There were talented and dexterous people living in what is now southern Iraq during the time of Sumer. Humankind's first known civilization arose in the fertile plain irrigated by the Euphrates and Tigris rivers some 6,000 years ago "suddenly," "unexpectedly," and "with stunning abruptness," according to researchers.

It was a society to which we owe virtually every 'First' of what we consider essential to an advanced society:

For example, the wheel and wheeled transportation; brick, which made (and still makes) high-rise buildings; furnaces and kilns, which are vital to industries from baking to metallurgy.

In Sumer, astronomy, mathematics, cities and urban societies, kingships and laws, temples and priesthoods, calendars, festivals, recipes, art, artifacts, and, above all, writing and record-keeping are all firsts. They were the first to record and describe past events and tell tales of their gods through artful statues and statuettes depicted in a devotional stance.