## TL;DR

Mesopotamia ('land between rivers' — Tigris & Euphrates, modern Iraq) was the 'cradle of civilization.' First cities (~4000 BCE, Uruk), writing (cuneiform, ~3400 BCE), wheel, plow, irrigation, legal codes (Hammurabi's Code, ~1750 BCE), mathematics (base-60). Sumerians → Akkadians → Babylonians → Assyrians.

## Core Explanation

Cuneiform: wedge-shaped marks on clay tablets — first writing system (record keeping → literature: Epic of Gilgamesh). Ziggurats: massive stepped temple towers. Hammurabi's Code: 'eye for an eye' — first comprehensive legal code (282 laws, stela in Louvre). Gilgamesh: quest for immortality, flood story predating Noah. Hanging Gardens of Babylon: one of Seven Wonders (location unconfirmed — possibly Nineveh).

## Further Reading

- [Daily Life in Ancient Mesopotamia (Karen Rhea Nemet-Nejat)](https://www.hendrickson.com/html/product/300044.trade.html)