Archaeological culture · c. 6500–3800 BCE

Ubaid culture

The first farming culture of the southern Mesopotamian plain, named after Tell al-ʿUbaid near Ur. Ubaid people lived in large unwalled villages of multi-roomed mudbrick houses, irrigated their fields and built the first temples of Mesopotamia, as at Eridu.

Over time their painted pottery spread north across Mesopotamia, from the Amuq valley in the northwest to the coast of the Persian Gulf, laying the ground for the first cities.

See Ubaid culture on the map in 5300 BCE →

On the map

6500–3800 BCE