Also see Neareast Timelines Index
Biblical
Canaan
Levant
Persian Empire
Syria and Assyria
Ancient Jerusalem
356K JPG city map, the from Perry-Castaneda Library, showing elevations, landmarks, modern and ancient walls.
Ancient Near East Empires 700-300 BCE
Shockwave interactive map. Click on map to show extent of Assyrian Empire (660 B.C.), Babylonian Empire (539 B.C.), Persian (520 B.C.), and the Macedonian Empire (323 B.C.).
Ancient Mesopotamia
Oriental Institute map of Akkad, Babylonia, Assyria, and Sumer located alongside the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers. Major cities and other rivers included in line drawing.
Ancient Biblical and Near East Maps
The Assyrians
Map showing the empire from 1800-1600, 1244-1208, and 699-627 B.C.; includes major cities, including Tarsus, Sidon, Tyre, Jerusalem, Babylon, Ur, Susah and Ninevah, and the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers.
Babylonian Clay Tablet World Map
Circular map from 600 B.C. which if the interpretive redrawing is correct shows Babylon, Armenia, and the Bitter River.
Canaan Map
Map of Lebanon, marked with place names believed to be of Canaanite origin.
The Earliest Known Map
Monograph to accompany a slide of a clay Babylonian map from 6200 B.C. Conjectures on earlier map making. Includes bibliography.
Also see Clay Tablet town plan map from Ga-Sur, 2500 B.C. with a redrawn map showing what may have been on the original, Town Plan wall drawing from Catal Hyük, 6200 B.C., and Mesopotamian City Plan map, from Nippur, 1500 B.C.
A Glimpse of Yesterday
In addition to showing the place name variations between Aramaic, Canaanite, and Arabic, site explains the arbitrary temporal and geographic distinctions between Ancient Near East and Middle East.
Lebanon Map
Map of modern Lebanon showing Syria and the Mediterranean Sea.
Map of Ancient Iran
Large JPEG file showing the extent of the Persian Empire with cities.
Map of the Roman Empire Detail
Click on map for closeup. Map shows Mesopotamia, Armenia, Syria, and Media.
The Perry-Castaneda Library's collection of ancient maps of places in the Middle east
Nippur, Sacred City of Enlil
Oriental Institute black-and-white map of rivers and cities from the Khabur to the Karkeh River and from Khorsbad to Eridu, Susa to Mari.
Petra
Located about 50 mi. south of modern Amman, Petra was established in the 6th century B.C. by nomads and as a commercial empire extended into Syria.
Political Change in Mesopotamia 3000-1000 BCE
Interactive map using shockwave to show successive political waves from Sumerian to Kassite with Babylonian, Assyrian, and Agade along the way.
Sea People of the Late Bronze Age
Map of the Near East shows major cities all located along waterways, from Troy in the north to Nile delta cities and Memphis in the south. Also shows movements of armies and naval forces.
Sumer
Map showing areas and time periods for Sumer, Akkadian Empire, and the Old Kingdom of Egypt.
