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Is there a consensus on when the Persian Gulf reached its modern day levels? So far the material I have read says the Persian Gulf attained its present levels around 4000 BCE, but I am not too sure. Any suggestions? Thanks.

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  • $\begingroup$ I'm not sure I understand your question entirely, what level and extent are you exactly talking about? $\endgroup$
    – hugovdberg
    Dec 27, 2014 at 23:50
  • $\begingroup$ @hugovdberg I suspect he means sea levels of the Gulf. It is the only factor I found that matches the 4000 BCE claim. $\endgroup$
    – user889
    Dec 28, 2014 at 0:12

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You are pretty much spot on in terms of the date. According to the article Shoreline reconstructions for the Persian Gulf since the last glacial maximum (Lambeck, 1996) based on models of glacio-hydro-isostatic effects of the end of the last ice age and the article Early State Formation in Southern Mesopotamia: Sea Levels, Shorelines, and Climate Change (Kennett and Kennett, 2006) indicate from archaeological observations that at around 6000 years before present (~4000 BCE) that the present shorelines were approximately shaped. Both articles record an initial inundation of the Tigris-Euphrates delta.

The process is summarised in the image below:

enter image description here

Image source: University of California - Santa Barabara

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