What's the world's oldest civilization?

[Judi Lynn]

By Tom Metcalfe published 2 days ago
Did tHere we see what is likely a restored ziggurat in the Sumerian city of Ur, in what is now Iraq. (Image credit: Shutterstock)


Countless civilizations have risen and fallen over the millennia. But which one is the oldest on record?

About 30 years ago, this question seemed to have a straightforward answer. Around 4000 B.C., the earliest phase of the Sumerian culture arose as the oldest civilization in the Mesopotamia region, in what is now mostly Iraq. The Sumerians are named after the ancient city of Sumer, which was a few miles south of the modern city of Kut, in eastern Iraq. Archaeologists call the earliest Sumerian phase the Uruk period(opens in new tab), after the equally ancient city of Uruk about 50 miles (80 kilometers) to the southwest, where many of the oldest Sumerian artifacts were found.

But evidence uncovered in the past few decades indicates that the Sumerians have a few contenders, including ancient Egypt, for the title of "oldest civilization."he first civilization arise in Mesopotamia, or elsewhere?



The definition of what makes a civilization is vague, but generally a culture has to achieve several hallmarks, notably urbanism — that is, cities — irrigation and writing; and the Sumerians had all three. After about 2000 B.C., the Sumerian civilization led directly to the Babylonian civilization in Mesopotamia, which is credited with discovering mathematical truths such as trigonometry and prime, square and cube numbers — concepts further developed by the ancient Greeks more than 1,000 years later.

More:
https://www.livescience.com/what-is-oldest-civilization