Mesopotamia is considered the cradle, or beginning, of civilization, Mesopotamia is a historical

region of Western Asia situated within the Tigris–Euphrates river system, in the northern part of the
Fertile Crescent. It occupies the area of present-day Iraq, and parts of Iran, Turkey, Syria and Kuwait.
The land was fertile, the nearby rivers provided water, and settled farming was practiced, This
provided food for early settlements. These early farming communities grew to become independent
city-states. Humans first settled in Mesopotamia in the Paleolithic era. By 14,000 B.C., people in the
region lived in small settlements with circular houses.

Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around
10,000 BC. Mesopotamia was the home of many different civilizations spanning thousands of years
which contributed significantly to world culture and progress. It has been identified as having
inspired some of the most important developments in human history, including the invention of the
wheel, the planting of the first cereal crops, and the development of cursive script, mathematics,
astronomy, and agriculture, writing, the wheel, a code of laws, the sail, the concept of the 24-hour
day, beer-brewing, civil rights, and irrigation of crops all were first developed in Mesopotamian
civilizations. It has been known as one of the earliest civilizations to ever exist in the world

Some of the major Mesopotamian civilizations include the Sumerian, Assyrian, Akkadian, and
Babylonian civilizations. Sumer contained several decentralized city-states—Eridu, Nippur, Lagash,
Uruk, Kish and Ur.

Uruk was the first of these cities, dating back to around 3200 B.C. It was a mud brick metropolis built
on the riches brought from trade and conquest and featured public art, gigantic columns and
temples. At its peak, it had a population of some 50,000 citizens. By 3000 B.C., Mesopotamia was
firmly under the control of the Sumerian people.

Ur city, said to have been planned by Ur-Nammu, was apparently divided into neighbourhoods, with
merchants living in one quarter, artisans in another. There were streets both wide and narrow, and
open spaces for gatherings. Many structures for water resource management and flood control are
in evidence.

Assur also known as Ashur was the capital of the Old Assyrian Empire, the Middle Assyrian Empire
and for a time, of the Neo-Assyrian Empire. The remains of the city lie on the western bank of the
Tigris River, north of the confluence with its tributary, Assur began as a small trading center built on
the site of an earlier community founded by Sargon of Akkad but flourished through trade with
Anatolia and with other regions of Mesopotamia to become the capital of Assyria by the time of the
reign of the Assyrian king Shamashi Adad I