# Canonical recap data for Susa & Uruk Athletic Competition Festivals (3500)
# Source: https://recap.at/3500/mesopotamian-games
# Format: YAML 1.2 (UTF-8). Generated at request time.
slug: mesopotamian-games
canonicalUrl: "https://recap.at/3500/mesopotamian-games"
title: Susa & Uruk Athletic Competition Festivals
subtitle: Archaeological evidence of organized sporting contests and public games in early Mesopotamian city-states reveals proto-Olympic competitions predating the Greek games by 3,000 years.
recapType: global_event
eventStatus: concluded
startDate: 3500-01-01
datePrecision: year
year: 3500
decade: 3500
country:
name: Iraq
slug: iraq
summaryShort: Susa was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about 250 km (160 mi) east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers in Iran. It represents the current city of Shush, located on the site of ancient Susa. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital of Elam and the
summaryLong: Susa was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about 250 km (160 mi) east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers in Iran. It represents the current city of Shush, located on the site of ancient Susa. One of the most important cities of the Ancient Near East, Susa served as the capital of Elam and the winter capital of the Achaemenid Empire, and remained a strategic centre during the Parthian and Sasanian periods.
heroImageUrl: "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8b/History_of_Egypt%2C_Chaldea%2C_Syria%2C_Babylonia_and_Assyria_%281903%29_%2814584070300%29.jpg/1280px-History_of_Egypt%2C_Chaldea%2C_Syria%2C_Babylonia_and_Assyria_%281903%29_%2814584070300%29.jpg"
heroImageCredit: Wikipedia · "Susa"
importance: 70
sourceConfidence: 75
keyFacts: []
timeline: []
sources:
- url: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susa"
  title: Susa
  provider: Wikipedia
related: []
categories:
- sports
- festival
metaDescription: Susa was an ancient city in the lower Zagros Mountains about 250 km (160 mi) east of the Tigris, between the Karkheh and Dez Rivers in Iran. It represents the c
wikidataQid: Q180773
archiveSnapshots:
- url: "https://web.archive.org/web/20260619175222/https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susa"
  capturedAt: 2026-06-19
  label: Susa
  originalUrl: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susa"
