50,000 BC 10,000 BC 3,000 BC
         
H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H7
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J1 J2 J3 J4 J7
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L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L7
M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7
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A1 A2 A3 A7
B1 B2 B7
C1 C2 C3 C7
D1 D2 D3 D4 D7
E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7
F1 F2 F4 F5 F7
G1 G2 G3 G4 G7
Euphrates
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Indian Ocean
Mediterannean Sea
Black Sea
Caspian Sea
Persian
Gulf
Red
Sea
H1 H2 H3 H4 H5 H7
I1 I2 I3 I4 I5 I7
J1 J2 J3 J4 J7
K1 K2 K3 K4 K7
L1 L2 L3 L4 L5 L7
M1 M2 M3 M4 M5 M6 M7
N1 N2 N5 N6 N7
A1 A2 A3 A7
B1 B2 B7
C1 C2 C3 C7
D1 D2 D3 D4 D7
E1 E2 E3 E4 E5 E6 E7
F1 F2 F4 F5 F7
G1 G2 G3 G4 G7
Euphrates
Atlantic Ocean
Pacific Ocean
Indian Ocean
Mediterannean Sea
Black Sea
Caspian Sea
Persian
Gulf
Red
Sea
 
 
 
 
 

Natufian culture

Start: 13000 BC
End: 9500 BC
Type: Culture
Language: possibly proto-Afro-Asiatic
Agriculture: Sedentary hunter-gatherer, cereal milling
Industry: Microlithic industry
Capital: Shuqba cave
Notes: Early pre-agricultural sedentary culture. The earliest known archaeological evidence of dog domestication. Lived in a proto-Jericho site. The worlds oldest brewery.
 

Çatalhöyük Culture

Start: 7500 BC
End: 5700 BC
Type: Culture
Capital: Çatalhöyük
 

Ubaid Period

Start: 6500 BC
End: 3800 BC
Type: Archaeology
Note: Eridu
 

Hassuna culture

Start: 6500 BC
End: 6000 BC
Type: Culture
Note: Pottery / Late Neolithic
 

Halaf culture

Start: 6100 BC
End: 5500 BC
Type: Culture
Note: Pottery / Late Neolithic
 

Samarra Culture

Start: 5500 BC
End: 4800 BC
Type: Culture
 

Uruk period

Start: 4000 BC
End: 2900 BC
Type: Culture
Script: cuneiform
Capital: Uruk
 

Proto Elamite

Start: 3200 BC
End: 2700 BC
Type: Dynasty
Note: Early Bronze Age
Script: Proto Elamite
 
Artefacts:

The Ain Sakhri Lovers

NoteThe Ain Sakhri lovers, from Ain Sakhri, Judea.
Year9000 BC
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material:  Carved stone (calcite cobble)
Collection:  The British Museum
Licence:  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  British Museum
Image Note:  background cropped
Reference:  1958,1007.1
[1 of 0]

Bovine-rib dagger

NoteHaYonim Cave, Natufian Culture, 12,500–9500 BC
Year
Category: Tool
Location: 
Material:  Bone
Collection: 
Licence:  CC0 1.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  By Gary Todd - https://www.flickr.com/photos/101561334@N08/42312
Image Note:  Cropped and whitespace added
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78717260,
[2 of 0]

Stone mortar

NoteStone mortar from Eynan (Ain Mallaha), Natufian period, 12,500–9500 BC, Israel Museum
Year
Category: Pottery
Location:  Ain Mallaha
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  CC0 1.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  By Gary Todd - This file has been extracted from another file
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78807332
[3 of 0]

Schematic human figure

NoteSchematic human figure made of pebbles, from Eynan (Ain Mallalah), Early Natufian Israel Museum Stone Age Israel Museum, Jerusalem, Israel
Year12000 BC
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Ain Mallaha
Material:  Pebbles
Collection: 
Licence:  CC0 1.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  By Gary Todd - https://www.flickr.com/photos/101561334@N08/43166
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78717258
[4 of 0]
 
Artefacts:

Plastered skull

NoteIsrael Museum, Jerusalem
Year9000 BC
Category: Other
Location:  Jericho
Material:  Skull,Plaster
Collection: 
Licence:  -- select -- [🡭]
Attribution:  By Gary Todd - https://www.flickr.com/ph
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78713357
[1 of 0]

