Sumerian City-States

The Sumerian city-states of southern Mesopotamia (modern Iraq) were the world's first urban civilizations, flourishing from approximately 3500 to 2000 BCE. Centered on cities such as Uruk, Ur, Nippur, Lagash, Umma, and Kish, each was a largely autonomous political and religious unit organized around a central temple complex. The invention of writing, monumental architecture, the wheel, and complex long-distance trade all emerged from this context.

MyHistorian
A causal knowledge graph of history