- 01 · EriduVI–IV millennia BCETemples and prolonged occupation in the far south.
Sumeria was a network of city-states; the lines show circulation, not a single capital or a stable border.
Documentation for every period
The map is interactive. The full chronology is also available below without using any controls.
c. 6500–3800 BCE · Ubaid villages and networks
Villages, canals, and ritual centres are connected in the southern alluvium; Ubaid is an archaeological tradition, not a proven Sumerian ethnicity.
Origin · A network of villages, canals and sanctuaries emerges in the southern alluvium, still without a common territorial authority.
- southern alluvium · c. 6500–3800 BCE
Approximate envelope of Ubaida communities in southern Mesopotamian.
Probable
c. 4000–3500 BCE · Urban concentration at Uruk
Uruk and other centres grow within a connected plain; the area indicates regional urbanisation, not a unitary kingdom.
Expansion · The previous area is concentrated around Uruk and other cities in the south, with greater urban and administrative density.
- Uruk and southern cities · c. 4000–3500 BCE
Approximate area of the first urban concentration.
Probable
c. 3500–3100 BCE · Uruk Horizon
Objects, administrative practices, and enclaves connect the south with Susiana and Upper Mesopotamia; material diffusion and colonial presence do not equate to a continuous empire.
Expansion · From the southern core, enclaves and corridors open towards Susiana and Upper Mesopotamia, with unequal scope.
- Southern urban center · c. 3500–3100 BCE
Core of cities and canals.
Probable - Expanded Uruk Network · c. 3500–3100 BCE
Envelope of contacts and enclaves; not sovereign border.
Debated
c. 3100–2900 BCE · Jemdet Nasr and regionalisation
Uruk's extraregional network recedes, and several centres maintain or rework writing and administration.
Contraction · The extra-regional network retracts and the map returns to several southern centers that preserve administrative practices.
- southern centers · c. 3100–2900 BCE
Regionalized area, without a single capital.
Probable
c. 2900–2350 BCE · Sumerian city-states
Ur, Uruk, Lagash, Kish, and other cities compete and make pacts; the envelope gathers independent polities.
Fragmentation · The same plain is divided between rival city-states; the visual unity becomes a contested mosaic.
- Constellation of city-states · c. 2900–2350 BCE
Area shared by rival cities, not a territorial State.
Probable
c. 2334–2154 BCE · Integration into the Akkadian Empire
An Akkadian-speaking dynasty incorporates Sumerian cities; the political change does not erase local languages, cults, or offices.
Absorption · The southern cities are integrated into a larger Akkadian envelope, although control varies between regions.
- Approximate Akkadian Empire · c. 2334–2154 BCE
Approximate maximum envelope; The control had different intensities.
Probable
c. 2112–2004 BCE · Third Dynasty of Ur
Ur recentralises much of the south and integrates neighbouring territories through provinces, tribute, and campaigns of uneven reach.
Expansion · After the Akkadian crisis, Ur recomposed a more compact dominion over the south and some neighboring tributary territories.
- Ur III · c. 2112–2004 BCE
Approximate administered and tax area.
Probable
from c. 2004 BCE · Isin-Larsa and Babylonian legacies
The kingdom of Ur is divided; Sumerian ceases to be a daily language over time, but continues in schools, liturgies, and archives.
Fragmentation · Ur's rule breaks down into successor kingdoms such as Isin and Larsa, which compete for southern cities and canals.
- Southern successor kingdoms · 20th–18th centuries BCE
Rival kingdoms inheriting southern institutions.
Probable
Documented places
- Eridu · VI–IV millennia BCE
Temples and prolonged occupation in the far south.
- Uruk · ≈3500–3000 BCE
Urban concentration, administration and early writing.
- Ur · III millennium BCE
Port, court, cemetery and Gulf networks.
Routes and contacts
- Documented historical connection
- Documented historical connection
Sumeria was a network of city-states; the lines show circulation, not a single capital or a stable border.
Sources and references
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