Although considerable attention has been devoted to early urbanism in southern Mesopotamia, the later development of cities in the region has been neglected. By studying the Babylonian cities of the second and first millennia BC, it is possible to trace continuity and change in urbanism over some 3000 years of recorded history, from city-state to empire. The ideal of the southern Mesopotamian city comprised a standardized inventory of architectural elements that was remarkably persistent but also flexible, since it did not dictate the details of their plan or construction, nor their spatial relationship with one another. The salient characteristic of the city was its role as religious center: each city’s identity was bound up with its main temple, which housed its patron deity and dominated the social and economic life of the city and its hinterland.

尽管人们对美索不达米亚南部的早期城市化给予了相当多的关注，但该地区城市的后期发展却被忽视了。通过研究公元前二千年和一千年的巴比伦城市，可以追溯从城邦到帝国的约 3000 年有记录的历史中城市化的连续性和变化。美索不达米亚南部城市的理想包括一系列标准化的建筑元素，这些元素非常持久，但也很灵活，因为它没有规定它们的规划或建筑的细节，也没有规定它们之间的空间关系。这座城市的显着特征是它作为宗教中心的角色：每个城市的身份都与其主寺庙紧密相连，主寺庙供奉着守护神，主导着城市及其腹地的社会和经济生活。