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Widely considered to be the [[cradle of civilization]] by the [[Western world]], [[Bronze Age]] Mesopotamia included [[Sumer]] and the [[Akkadian Empire|Akkadian]], [[Babylonia]]n, and [[Assyria]]n empires, all native to the territory of modern-day Iraq. In the [[Iron Age]], it was controlled by the [[Neo-Babylonian Empire]]s. The indigenous Chaldeans of Sumer, Akkad and Babylon dominated Mesopotamia from the beginning of written history (c. 3100 BC) to the fall of Babylon in 539 BC, when it was conquered by the [[Achaemenid Empire]]. It fell to [[Alexander the Great]] in 332 BC, and after his death, it became part of the Greek [[Seleucid Empire]].
Around 150 BC, Mesopotamia was under the control of the [[Parthian Empire]]. Mesopotamia became a battleground between the [[Ancient Rome|Romans]] and Parthians, with parts of Mesopotamia coming under ephemeral Roman control. In AD 226, it fell to the Sassanid Persians and remained under Persian rule until the 7th century [[Muslim conquest of Persia]] of the [[Sasanian Empire]]. A number of primarily neo-Assyrian and Christian native Mesopotamian states existed between the 1st century BCE and 3rd century CE, including [[Adiabene]], [[Osroene]], and [[Hatra]].
[[File:Metal production in Ancient Middle East.svg|thumb|Mining areas of the ancient [[West Asia]]. Boxes colors: [[arsenic]] is in brown, [[copper]] in red, [[tin]] in grey, iron in reddish brown, gold in yellow, silver in white and [[lead]] in black. Yellow area stands for [[arsenic bronze]], while grey area stands for tin [[bronze]].]]
Irrigated agriculture spread southwards from the Zagros foothills with the Samara and Hadji Muhammed culture, from about 5,000 BC.<ref name="Cengage Learning, 1 Jan 2010 ">{{Citation | url =http://books.google.com/?id=jvsVSqhw-FAC&pg=PA29&dq=mesopotamian+agriculture#v=onepage&q=mesopotamian%20agriculture&f=false|title= The Earth and Its Peoples: A Global History |author=Richard Bulliet, Pamela Kyle Crossley, Daniel Headrick, Steven Hirsch, Lyman Johnson, David Northup|publisher=Cengage Learning, 1 Jan 2010 | accessdate =2012-05-30 | isbn =0538744383 | date =2010-01-01}}</ref> Sumerian temples functioned as banks and developed the first large-scale [[economy|system of loans and credit]], but the Babylonians developed the earliest system of commercial [[banking]]. It was comparable in some ways to modern [[post-Keynesian economics]], but with a more "anything goes" approach.<ref name=Sheila>Sheila C. Dow (2005), "Axioms and Babylonian thought: a reply", ''Journal of Post Keynesian Economics'' '''27''' (3), p. 385-391.</ref>
In the early period down to [[Ur III]] temples owned up to one third of the available land, declining over time as royal and other private holdings increased in frequency. The word [[ENSI|Ensi]] was used to describe the official who organized the work of all facets of temple agriculture. [[Villein]]s are known to have worked most frequently within agriculture, especially in the grounds of temples or palaces.<ref name=" H. W. F. Saggs">{{Citation | url =http://books.google.com/?id=BPdLxEyHci0C&pg=PA58&lpg=PA58&dq=agricultural+practice+in+Babylonia#v=onepage&q=agricultural%20practice%20in%20Babylonia&f=false|author=H. W. F. Saggs - Professor Emeritus of Semitic Languages at University College, Cardiff| title = Babylonians | publisher = University of California Press, 1 Jun 2000| accessdate =29 May 2012 | isbn =9780520202221 | year =2000 }} ISBN 0520202228</ref>