Venus figurine

NoteClay female human figurine (Fertility goddess) Tappeh Sarab, Kermanshah ca. 7000-6100 BC, Neolithic period, National Museum of Iran
Year7000 BC
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Tappeh Sarab
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  CC BY-SA 4.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  By Nationalmuseumofiran - Own work
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=63082270
[2 of 0]

Pre pottery B Female figurine

NoteFemale and male figurines; 9000-7000 BC; gypsum with bitumen and stone inlays; from Tell Fekheriye (Al-Hasakah Governorate of Syria); University of Chicago Oriental Institute (USA)
Year
Category: Sculpture
Material: 
Licence:  -- select -- [🡭]
Attribution:  By Sailko - Own work, CC BY 3.0
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65577180
[3 of 0]

Pre pottery B Male figurine

NoteFemale and male figurines; 9000-7000 BC; from Tell Fekheriye (Al-Hasakah Governorate of Syria); University of Chicago Oriental Institute (USA)
Year
Category: Sculpture
Material:  Gypsum with bitumen and stone in
Licence:  -- select -- [🡭]
Attribution:  By Sailko - Own work, CC BY 3.0
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=65577180
[4 of 0]

Half human figure

NoteThis example, known to the BM as Micah, is one of many from the Ain Ghazal cache. The eyes are painted with bitumen and there is a green mineral pigment residue, dioptase.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Ain Ghazal
Material:  Lime plaster, reed armature
Collection:  The British Museum
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Micah
[5 of 0]

Human figure

NoteThis example, known to the BM as Noah, is one of many from the Ain Ghazal cache. The eyes are painted with bitumen and there is a green mineral pigment residue, dioptase
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Ain Ghazal
Material:  Lime plaster, reed armature
Collection:  The British Museum
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Noah
[6 of 0]

Human figure

NoteThis example, known to the BM as Heifa, is one of many from the Ain Ghazal cache. The eyes are painted with bitumen and there is a green mineral pigment residue, dioptase.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Ain Ghazal
Material:  Lime plaster, reed armature
Collection:  The British Museum
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Heifa
[7 of 0]

Human figure

Note
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Ain Ghazal
Material:  Plaster
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[8 of 0]
 
Artefacts:

Hunting Mural

NoteMuseum of Anatolian Civilizations.
Year
Category: Painting
Location:  Çatalhöyük
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  CC BY 3.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  By Klaus-Peter Simon - Own work
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=4470672
[1 of 0]

Seated Mother Goddess of Çatalhöyük

NoteSeated Mother Goddess / Venus from Catalhoyuk (Turkey), Neolithic age (about 6000-5500 BCE), today in Museum of Anatolian Civilizations in Ankara. (wiki). Head is modern reconstruction.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Çatalhöyük
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By Nevit Dilmen (talk) - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14783156
[2 of 0]

Small female figurine

NoteSmall Mother Goddess / Venus figurine found at Çatalhöyük in 2008
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Çatalhöyük
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  Jason Quinlan
Image Note: 
Reference:  www.catalhoy
[3 of 0]

Statuette of a seated female nude

NoteStatuette of a seated nude from Çatalhöyük, one of the earliest examples representing the Mother Goddess.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Çatalhöyük
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[4 of 0]
 
Artefacts:

Pottery jar

Note
Year
Category: Pottery
Location:  Tell al-Ubaid
Material: 
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By ALFGRN - https://www.flickr.com/photos/156915032@N07/33767005
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78172134
[1 of 0]

Pottery jar

Note
Year
Category: Pottery
Location:  Tell al-Ubaid
Material:  Clay
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By ALFGRN - https://www.flickr.com/photos/156915032@N07/33767005
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78172134
[2 of 0]

Pottery jar

Note
Year
Category: Pottery
Location:  Tell al-Ubaid
Material: 
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By ALFGRN - https://www.flickr.com/photos/156915032@N07/46728788
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=78172135
[3 of 0]
 
Artefacts:

