Ancient Mesopotami Euphrates – Tigri Assyriolog Cities / Empire Sumer: Uruk – Ur – Erid Kish – Lagash – Nippu Akkadian Empire: Akka Babylon – Isin – Sus Assyria: Assur – Nineve Dur-Sharrukin – Nimru Babylonia – Chalde Elam – Amorite Hurrians – Mitann Kassites – Urart Chronolog Kings of Sume Kings of Assyri Kings of Babylo Languag Cuneiform scrip Sumerian – Akkadia Elamite – Hurria Mytholog Enûma Elis Gilgamesh – Mardu Mesopotamian mytholog Sumer (or Šumer) was one of the early civilizations of the Ancient Near East, located in the southern part of Mesopotamia (southeastern Iraq) from the time of the earliest records in the mid-fourth millennium B.C.E. until the rise of Babylonia in the late third millennium B.C.E. The term "Sumerian" applies to all speakers of the Sumerian language. Sumer together with Ancient Egypt and the Indus Valley Civilization is considered the first settled society in the world to have manifested all the features needed to qualify fully as a "civilization." The development of the City State as an organized social and political settlement enabled art and commerce, writing and architectures, including the building of Temples (ziggurats) to flourish. The history of Sumeria dates back to the beginning of writing and also of law, which the Sumerian are credited with inventing. [1] and was essential for maintaining order within the City-States. City-States for centuries used variations of Sumerian Law, which established set penalties for particular offenses. This represents recognition that societies can not function without respect for life and property and shared values. More and more people became aware of belonging to the same world as a result of Sumeria's contribution to the human story. Treaties from Sumeria indicate a preference for trade and commerce.