History glossary
Ur
a major Sumerian city in southern Mesopotamia, near modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq.
- Category
- City
- Region
- Southern Iraq
- Date range
- third to second millennium BCE
What it means
Ur was a powerful Sumerian city in southern Mesopotamia, near modern Tell el-Muqayyar in Iraq. It is known for royal tombs, a major ziggurat, trade links, and the Third Dynasty of Ur, which briefly reunited much of Mesopotamia.
Related terms
Stories using this term
The Indus Valley
From farming villages to great planned cities, the Indus Valley civilisation rose across South Asia and left an enduring legacy despite its many mysteries.
Mesopotamia
Ancient Mesopotamia, the land between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was one of the birthplaces of urban civilisation. In this Tigris and Euphrates civilization, communities built some of the first cities, developed cuneiform writing, organised law codes, and created early empires. From Sumer and Akkad to Babylon and Assyria, this history of Mesopotamia shows how farming, irrigation, temples, kingship, trade, and record-keeping helped create the structures of complex society. It also works as a Mesopotamia timeline and Mesopotamia civilization overview, with clear Mesopotamia facts tracing how Mesopotamian civilization grew from villages into states and empires.
