In one of the Babylonian accounts of the creation, the beginning of all things is represented as the time before temples, trees, houses, and cities had been made: Nipur had not been built, Ekura had not been constructed; Erech had not been built, Eana had not been constructed; the Abyss had not been made, Eridu had not been constructed. These three cities, with their temples, were named from of old before Babylon and Esagilla its great temple, called after that of Eridu. The oldest monuments, which have been found, are also plainly derived from a period when tradition can have known no greater events than the foundation of such cities.

The oldest specimens of Babylonian art consist of cylinders, without writing, engraved with spirited but quite barbaric animal figures: one cylinder, belonging to the patesi or priest king of a city, the name of which is uncertain, has been conjecturally attributed to the fifth, or fourth, millennium b.c. The earliest formulas of conjuration are also attributed to this almost prehistoric age, after which there are still three periods of archaism distinguished, to each of which inscriptions belong. The earliest of these includes the records of the earliest known king of Lagash, one Ur-ghan or Ur-nina, say 4500 or 3300 b.c. Ghanna, which appears as an element in this name, signifies “fish.” The king's fragmentary bas-relief shows his name and title and an eagle seizing a lion.