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Mesopotamia Mesopotamia and Egypt are believed to be the world's first civilizations. Mesopotamia, "between rivers," is the territory located between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, in modern day Iraq. A civilization, according to Voyages in World History, is a large urban center with a population of tens of thousands of people. These people had different jobs resulting in specialized labor. Initially, scholars believed a civilization had to have a system of writing, but over time this belief has changed. The land of early Mesopotamia overall was harsh and hard to farm since the Euphrates and Tigris rivers often flooded during the early summer. Farmers developed an irrigation system and settled into the lower Mesopotamian plain between 6000 ‐ 5000 BCE. Early villages were small, but by 4000 BCE, villages grew to over 10,000 people. City states began to develop as well. A city‐state had a ruler who not only governed the urban center but also the surrounding countryside. The king of the city‐state was the intermediary between the gods and the people. The king, it was thought, not only consulted the gods but also, they believed, with temple priests and people of prominent families. Sumerians were polytheistic, believing in many gods. The gods managed the environment. Within the city‐state was a ziggurat. The ziggurat is the platform or terrace upon which temples for the gods were placed. Sumer, which is the term referring to the area of Southern Mesopotamia, is believed to be where the world's first writing system developed. Initially, Sumerians wrote on clay tablets with a stylus. Around 3300 BCE, clay tablets had pictures on them representing different animals. Next to the pictures, there would be tally markings. Eventually, a writing system with over 700 signs emerged. By 700 BCE, a phonetic system had developed. Later Sumerian writing was known as cuneiform. Cuneiform is the Latin term for "wedge shaped".