Hassuna Ibex Decorated Bowl

NoteDecorated redware bowl with Ibexes. By United States Agency for International Development - United States Department of Defense, Public Domain.
Year
Category: Pottery
Location:  Hassuna
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By United States Agency for International Development
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45057599
[1 of 0]
 
Artefacts:

Painted vessel figurine of a nude woman

NoteFrom Yarim Tepe II settlement, Iraq. Halaf culture, 5th millennium BCE. Iraq Museum
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material:  Cer
Collection: 
Licence:  CC BY-SA 4.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  By Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg) - Own work
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=90669325
[1 of 0]

Female figure

Notepainted terracotta Mother Goddess Figure / venus figurine.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Halaf
Material:  Terracotta
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  AO 21095, AO
[2 of 0]

Seated female figure

NoteClay Mother Goddess / Venus figurine.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Halaf
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[3 of 0]

Female figure

NoteMother Goddess Figure / venus figurine, The Walters Art Museum, Baltimore
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Halaf
Material:  Clay
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  48.2741
[4 of 0]
 
Artefacts:

Female figurine

NoteFound in the Tell es Sawwan (middle Tigris, near Samarra), level 1, ca. 6000 BC.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Samarra
Material:  Alabaster
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution:  By Unknown - Female_figurine_Tell_es_Sawwan_DAO33.jpg, Public Do
Image Note: 
Reference:  https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=15417770
[1 of 0]
 
Artefacts:

Carved Jar

NoteEgg shaped stone jar with flat base; carved with two lions attacking bulls, with a scale pattern in 3 rows indicating the ground below; the neck is lost; two holes drilled opposite one another in the shoulder suggest that the jar may have been suspended.Rim and neck broken off.(BM)Late Uruk
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material:  Granite
Collection:  The British Museum
Licence:  CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  British Museum
Image Note:  background cropped
Reference:  128886
[1 of 0]

Globular Clay Accountancy Envelope

NoteGlobular Accountancy clay envelope found with a cluster of accounting tokens. Example of Symbolic Technology. From the Tell of the Acropolis in Susa. Atlas 17360
Year
Category: Tool
Location:  Susa
Material:  Clay
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Public Domain
[2 of 0]

The mask of Warka

NoteThe mask of Warka, from Warka (ancient Uruk), Iraq. Jemdet Nasr period The Iraq Museum, Baghdad. Image Cropped.
Year3000 BC
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Uruk
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  CC BY-SA 4.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  Osama Shukir Muhammed Amin FRCP(Glasg)
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[3 of 0]

Cylinder seal

NoteThe king-priest and his acolyte feeding the sacred herd(wiki)
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material:  Limestone
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[4 of 0]

Limestone statuette of bearded man

NoteLimestone statuette of bearded man (possibly priest-king), Ancient Near East Gallery, Louvre.
Year3300 BC
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material: 
Collection:  The Louvre
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Creative Commons CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication
[5 of 0]

Proto Cuneiform Tablet

NoteProto Cuneiform Tablet from Uruk III. Department of Oriental antiquities, Richelieu. Image cropped.
Year
Category: Writing
Location: 
Material:  Clay
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 Unported license.
[6 of 0]
 
Artefacts:

Horned figure

NoteThis solid-cast sculpture is one of a pair of nearly identical images of a hero or a demon wearing the upturned boots associated with highland regions, his power enhanced by the mighty horns of the ibex on his head(NYM). more
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material:  Bronze
Licence:  CC0 1.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  New York Met
Image Note: 
Reference:  2007.280
[1 of 0]

Kneeling bull figurine

Notemore
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location:  Susa
Material:  Silver
Licence:  CC0 1.0 [🡭]
Attribution:  New York Met
Image Note: 
Reference:  66.173
[2 of 0]

Statuette of a Monkey

Note
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[3 of 0]

Sialk ziggurat

NoteCAD rendering of Sialk ziggurat based on archeological evidence(wikipedia)
Year3000 BC
Category: Architecture
Location:  Tepe Sialk
Material: 
Collection: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference: 
[4 of 0]

Anthropomorphic vessel

NoteNorthwestern Iran .Smithsonian museums, Washington DC, USA.
Year
Category: Sculpture
Location: 
Material: 
Licence:  [🡭]
Attribution: 
Image Note: 
Reference:  S1986.501
[5 of 0]