The first cities started developing in southern Mesopotamia during the 4th millenium BC. With these ties of religion began to replace ties of kinship as the basis for society. Each city had a patron god, worshipped in a massive central temple called a ziggurat, and was ruled by a priest-king (ishakku). Society became more segmented and specialized and capable of coordinated projects like irrigation and warfare.
Along with cities came a number of advances in technology. By around 3000 BC, writing, the wheel, and other such innovations had been introduced. By now the SumerianPeoples? of south Mesopotamia were all organized into a variety of independent CityState?s, such as Ur and Uruk, which by around 2500 BC had begun to coalesce into larger political units. By accomodating the conquered people's gods, religion became more polytheistic and government became somewhat more secular; the title of lugal, big man, appears along side the earlier religious titles, although his primary duty is still the worship of the state gods.
This process came to its natural conclusion with the development of the first empires around 2350 BC. A people called the Akkadians invaded the valley under Sargon I and established their supremacy over the Sumerians. They were followed by the empires of Ur (2200-2000) and OldBabylonia? (1800-1600).
Parallel developments were meanwhile occuring in Egypt, which by 3100 BC had been unified to form the OldKingdom?, and amongst the peoples of the IndusValley? in north-western India. All of these civilizations lie in fertile river valleys where agriculture is relatively easy once dams and irrigation are constructed to control the flood waters.
This started to change around the end of the third millenium as cities started to spread to the nearby hilly country: among the Assyrians in north Mesopotamia, the Canaanites in Syria-Palestine, to the Minoans in Crete, and to the Hittites in eastern Anatolia. Around this same time various immigrants, such as the Hittites and Achaeans, started appearing around the peripheries of civilization.
These groups are associated with the appearance of the light two-wheeled war chariot and typically with IndoEuropean languages. Horses and chariots require a lot of time and upkeep, so their use was mainly confined to a small nobility. These are the feudal "heroic" societies familiar to us from epics like TheIliad and the Ramayana.
By around 1700-1500 most of the older centres had been overrun. Babylonia was conquered by the Kassites and the civilization of the IndusValley? was annihilated by the IndoAryans?. Their kin, the Mitanni, subjugated Assyria and for a time menaced the Hittite kingdom, but were defeated by the two around 1350. Various Achaean kingdoms developed in Greece, most notably that of Mycenae, and by 1400 were dominant over the older Minoan cities. And the semitic Hyskos used the new technologies to occupy Egypt, but were expelled, leaving the empire of the NewKingdom? to develop in their wake.
In 1200 BC all of these powers suddently collapsed. Cities all around the eastern Meditteranean were sacked within a span of a few decades by assorted raiders. The Achaean kingdoms disappeared, and the Hittite empire was destroyed. Egypt repelled its attackers with only a major effort, and over the next century shrunk to its territorial core, its central authority permanently weakened. Only Assyria escaped significant damage.
The iron age
The destruction at the end of the bronze age left a number of tiny kingdoms and city-states behind. A few Hittite centres remained in northern Syria, along with some Canaanite (Phoenician) ports that escaped destruction and now developed into great commercial powers. Southern Palestine initially fell to the Philistines, but by 1000 had been conquered by the Hebrews. And most of the interior, as well as Babylonia, was overrun by Aramaeans.
In this dark period a number of technological innovations spread, most notably iron working and the alphabet, developed by the Canaanites around 1500 BC. Also around this time, the Hebrew religion developed into the first major monotheism, JudaIsm?, which is still practiced today.
During the 9th century the Assyrians began to reassert themselves against the incursions of the Aramaeans, and over the next few centuries developed into a powerful and well-organized empire. Their armies were among the first to employ cavalry, which took the place of chariots, and had a reputation for both prowess and brutality. At their height, the Assyrians dominated all of Syria-Palestine, Egypt, and Babylonia. However, the empire began to collapse toward the end of the 7th century, and was obliterated by an alliance between a resurgent Babylonia and the Iranian Medes.
Blah blah Chaldaea, Media, Persia, blah.
The classical empires
Blah blah Alexander, Seleucus, Parthians, Sassanids, blah.
For subsequent history see HistoryOfIslam?.
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