2. Civilization began in Mesopotamia over 5000 years ago. The world's first civilization began on the southern plain of Mesopotamia, known as Sumer, around 3500 B.C.

3. Mesopotamia was part of a larger area called the Fertile Crescent. The word, Mesopotamia, means the land between the two rivers.

4. Sumer had many city-states such as Kish, Nippur, Uruk, and Ur. City-States are self-governing cities and their surrounding villages.

5. Sumerian markets and streets were filled with life sustaining trade. Street map of Ur.

6. The Sumerian city-state of Ur contained an enormous mountain temple, known as a ziggurat, to honor the moon-god, Nanna.

7. Most Sumerian cities were surrounded by high walls to keep out would-be invaders. The city-state of Ur is believed to have also been surrounded by a great moat.

8. A harp, made in the image of a bull Ram-in-the-thicket

9. This headdress belonged to a Sumerian queen. This board game, found in the Royal Tombs of Ur, is perhaps the oldest in the world.

10. The "Epic of Gilgamesh" is perhaps the oldest known story in the world. It centered on a legendary king from the Sumerian city-state of Uruk. Later Mesopotamian civilizations adopted this myth as their own. It was finally written down on clay tablets like the one above, in the wedge-shaped written language of cuneiform.

11. A Scene from the Epic of Gilgamesh.

12. Sumerian merchants used cylinder seals to mark the completion of a trade agreement.

13. Nearly all Sumerians, including Kings and Queens could not read or write. Scribes were part of an elite class of professional men and occasionally women trained for many years in temple schools. Everyone from kings to farmers depended on scribes to keep records honestly and to keep secret to themselves.

14. Within the precincts of the ziggurat was the edubba, or "tablet house," where boys of the upper class were taught cuneiform so that they might be scribes. Fascinating things have been found in the rubble of edubbas — for example, penmanship lessons with the teacher's cross-out marks on them and insulting notes passed in class. An anxious pupil, with his lunch bag between his feet, shows the "school father" his practice stylus writing.

15. The Sumerians believed in many gods and goddesses, which is called Polytheism. The key gods of the Sumerians were Enki (god of water), Ki (god of earth), Enlil (god of air), and An (god of heaven).

16. The Standard of Ur is comprised of the two mosaic panels of an inlaid box. The Standard is important because it portrays the 3 main social levels in the city of Ur.

17. The city-states of Mesopotamia were finally conquered and unified by the ambitious ruler, Sargon. He created the world's first empire, Akkad, An empire is a group of lands and people ruled by one government.

18. Sargon’s Empire covered all of Mesopotamia