Ancient Mesopotamia: Sumerians for Kids. History for Kids >> Ancient Mesopotamia for Kids The Sumerians are thought to have formed the first human civilization in world history.
They lived in southern Mesopotamia, between the Tigris and Euphrates Rivers in the Middle East. Cradle of Civilization Many historians think that cities and towns were first formed in Sumer around 5000 BC. Nomads moved into the fertile land and began to form small villages which slowly grew into large towns. Ancient Sumer, Early Pioneers. The civilization that grew in Mesopotamia was named after one of its more famous cities, Sumer.
They started out as small villages and towns that were agricultural in nature, with of course some hunting and fishing, and gradually grew into great walled cities that traded amongst themselves as well as with other people. People who settled down and began to develop a civilization, in the land between two rivers, are known as the Sumerians. The ancient Sumerians developed and invented many of the important tools they used to create their and later civilizations. They put wheels on carts and probably invented the sail for sailboats. Mesopotamia - The Sumerian Culture.
Mesopotamia: The Sumerian Culture The earliest human civilization was at the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present-day Iraq.
This area was probably settled at least a thousand years earlier, but it did not become a civilization until about 3500 to 3200 BC. Shifting riverbeds left deposits of silt that made the soil unusually fertile.