The Earliest Civilization

In this post, we are going to explore what archaeologists have discovered and if the Bible is accurate about the earliest civilization on earth. Was Adam and Eve truly the earliest mankind? 

Before we go into the details, we need to understand a few terminology:

What is a Civilization?

The term civilization  is used to describe an advanced stage of human society where there is communication, language, government, culture (way of life), religion, infrastructure, labor and social norms.

What is Archaeology?

Archaeology is the study of the ancient and recent human past through material remains.

Portable remains are called artifacts. Artifacts include tools, clothing, and decorations. Non-portable remains, such as pyramids or post-holes, are called features.

Archaeologists use artifacts and features to study how ancient civilization live.

Where is the earliest civilization in history?

Archaeologists have discovered that the earliest civilization is the Sumerian who existed around 6000 years ago. Their homeland was called Sumer, which was the land in Mesopotamia between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in present-day Iraq and Syria. 

Mesopotamia

Mesopotamia means “between two rivers” in Greek. It is located in modern-day Iraq, Kuwait and Syria. If you look at Middle East map today, the two rivers,  River Tigris and River Euphrates still exist with the same name.

Sumerians -the lost civilization

The once-great Sumerian civilization however appeared to vanish, forgotten and covered in the desert of Iraq. They were only discovered in the 19th century when French and British archaeologists stumbled upon Sumerian artifacts while hunting for evidence of the ancient Assyrians. Scholars deciphered the Sumerian language and cuneiform and unveiled the long-lost history and literature of early Mesopotamia.

From 2000 BC onwards, Mesopotamia was dominated by the Amorites and later the Babylonian empire. The name and cultural identity of Sumerians were gradually forgotten. It was until the 19th century when French and British archaeologists stumbled upon Sumerian artifacts while hunting for evidence of the ancient Assyrians. Scholars deciphered the Sumerian language and cuneiform and unveiled the long-lost history and literature of early Mesopotamia.

Discovery of Sumerians artifacts prove that civilization began at Mesopotamia

According to World History encyclopedia, an article entitled “Sumerian Civilization :Inventing the Future”,  stated that prior to the discovery and decipherment of cuneiform Smith, human beings thought that Writing first originated in Phoenicia (east coast of Mediterranean), Time-telling in China, Schools in Greece and The Old Testament of the Bible was considered the oldest book in the world. However all these are now proven to be untrue. German Assyriologist Friedrich Delitzsch (1850-1922 CE) who, built upon the work of men like George Smith noted that the Sumerians had written stories concerning the fall of man and a great flood.

Archaeologists have found more than 500,000 artifacts about the Sumerians which existed about 6000 years ago. In another article by WorldHistory “9 Ancient Sumerian Inventions That Changed the World”, it was stated that mass-produced pottery, writing, mathematics, textile mills, hydraulic engineering, chariot, plow and metallurgy already existed during the Sumerian time which was 6000 years ago.

The Bible Timeline

An article (first writen in 1801),  published on the website of Houston Christian University, entitled “Timeline of the Bible” and follows closely Rev. James Ussher’s Annals of the World, stated that the time of Adam to the year 1801, was 5775 years. In other worlds from the time of Adam to present day (2023 AD), is 5997 years. This coincide with the Sumerians artifacts which dated back to about 6000 years ago.

The location stated in the Bible

In the book of Genesis, Chapter 2 of the Bible, it is written:

A river flowed through Eden and watered the garden. From that point the river was divided. It had four streams flowing into it. The name of the first stream is Pishon. It flows around the whole land of Havilah, where there is gold. That gold is good. Bdellium and onyx  are also there.  The name of the second river is Gihon. It flows around the whole land of Cush.  The name of the third river is Tigris. It flows out of Assyria toward the east. The fourth river is the Euphrates.

 

Genesis 2:10-14 (ICB)

 

Think About It

Archaeologists have found more than 500,000 artifacts about the Sumerians which existed about 6000 years ago. The time and place of the existence of Sumerians as discovered by archaeologists coincide with the time and place of existence of Adam and Eve as written in the Bible. This proves the accuracy and validity of the Bible.