Editing Bronze Age (section)

=== Mesopotamia ===
{{Main|History of Mesopotamia}}
{{Unreferenced section|date=February 2025}}
The [[Bronze Age Mesopotamia|Mesopotamian Bronze Age]] began {{circa|3500&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E and ended with the [[Kassite]] period {{circa|1500|1155&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E). The usual tripartite division into an Early, Middle and Late Bronze Age is not used in the context of Mesopotamia. Instead, a division primarily based on art and historical characteristics is more common.

The [[cities of the Ancient Near East]] housed several tens of thousands of people. [[Ur]], [[Kish (Sumer)|Kish]], [[Isin]], [[Larsa]], and [[Nippur]] in the Middle Bronze Age and [[Babylon]], [[Calah]], and [[Assur]] in the Late Bronze Age similarly had large populations. The [[Akkadian Empire]] (2335–2154&nbsp;BCE) became the dominant power in the region. After its fall, the [[Sumer]]ians enjoyed a renaissance with the [[Neo-Sumerian Empire]]. [[Assyria]], along with the [[Old Assyrian Empire]] ({{circa|1800–1600&nbsp;BC|lk=no}}E), became a regional power under the [[Amorite]] king [[Shamshi-Adad I]]. The earliest mention of Babylon (then a small administrative town) appears on a tablet from the reign of [[Sargon of Akkad]] in the 23rd century&nbsp;BCE. The Amorite dynasty established the city-state of Babylon in the 19th century&nbsp;BCE. Over a century later, it briefly took over the other city-states and formed the short-lived First Babylonian Empire during what is also called the [[Old Babylonian Period]].

Akkad, Assyria, and Babylonia used the written East Semitic [[Akkadian language]] for official use and as a spoken language. By that time, the Sumerian language was no longer spoken, but was still in religious use in Assyria and Babylonia, and would remain so until the 1st century&nbsp;CE. The [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]] and Sumerian traditions played a major role in later Assyrian and Babylonian culture. Despite this, Babylonia, unlike the more militarily powerful Assyria, was founded by non-native Amorites and often ruled by other non-indigenous peoples such as the [[Kassites]], [[Aramaeans]] and [[Chaldea]]ns, as well as by its Assyrian neighbours.