Between the Tigris and Euphrates, fertile Mesopotamian lands transformed early agriculture into some of the world’s first cities. Amid fierce rivalries among city-states, monumental constructions and innovations in mathematics and astronomy flourished, giving rise to a base-60 system and the division of the year and week. The emergence of cuneiform writing revolutionized record-keeping and codified laws, exemplified by Hammurabi’s code. Conquered later by foreign powers like Persia, Mesopotamia’s breakthroughs in writing, law, and science continue to underpin modern civilization.