The Sumerian city of Eridu, which at that time bordered the Persian Gulf, is believed to be the world’s first city. These people, now called the “Ubaidians,” were the first to drain the marshes for agriculture develop trade and establish industries including weaving, leatherwork, metalwork, masonry, and pottery. 45 BCE by people who may or may not have spoken the Sumerian language. 2900 BCE, modern historians believe that Sumer was first settled between ca. Although the historical records in the region do not go back much further than ca. Sumer was an ancient civilization in southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) during the Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Ages. The Copper Age was originally defined as a transition between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age. Chalcolithic:Also known as the Copper Age, a phase of the Bronze Age in which the addition of tin to copper to form bronze during smelting remained yet unknown.It emerged in Sumer around the 30th century BC, with predecessors reaching into the late 4th millennium (the Uruk IV period). Cuneiform:One of the earliest known forms of written expression that began as a system of pictographs.casting:A sculptural process in which molten material (usually metal) is poured into a mold, allowed to cool and harden, and become a solid object.Official policy is governed by officials regarded as divinely guided, or is pursuant to the doctrine of a particular religion or religious group.

theocratic:A form of government in which a deity is officially recognized as the civil ruler.The Sumerian city states rose to power during the prehistorical Ubaid and Uruk periods.Elements of the early Sumerian culture spread through a large area of the Near and Middle East.Writing produced during the early Sumerian period suggest the abundance of pottery and other artistic traditions.The Eridu economy produced abundant food, which allowed its inhabitants to settle in one location and form a labor force specializing in diverse arts and crafts.

Ancient writing styles