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Chronology of Iraq

Before the Current Era (BC)
58,000 Neandertals lived in the area of current Northern Iraq. Many biblical historians and archeologists consider this area to be the site of the biblical Garden of Eden.
4,000 Originally called Mesopotamia, the cradle of civilization, Iraq was the site of several important ancient civilizations, including the Sumerian, Babylonian, and Parthian cultures.
3000-2350 Sumerian civilization establishes city states, irrigation systems, international trade, and develops a writing system.
2350-2112 The Akkadian Empire
2112-2004 The Empire of Ur III
2700 Ruled by Gilgamesh the King of Uruk.
ca. 1950 Invasion of Sumer by Elamites and Amorites.
1792-1750 Ruled by King Hammurabi, famous for his code of law upon which all current systems of justice are based.
ca. 1000 Arameans move into the Mesopotamian region.
669 Babylonia destroyed by the Assyrians.
629-539 New Babylonian kingdom under the Chaldeans.
331 Conquest by Alexander the Great.
312-64 Greek Seleucid Dynasty in Mesopotamia brings Greek cultural influence.

The Current Era (AD)
226 The Sassanids take power in Iran and Iraq; many convert to Nestorian or Zorastrian Christianity.
637 Muslim Arabs defeat the Sassanids and Mesopotamia.
680 Battle at Karbala marks the beginning of schism between Sunnis and Shi'is.
683 Unrest in the region.
762 The Caliphate establishes a new capital on the Tigris River, called Baghdad.
750-1258 The Abassid Caliphate (Abassi family), established its capital at Baghdad, which became a frontier outpost on the Ottoman Empire.
1245-58 Mongol Wars; Baghdad is destroyed, and Iraqi economy of Iraq suffers for centuries.
1533-34 Iraq is conquered by the Ottoman Empire. The ensuing peace brought a clear improvement to Iraqi economy, primarily in the agricultural sector.
17th century Increase of local power. Britain, the Netherlands, and Portugual gain a foothold in the regional trade.
1914 To protect oil supplies from Germany, Britain invades southern Iraq.
1917 British occupation of Baghdad.
April 1920 Iraq becomes a British territory.
1932 Declared independent. The Hashemite family, which also ruled Jordan, rules as a constitutional monarchy.
1945 Iraq joined the United Nations and became a founding member of the Arab League.
1956 The Baghdad Pact allied Iraq, Turkey, Iran, Pakistan, and the United Kingdom. Its headquarters were established in Baghdad. Gen. Abdul Karim Qasim ended Iraq's membership in the Baghdad Pact in 1959.
July 1958 Qasim took power through a coup, during which King Faysal II and Prime Minister Nuri as-Said were killed.
February 1963 Qasim assassinated. The Arab Socialist Renaissance Party (Ba'ath Party) took power under the leadership of Gen. Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr as prime minister and Col. Abdul Salam Arif as president.
July 17, 1968 A group of Ba'athists and military elements overthrew the Arif regime. Ahmad Hasan al-Bakr reemerged as the President of Iraq and Chairman of the Revolutionary Command Council (RCC).
July 1979 Bakr resigned, and his chosen successor, Saddam Hussein, assumed both offices.
1980-88 The Iran-Iraq War was fought, ostensibly over water rights.
August 1990 Iraq invaded Kuwait. A U.S.-led coalition acting under United Nations resolutions and President George H. W. Bush, expelled Iraq from Kuwait in February 1991.
March 19 – April 11, 2003 U.S.-led coalition under President George W. Bush, son of former President George H. W. Bush, ousted the Ba'ath regime.
December 13, 2004 Saddam Hussein was captured while hiding in a spider hole.
June 30, 2004 Date currently set for the hand over of sovereignty from the US military forces to the Iraqi Governing Council.

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