The term 'Old Babylonian' is a period in Mesopotamian history that refers, roughly, to the period between the end of the Third Dynasty of Ur (c. 2000 BCE) through the end of the first dynasty of Babylon (c. 1600). This is an article about the ancient middle eastern region. ... The third dynasty of Ur reinstalled Sumerian rule after several centuries of Akkadian and Gutian kings (Sumerian Renaissance). ... , Babylon is the Greek variant of Akkadian Babilu, an ancient city in Mesopotamia (modern Al Hillah, Iraq). ...

The term actually refers to the Akkadian language, which during this period was referred to as Old Babylonian. Although Sumerian remained the dominant language used for literary compositions and legal texts, this period witnessed a sharp increase in the number of Akkadian texts. It is also during this period that the first traces of dialects of the Assyrian language can be documented. Akkadian language city of Akkad or Agad Akkadian Empire Sargon of Akkad the Amarna letters and Amarna Letters EA 296(Yahtiru) This is a disambiguation page — a navigational aid which lists pages that might otherwise share the same title. ... Sumer (or Shumer, Sumeria, Shinar, native ki-en-gir) formed the southern part of Mesopotamia from the time of settlement by the Sumerians until the time of Babylonia. ... Assyrian may refer to: List of Assyrian settlements Anything from Assyria, an ancient empire in Mesopotamia Anything from Assyria (Roman province), a province of the Roman Empire Assyrian people, a present-day Middle Eastern ethnic group Several Christian denominations: Assyrian Church of the East Assyrian Church of the Easts...

Political Structure

The beginning of the period is marked by a power struggle between independent city-states. The most powerful city-states tried to negotiate alliances with smaller cities in order to accumulate more land.

In the area that is now north Syria, the city-states of Aleppo and Qatna dominated politically. Ebla arose as an important urban center of which little evidence unfortunately exists, although some inscriptions indicate that an Amorite dynasty ruled it. Northern Mesopotamia, particularly Mari, Nineveh, Ashur, and Shubat-Enlil, united briefly during this period under a dynasty begun by Shamshi-Adad I. This however, was short-lived. The Diyala valley was ruled by the city of Eshnunna. Old Town Aleppo viewed from the Citadel Aleppo is also the name of two townships in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania. ... Qatna is an ancient city in Syria, present day Tell-el-Mishrife in the Wadi il-Aswad, a tributary of the Orontes, 18 km northeast of Homs. ... Ebla was an ancient city located in northern Syria, about 55 km southwest of Aleppo. ... Amorite (Hebrew ’emōrî, Egyptian Amar, Akkadian Tidnum or Amurrūm (corresponding to Sumerian MAR.TU or Martu) refers to a Semitic people who occupied the country west of the Euphrates from the second half of the third millennium BC, and also the god they worshipped (see Amurru). ... Mesopotamia (Greek: Μεσοποταμία, translated from Old Persian Miyanrudan between rivers; Aramaic name being Beth Nahrain house of rivers) is a region of Southwest Asia. ... The Mari (also known as Cheremis in Russian and Çirmeş in Tatar) are a Volga-Finnic people in the Volga area, the natives of Mari El, Russia. ... This article needs to be cleaned up to conform to a higher standard of quality. ... Asshur, son of Shem, the son of Noah. ... Shubat-Enlil was an ancient city located at the modern village of Tell Leilan in northern Syria, at the Khabur river basin by river Jarrah. ... Shamshi-Adad I (reigned 1813 to 1791 BC) rose to prominence when he carved out a large kingdom in northern Mesopotamia. ... Diyala is one of the constituent governorates of the nation of Iraq. ... Eshnunna is the transliteration of the ancient name of a Sumerian city and city-state in lower Mesopotamia. ...

In southern Mesopotamia, the shifts in power centers can be documented by textual and archaeological evidence. A ruler named Ishbi-Erra, who had served under the last Ur III king, Ibbi-Sin, attempted to continue the Third Dynasty of Ur for a time. He fought off the forces of Elam that had contributed to the collapse of that Dynasty and actually stabilized things for a short while. Mesopotamia (Greek: Μεσοποταμία, translated from Old Persian Miyanrudan between rivers; Aramaic name being Beth Nahrain house of rivers) is a region of Southwest Asia. ... Ibbi-Sin, son of Shu-Sin, was king of Sumer and Akkad and last king of the Ur III dynasty, and reigned circa 2028 BC-2004 BC. During his reign, the Sumerian empire was attacked repeatedly by Amorites. ... Elam (Persian: ایلام) is one of the most ancient civilizations on record. ...