What Is Mesopotamia?

Mesopotamia is a Greek name meaning "between two rivers." It is the name formerly given to the area between the two rivers Tigris and Euphrates, which now makes up part of modern Iraq. This fertile area was home to some of the world's most ancient civilisations.

The first people to arrive in Mesopotamia were the Sumerians. The city-state of Sumer, close to the Persian Gulf, began to develop as long as 7000 years ago. The earliest known examples of writing (using clay tablets) have been found in this region, some dating back well over 5000 years. The long Sumerian poem "The Tale of Gilgamesh" is probably the world's oldest piece of sustained writing.

Mesopotamia was also home to other great cities and civilisations including Ur, of which the famous civilisation of Babylon was a part. Sadly many remains of ancient history were destroyed or looted in the aftermath of the 2003 Iraq war.

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