13 ATLASES
History of Iraq in maps
Iraq as it appears in 13 interactive history atlases, from 264 BC to 2015: Mesopotamia, Iraq — Baghdad & the Abbasid caliphate, the Abbasid Caliphate, Iraq. Each era below lists who ruled the land and when control changed, linked to the dated map that shows it.
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What was Iraq before it was Iraq? The sections below follow this land through every era covered by the Maps of History atlases: who ruled it, what it was called, and when control changed. Each line links to the dated map. Modern borders serve as an approximation, as each atlas says on the map itself.
Mesopotamia (mod. Iraq) · Ancient Rome
Roman armies entered Mesopotamia seeking its wealthy river valleys and Ctesiphon, the Parthian and Persian capital. The campaigns often ended badly: Crassus died at Carrhae, Trajan reached the Gulf but held territory there only briefly, and Julian died during his retreat in 363. Ctesiphon lay close to Roman Syria, making the region central to eastern strategy even when Rome could not hold its conquests.
| 264 BC | Hellenistic kingdoms — the opening position |
| 146 BC | Rival great powers |
| Roman territory | |
| Rival great powers |
ANCIENT ROME: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iraq — Baghdad & the Abbasid caliphate · Crusades
Baghdad was the seat of the Sunni Abbasid caliph. He had little real power, but his recognition gave legitimacy to the Seljuk sultans and later to Saladin. The disunity of this distant center of the Sunni world in 1095 helped open the way for the First Crusade. The Mongol sack of Baghdad in 1258 ended the caliphate entirely.
| The Islamic powers — Seljuk, Zengid, Ayyubid, Mamluk — the opening position |
CRUSADES: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
The Abbasid Caliphate (mod. Iraq) · Mongol Empire
When Hülegü’s ultimatum arrived, Baghdad had been the seat of the Abbasid caliphate for 500 years. The city fell in February 1258; the caliph was executed and the House of Wisdom scattered. Mesopotamia’s canals broke, leaving the world’s oldest irrigated landscape unrestored for centuries. The region’s center of gravity shifted to Cairo and did not return.
| The Islamic powers — the opening position | |
| The Mongol Empire |
MONGOL EMPIRE: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iraq · Industrial Revolution
| Opened by force or treaty — the opening position | |
| Opened by force or treaty |
INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iraq · Age of Revolutions
| Neutral / uncommitted — the opening position |
AGE OF REVOLUTIONS: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iraq · Meiji Japan and post-Soviet Russia
| Non-aligned or stateless — the opening position |
MEIJI JAPAN AND POST-SOVIET RUSSIA: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Mesopotamia (Ottoman Empire) · WWI
Iraq · Stalin’s Soviet Union
STALIN’S SOVIET UNION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iraq · Road to WW2
| Colonial empires & possessions — the opening position |
ROAD TO WW2: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iraq · WW2
| Western Allies — the opening position |
Iraq · Cold War
| US-aligned states — the opening position | |
| Non-aligned & neutral | |
| Soviet-aligned states | |
| Non-aligned & neutral | |
| Soviet-aligned states |
COLD WAR: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iraq · Feminism and the Tunisian Revolution
| Refused: women excluded; ERA never ratified — the opening position | |
| Right won in law | |
| No reform yet / outside this story |
FEMINISM AND THE TUNISIAN REVOLUTION: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
Iraq · Refugee crises
REFUGEE CRISES: EVERY CHAPTER AND MAP →
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