Skip to content
Conflict Middle East

Umma–Lagash Border War

2500 BCE – 2350 BCE · 150 years

The earliest well-documented interstate war. Eannatum of Lagash defeated Umma and conquered all of Sumer, recorded on the Stele of the Vultures — the oldest known war monument.

See it on the timeline

Belligerents

The main peoples, kingdoms and states involved.

  • City-state of Lagash
  • City-state of Umma

Key moments

Defining events in the Umma–Lagash Border War.

  1. c. 2450 BC Battle of Gu-Edin
  2. Conquest of Ur and Nippur

Elsewhere in Middle East at the time

Records whose own span overlaps this one, found by the same test the canvas draws with. The bar under each card is where it sits inside this one.

See the whole view

Landmark · Middle East

Great Pyramid of Giza

2560 BCE – still standing

Polity · Middle East

Egypt

Attested 3000 BCE – 2026 CE

Trade route · Middle East

Nile River Trade

3000 BCE – 30 BCE

Conflict · Middle East

Early Sumerian City-State Wars

2900 BCE – 2350 BCE

Landmark · Middle East

Dead Sea

3000 BCE – still standing

Polity · Middle East

Semites

Attested 3000 BCE – 2000 BCE

Trade route · Middle East

Mesopotamian Trade Network

3000 BCE – 500 BCE

Landmark · Middle East

Wadi Rum

3000 BCE – still standing

Dated moments inside this span

Events the timeline places between 2500 BCE and 2350 BCE.

2500 BCE Kerma 2500 BCE Great Sphinx of Giza 2500 BCE Merv 2500 BCE Mohenjo-daro 2400 BCE Lothal

And in the rest of the world

Records running through the same years, on the other side of the map.

Tarxien Temples Landmark · Europe 3600 BCE – 2500 BCE Catacomb culture Polity · Europe 2499 BCE – 1999 BCE Harappan Maritime Trade (Indus–Mesopotamia) Trade route · South Asia 2600 BCE – 1900 BCE Skara Brae Landmark · Europe 3180 BCE – 2500 BCE Dravidians Polity · South Asia 3000 BCE – 700 BCE Lothal Landmark · South Asia 2400 BCE – 1900 BCE
Image credits5 pictures from Wikimedia Commons