Ur

Dhi Qar Governorate, Iraq

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Ur, in Iraq's Dhi Qar Governorate near Nasiriyah, stands as one of the world's oldest cities, originating around 3800 BC in ancient Sumer during the Ubaid period and flourishing as a major Mesopotamian urban center.

Once a coastal port at the Euphrates River's mouth into the Persian Gulf—now inland due to shifting landscapes—it peaked under the Third Dynasty of Ur around 2100-2000 BC, when King Ur-Nammu built the iconic Great Ziggurat dedicated to the moon god Nanna, alongside advanced irrigation, laws, and trade networks importing luxuries from afar.

Royal tombs from this era revealed extraordinary wealth in gold, lapis lazuli, and artifacts, underscoring Ur's role as a prosperous hub until its sack by Elamites around 1750 BC, followed by gradual decline from droughts, invasions, and silting by 500 BC. Excavations by Leonard Woolley in the 1920s unveiled these treasures, cementing Ur's legacy in human civilization's cradle.​