By Tim Lambert
Ancient Iraq
Sumer was the world’s first civilization. It arose about 3,500 BC in what is now Iraq, in the land between the Tigris and the Euphrates. Several city-states grew up, each one ruling an area of the surrounding countryside. About 3,300 BC, the Sumerians invented writing on clay tablets.
However, the city-states were conquered by Sargon, the ruler of Akkad (2340-2284 BC). He created the world’s first empire. However, his empire was short-lived. It broke down after the death of his grandson, Naramsin.
Finally, Hammurabi, king of Babylon (1792-1750 BC) conquered much of what is now Iraq and created yet another empire.
However, like all empires, it eventually declined, and in about 1595, a people called the Hittites from the north conquered Babylon. However, they chose to withdraw. Afterward, a people called the Kassites from the east ruled Babylon from about 1531 BC until about 1155 BC.
Afterward, what is now Iraq was split between two powers, the Assyrians in the North and the Babylonians in the South. The Assyrians conquered a vast empire, and they sometimes ruled Babylon. However, Babylon often rebelled. Finally, in the 620s BC, Babylon led another rebellion, and in 612, it destroyed the Assyrian capital Nineveh.
However, the Babylonians then began to conquer the provinces of the old Assyrian Empire. They quickly created their empire, the Neo-Babylonian Empire.
Yet the new Babylonian Empire was short-lived. In 539 BC, the Persians captured Babylon, bringing their empire to an end.
However, the Persian Empire declined after 400 BC. For one thing, the empire suffered from its sheer size, which made it difficult to control. The empire suffered a series of rebellions. Finally, the great Persian Empire was destroyed by Alexander the Great in 331 BC.
Alexander the Great died in 323 BC, and his empire was split up. One of his generals, Seleucus, founded the Seleucid Empire, which included what is now Iraq. However, in the 2nd century BC, another Empire, the Parthians, conquered the region.
In the 1st Century AD, Christianity reached what is now Iraq.
In 116 AD, under Emperor Trajan, the Romans conquered part of what is now Iraq and made it a province of the Roman Empire. However, the next Roman emperor, Hadrian, decided to withdraw. In 198 AD, the emperor Septimus Severus conquered northern Iraq again.
Medieval Iraq
In 633 AD, the Arabs invaded Iraq, and by 638, they had conquered all of it. The Arabs brought Islam. The city of Baghdad was founded in 762, and it became a centre of learning.
However, in the 9th century, black slaves from Africa called Zanj were brought to Iraq. In 869, they rose in rebellion. The Zanj rebellion lasted until 883.
In 1258, Iraq suffered a disaster when the Mongols invaded. The Mongols captured Baghdad and massacred most of the inhabitants. The Mongols caused great damage to Iraq.
Disaster struck again in 1401 when the conqueror Timur or Tamerlane captured Baghdad and killed most of the inhabitants.
In the 16th century, Iraq became part of the Ottoman Empire. For a short period in the years 1623-1639, the Persians ruled Iraq. Otherwise, it remained part of the Ottoman Empire until the 20th century.
Modern Iraq
In 1914, the Ottoman Empire, which included Iraq, allied with Germany and went to war with Britain. British and Indian troops fought a long campaign (the Mesopotamia Campaign), and they finally captured Baghdad in March 1917. When Turkey surrendered in 1918, the Ottoman Empire was broken up. Britain continued to rule Iraq. However, in 1920, the Iraqis revolted.
However, the British army crushed the 1920 Revolution. In 1921, the Kingdom of Iraq was formed. An Arab became King Faisal I. However, Iraq was still really under British rule. In 1932, Iraq became an independent state, although British influence continued.
The Simele massacre happened in 1933. Iraqi troops massacred at least 600 Assyrian Christians in and around the town of Simele.
Meanwhile, oil was discovered in Iraq in 1927.
In 1941, a group of pro-Fascist officers called The Golden Square staged a coup. Iraq then joined the Axis Powers (Germany and Italy). However, British troops intervened, and the Fascist regime quickly collapsed.
However, pro-Western policies caused much resentment in Iraq. On 14 July 1958, the Iraqi army staged another coup, and King Faisal II was killed. Iraq became a republic. However, another coup took place in Iraq in February 1963. Another coup followed in November 1963. There was yet another coup in 1963. The Ba’ath party came to power. The Ba’ath Party pursued Socialist policies. They nationalised the oil industry in 1972.
In 1979, Saddam Hussein became the President of Iraq. He purged his party by accusing prominent members of treason. All were murdered. It was called the Comrades Massacre. Saddam Hussein then introduced a brutal and repressive dictatorship.
In the years 1980-1988, Iraq fought a war with Iran. Neither side could completely defeat the other, but both suffered terrible casualties. In 1990, Iraq invaded Kuwait. Saddam Hussein probably underestimated the extent of the foreign opposition to the move. In February 1991, a coalition of forces led by the USA forced the Iraqis to withdraw.
In 2003, a US and British force invaded Iraq, believing that it was stockpiling weapons of mass destruction. However, it turned out there were no such weapons. Saddam Hussein was captured in December 2003, and he was executed in 2006. Meanwhile, Iraqi voters approved a new constitution. A new government was elected. US troops finally withdrew from Iraq in 2011.
However, in 2014, a terrorist group called ISIS (Islamic State of Iraq and Syria) seized large amounts of territory in Iraq. The Iraqi government announced military victory over them in 2017, but they remain a threat.
Hopefully, Iraq has a more peaceful and prosperous future. Today, the economy of Iraq is heavily dependent on oil. In 2025, the population of Iraq was 47 million.
Last revised 2025