Iraq, known in classical antiquity as Mesopotamia, was home to the oldest civilizations in the world,[1][2] with a cultural history of over 10,000 years,[3][4][5] hence its common epithet, the Cradle of Civilization. Mesopotamia, as part of the larger Fertile Crescent, was a significant part of the Ancient Near East throughout the Bronze Age and the Iron Age. Mesopotamia is the site of the earliest developments of the Neolithic Revolution from around 10,000 BC. 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." Sumer was a civilization and historical region in southern Iraq. It is the earliest known civilization in the world, making Iraq one of the Cradles of Civilization. The Sumerian civilization spanned over 3000 years[8] and began with the first settlement of Eridu in the Ubaid period (mid-6th millennium BC) through the Uruk period (4th millennium BC) and the Early Dynastic periods (3rd millennium BC) until the rise of Assyria and Babylonia in the late 3rd and early 2nd millennium BC respectively. The Ubaid period marks the Pottery Neolithic to Chalcolithic phase in Mesopotamia, which represents the earliest settlement on the alluvial plain in the south. Early urbanization begins with the Ubaid period, around 5300 BC. The Ubaid culture gives way to the Uruk period from c. 4000 BC. The invention of the wheel and the beginning of the Chalcolithic period fall into the Ubaid period. The Sumerian historical record remains obscure until the Early Dynastic period, when a now deciphered syllabary writing system was developed, which has allowed archaeologists to read contemporary records and inscriptions. Classical Sumer ends with the rise of the Semitic Akkadian kings in the 24th century BC. Following the Gutian period, there is a brief Sumerian renaissance in the 21st century, cut short in the 20th century BC by Amorite invasions, a Semitic people from the north east Levant who founded Babylon as an independent state in 1894 BC. The Amorite dynasty of Isin persisted until c. 1600 BC, when southern Mesopotamia was united under Kassite Babylonian rule. The north of Mesopotamia had become the Akkadian speaking state of Assyria by the late 25th century BC. Along with the rest of Mesopotamia it was ruled by the Akkadian kings from the late 24th to mid 22nd centuries BC, after which it once again became independent

• published: 12 May 2015
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