Скачать или смотреть Why Civilization Started Here: How a Desert Birthed Mesopotamia

6,000 years ago, in the land we now call Iraq, something incredible happened: humanity’s first true civilization was born. In the fertile lands between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers — Mesopotamia — people learned to farm, build cities, write, and trade. But why here, of all places?

In this video, we explore how the unique geography, climate, and resources of Mesopotamia created the perfect conditions for the rise of Sumer — the birthplace of cities like Uruk, Ur, and Eridu. From irrigation canals and surplus grain to copper and early writing, discover how the world’s first civilization began in what many think of today as just a desert.

Early crops locations from "Domestication of plants in the old world : the origin and spread of cultivated plants in west Asia, Europe, and the Nile Valley"

Copper and tin mining locations from "Archaeometallurgy in the Mediterranean: The Social Context of Mining, Technology, and Trade"

Irrigation channel locations based on "Identifying the preserved network of irrigation canals in the Eridu region, southern Mesopotamia"