The existence of Sumer was only discovered in the latter part of the nineteenth century. The archaeologists who discovered it were looking for artifacts from ancient Babylonia and Assyria. Greek and Hebrew sources mention the Babylonians and Assyrians, but Sumerians were “summarily” forgotten for over two thousand years.
Sumer is called the “Cradle of Civilization” because the Sumerians developed writing, agriculture, the arch, and irrigation. They inaugurated the first systems of education, literature, and poetry. This people controlled Mesopotamia from around 3000 B.C.E. until they were conquered by Sargon and the Akkadians in 2334 B.C.E.
