The Ubaid Period

The Ubaid period is a prehistoric period of the Mesopotamia. The mound) (tell) of al-`Ubaid west of close by Ur  in  the Dhi Qar Governorate  of  the southern Iraq which has given its name to the primitive Pottery Neolithic to  the Chalcolithic culture that represents the earliest settlement of southern Mesopotamia on the alluvial plain. It is fait to say that, despite some important recent studies, Mesopotamia in the Unbaid period times remains a poorly understood research area.   What do we know of this long, vital episode that in Mesopotamia chronologically spans much of the transition from Neolithic village to Early Bronze Age stood?  Defined originally on the basis of material, including painted pottery, from Eridu and the site of Tell al-Unbaid in south Iraq, the Unbaid period is its  earliest phases is little known beyond information provided by the lowest levels of the temple sounding  at Eridu  and by excavations  deep below  the modern  alluvium  at Tell-el-Queili  near  Larsa (Huot 1989). For the later  Unbaid  period, spanning  much of the  fifth millennium BC, we are better informed by the  evidence from a wide range of sites in south Mesopotamia , such as Eridu, Unbaid, Er and Uruk , as well as those in other parts of Southwest Asia  such as Tell Abada in the Hamrin region, Tepe Gawra in north  Mesopotamia , and  Susa in southwest Iran, amongst  many others.

The significance of the  role of cultic structures or temples  within human  society  is critical  throughout  the later prehistory  and the  entire  history  of ancient  Mesopotamia  and , early Neolithic developments in Upper Mesopotamia at sites like  Gobekli and  Nevali Cori aside, it is in the Unbaid period that provide some idea  of the physical manifestations that temples could take in Mesopotamiaas well as their social and economic context.   

Questionnaire:

• What is the Unbaid Period?
• Explain the Unbaid period.